Okay, I recently took a pain pill and I feel it kicking in. So, if what I'm about to write isn't completely coherent, that's why.
Let's see, surgery day was yesterday and I couldn't believe the horrible timing of it all when I learned that Regina woke up with a very bad migraine. This was not a good day for her to be sick.
I, on the other hand, woke up feeling surprisingly good. I felt mentally prepared and was relieved that the day had finally come.
I don't know many details about what she accomplished during the surgery, but she'll give me a full report on Friday when I see her for a follow-up. She did tell Regina that the left side of my sinuses are not constructed normally. She couldn't tell if I was just born that way or if the surgeon who fixed my deviated septum years ago did it, but either way, it made her job harder. Therefore, it took a about 30 minutes longer than she anticipated. I was in the operating room for about 2 hours.
When I woke up in recovery, I was pleasantly surprised that I felt NO pain! I fully expected to wake up to the throbbing pain in my face that I'd come to know so well. I was also thrilled when I realized I wasn't nauseous from the general anesthesia AND I could actually breathe through my nose. None of the packing obstructed air passage in my nose! What a wonderful bonus. I had been told I'd have to breathe through my mouth for a while, which I find to be quite miserable.
Well, it wasn't long after waking up that reality settled in and I began to feel significant pain in my sinuses. Fortunately, the nurses took good care of me and throughout recovery they gave me several doses of pain medicine in my IV. And right before leaving, I got a pain pill for the road.
Meanwhile, poor Regina had a full-blown migraine and was sitting there watching them give me all the pain medicine I could possibly need, wishing she too could have a couple doses. She really didn't look good and by the time she met me in recovery, she had already thrown up at least once. People probably looked at the two of us and wondered, "Now, which of you two just had surgery?" I felt so terrible for her having to hang out there for so many hours when she felt so awful. I was actually worried she wouldn't be able to drive us home. We could have taken a cab, I suppose. She was able to drive, though, and we arrived home safely.
Anyway, back to me. Since I wasn't nauseous, I was able to eat and drink everything they gave me. I was actually quite hungry and especially thirsty. By about 2:45pm they were happy with my progress and let us go home. Because Regina felt so awful, we stopped by Katie's pre-school and picked her up early. Regina didn't think she'd be able to go back out later and pick her up when we normally do. That turned out to be a good decision since she didn't start feeling better until after dinnertime.
Last night I was able to successfully manage my pain with the medicines prescribed to me, although I was no longer able to breathe through my nose. Ugh. I was bleeding (which is normal) and it eventually obstructed air passage. I was so disappointed because that made sleeping last night quite miserable. I started out in bed, propped up on a pile of pillows, but that didn't last long. I just wasn't able to get comfortable enough to actually fall asleep, not to mention the extreme dry mouth that kept me awake because I was constantly taking sips of water. I eventually moved from the bed to a recliner where I still had the dry mouth issue to contend with, but for some reason I was able to sleep for a little bit. I might have gotten 1 solid hour of sleep while the rest was just a series of episodes where I dozed off until the dry mouth irritation woke me up. Not a fun night.
Early this morning I did a saline rinse which cleaned out the nasal passages and eventually allowed me to breathe through my nose again! I took advantage of it and napped for a bit later in the morning. I wanted to do the saline rinse so badly before bed last night, but I was given instructions not to. I was also fighting the urge to blow my nose, since I could feel drainage accumulating. But, it's no-go on the nose-blow for a little while. I taped gauze just below my nostrils to catch anything that drained all the way out. Today, the bleeding has stopped and I'm no longer wearing my gauze mustache.
So fortunately, right this moment I feel pretty good. Actually a whole lot better than I expected I would. Regina is also feeling good now. That's a relief. Now I feel like I can relax knowing she's at full capacity to take care of things while I recover.
Let's see, surgery day was yesterday and I couldn't believe the horrible timing of it all when I learned that Regina woke up with a very bad migraine. This was not a good day for her to be sick.
I, on the other hand, woke up feeling surprisingly good. I felt mentally prepared and was relieved that the day had finally come.
I don't know many details about what she accomplished during the surgery, but she'll give me a full report on Friday when I see her for a follow-up. She did tell Regina that the left side of my sinuses are not constructed normally. She couldn't tell if I was just born that way or if the surgeon who fixed my deviated septum years ago did it, but either way, it made her job harder. Therefore, it took a about 30 minutes longer than she anticipated. I was in the operating room for about 2 hours.
When I woke up in recovery, I was pleasantly surprised that I felt NO pain! I fully expected to wake up to the throbbing pain in my face that I'd come to know so well. I was also thrilled when I realized I wasn't nauseous from the general anesthesia AND I could actually breathe through my nose. None of the packing obstructed air passage in my nose! What a wonderful bonus. I had been told I'd have to breathe through my mouth for a while, which I find to be quite miserable.
Well, it wasn't long after waking up that reality settled in and I began to feel significant pain in my sinuses. Fortunately, the nurses took good care of me and throughout recovery they gave me several doses of pain medicine in my IV. And right before leaving, I got a pain pill for the road.
Meanwhile, poor Regina had a full-blown migraine and was sitting there watching them give me all the pain medicine I could possibly need, wishing she too could have a couple doses. She really didn't look good and by the time she met me in recovery, she had already thrown up at least once. People probably looked at the two of us and wondered, "Now, which of you two just had surgery?" I felt so terrible for her having to hang out there for so many hours when she felt so awful. I was actually worried she wouldn't be able to drive us home. We could have taken a cab, I suppose. She was able to drive, though, and we arrived home safely.
Anyway, back to me. Since I wasn't nauseous, I was able to eat and drink everything they gave me. I was actually quite hungry and especially thirsty. By about 2:45pm they were happy with my progress and let us go home. Because Regina felt so awful, we stopped by Katie's pre-school and picked her up early. Regina didn't think she'd be able to go back out later and pick her up when we normally do. That turned out to be a good decision since she didn't start feeling better until after dinnertime.
Last night I was able to successfully manage my pain with the medicines prescribed to me, although I was no longer able to breathe through my nose. Ugh. I was bleeding (which is normal) and it eventually obstructed air passage. I was so disappointed because that made sleeping last night quite miserable. I started out in bed, propped up on a pile of pillows, but that didn't last long. I just wasn't able to get comfortable enough to actually fall asleep, not to mention the extreme dry mouth that kept me awake because I was constantly taking sips of water. I eventually moved from the bed to a recliner where I still had the dry mouth issue to contend with, but for some reason I was able to sleep for a little bit. I might have gotten 1 solid hour of sleep while the rest was just a series of episodes where I dozed off until the dry mouth irritation woke me up. Not a fun night.
Early this morning I did a saline rinse which cleaned out the nasal passages and eventually allowed me to breathe through my nose again! I took advantage of it and napped for a bit later in the morning. I wanted to do the saline rinse so badly before bed last night, but I was given instructions not to. I was also fighting the urge to blow my nose, since I could feel drainage accumulating. But, it's no-go on the nose-blow for a little while. I taped gauze just below my nostrils to catch anything that drained all the way out. Today, the bleeding has stopped and I'm no longer wearing my gauze mustache.
So fortunately, right this moment I feel pretty good. Actually a whole lot better than I expected I would. Regina is also feeling good now. That's a relief. Now I feel like I can relax knowing she's at full capacity to take care of things while I recover.
1 comment:
Suz,
I'm so glad the recovery is going well. I don't think it'll be too long before you feel a lot of relief and will be breathing out of your nose with ease! I'm glad Regina is better too. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend!
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