Settling in

Made it back home this afternoon before rush hour, and I think I may have overdone it with walking around the house and talking with the kids. My jaw, neck and side of my face hurt, but I'm trying not to take too many drugs. Tim picked the kids up from school, and they helped make pancakes for dinner. As usual, I am starving, so it was nice to have something soft.

I jumped in the shower tonight and was able to wash off pretty good, but I can't seem to lift my right arm very well without much pain, so I couldn't wash my hair. There's still blood in my hair a bit, and I'm fairly certain there's some other gross things in there, but for now it will have to stay pulled back in a pony tail.I had heard others couldn't shower for up to 3 days after this surgery, but my doctor gave me the green light on everything except driving and working out. He said the more I do, the better and quicker I will recover. So we will see how this goes. I was able to shave my legs though, so at least part of me can feel sexy :) Oh, and my La-z-boy rocker is going to be my bed for the next few days. I need to stay inclined to keep the pressure from building up in my head.

In tracking my recovery for others, I wanted to add a note about the pain. In the hospital the pain was roughly a 1, on a scale of 1 to 10...10 being the worst pain ever. It only got up to about a 4 at one point, but that was after I threw up for several hours, and my whole body ached. I've been taking Tylenol with codeine (Tylenol #3) since early this morning, and just taking one pill every few hours. I definitely still feel pain in my neck and cheek, but I think it's still only about a 1 or 2. My ear, cheek and neck feel numb, but I can feel my finger when I press on them. I'm told this is all normal, but the numbness will probably never go away.

That being said, this pessimistic girl is trying something new for a change... I'm going to try to be optimistic, and pray for a full recovery. Tim's Aunt Sharon sent over a msg (I think it went to Tim's parents, who forwarded it over) that really helped me cope... This message came the day before the surgery, when I was at my highest level of anxiety ever, and once I read it, it put my mind at ease.

"If I can give you any comfort at all, I can tell you that she is in the BEST possible hands you could ever be for this surgery.  Dr. Chalian has taught so many younger physicians (one of ours who does this surgery on children) and I have a very good friend who’s uncle had the same exact surgery Kym is having tomorrow by the same surgeon and he is perfectly fine.  No paralysis.  There will be  weakness in the beginning.

Also, he uses something called a “nerve monitoring tool” that starts to beep if he gets too close to the nerve.  That being said, cutting the nerve will be the very last resort.  Other ENT surgeons described him as a “butterfly” when he’s operating.  Gets around stuff that other docs could never do."

A butterfly, one of my favorite animals.

And now it's time for Modern Family, my favorite show on TV! Tim tells me "this is true love", as we have to watch it 'live' since the family room TV doesn't have a dvr. Time for some laughter to wash away the pain...