On the morning of Tuesday, August 20th my mother and I flew to Boston for surgery scheduled at 9:30 am on Wednesday, August 21st. We were told in our pre-surgery materials that we would need to have a strict regimen of ice packs following the surgery. Realizing it would be helpful to have a second pair of capable hands, my mother's dear friend Carol volunteered/agreed to meet us in Boston for the adventure. Carol lives in Canada, but was visiting her previous home in Tulsa, Oklahoma up until she joined us in Boston. It seems Carol has always been there ready and eager and help in anyway, no matter what, for most all of my major adult life events. My mother and I are very lucky to have her as a friend.
Carol was waiting for us at the airport when we arrived. We picked up our bags. Mine was large but mostly stuffed with a pillow from home, my own blanket, and DVDs to watch while I was awake and recovering.
We got to our hotel and were very thankful that there was a CVS directly across the street from us and a Whole Foods nearby. We stopped at an Italian restaurant for dinner, Antonio's that was delicious. (I only wish I could have had a glass of wine, but that is not an option on the pre-surgery diet.)
We ate some cookies from Whole Foods until around 11:30 pm and turned in for the night.
When we got up in the morning we got ready and walked from our hotel to Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary. We went to the surgical floor marked with an "S" on the elevator and ended up in a pretty large waiting room.
We waited for about 15-20 minutes and I was surprised once they took me back how quickly everything got started. They took my vitals, got my clothes changed - yes they gave me the fun socks with the super grippers on the bottom so I would not slip. I don't remember if it was the Chief Resident or the Fellow but someone mentioned that they have a full house for my surgery, about 10 doctors ready to watch this surgery. I was quite popular!
While in recovery I remember only two things, asking for my mom and telling the nurse that I didn't want to feel anything and feel free to give me whatever pain meds she was authorized. I got what I wanted, my mom was there and no pain (that I remember).
As it turns out the adult floor was all full by the time my surgery was over and there wasn't any room for me, so I got to spend my night in the hospital on the pediatric floor. There weren't any kids on the floor over night, besides they don't make adults share rooms with kids, so I had a room to myself, and the nurses were great!
The other nice thing about being on the pediatric floor is that they didn't try to kick out my mom. She was able to sleep on the convertible chair that lays down into a bed. If I'd been on the adult floor, they probably would have kicked her out.
The other nice thing about being on the pediatric floor is that they didn't try to kick out my mom. She was able to sleep on the convertible chair that lays down into a bed. If I'd been on the adult floor, they probably would have kicked her out.
The thing that was not so great, was the bandage around my head. The bandage was wrapped under my chin over the top of my head, and it was very, VERY tight. Because it was so tight it kept sliding forward and squishing my face. We took some pictures where all you can see is my nose, puffy cheeks and lips because the bandage was slipping forward. (Since then, mom and I have discovered a great strategy involving some large hair clips we will be sure to take with us for Part 2.)
The second thing that really stood out to me was that they (the hospital) didn't have any fancy ice packs for after surgery care. They dump ice chips into a blue medical glove used as a baggy. We took some funny pictures with these blue hands sticking in and around my head dressing.
Something I wasn't prepared for were the two incisions on the inside of my upper lip. When I woke up and drank some water I noticed the stitches in my mouth. It made sense that they use those holes to pull the nerve across my upper lip, it just didn't remember that being mentioned before.
Thursday morning, everything looked good and I'd had some breakfast, so they let me out. I even felt well enough to walk myself back to the hotel. (Mom and I had previously debated on whether she'd call a taxi to carry me 2-3 blocks back to the hotel... I won and made the venture without any major incidents.) Mom and Carol took great care of me on Thursday afternoon to Saturday morning in our hotel room with two twin beds, a pull out couch, and a kitchenette. It was a great set-up for what we needed.
Saturday, August 24th, Mom and I flew back to Iowa, Carol flew back to Canada and healing process has been going well for two weeks. Things have been slower than I had hoped, but it's pretty much what the doctors had said was normal recovery time. Mom, Dad, I went over to Iowa City to see a doctor there who also preforms there surgeries and he took out my stitches and answered our questions with great patience. I will continue to go see him in Iowa City for future Botox shots, post-op after the second surgery and other miscellaneous needs.
My foot on the leg they took the nerve from is driving me bananas. It tingles and itches when I'm trying to sleep or after I walk on it. It's all I can do to focus my mind on other things. If I try hard enough I don't feel it anymore.
The site of my incision on the side of my face is numb. The numbness will go away in a few weeks - it was expected - and I can tell it's improved a lot since surgery.
My vision is a little different due to the eyelid weight. I already had 2 or 3 astigmatisms in my left eye and wear glasses for reading and computer work. The pressure of the eyelid weight can change the shape of your eyeball a little bit too to add / change the astigmatisms. The doctor recommended, I get my eyes checked about once a month, until the eye doctor notices that there's little change in my vision and then I'll probably just get a new lens prescription for my glasses. Since things are still healing a settling, I wouldn't want to rush and get new lenses without being certain this is where my vision will settle. Hopefully there aren't too many headaches in my future, and any typos will be tolerated.
I'm going back to work tomorrow and am optimistic that I'll be able to have enough energy to make it through the rest of an already short week. Thanks for reading this exceptionally long post, and thank you for all of the prayers and well wishes. It gives me courage and strength and faith on this journey.
