I went in at 10 in the morning, and checked in without event. My BP was elevated, which I'm blaming on my mom, although the docs and nurses suggested that having surgery might have something to do with it. The IV line was placed without incident, many MANY people stopped by and asked me all the same questions over and over again, and I signed some forms that I'm pretty sure gives Group Health all and future royalties/publishing rights to the back catalog of my music dating back to my earliest improvisations. I don't know, it's like the diving waivers-"This is dangerous. Seriously, it's dangerous. You could die. If you do die, you're on your own."
The gowns are much bigger than I remember, or at least they had them in my size, and THEY HOOK UP TO A HEATER!!
Someone needs to figure out how to wire that to a Weezle and run it off of a 12 volt adapter!
- Note the tube running into the gown on the left side of the picture. So warm!
Surgery was slow that day, so there was no hurry as I napped and the anesthetic slowly wore off. Apparently, the doc was unable to get up into the frontal sinuses in my forehead due to the crazy amount of polyps in my maxillary and ethmoid sinuses, so those will be treated with prednisone and watched. I really don't want to have to the surgery again, so hopefully they'll behave. There was some bleeding, so he did a fair amount of cauterization, which still hurts like hell. He packed my sinuses with what can only be described as nasal tampons and taped the strings to my nose, which was a dead sexy look for me....
- The bandage under my chin is pulled down to get a better look at the packing. It had a piece of gauze under it to catch, well, stuff....
The next day, I had the packing removed because I just couldn't take it anymore! Worst part of that was the Total Recall forceps pulling ickyness, and then the suction device he inserted (like a 14 gauge needle shoved up my nose.)
So now it's onto the healing process. I shouldn't be allowed on the computer under the influence of pain meds, because apparently I made all sorts of outlandish promises about playing a gig that weekend, or finding a sub, none of which I have clear recollections of.
I'm back at work, still taking antibiotics and prednisone, and most importantly, NOT SMOKING. I hate it. Seriously, I hate it. Don't tell me I'll live longer, don't tell me it'll make diving better, don't tell me it'll make singing and playing the horn better, I don't care. I'm exercising a frightening amount of willpower that can only be attributed to sheer stupidity, and trying to find a nicotine gum that doesn't taste like ass and make me want to smoke. I realize there's all sorts of programs and prescriptions out there, all of which are available to Group Health employees for free, but I don't want to hear it. I'm going to give it a good solid 2 weeks of healing, and see how I feel. Anybody have any recommendations for nicotine gum?
So, no strenuous activity for a couple weeks, no saxophone for a couple weeks, and no diving for 6-8 weeks. Oh well, I'm consoling myself by telling myself the visibility will be phenomenal when I get back in the water. Right?
This is my favorite smiley!!
Oh well, at least I don't have to play a gig just yet.
