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Melanie's Surgical Experience
Surgery was scheduled for 7:30 Tuesday morning, with a call time of 6:30. We got there about 10 minutes early and they took me back almost right away, which surprised me and made me cry (I was expecting to have some time to collect myself in the waiting room first). I met the nurses and then the anestheseiologists (yes, I know it's spelled wrong); my parents came in to say goodbye, then the anesthesia began and they wheeled me to the operating room. I was a little woozy on the trip, but once I got to the OR I remember thinking that I was way too uncomfortable and not anywhere near drugged up enough to get through a 3 hour surgery. Shows how much I know -- the next thing I know I'm in recovery and the nurse is telling me it's 1 o'clock already!
I vaguely remember waking up before then and saying that I was nauseous, but I also apparently was crying due to the disorientation. None of that surprises me, as that seems to be par for the course for me when I come out of anesthesia. I must have been in recovery for nearly 4 hours, though, which is a lot longer than I expected.
I finally got taken to my room around 2, and my parents were the first ones in. My head was bandaged all around, like a turban, but with a fist size wad of gauze underneath the bandage on the right size. I had a ponytail coming out of the top of the bandage (the Director of Audiology was in the OR with me and made sure they didn't shave too much hair, but what they did shave they saved for me in a bio-hazard bag!). I wasn't really in a lot of pain, but the top of my right ear hurt where it was underneath the pressure bandage, and I felt a constant, dull ache in the right side of my head.
My friend Aimee came in to visit after my parents left and stayed for about an hour. Then my friends Jess and Jess, who had come down from NY, came in and stayed for a couple of hours, and my brother came, too. The doctor came by and checked on me and said that the surgery went perfectly and I was doing so well that I could go home that night if I wanted to! I thought I'd sleep more comfortably in the hospital, so I decided to stay.
I wanted everyone to stay longer, but by 6:30 I was exhausted. My parents stopped by briefly and stayed until I fell asleep (the wonders of percoset). When I woke up at 8:30, my parents were there again and they stayed just a little while and then went back to the Hospitality House where they were staying. I took more percoset at midnight and slept well until about 5:30.
The doctor came by and removed the bandage aound 6am and left my head "open" (for lack of a better word) for about an hour. I went into the bathroom to look at it, and I cried when I saw myself in the mirror. It's very strange to see your own head without hair on it, if you are not used to it. Now that it's been a couple of days, I think it's cool, but it was hard to take at first. I got another fat bandage put on and then we checked out of the hospital around 9:30 or so. My dad went back to PA Wednesday after lunch, and my mom and I stayed at the Hospitality House Wednesday night. Thursday we saw the doctor for a wound check, and she said it looks good (which must be a relative term) and that I could take the bandage off for good on Friday.
My mom and I drove to PA Thursday afternoon, and went to see my dad's band play at an outdoor concert after we got here. Obviously, I am up and around, and not in too much pain. I am able to sleep lying down and even on my right side (down pillows are wonderful things). I have some achiness still, inside my ear, and general pain in the area of the incision, but it's not nearly as bad as I anticipated. I am amazed at how much more comfortable I am after this surgery than after my shoulder surgery in May. I guess you don't need your head for as much as you do your arm!
Today I was finally able to wash my hair -- yay! How gross it is it not to be able to wash your hair for 5 days? Yuck! It didn't hurt at all . . . actually, most of the right side of my head and the top of my right ear are still numb, so I guess I'm not surprised. The doctor says it will take a few weeks for the numbness to go away while the nerves are growing back.
I also got my hook-up date -- September 17! That's the final step (or the beginning, maybe, depending on how you look at it), but I feel like I took the biggest leap Tuesday!
I feel almost embarassed writing after reading how bad some of you had it after surgery. I keep waiting for the crash, because some people mentioned that they were ok for the first couple of days, but then had a rough time after day 3. The only complaint I have is that it almost constantly feels like an earache in my right ear. At least, I think this is what an earache feels like; I don't know that I've ever had one. Is that normal? It's in the canal and it's just a little painful achiness. The doctor did not prescribe antibiotics either, which I thought was strange, but I asked 3 times and they told me I don't need them. Apparently they pushed them through my IV before during and after surgery, so I should be good to go.
I wanted to thank all of you for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. There are still some days I really can't believe that this is my life, but I have had more support and encouragement and love through all of this than anyone has the right to ask for, so I know that I can handle anything that comes my way.
Melanie
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