DITL for November 20, 2013
A day in the life of a post brain surgery patient. Lots of warnings, I suppose - lots of medical stuff, scar pictures, gross body stuffs, etc. My face swells up at various different rates throughout this day. Dirty house due to crazy life. Typical day in my life at the moment.
Reference picture. I took this right before my brain surgery on Thursday morning, November 14th. I have a lot of facial swelling now due to where I was cut and being on steroids. I was released from the hospital on Monday night, the 18th, for doing so well. This is what my day is like at home now. Join me?
My day starts crazy early. This was around 3 in the morning. Couldn't sleep due to some pain in my arms so I stayed up for a bit until I fell back asleep.
I can take my pain pills (Tylenol 3 with codeine) every 6 hours. This was around 6 in the morning when I woke up to take them. Don't take them on time? Gah - the pain catches up with you.
After I took my pain pills I couldn't get comfy in bed (it's hard to when your neck was sliced open) so I went to the couch to sleep sitting up. Hello my Love! Brian comes to wake me up around 10 or so to tell me it was time for my big round of meds for the day.
My set-up for most of the night. Sometimes this is the most comfortable that I can get. It works out okay.
Hello breakfast and cuts on my wrists! This would be my stool softener, my Pepcid (didn't realize ulcers were common after surgery - so far so good here), my seizure meds, and my steroids. Tasty!
My ever-present straw. For now (I hope) I am slightly paralyzed around my left jaw bone and have trouble opening my mouth sometimes.
I get up and check on Connie, who hasn't really left my side since I got home. She's an awesome furry daughter friend.
My body REFUSES to regulate it's body temperature and this normally always hot chica is now always FREEZING. Burr! Hot pink fluffy shoes it is. My daughter told me what to buy for my hospital stay and these hot pink fluffy shoes were A MUST MOMMY, but now I am glad I have them.
My beautiful, silly daughter who is already up and practicing her "tricks" on our bed. She has been amazing throughout all of this and my scar doesn't scare her and she just really rocks. I was able to see her at the hospital the day that I got out and she brought me chocolates and ate them all and took a selfie as she was doing it:
Kids these days.
It is really hard to brush my teeth. Isn't my swollen neck area fab? Lookin' good! Anyways, I manage to brush my teeth for only about the third day in a row and it feels AMAZING to have a clean mouth.
Wash my face with one of these bad boys. I can't bend my neck really so splashing water and soap on my face would be comical and I just might drown doing it, so these things are awesome! It's really gross how much dirty I get on my face just by hanging out.
Another reason I can't really put water to my face is that bright silver thing in my head - a staple. Have to leave that dry for another week or so. They had to bolt my head down to do my surgery, which was around 9 hours long. How amazing is that? My head was bolted down. The other side didn't need a staple because my right side is obviously the superior side.
I try to put on makeup to feel human, and I'm able to put on some powder which makes me feel like a supermodel.
So this is me. Sexxxiest picture ever, no? I want to say that it looks worse than it is, but no - that's about right. My neck is swollen. My ear. I can't turn my neck. I can't get any of this wet for a while. It is held together by GLUE. My tumor was growing on the left side of my brain, and it was growing up through my skull and up into my ear. This thing was determined. My awesome doctor got it all out with minimal damage and I hear that I am crazy lucky. I believe it. This was me after surgery:
ANOTHER SEXY PICTURE.
Open the door for Connie so that she can lay in the sunlight.
I stop and smell the roses that Bella got me while I was in the hospital. Lovely!
This is as good as it is going to get today, lol. I'm fine with that. When I got released from the hospital I went straight to my parents house where I begged my mom to cut off my hair since it hurt so bad (and felt gross since I can't wash it yet). So I now have this 80's 'do where it is basically shaved on one side and cut short on the other. Eh - it will grow back.
I have to do my breathing exercises every couple of hours so that I don't get pneumonia. When I can get up and around more I can stop doing it.
I'm still so dehydrated so lip balm it is.
And, of course, she has to have some as well.
I get online and try to catch up with my messages for a moment. I wrote seeaef back.
I've been trying to update my Caring Bridge journal for a bit so I try again for a few minutes.
I write my friend back who was also one of my nurses in the NSICU. See:
That was the day after my surgery when she helped me up to sit up in a chair. That. Felt. So. Damned. Good.
Brian, a.k.a. the most amazing husband/post-surgery-takes-care-of-you guy ever makes us all some lunch.
This is an absolute horrible picture of me but he looks awesome so I had to include it. The swollen face look is really not my style at all.
Lunch! Soft turkey that was thin enough to chew and canned pears. I couldn't eat the crackers. Please excuse the messy table.
Bella is super happy that her grandparents are here! Brian gets back to work and they take Bella out for an hour or so to treat her.
Music is very healing, ya know? All of my friends gave me songs to make this brain tumor mix. "Cure for Pain" was the first song I heard in the hospital after my surgery and it was brilliant.
Check my mail and see that I have a card from my old roomie Lou and his husband Darren. Hurrah!
lol, my pits stink! This is a good thing, though! My body is starting to work in small ways again. Brian was a good sport with this picture.
This area of my back has been hurting/sore for a bit so I have Brian take a picture of it. It is kinda like a bed sore from being moved around at the hospital so much.
Swollen neck alert! I have these bruises all over my arms since I had to have 4 IVs at various different times.
Pain pills.
Bella returns with my parents and her craft activity for the afternoon.
Breathing exercise.
Figuring out what to do.
Smile! Laughter is a good thing right now.
This girl loves her sand art.
I finally finished my hospital stay and what happened journal update on my Caring Bridge journal. You can read all the details at my journal on Livejournal, or here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/elizabethdavis/journal
Afternoon snack. Her grandparents got her Italian ice.
And here is how bad I was feeling. They had to leave so that I could take a nap and deflate a bit. This is probably one of the worst pictures of me ever but it is my reality at the moment. I am thankful for my parents help right now.
After laying down for a bit my face evens out a bit, or I just take it at a better angle. ;) My face is still swollen, though, as evidence by the lines on my nose where my glasses were (they usually don't do that).
My neck is in pain so I check to see if anything looks wrong. It looks as it should so it just means I am sore.
I manage to fall asleep and Brian wakes me up to tell me that it is time to eat dinner soon.
By the yawn on her face it looks as though Connie slept right along beside me. Bella got her few minutes on the Kindle before dinner.
Again.
Wendy's chili. Don't hate. It is easy to swallow and I, ahem, still need my first BM after surgery so I am hoping this will help.
Pain meds.
And the chili works! This was horrible. I've had surgeries before and I knew having a BM post-op is difficult even with stool softeners but this was pure misery.
So of course I email my mom and share my potty news because that is totally normal.
Bath time! I'm still waaaaaay too weak to step into a shower, and I still can't get my head wet, so Brian has been giving me sponge baths every night. Bella likes to help when she feels like it. She likes pumping out the no rinse soap.
You loose all modesty once you've been in a hospital for a while, and thankfully Brian is awesome and doesn't mind doing this.
He checks my belly staples. I had fat removed from my belly to put into my ear. How cool/gross is that? I told them I have enough belly fat to help out anyone else who needs it but they didn't listen. ;)
Tonight my feet are not as swollen as the night before. Hurrah! My legs are still a bit swollen but they are feeling better as well. It's nice not to have those "massage socks" on them anymore, even though I did get used to them and eventually kind of liked them.
Wipe my face down.
Brian washes my hair to the best of his ability. I can't wait to step into running water again.
He finishes up the back.
Post-bath Bella remembers she never showed Brian her art for the day. We talk about arts and crafts for a while.
Again.
Such a sleepy picture with my silly girl.
She is really committed to her poses.
Bella goes to sleep so it is JELLO TIME.
My next 12 hour round of the same meds I had for breakfast.
Put on a robe. My body temperature is dropping.
Try to take a sweet picture of Connie but she moves around and taunts me.
My jaw/head/neck/younameit starts to hurt so I move myself to the couch.
Watch my show.
Brian puts bandages on my back where my sore is to see if it would help (not really).
He then takes a picture of the staples in my belly so that I can see how they are doing. This is actually the one places that does not hurt at all. I have belly fat in my head. BELLY FAT IN MY HEAD. Crazy.
Time passes and I fall asleep for a bit. Brian wakes me worried since I'm moaning and in pain and gives me my next round of pain meds.
Cheers!
Reference picture. I took this right before my brain surgery on Thursday morning, November 14th. I have a lot of facial swelling now due to where I was cut and being on steroids. I was released from the hospital on Monday night, the 18th, for doing so well. This is what my day is like at home now. Join me?
My day starts crazy early. This was around 3 in the morning. Couldn't sleep due to some pain in my arms so I stayed up for a bit until I fell back asleep.
I can take my pain pills (Tylenol 3 with codeine) every 6 hours. This was around 6 in the morning when I woke up to take them. Don't take them on time? Gah - the pain catches up with you.
After I took my pain pills I couldn't get comfy in bed (it's hard to when your neck was sliced open) so I went to the couch to sleep sitting up. Hello my Love! Brian comes to wake me up around 10 or so to tell me it was time for my big round of meds for the day.
My set-up for most of the night. Sometimes this is the most comfortable that I can get. It works out okay.
Hello breakfast and cuts on my wrists! This would be my stool softener, my Pepcid (didn't realize ulcers were common after surgery - so far so good here), my seizure meds, and my steroids. Tasty!
My ever-present straw. For now (I hope) I am slightly paralyzed around my left jaw bone and have trouble opening my mouth sometimes.
I get up and check on Connie, who hasn't really left my side since I got home. She's an awesome furry daughter friend.
My body REFUSES to regulate it's body temperature and this normally always hot chica is now always FREEZING. Burr! Hot pink fluffy shoes it is. My daughter told me what to buy for my hospital stay and these hot pink fluffy shoes were A MUST MOMMY, but now I am glad I have them.
My beautiful, silly daughter who is already up and practicing her "tricks" on our bed. She has been amazing throughout all of this and my scar doesn't scare her and she just really rocks. I was able to see her at the hospital the day that I got out and she brought me chocolates and ate them all and took a selfie as she was doing it:
Kids these days.
It is really hard to brush my teeth. Isn't my swollen neck area fab? Lookin' good! Anyways, I manage to brush my teeth for only about the third day in a row and it feels AMAZING to have a clean mouth.
Wash my face with one of these bad boys. I can't bend my neck really so splashing water and soap on my face would be comical and I just might drown doing it, so these things are awesome! It's really gross how much dirty I get on my face just by hanging out.
Another reason I can't really put water to my face is that bright silver thing in my head - a staple. Have to leave that dry for another week or so. They had to bolt my head down to do my surgery, which was around 9 hours long. How amazing is that? My head was bolted down. The other side didn't need a staple because my right side is obviously the superior side.
I try to put on makeup to feel human, and I'm able to put on some powder which makes me feel like a supermodel.
So this is me. Sexxxiest picture ever, no? I want to say that it looks worse than it is, but no - that's about right. My neck is swollen. My ear. I can't turn my neck. I can't get any of this wet for a while. It is held together by GLUE. My tumor was growing on the left side of my brain, and it was growing up through my skull and up into my ear. This thing was determined. My awesome doctor got it all out with minimal damage and I hear that I am crazy lucky. I believe it. This was me after surgery:
ANOTHER SEXY PICTURE.
Open the door for Connie so that she can lay in the sunlight.
I stop and smell the roses that Bella got me while I was in the hospital. Lovely!
This is as good as it is going to get today, lol. I'm fine with that. When I got released from the hospital I went straight to my parents house where I begged my mom to cut off my hair since it hurt so bad (and felt gross since I can't wash it yet). So I now have this 80's 'do where it is basically shaved on one side and cut short on the other. Eh - it will grow back.
I have to do my breathing exercises every couple of hours so that I don't get pneumonia. When I can get up and around more I can stop doing it.
I'm still so dehydrated so lip balm it is.
And, of course, she has to have some as well.
I get online and try to catch up with my messages for a moment. I wrote seeaef back.
I've been trying to update my Caring Bridge journal for a bit so I try again for a few minutes.
I write my friend back who was also one of my nurses in the NSICU. See:
That was the day after my surgery when she helped me up to sit up in a chair. That. Felt. So. Damned. Good.
Brian, a.k.a. the most amazing husband/post-surgery-takes-care-of-you guy ever makes us all some lunch.
This is an absolute horrible picture of me but he looks awesome so I had to include it. The swollen face look is really not my style at all.
Lunch! Soft turkey that was thin enough to chew and canned pears. I couldn't eat the crackers. Please excuse the messy table.
Bella is super happy that her grandparents are here! Brian gets back to work and they take Bella out for an hour or so to treat her.
Music is very healing, ya know? All of my friends gave me songs to make this brain tumor mix. "Cure for Pain" was the first song I heard in the hospital after my surgery and it was brilliant.
Check my mail and see that I have a card from my old roomie Lou and his husband Darren. Hurrah!
lol, my pits stink! This is a good thing, though! My body is starting to work in small ways again. Brian was a good sport with this picture.
This area of my back has been hurting/sore for a bit so I have Brian take a picture of it. It is kinda like a bed sore from being moved around at the hospital so much.
Swollen neck alert! I have these bruises all over my arms since I had to have 4 IVs at various different times.
Pain pills.
Bella returns with my parents and her craft activity for the afternoon.
Breathing exercise.
Figuring out what to do.
Smile! Laughter is a good thing right now.
This girl loves her sand art.
I finally finished my hospital stay and what happened journal update on my Caring Bridge journal. You can read all the details at my journal on Livejournal, or here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/elizabethdavis/journal
Afternoon snack. Her grandparents got her Italian ice.
And here is how bad I was feeling. They had to leave so that I could take a nap and deflate a bit. This is probably one of the worst pictures of me ever but it is my reality at the moment. I am thankful for my parents help right now.
After laying down for a bit my face evens out a bit, or I just take it at a better angle. ;) My face is still swollen, though, as evidence by the lines on my nose where my glasses were (they usually don't do that).
My neck is in pain so I check to see if anything looks wrong. It looks as it should so it just means I am sore.
I manage to fall asleep and Brian wakes me up to tell me that it is time to eat dinner soon.
By the yawn on her face it looks as though Connie slept right along beside me. Bella got her few minutes on the Kindle before dinner.
Again.
Wendy's chili. Don't hate. It is easy to swallow and I, ahem, still need my first BM after surgery so I am hoping this will help.
Pain meds.
And the chili works! This was horrible. I've had surgeries before and I knew having a BM post-op is difficult even with stool softeners but this was pure misery.
So of course I email my mom and share my potty news because that is totally normal.
Bath time! I'm still waaaaaay too weak to step into a shower, and I still can't get my head wet, so Brian has been giving me sponge baths every night. Bella likes to help when she feels like it. She likes pumping out the no rinse soap.
You loose all modesty once you've been in a hospital for a while, and thankfully Brian is awesome and doesn't mind doing this.
He checks my belly staples. I had fat removed from my belly to put into my ear. How cool/gross is that? I told them I have enough belly fat to help out anyone else who needs it but they didn't listen. ;)
Tonight my feet are not as swollen as the night before. Hurrah! My legs are still a bit swollen but they are feeling better as well. It's nice not to have those "massage socks" on them anymore, even though I did get used to them and eventually kind of liked them.
Wipe my face down.
Brian washes my hair to the best of his ability. I can't wait to step into running water again.
He finishes up the back.
Post-bath Bella remembers she never showed Brian her art for the day. We talk about arts and crafts for a while.
Again.
Such a sleepy picture with my silly girl.
She is really committed to her poses.
Bella goes to sleep so it is JELLO TIME.
My next 12 hour round of the same meds I had for breakfast.
Put on a robe. My body temperature is dropping.
Try to take a sweet picture of Connie but she moves around and taunts me.
My jaw/head/neck/younameit starts to hurt so I move myself to the couch.
Watch my show.
Brian puts bandages on my back where my sore is to see if it would help (not really).
He then takes a picture of the staples in my belly so that I can see how they are doing. This is actually the one places that does not hurt at all. I have belly fat in my head. BELLY FAT IN MY HEAD. Crazy.
Time passes and I fall asleep for a bit. Brian wakes me worried since I'm moaning and in pain and gives me my next round of pain meds.
Cheers!