Showing posts with label surgery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surgery. Show all posts
Friday, July 18, 2008
All Is Extremely Well
Hey everyone! Just thought I would let every know that I'm doing great. Not much pain, no bruising (so far), and I'm disappointed that I'm not very sleepy. (If you haven't learned by now, I love a good nap or sleep and yet I'm still awake at 11:00 pm). I can already breathe easier through my nose. I'm thinking that I may need to give the anesthesiologist and Dr. Stock (my ENT) a bonus. Oh wait, that's where the $8-10k is already going! Good thing we have insurance!
Live Blogging the Surgery
Brenda has left for the outpatient surgery at Davis Hospital. Her mother will stay there until she's taken into surgery and will pick her up.
I'll be updating this post throughout the day with any news regarding the surgery. The surgery won't be over until 4 or so today (that's my guess) and she probably won't be home until the 6 or 7 o'clock hour.
Before she left, we discussed posting photos of the post-surgery. She's game, though we've heard that it might be frightening for young children.
I'll keep you posted.
UPDATE: 1:44 pm - Joyce reports that they have taken her back into the operating room. Procedure should take an hour or so.
UPDATE: 3:22 pm - She's out of surgery and into the recovery room. Joyce reports that everything went well. She'll stay in recover for another half hour and then they'll move her to observation to see how well she reacts to food and drink. So far so good!
UPDATE: 7:19 pm - Brenda came home about 5:30 p.m. and puked in a sack in the garage so that the kids wouldn't see her barf blood inside the house. Other than that, she's doing really well. She doesn't look like a battered wife, so we probably won't post photos. Since she's mostly alert, I wasn't able to ask her questions like, "so... what do you really think about..." This concludes the live blogging.
I'll be updating this post throughout the day with any news regarding the surgery. The surgery won't be over until 4 or so today (that's my guess) and she probably won't be home until the 6 or 7 o'clock hour.
Before she left, we discussed posting photos of the post-surgery. She's game, though we've heard that it might be frightening for young children.
I'll keep you posted.
UPDATE: 1:44 pm - Joyce reports that they have taken her back into the operating room. Procedure should take an hour or so.
UPDATE: 3:22 pm - She's out of surgery and into the recovery room. Joyce reports that everything went well. She'll stay in recover for another half hour and then they'll move her to observation to see how well she reacts to food and drink. So far so good!
UPDATE: 7:19 pm - Brenda came home about 5:30 p.m. and puked in a sack in the garage so that the kids wouldn't see her barf blood inside the house. Other than that, she's doing really well. She doesn't look like a battered wife, so we probably won't post photos. Since she's mostly alert, I wasn't able to ask her questions like, "so... what do you really think about..." This concludes the live blogging.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
A Look Inside My Head
Alan and I could both tell you that a lot goes on inside of my head. It’s always full of something. Unfortunately Alan could never tell you quite what it is that is going on inside. While doctors and medicine haven’t yet invented a machine that can tell Alan quite what I am thinking, they can tell us literally what is inside my head. Thus, a CT scan this week showed that I really do have a lot inside my head. But, the doctors say that I really shouldn’t have quite so much going on. Here’s a comparison of a “normal” CT scan, and my CT scan. The black areas are air. The round circles are eye sockets.
My CT Scan (Which I found out is harder to scan than I thought)
(It's a bad scan, but basically the nose is full, as well as the sinuses)
Apparently, I have so much matter (not just mucus) in my nose and all my sinuses that this is the cause of my inability to breathe through my nose (including headaches, and the facial pain). I laugh because I went to an allergist about 7 years ago. He told me at that time that I had polyps in my nose that I might need to have them removed. My nose/sinus problems continued for years and 2 years ago I lost all sense of smell. But, did I go to a doctor? Of course not. I did eventually regain a sense of smell (oddly enough, working with soil pep was about the only thing that helped), but I continued to have breathing problems and chronic infections.
It wasn’t until I was at a girl’s weekend with my old college roommates in April that I realized I really should see a doc. My good friend Noel, who had the unfortunate luck to share a bed with me, was kept up all night listening to me struggle to breathe (apparently rather loudly). She suggested I get to an ENT. Good thing too. My symptoms are quickly worsening and despite the ENT giving me both steroids and antibiotics, there is no relief yet for me. I am actually looking forward to the scheduled surgery this coming Friday. The doc initially thought he would use a local anesthesia and I would need 2-3 days to recover. After looking at my CT scan, he’s now putting me under a general anesthesia and giving me a full week to recover. Let’s hope this eliminates just the literal “extra” stuff in my head, and not the “metaphorical” stuff in my head.
A Normal Person's CT Scan (below)
My CT Scan (Which I found out is harder to scan than I thought)
(It's a bad scan, but basically the nose is full, as well as the sinuses)
Apparently, I have so much matter (not just mucus) in my nose and all my sinuses that this is the cause of my inability to breathe through my nose (including headaches, and the facial pain). I laugh because I went to an allergist about 7 years ago. He told me at that time that I had polyps in my nose that I might need to have them removed. My nose/sinus problems continued for years and 2 years ago I lost all sense of smell. But, did I go to a doctor? Of course not. I did eventually regain a sense of smell (oddly enough, working with soil pep was about the only thing that helped), but I continued to have breathing problems and chronic infections.
It wasn’t until I was at a girl’s weekend with my old college roommates in April that I realized I really should see a doc. My good friend Noel, who had the unfortunate luck to share a bed with me, was kept up all night listening to me struggle to breathe (apparently rather loudly). She suggested I get to an ENT. Good thing too. My symptoms are quickly worsening and despite the ENT giving me both steroids and antibiotics, there is no relief yet for me. I am actually looking forward to the scheduled surgery this coming Friday. The doc initially thought he would use a local anesthesia and I would need 2-3 days to recover. After looking at my CT scan, he’s now putting me under a general anesthesia and giving me a full week to recover. Let’s hope this eliminates just the literal “extra” stuff in my head, and not the “metaphorical” stuff in my head.
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