4:49 pm - Mon 11.22.2010
Recovering

Had my surgery on Friday.

Cary picked me up at my apartment at 7:30, for the 8:00 am check-in.

Dr A. did a septoplasty, shaved my "turbinates" - which I guess were bigger than they needed to be (Or at least hairier) - and performed a "tongue reduction" (Basically, zapping the back of my tongue with a magical radio-frequency wand, making it smaller and, thus, less likely to fall back and block my airway when I sleep).

I was the second surgery scheduled, and other than the first surgery running an hour or so late, I guess things went the way things were supposed to.

Afterward, Cary took me to his place, where I spent the day sitting in the living room with him watching the first season of Arrested Development (Where we both wondered why the show had gotten by us in its original run - It's pretty great).

I thought I'd be more tired and dopey after the surgery.

Don't get me wrong - About all I was up for was sitting in a chair and watching tv (It wasn't like I was ready to run a marathon or anything) - but I assumed I'd be sleeping the day away (Especially since I'd gotten very little sleep Thursday night), but I didn't retire for the evening till after 2 am.

(And I might as well have stayed up - After an extremely fitful couple hours, I gave up, and was up for the day.)

One reason I thought I'd be "dopey" and would "sleep through the day" was that I was on drugs (Specifically, Darvocet); I'd been instructed to take some when I got home, before the effect of the anesthesia totally wore off.

Which I did.

And from where I was sitting, it didn't do anything. My throat still hurt, I didn't feel sleepy or delightfully out-of-it or anything (The next day, I actually called Paul, the "surgery consultant", to get something else, since the Darvocet "wasn't working").

(In the interim, I've come to realize - With the drugs, my throat hurts; without the drugs, my throat hurts a lot. But hey, I got some extra Vicodin out of the deal, so there is that.)

The sore throat has been the worst post-op symptom, followed by a stiff neck (Not sure how I thought the surgery was going to work, but I never thought about them needing to intubate me. I never realized how much the human throat objects to such treatment...till now).

It hurts to swallow, and I'm not swallowing very well (Even "easy" food's been getting stuck in my throat, so - this is gross - I have to "work it back up" and give it another go).

When I'm lying down - like to sleep, or watch tv - I've had some issue with choking on my saliva (Like it's "going down the wrong tube").

(7:14 pm)

Okay, as long as I'm complaining...

My neck hurts.

And I tried to do the "Sinus Rinse" I'm supposed to do - to get the post-surgical detritus out of my nose - but a lot more seemed to go in than came out, and now it's doing a slow, bloody "time-released" thing.

Which is why I opted not to go to group tonight. I'd planned to, and assumed I'd be able to, but between the neck and the nose (Which I can't blow or wipe in any meaningful way. All I can do it dab around my nostrils with a Q-tip), I'm not up for it. I feel like I'd just be there asking for their pity, dabbing my bloody nose in clear discomfort.

Anyway...

Margaret C. called me earlier, which I thought was very nice.

Mark and Jane called yesterday.

I like it when people call and check up on me at a time like this, but at the same time, I feel awkward when I'm "off my game" and don't really have anything to say beyond variations of "I feel bad" (I generally put a lot of pressure on myself to be "engaging". Cause if I don't have that, what else do I have?).

Feeling a little sorry for myself tonight.

But considering we're into Day 4 of this situation, that's some kind of record - In the past, I've typically gone straight to the self-pity, but Cary and Kay kind of short-circuited that (First by Cary driving me to and from, then by them offering me their place for the night).

It's hard to drum up a lot of drama about how I'm "all alone in the world" when they keep being so damned good to me.

One nice thing about this mega-sore throat?

It's amazing how easy it is to control "impulse eating" when every swallow hurts.

(I struggled to get down to 202.6 lbs for my official WW weigh-in this month, and at one point during the month was 208 lbs; in the days since the surgery, I'm under 200 lbs.)

I should figure out a way to market this...

Well, I think I've exhausted this tedious topic - I'm exhausted with it, in any case - so I'm going to close, and imagine myself comfortably swallowing food, and breathing, and - dare I even imagine such a thing? - getting a good night's sleep.

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