Went out to lunch at Bruno’s with my lovely BSF ladies today. First time out being social that was not funeral related. God was definitely holding me upright for the funeral. Now I know. Oh so tired.
Lunch was interesting in that so many things that I was used to tasting seemed differently flavored. I like Bruno’s, I’ve been there a decent number of times, and their food isn’t known for big changes. But things tasted different and it’s the second day in a row that I’ve really noticed that. The Dr. Pepper was way more vanilla flavored than it was before surgery and I’m pretty certain I don’t like it better than before. The marinara sauce was more tomato flavored (and that is still icky to me). Still loved the rolls, even though they were difficult to eat while I was out. Came home and broke it into chunks and devoured them. 🙂 Tried to feed the rest of my food to kids, but it was a no go situation. Oh well.
Spent the rest of the day directing kids to do laundry from the comfort of my own bed. When I said I was tired….oh my….
1. It’s been two weeks…. out from surgery & I am on my second round of antibiotics because I can’t shake this infection. Inside of my nose feels like fire because of an altercation with a toddler with a hat at a funeral. These things you just can’t make up. I called the doctor about it and they said that as long as there wasn’t fresh bleeding or new levels of goo coming out that I shouldn’t be too terribly worried.
2. I’ve got fire ant bites all over my foot from standing on the side of the road yesterday helping point out the accident victims belongings floating in the ditch. “The funny thing is…wait…I’m still killing fire ants on my shoes…the funny thing is….I can’t think of anything funny while killing ants.” (I still don’t know what I was trying to say there. It was something funny, that’s all I remember.)
3. Please don’t tell me I should have stayed home this weekend. I will bite you. I don’t regret being with my best friend when she needed me.
4. The hip/back pain that plagued me from Thursday til Sunday is finally gone. I can walk without limping! I was in serious pain all weekend…not just my nose, but my back and my hip. It was really weird. Laying down made it worse, but I couldn’t walk very well, either. It was a weird combo.
5. I can smell again! Yay for scents! Things I am loving smelling: my kids heads, the dryer sheets as I pass the laundry room, the scented wax in the master bathroom and living room, my shampoo, my soap, the bathroom hand soap….the list is nearly endless! (I could live without the kitchen trash smell, though.)
I am not well. I just want to point that out in case later someone wonders. There’s still icky stuff draining from my nose. Really icky stuff. It looks like Hershey’s syrup, brown and goopy. I have talked to the doctor’s office and they have prescribed yet stronger antibiotics because I am still all one with the infection.
My best friend’s mom died this week and the funeral is tomorrow. I need to be there and I need to be here and none of it is good.
That being said, later today she will drive the 2.5 hours to my house and spend the night here and tomorrow we will tackle her mom’s funeral together. Or something. I am not sure I will be useful to her at all, actually. I still need people to help me out of the couch on a regular basis and bring me tea and make me easily edible food. So we will see how that all goes.
Things I’m thankful for:
1. Neosporin + Pain Reliever all in one tube. Because I needed to put that stuff on a q-tip and rub it around inside my nose anyway; I’m glad they’ve added pain reliever so it’s bonus good.
2. Nick teaching the boys all the cooking things last week. So today the younger boys could make and bake brownies all on their own (and the house didn’t burn down because they took them out all by themselves when I totally forgot about them!) and tonight David will be making lasagna and broccoli for dinner.
3. Friends and family that check in by phone and in person, that bring us food from their homes or from the store so I don’t have to waste my energy on wandering through stores and instead can invest it in my family.
4. The sunshiny weather we’ve been having the last few days because it makes going outside to the car bearable when I have to go out to drop off and pick up boys (which is still the only reason I’ve left the house this week).
5. Time to heal and to be restful. I’ve spent a lot of time on my comfy, cozy couch this week.
6. There is no #6.
7. Netflix, without which I might be crazy from watching American daytime TV.
1. Have discovered that adding a second kind of pain reliever is key to my comfort. It is so much better. Not pain free by a long shot, but much less intense. More like sinus infection level pain.
2. I made my own lunch today. Well, I started making it yesterday, did bits & pieces last night & this morning, then made it around 11am. Didn’t have energy to eat it til after it’d gone cold, but PROGRESS!!!
3. My parents are staying on two more nights. They’ll take kids to school tomorrow and attend meetings in my stead that night, then they’ll go home in the morning and I’ll be back to regular life on my own on Tuesday.
4. Tuesday scares me. While I’m upright most of the day now, I don’t have energy for dealing with anything yet. I have to sleep immediately after anything extra, like making food, or washing my face, or having a long conversation.
This morning, my husband packed himself off and left for The Hague. He’ll be there a week and a half and I will be here, fending for myself and the kids. It will be fun! (said nobody ever).
The kids are at Nick’s parents house for the weekend so they can do their usual church and open gym night and basketball weekend routine without having to rely on me to get them anywhere, which is good, as I’m still not driving the car. I am still taking the Tylenol-3. They said it would only be a week until I would stop taking it. I can’t imagine that, but then again, I couldn’t imagine my nose unstuffing, either, and that has happened for the most part over the last couple days.
This afternoon, sometime, my parents will show up. I’m in their house now, watching TV while typing. I’ve watched a lot of television this week, most of it Midsomer Murders on Netflix. It’s been a good show to watch. British, mystery, funny, long episodes. I’ve enjoyed it. I don’t think I’ll get to watch it here, though. Maybe we’ll watch some movies instead. I hope so. I don’t watch a lot of movies.
In the last 24 hours, I:
1. sat at table for dinner last night for first time since surgery. Ate most of my food. Did not collapse.
2. took a real shower. Washed my hair and everything. Did not collapse.
3. rinsed out my nose with irrigator. Marveled at the grossness that came out. Did not collapse.
Not that the last few days weren’t interesting, but posting about how much blood and gore came out of my nose seemed just too gross, even for me.
Good things that happened in the last couple days? A couple more friends brought kids home. One brought yumminess for dinner so Nick could focus on washing clothes for his upcoming trip. (Yes, he’s leaving the country. No, I’m not happy about it. Why is he leaving? WORK. We must pay for this surgery somehow.)
In other news, I saw the doctor again today. It was a horrific experience. The best I can tell you is that the nurse/technician/whatever she was….she forgot to spray the numbness into my nose before the splints/stents/whatever you call them got taken out. I seriously almost passed out. My blood pressure dropped to an alarmingly low number. Other nurses had to come in to watch me. It was a whole ordeal. Fortunately, it ended with me getting the splints out and getting to go back home.
The splints that were in my nose, with Nick’s hand by them for size comparison.
Life without the splints is much like life with the splints, but without quite as much pressure in my head. I’d read online earlier that it would be such a ginormous relief and that everything would be perfection afterward…but that is not the case. It really just feels kind of like they are still in there, just a little less big. I’m still stuffy, still pressurized, and still exhausted.
Guard Puppy Rose is On Duty (even when asleep)Day Three, my nose without my little mustache friend.Shakespearean Love Dragon – a gift from neighborhood friends
I made it through the night all right. I got up once for more pain reliever, but was mostly okay for sleeping. I woke up at the crack of dawn. I was wide awake and actually feeling pretty good. First thing in the morning, I did the sinus rinse the doctor suggested. I used on of those Neil-Med Sinus-Rinse things where you squeeze the bottle and it shoots salty water up your nose. I’ve had one for a few years now, so I was well-aware of what it was going to be like. Except that you are never prepared for blood and goo coming out. Not ever, really. It was super gross and you should be glad that I was not coordinated enough at that point to take pictures.
Nick got the boys ready and took them to school and went on to work himself. I drank an Instant Breakfast beverage, took my meds, and sat on the couch with my bundle of helpful things:
Plastic cup full of water with a helpful straw (some websites say you shouldn’t have a straw after surgery. I wouldn’t have been able to drink without it.)
Big coffee cup full of tea
Box of tissues
Box of Q-Tips
Nasal Moisturizer Spray
Lip Balm
Vicks Vapo-Rub
I only got up off the couch every few hours and only to a) go to the bathroom and b) get some more liquids. It was a process. Mainly I watched TV and dozed.
At lunch time, Nick came home, made me some soup, got me some more beverages, and went back to work. It was very exciting, obviously.
Some kind friends brought the kids home from school. One came in and made me some tea, one came in and let her kid play with my kids in the backyard for a while. Eventually I managed to send the spare kid home (I don’t remember him coming in, but there he was). Nick’s mom came and took boys to piano lessons. Once Nick came home, I went back on to the bedroom and retired for the day.
Once Nick came home, I went back on to the bedroom and retired for the day. Dinner was brought to me in bed. It was cut up into tiny, tiny chunks, which was good. One thing they don’t tell you about this surgery is how much your jaw will hurt afterwards. Maybe it’s just the RA giving me further problems, but I could barely open my mouth at all.
Lisa Holcomb 