Day 1

January 22, 2009

“Where there is great love, there are always miracles!”

-Willa Cather

Last night wasn’t much fun. I slept-I use that word very loosely-upright in the bed. I settled in for the night at about 10:30. I quickly realized that my uvula was so swollen, I choked if I wasn’t sitting up.

I would doze off and wake up snoring and choking.

I napped off and on until 2:30. It was time for more Lortab. I woke Jon up and he measured it out for me.

Nausea started back up again. I don’t think my belly likes pain medicine with no food.

I went back to sleep at about 5 am.

When I woke up again about 7:30, the nausea was still there. I knew it was time to eat something a bit more solid.

Jon pureed a can of bean and bacon soup for me. It was good. I ate just a bit of it and took more pain medicine. The nausea eased off again.

My uvula was still huge. We called the doctor’s office. They said it was not a real common side effect, but it happened from time to time for people.

I was given a steriod while I was still in surgery. They suggested that I stay upright, put ice on my neck, drink ice cold stuff and report back in a couple of hours.

I did all of those things. The swelling was still the same. The nurse from the OR called me to check on me and my surgeon’s nurse called to check on me.

If the swelling isn’t better by the morning, I have to go in and be seen. I’m hoping it’s better.

The pain is much better than I was expecting. I have a nice cozy buddy to wrap around my neck and it feels good. I’m keeping up with my fluid intake.

I think that’s the biggest thing to make sure you do with this surgery…stay hydrated! It really, really makes a difference. I can tell when I have taken a 30 minute nap, it hurts so much more when I wake up because I haven’t been sipping.

My mom was here again before K went to school. She made lunches, fed the girls breakfast and helped get Jon and K out the door on time.

Then she set to work on folding laundry before taking E to school.

Then at my request, she took M with her and they brought me home some mashed potatoes from KFC.

They were good. Gravy and all. I ate two small bowls of it throughout the afternoon.

This afternoon, my sister and niece came to visit. With them they brought flowers, four chick flicks, magazines and three soup meals. What a sweetie! She also took E home with her to stay for a few days.

They are going to have a great time!

After Jon got home from work, Mom took M home with her. I think they are going to have a blast also.

For dinner Jon pureed me some of the baked potato soup my sister brought. Yummy! Thanks, Melissa!

So we are just left with K tonight. She just finished up her homework with Jon supervising and is headed to take a bath.

All in all, it’s been a good day. My throat hurts, but is managable. My uvula is the biggest problem.

We’ll see what day 2 brings…I get to wash my hair!