It's begining to look a lot like Christmas... um, twice as much.
Or something. I'm healing up from the surgery. It's not pretty, but it's not as ugly as it was. But my brain is still reeling from the change in status of my eyes, and the swelling isn't completely gone, so I still have some double vision, dizziness, and difficulty with balance. Whee. I have to walk more slowly than is my wont, and my depth perception is all off, so no driving for me yet. DANGIT!! At some point, I presume I'll get used to it. I had my first post-op appointment yesterday, and the Dr. said I was healing very well, that he was impressed, and that soon things should sort themselves out. My brain just isn't used to getting signals from my eyes in this new config yet, and so that's why I'm dizzy when I walk.
The surgery itself went well. It was an odd day. I was nervous, but distracting myself with fiction (a Robin McKinley paperback) until about when they took me in to the surgery area. They were covering me with warm blankets and saying something about wrapping me up, and just as I was about to get really nervous I heard "OK, it's time to wake up now." Which kind of threw me off. I was offered ice chips and told that my eye was weeping bloody tears but that was normal. The first thing I really wanted, though, was to blow my nose. Which after a couple of tries I was able to convey to them.
My throat felt sore, my mouth tasted awful, I was dizzy and out of it and tired, and I'm pretty sure I kept drifting off. They wheeled me to another area, Scott and Miki showed up, and everyone started badgering me to eat something. They brought me jello and crackers and juice and water. Everything tasted awful. Now I know what is meant by dry mouth. I could not work up any saliva at all, and it was hard to swallow. And Miki said they wouldn't let me go unless I ate, due to the meds. So she was trying to feed me stuff. The jello and applesauce I choked down, but when it came time for the cracker, it was just too much. I kept thinking (in a very drugged, out of it way) Really? Crackers? Are you people insane? Plus it just made me feel nauseated. Finally, one of the nurses said that if I felt nauseated I shouldn't eat. Her, I liked.
After awhile (an hour? I was pretty out of it) they let me get dressed and come home. I lay down on the couch and slept for about two hours, and then I was actually feeling pretty good. For someone on a lot of drugs, anyway. But the nausea was gone, and my mouth, while not great, was less icky dry. And the pain was manageable. Scott took care of me, made me soup and I watched "White Christmas" with one eye closed. Sometimes both. But I know what happens in that movie, so it's OK. When I got up on Saturday, I wasn't feeling too badly. A little dizzy, some sore, but I did the dishes and took a shower and picked up some things. Then I sat on the couch most of the day, but I wasn't feeling too badly, so mostly I had acetaminophen for my drugs, and not percacet. But then Sunday I woke up feeling like my eyeball was trying to escape, and freaked that the cats were going to jump on my head, and crying a little from the pain. Yeah. No good. Percacet all day. The eyedrops I have to have hurt like someone is trying to turn my eyelids inside out, plus socking my eyeball. Yay. But they seem to be working. I've stopped with the percacet and moved on to Motrin type stuff. It's supposed to get rid of the last of the swelling.
The pain has receded to regular sore muscle levels, but the double vision has been slower going away. Yesterday was pretty good in that while I was being driven to my appt I said I could concentrate on the traffic, and it looked relatively regular, although I got dizzy and tired. But when we were crossing over the 520 bridge, I looked over at Mt Rainier, and there were two of them. I could not make one mountain using both eyes. I felt like a Monty Python sketch. Although if I see two snowy mountain peaks, I almost never feel the urge to climb them.
Anyway, I've been working from home the last week, and it's been stressful for my coworkers as well, since we're trying to relaunch this project and I've been on the "Wha? I don't remember. Um, let me see if I can find that," side. Bah. I went in to the office on Tuesday, but I was so dizzy and my eyes got so tired that I gave it up after a couple of hours. It's much easier here where I can type or work on the screen for 20 minutes to an hour (depending on how I feel), then take a nap, or do laundry, or sit and stare at the back of my eyelids.
Which is why this post is taking so long. Short bursts on Scott's iPod are easier. Anyhoo, that's the update. Now on to xmas shopping and baking. Much more fun. Er, if I could manage to DRIVE myself anywhere. Bah some more.
The surgery itself went well. It was an odd day. I was nervous, but distracting myself with fiction (a Robin McKinley paperback) until about when they took me in to the surgery area. They were covering me with warm blankets and saying something about wrapping me up, and just as I was about to get really nervous I heard "OK, it's time to wake up now." Which kind of threw me off. I was offered ice chips and told that my eye was weeping bloody tears but that was normal. The first thing I really wanted, though, was to blow my nose. Which after a couple of tries I was able to convey to them.
My throat felt sore, my mouth tasted awful, I was dizzy and out of it and tired, and I'm pretty sure I kept drifting off. They wheeled me to another area, Scott and Miki showed up, and everyone started badgering me to eat something. They brought me jello and crackers and juice and water. Everything tasted awful. Now I know what is meant by dry mouth. I could not work up any saliva at all, and it was hard to swallow. And Miki said they wouldn't let me go unless I ate, due to the meds. So she was trying to feed me stuff. The jello and applesauce I choked down, but when it came time for the cracker, it was just too much. I kept thinking (in a very drugged, out of it way) Really? Crackers? Are you people insane? Plus it just made me feel nauseated. Finally, one of the nurses said that if I felt nauseated I shouldn't eat. Her, I liked.
After awhile (an hour? I was pretty out of it) they let me get dressed and come home. I lay down on the couch and slept for about two hours, and then I was actually feeling pretty good. For someone on a lot of drugs, anyway. But the nausea was gone, and my mouth, while not great, was less icky dry. And the pain was manageable. Scott took care of me, made me soup and I watched "White Christmas" with one eye closed. Sometimes both. But I know what happens in that movie, so it's OK. When I got up on Saturday, I wasn't feeling too badly. A little dizzy, some sore, but I did the dishes and took a shower and picked up some things. Then I sat on the couch most of the day, but I wasn't feeling too badly, so mostly I had acetaminophen for my drugs, and not percacet. But then Sunday I woke up feeling like my eyeball was trying to escape, and freaked that the cats were going to jump on my head, and crying a little from the pain. Yeah. No good. Percacet all day. The eyedrops I have to have hurt like someone is trying to turn my eyelids inside out, plus socking my eyeball. Yay. But they seem to be working. I've stopped with the percacet and moved on to Motrin type stuff. It's supposed to get rid of the last of the swelling.
The pain has receded to regular sore muscle levels, but the double vision has been slower going away. Yesterday was pretty good in that while I was being driven to my appt I said I could concentrate on the traffic, and it looked relatively regular, although I got dizzy and tired. But when we were crossing over the 520 bridge, I looked over at Mt Rainier, and there were two of them. I could not make one mountain using both eyes. I felt like a Monty Python sketch. Although if I see two snowy mountain peaks, I almost never feel the urge to climb them.
Anyway, I've been working from home the last week, and it's been stressful for my coworkers as well, since we're trying to relaunch this project and I've been on the "Wha? I don't remember. Um, let me see if I can find that," side. Bah. I went in to the office on Tuesday, but I was so dizzy and my eyes got so tired that I gave it up after a couple of hours. It's much easier here where I can type or work on the screen for 20 minutes to an hour (depending on how I feel), then take a nap, or do laundry, or sit and stare at the back of my eyelids.
Which is why this post is taking so long. Short bursts on Scott's iPod are easier. Anyhoo, that's the update. Now on to xmas shopping and baking. Much more fun. Er, if I could manage to DRIVE myself anywhere. Bah some more.