So, maybe more painful but a faster recovery time it would seem. Dr. O and his resident crew were just here and I was standing over the garbage can clipping my nails. He said if I'm up and giving myself a manicure then I'm ready to go home. Unfotunately, we have to wait for the drains in my chest to stop emptying, then he can send me packing. He did authorize me to be taken off ALL of my hookups. Yay! I'm free, I'm free. It's so nice to be able to get up and go to the bathroom when I want rather than having to call for the nurse or technician to come unhook me from some stuff and drag the IV pole into the bathroom with me for the stuff they couldn't unhook.
Dr. V came in around lunch today. He had a shit fit about the bandage wrapped around my neck. He immediately snipped it off. I told him it was on there when I woke up from surgery. He said he didn't want ANY pressure on my neck cutting off blood flow. He changed his number today too. He said 50% of the old flap had died rather than the 30 - 40% that he had told me last night. He said he thinks everything went well and was talking about what a unique situation this was with some of the flap surviving and some not. He said the surgery lasted longer than expected and it was because it took a lot of time finding and cutting away the dead parts. I used to think that "unique" was a good word, that it was good to be unique. I've pretty much had it with that word at this point. I'm done being unique, I want to be a lemming!! I asked him about the inside of my cheek as well. I've learned that it's good to ask the same questions of the different docs because you tend to pick up more info that way. It turns out Dr. V used part of the inside of my cheek in the reconstruction he did. That's why it's so swollen way in the back of my mouth. He said it's likely going to take a good 3-4 weeks before I'm able to close my mouth all the way again. Ugh. Yet more flashbacks to last year. Remember how excited I was when I could finally grip a pillow in my teeth to put a pillow case on??
Schuyler is my nurse today. She was the cutie who was so worried about my hair right after the first surgery. I really like her. I coughed up some clots this afternoon and made a mess of my inner cannula (trach tube). I asked her to swap it out for a clean one. For the 30 seconds that the inner tube was out, I could breathe!! So, I guess my labored breathing IS because I'm sucking air through a straw now instead of a nice, big stoma. <sigh> Something else to adjust to.
Babydoll should be here within the next hour. His wife called in sick to work so I get to see him for more than an hour tonight. Woo hoo! Although he said he's exhausted so I'm not sure how long he's going to make it. I'll take him for however long I can get him though! I should go use a sucker sponge to mouthwash my teeth before he gets here......
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