Aced it!
YES! For all of you following on a moment-by-moment basis, I did indeed get my halo removed this morning! And there was great rejoicing! Can I get a Hallelujah and an Amen?!
I just got out of a loooooong shower, and feel sooooo clean. You people who've never taken 3 months off from showering and bathing yourself might have a difficult time really getting the impact of this, so I suggest you try it, y'know, like performance art, so you can really feel my words, thereby making me a better writer through your experiences. ;-)
Actually, I feel like I've been rubbed raw even though I was being gentle. The physician's assistant warned me about this, telling me not to use any fancy exfoliants (what, like Agent Orange??), loofahs, or sugar or salt scrubs right away because the skin that's been under the faux lamb's wool vest for 3 months is all irritated and susceptible to contact dermatitis. So just normal soap, hot hot water, and shampoo. And for once I took the "Repeat" step on the shampoo instructions seriously (although somehow I avoided getting into an infinite loop...)
And NO to everything else: no problems, no complications, no feeling like my head is going to float away or fall off my shoulders, no prohibitions against rock-climbing or playing soccer (although he'd prefer it if I didn't take any hard shots to the head (yeah, me, too)), and still no driving while I'm in a hard collar.
Dr. Ultra-Conservative sez to wear the hard collar for 10 days to 2 weeks "or until your neck feels strong enough to move to the soft collar." That last quote, along with him allowing me to remove the hard collar for showering and sleeping and such, basically means that it's up to me how long I wear this.
And now for some lounging, for both of us. Me, basking in the glory of being able to look around my surroundings without difficulty, and Laura, trying to come to terms with the ordeal being over. (No, I don't understand that, but that's what she says, and I'm sure those of you reading this who are more sensitive know what she means.)
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,
Mark
I just got out of a loooooong shower, and feel sooooo clean. You people who've never taken 3 months off from showering and bathing yourself might have a difficult time really getting the impact of this, so I suggest you try it, y'know, like performance art, so you can really feel my words, thereby making me a better writer through your experiences. ;-)
Actually, I feel like I've been rubbed raw even though I was being gentle. The physician's assistant warned me about this, telling me not to use any fancy exfoliants (what, like Agent Orange??), loofahs, or sugar or salt scrubs right away because the skin that's been under the faux lamb's wool vest for 3 months is all irritated and susceptible to contact dermatitis. So just normal soap, hot hot water, and shampoo. And for once I took the "Repeat" step on the shampoo instructions seriously (although somehow I avoided getting into an infinite loop...)
And NO to everything else: no problems, no complications, no feeling like my head is going to float away or fall off my shoulders, no prohibitions against rock-climbing or playing soccer (although he'd prefer it if I didn't take any hard shots to the head (yeah, me, too)), and still no driving while I'm in a hard collar.
Dr. Ultra-Conservative sez to wear the hard collar for 10 days to 2 weeks "or until your neck feels strong enough to move to the soft collar." That last quote, along with him allowing me to remove the hard collar for showering and sleeping and such, basically means that it's up to me how long I wear this.
And now for some lounging, for both of us. Me, basking in the glory of being able to look around my surroundings without difficulty, and Laura, trying to come to terms with the ordeal being over. (No, I don't understand that, but that's what she says, and I'm sure those of you reading this who are more sensitive know what she means.)
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,
Mark