REVISION CHEST SURGERY IS DONE.
I'm too lazy to write this over again so I'm gonna just copy and paste what I wrote in my myspace journal. I don't really write about my transition there, but I've been keeping friends and family up to date about the surgeries. Please excuse my spelling. Not that I've misspelled all over the place in here anyway :O)
Friday, October 10, 2008
Revision surgery update.
Current mood:
groggy
Well I finally did it...took the plunge and had the rest of this surgery. I'm happy it's done... it's just, all I had to go through to get here which was more of a pain in ass then the pain I have in my chest. It ended up being worth it though.
I went in for a revision chest sugery on the 6th at 9:30am. They had to put me under general anesthetic. Weird thing about that stuff is I wasn't even aware I fell asleep...I was just laying there, and the next thing I knew, I woke up...lol. I'm sure everyone has that experience, but it's just wierd. It was lipo suction on both sides of my chest which lasted about an hour. Honestly, it wasn't that painful. Right now it feels like I did push ups the other day or something, and I'm not on any pain medication. I have maybe just a few stitches on both sides, the incisions were very small. They gave me hydrocodone post-op which I think created an ulcer, so after 4 days, I stopped taking it. I paid about $650.00 for the anethesiologist, but the surgeon didn't charge me extra for having to do touch ups. I got to keep some of my savings which was exciting considering it sure beats being dead broke.
I did have a few problems with the person who said he'd drive me there and back (a co-worker), but I made another phone call, and had a ride home secured so I wouldn't have to worry.
Two hours after I got home that day...the fire alarm to the apartment complex block went off. I jumped up out of my hydrocodone haze and tried to stay clear headed enough to gather all the stuff up I thought I needed. I couldn't find my keys though! It sucked, but I left without them and went down to the office. Apparently there was no fire, but someone pulled one of the alarms...lol. Fucking great, right? Yeah.
I have to wear my surgical vest 24 hours a day for two weeks. Even in the shower. It was strange having to bathe with it on. Since I didn't have a blow dryer...I turned on the heater and layed down in front of the heating vent. It worked ok I think. It dried most of it within an hour. My back hurts a little from having to sleep with it on though, and frankly, I don't think the 2 weeks are going to go by fast enough. For about 5 weeks I'll have to wear the hell out of it, and maybe longer... who knows.
Yeah so the days have been bleeding together here & there. I sleep at weird hours of the day...just when ever I feel the need to. I've had some really dark, brooding dreams though... which I'm sure would make really cool movies...lol. One that I remember was about these lizard creatures, but they looked like humans too, and I was thinking that it might have been caused by a virus, but found out at the end of the dream that the creatures weren't from earth. The dream was so vivid too... the lizard men did this wierd deep roaring noise. They were fast and vicious, and they'd jump on people and start ripping them apart. It scared the shit out of me so much that when I woke up, I was glad it wasn't real! My mind creates the most fucked up shit when I'm sleeping! Oh well...lol.
Anyway, just thought I'd update on what happened. I go back to work on the 13th.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
To my body... the house of pain.
So I was starting to feel great and everything (which was within a span of a day & a half in the last few days) when I realized I'm developing a head cold. Not to sound dramatic or anything, but I'd really like to shoot myself (I'm obviously kidding). This is the second time I've been sick like this while recovering from surgery. On top of that, they tried to call me into work a day early, and I had stomach problems last night & the night before. I've been feeling a bit crampy, probably from the laxitives I've had to take for the pain meds. Actually, I'm positive that's what the promblem is. It kept me up all night, and I definately wasn't gonna go into work 5 days after surgery on 2 hours of sleep....especially if I wasn't scheaduled to work anyway. The stomach flu is going around and one of my co-workers called me asking if I could go in for him. You know, I'm having a problem with that guy too, he's been pissing me off here lately with his unthoughtfulness. But I don't know why I'm surprised. I can't believe I was his only option though... I mean c'mon. I'm not really even asking for sympathy here, just common sense. If the roles were reversed, I wouldn't have even bothered to call him. Regardless, I told him I would go in early because I was feeling better, and it didn't end up being the case later. I called in sick at 7 in the morning, and since I wasn't scheaduled ...I won't get any sick points counted against me anyway.
Ugh! Man, what is it with me? I'd like to think I have a high tolerance for pain, but it just seems if I have one health problem, another one follows, and then I have to deal with it compounded or one right after another. It's not like I'm feeling sorry for myself really, but I find myself grieving over being anchored to a body that causes so much pain ...it's over whelming sometimes. And really...life is full of pain, and people deal with it in thier own individual ways. But in essence...what is pain? A reminder that we are alive or that we are dying? I guess it might be both.
So that's as far as my experience went within the first week. For the most part right now, it seems to be healing up well, but it does still swell up ... the left side in particular. It seems like I could still have a problem with my chest being a little mishapen and have one side with some extra tissue, but even now, it looks a lot better than before. I'll post some new shirtless pictures at some point, just not sure when that'll be.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Revision surgery update.
Current mood:
groggy
Well I finally did it...took the plunge and had the rest of this surgery. I'm happy it's done... it's just, all I had to go through to get here which was more of a pain in ass then the pain I have in my chest. It ended up being worth it though.
I went in for a revision chest sugery on the 6th at 9:30am. They had to put me under general anesthetic. Weird thing about that stuff is I wasn't even aware I fell asleep...I was just laying there, and the next thing I knew, I woke up...lol. I'm sure everyone has that experience, but it's just wierd. It was lipo suction on both sides of my chest which lasted about an hour. Honestly, it wasn't that painful. Right now it feels like I did push ups the other day or something, and I'm not on any pain medication. I have maybe just a few stitches on both sides, the incisions were very small. They gave me hydrocodone post-op which I think created an ulcer, so after 4 days, I stopped taking it. I paid about $650.00 for the anethesiologist, but the surgeon didn't charge me extra for having to do touch ups. I got to keep some of my savings which was exciting considering it sure beats being dead broke.
I did have a few problems with the person who said he'd drive me there and back (a co-worker), but I made another phone call, and had a ride home secured so I wouldn't have to worry.
Two hours after I got home that day...the fire alarm to the apartment complex block went off. I jumped up out of my hydrocodone haze and tried to stay clear headed enough to gather all the stuff up I thought I needed. I couldn't find my keys though! It sucked, but I left without them and went down to the office. Apparently there was no fire, but someone pulled one of the alarms...lol. Fucking great, right? Yeah.
I have to wear my surgical vest 24 hours a day for two weeks. Even in the shower. It was strange having to bathe with it on. Since I didn't have a blow dryer...I turned on the heater and layed down in front of the heating vent. It worked ok I think. It dried most of it within an hour. My back hurts a little from having to sleep with it on though, and frankly, I don't think the 2 weeks are going to go by fast enough. For about 5 weeks I'll have to wear the hell out of it, and maybe longer... who knows.
Yeah so the days have been bleeding together here & there. I sleep at weird hours of the day...just when ever I feel the need to. I've had some really dark, brooding dreams though... which I'm sure would make really cool movies...lol. One that I remember was about these lizard creatures, but they looked like humans too, and I was thinking that it might have been caused by a virus, but found out at the end of the dream that the creatures weren't from earth. The dream was so vivid too... the lizard men did this wierd deep roaring noise. They were fast and vicious, and they'd jump on people and start ripping them apart. It scared the shit out of me so much that when I woke up, I was glad it wasn't real! My mind creates the most fucked up shit when I'm sleeping! Oh well...lol.
Anyway, just thought I'd update on what happened. I go back to work on the 13th.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
To my body... the house of pain.
So I was starting to feel great and everything (which was within a span of a day & a half in the last few days) when I realized I'm developing a head cold. Not to sound dramatic or anything, but I'd really like to shoot myself (I'm obviously kidding). This is the second time I've been sick like this while recovering from surgery. On top of that, they tried to call me into work a day early, and I had stomach problems last night & the night before. I've been feeling a bit crampy, probably from the laxitives I've had to take for the pain meds. Actually, I'm positive that's what the promblem is. It kept me up all night, and I definately wasn't gonna go into work 5 days after surgery on 2 hours of sleep....especially if I wasn't scheaduled to work anyway. The stomach flu is going around and one of my co-workers called me asking if I could go in for him. You know, I'm having a problem with that guy too, he's been pissing me off here lately with his unthoughtfulness. But I don't know why I'm surprised. I can't believe I was his only option though... I mean c'mon. I'm not really even asking for sympathy here, just common sense. If the roles were reversed, I wouldn't have even bothered to call him. Regardless, I told him I would go in early because I was feeling better, and it didn't end up being the case later. I called in sick at 7 in the morning, and since I wasn't scheaduled ...I won't get any sick points counted against me anyway.
Ugh! Man, what is it with me? I'd like to think I have a high tolerance for pain, but it just seems if I have one health problem, another one follows, and then I have to deal with it compounded or one right after another. It's not like I'm feeling sorry for myself really, but I find myself grieving over being anchored to a body that causes so much pain ...it's over whelming sometimes. And really...life is full of pain, and people deal with it in thier own individual ways. But in essence...what is pain? A reminder that we are alive or that we are dying? I guess it might be both.
So that's as far as my experience went within the first week. For the most part right now, it seems to be healing up well, but it does still swell up ... the left side in particular. It seems like I could still have a problem with my chest being a little mishapen and have one side with some extra tissue, but even now, it looks a lot better than before. I'll post some new shirtless pictures at some point, just not sure when that'll be.