Round Two: Extract and Discard

I was looking forward to Monday with equal degrees of sheer joy and concern. I was very excited to have the tubes, stitches and other unmentionables removed from my nose, but I was terrified of the pain that my doctor promised would follow this quick procedure.

My biggest concern was making sure I was fully medicated. So I took my dose of Percocet an hour earlier than I was supposed to and gave myself an extra half dose to really make me giddy. Let's just say it worked -- I was a chatty Cathy, full of giggles and free of all earthly cares. This turned out to be the best idea ever because they decided not to use any additional pain suppressants when I got there. Perhaps they noticed it would not be necessary....

Below are some gross, but informative, snapshots of round two:

The first photo is of me covered and ready to go. At this point and I am still naively smiling.

This is what initially came out of my nose: a few stitches and two very irritating nose tubes. The doctor praised me for the cleanliness of my tubes. Apparently, the usually come out with clots and other gross attachments. Jeremy and I cleaned them like clockwork three times a day with the nose needle and Q-tips so I'm glad it paid off.
Then he took the nose vacuum and sucked out all the gel padding, leftover stitching, scabs, loose pieces of skin and whatever else was 'suckable.' It felt really good when it was all done.

When all was said and done, it will take about three months for my nose to heal. During that time I have to be sure that it doesn't get smashed. There are still a few stitches in there so I have to keep it moist and irrigated with Saline water for the next week or so.

He checked out my tonsils and they look great as well. He said they will continue to hurt for the rest of the week, but the pain should dull significantly sometime this weekend.

He also thought that I should drop my Percocet dosage to 5 mils every four hours instead of 10 mils. I tried that for 12 hours but the pain was so bad I not only went back to 10 mils, but I also made him write me a new prescription for a small bottle just in case I run out before the pain stops. I did get two surgeries and he gave me the same amount he would for someone who only got one.

I'm starting to feel like my old self again. Still on drugs so I can't drive and am a little woozy. If I get off the meds by Sunday he said I could start jogging on Monday -- not for very long or very fast. I got the okay to start taking walks outside, which has been wonderful. I still get plenty of rest and sleep. Jeremy is doing most of the work with Abby so I can concentrate on getting better on my own pace. Loves him!

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!