December 9, 2004

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  Well, I survived.

  
  

  

  
  

  Got to the hospital yesterday morning and things were going much quicker than the last time. Everyone was so nice. I commented on how I was expecting more waiting time, like before, and one of the technicians told me that there was a cancellation and they were taking me in a little sooner than expected. Cool! I didn't even have time to look at the magazine or newspaper I brought with me, and only listened to about 10 minutes of my cd. They let Bernie stay with me until it was time to wheel me off to the O.R.

  
  

  

  
  

  But first, I flashed an entire hallway full of people when I got up to use the bathroom - I thought that I was holding the gown closed enough! Fortunately nobody ran away screaming at the sight, but one of the nurses came running with a blanket for me to wrap around my back. You would think that they would be able to find me a bigger gown, but nooo, that might make things too easy.

  
  

  

  
  

  The doc came in to see me before I went in, and looked over the CT scans one more time. He said it was going to be easier this time than last time, that he didn't have quite as much to clear out. But still, he said, three years' time was pretty soon to have the polyps and stuff come back. Maybe this time I will be luckier. I asked him if I could see his hands, how steady they were, and he joked about having breakfast with his friend Jack (Daniels) so he was just fine...and he promised Bernie he would do his best toward making me quieter at night with the uvulectomy.

  
  

  

  
  

  Then I was in the O.R., a bunch of people all working on me at once. One of the nurses was a big jovial guy who was teasing me about having my own pit crew, and doing a mad scientist impersonation...then the lights went out.

  
  

  

  
  

  Next thing I knew, I was waking up in the recovery area next to the nurses' desk. I have had general anesthesia a few times before but this was the weirdest wake-up ever. I think I panicked. They had a lot of blankets wrapped tightly around me, the iv's in my hand, an oxygen mask on my face, bandages over my nose, and a nurse was putting cool damp towels on my forehead, saying I was sweating a lot. I came to, totally disoriented, three quarters of the way blind without my glasses, feeling a little nauseaous with a raging sore throat and had all these things on me, and I think it just freaked me out. I didn't even remember going in for the surgery at first.

  
  

  

  
  

  But it passed, and I assured the nurse that I do sweat easily, asked if there was something I could do for my sore throat and terrible thirst, so she gave me a couple of ice chips to suck on, and when she unwrapped me from all the blankets so I could switch over from the gurney to the recliner chair (they have these cool recliner chairs in the surgical center that they wheel you around in, rahter than having beds and wheelchairs -- I was joking about Barca-lounger races) I said no wonder I was sweating like crazy!

  
  

  

  
  

  So as soon as she wheeled me back to my private cubicle, I asked if they could go find Bernie with my glasses. Once I could see I felt much better. Then they got me a cold gingerale (Bernie said enjoy it, it was probably a $50 soda -- and it was a Shasta, they couldn't even get me a GOOD gingerale!) and some saltines. They said I could go after I ate and drank something, but I wasn't ready for anything but saltines ... even though I could have had a sandwich or muffin or pudding or a whole bunch of other stuff the nurse was trying to tempt me with.

  
  

  

  
  

  I finished my snack, and went to the bathroom (this time I remembered my blanket, so I didn't moon anyone else) and then they took out my IV, checked my blood pressure and stuff one more time, and told me to get dressed, I was going home. The nurse changed the bandage on my nose, gave me a whole bag of them to take home -- actually eye patches but they work pretty well on the nose -- and a list of instructions, and a little get-well postcard signed by all the nurses and techs that had worked on me! Bernie got the prescription and my CT scans, and we were off. It was a gorgeous day, in the upper 50's and sunny. Too bad I missed most of it.

  
  

  

  
  

  We were home by 1:00 and I spent the next 12 hours changing my dressing what seemed like every fifteen minutes, and trying to get comfortable. I couldn't believe how much my nose was bleeding and draining, it really did feel more like Revenge of Rag Nose than Rag Nose Strikes Again! But I also had very little pain from the sinus surgery. Just a little swelling around the eyes, near the bridge of the nose. The throat is an entirely different story. I didn't expect it to hurt this bad, and it has this big dry spot in the back that feels like something is stuck there.

  
  

  

  
  

  It was so hard to get comfortable. Lying down, even with a lot of pillows, didn't work very well for me, so I spent most of the day and night going from chair to chair. I was even in good enough shape to type some messages on the computer to a couple of friends and family members, and play a couple of games of Destructo-match on Neopets. I didn't feel much like talking, still don't, because of the sore throat, so I am glad I could type-chat a bit, because everyone wanted to know how I was feeling.

  
  

  

  
  

  Finally around midnight, my nose pretty much stopped bleeding. About 3 or 4 AM I went off to my bed, with a pile of pillows, and got some pretty good sleep. When I woke up, I could actually breathe a bit through my nose. I have been taking the bandage off for eating today, but putting it back on because it is still draining like crazy. Not much blood, but running like a faucet. Hopefully that will end soon, I am sooo tired of the damp nose.

  
  

  

  
  

  Bernie was home with me today, and we even went out to the yard and got a few things done. Well, he did them, while I told him what to do, and helped by holding things when I could. I can't lift or bend over, but I can hold the end of a hose or the edge of a fence. We got the waterline to the cabana winterized, we had to blow the water out with the air compressor and put some RV antifreeze through it, just like we do in the trailer. Put the hoses and garden tools away in the cabana, too. We also put a piece of fence up around the banana tree so we can fill it up with straw to keep it from getting too cold over the winter. It is supposed to be a hardy variety if it is treated this way. It was raining a little today, so we didn't put the straw in, but as soon as we goet a sunny dry day (probably sunday) Bernie can fill the inside of the fence-circle around the banana tree with straw.

  
  

  

  
  

  Tomorrow my cousin Shirley is coming up from her house at the shore to spend the day with me. She will be driving me to my followup visit with the Doctor, and making sure I don't do anything stupid or hurt myself. She is going to finish the upholstery job on my daybed in the living room while she is here, and we have to make a couple of batches of cookies for a cookie exchange she is in at work. Well, a batch for the cookie exchange and a batch for us to eat. I have been looking forward to making cookies in my new oven, and my cousin and I have such fun playing in the kitchen together. I don't know how much help I will be, but since they are going ot be filled cookies, at least I can spoon in the filling.

  
  

  

  
  

  Holiday Preparations, adifrentdrumr style...

  
  

  Today we put wreaths on the front of the truck and the jeep. We had one on the jeep last year -- really surprised me when he asked for one, Bernie isn't usually into Holiday decorations. So this year I wanted one on the pickup truck too. It is such a pretty green, it needed an evergreen wreath with a red velvet bow. I had bought the artificial wreath a week or so ago, and today I made the bow and decorated it, and Bernie tied it on the grill. Now The Jolly Green looks just as festive as TJ the Jeep. Whenever I stop taking painkillers and start driving again, I have a big green decorated truck to drive.

  
  

  I made sparkly red, clear and green prayer bead necklaces for the concrete buddha in the garden by the breezeway door, and for the dark wood buddha in the corner of the living room. They are a whimsical holiday touch for our eclectic holiday.

  
  

  And today Bernie surprised me by asking if we had his mom's electric Menorah. That is one thing that we didn't end up with, I don't know what happened to it, it wasn't even in his brother's stuff when he passed away, so his may have gotten rid of it after his mom died. I had wanted to get a Menorah on several occasions in the past -- I felt it was a good thing for Bernie to acknowledge his heritage even if he never adopted the religion of his birth. But he never wanted one, not until this year. I think he is finally beginning to enjoy the uniquely eclectic blend of elements which have gradualy become our own holiday traditions over the years. So I guess it's time to find a place for a Menorah.

  
  

  I guess you can expect some rather unusual decorations in a household composed of an eclectic pagan who never turned completely away from her liberal protestant upbringing, a jew-by-birth who was raised with no religious upbringing to speak of, but has developed distinctively buddhist tendencies in his adulthood, and five "furry kids"...

  
  

  ...more decorating to be done over the next few weeks, and I promise some pictures...

  
  

  

  
  

   

  • 10:09 pm
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