This surgery was definitely different from start to finish.
We left the house around 7:30 and got to the center before 8. The sign in procedure was the same, as were the people working there. The wait was much shorter though. By 8:30, I was in the surgical chair thing getting hooked up to all the gadgets. My blood pressure was 151/89. That's pretty high for me. The nurse said not to worry about it. She started the IV in the same place as she did the last time and that went fine. There was a different anesthesiologist there. He talked to me a bit about my history and checked my lungs and heart. No good meds to start me off like before LOL. Dr. T came over and poked at my eyes a bit, took a few photos and said he would take off as much as he could but if he took too much off, my eyes wont close. He doesn't want that (neither do I) and said that once the skin grows back again, we'll do another revision. Then they rolled me into the surgery room, reclined the chair and positioned me the way Dr. T wanted me. They hooked up a nasal oxygen thing, I guess because I smoke and then sort of strapped my arms in. They also attached this really cold patch to my back. Being WIDE awake, I asked them what the heck it was. They said it was to ground me for the electrocautery thing. Dr. T reminded them that the oxygen would have to be cut off while the electrocautery thing was in use. It was somewhere around this point that the anesthesiologist slipped something into my IV and I felt woozy. Awake but definitely woozy. There was some talking and I remember Dr T asking the nurse (or someone) if she knew the song that was playing. Without thinking, I said "I do!". Dr. T laughed. The nurse didn't know the song at all. It was a Madonna song from way back when. At this moment, I cant recall which song though. Turns out the nurse person was born in 1990 so yeah, she wouldn't really know any 80's Madonna. It was kind of funny.
I have to say, I definitely wasn't as asleep as I was at the last surgery. I remember smelling the electrocautery thing as it was hopefully burning away the remaining xanthie. I also remember feeling pain. I mentioned that to Dr. T and he shot me with more Novocaine. That hurt and I told him that too! At that point he said he was almost done so they didn't want to give me any more than that. I also asked the anesthesiologist what he gave me, he named 2 drugs that I wasnt familiar with and also propofol, the white stuff.
After he finished up, they sat me up in the chair and rolled me into the recovery room. They immediately put ice on my face. It kept sliding off and finally the nurse said lean your head back and that wont happen! (yeah, duh me..!) After about 5 minutes, she bought me some coffee and offered me toast. Like before, I really didn't want the toast but the coffee was good. Dr. T came over to talk to me again and explained again that he got rid of what he could without damaging the function of my eye lids. He also told me that most of the stitches are internal, the ones that dissolve on their own. He did put a few regular stitches in also just to make sure things stay closed.
After that, I went back to the waiting room, Frank signed the papers and we left. First stop--Dunkin Donuts. I sat in the car with my sunglasses on. Not those huge medical ones, just my regular pair. There are no bandages this time, so the incisions are totally exposed. While he was in the store, I looked at the incisions. They're just as big as before, even slightly longer on the right but there aren't that many external stitches so it doesn't look as frightening. Interestingly, my left eye doesn't feel right. As I was examining it, I recalled Dr. T. saying that the skin would relax in a few days and be more normal. I hope he's right. I got home, and within minutes, the pain set in. Novocaine wears of way too fast. It's a painful hurt this time, not just a regular hurt like before. I can also still smell the burning flesh. I'll be glad when that smell goes away. I ate my sandwich and drank my coffee, and called my mom. She had called here early this morning but we had already left. As I was talking to her, the pain came on more and more. The left hurts way more than the right at the moment. So that, along with they eye not closing quite right and the vision being blurry in that eye, I'm pretty down. Not depressed down, just down. Frank got me settled in my bed and then he left. I'm all alone, except for the cat. This sucks. Being alone normally doesn't bother me, but I don't feel good at all and wish I had someone here to talk with to get my mind off the pain. As expected, the darvocet isn't really doing anything. Its not even making me sleepy. My mom suggested taking another one in 2 hours instead of waiting the 4 hours. I know you cant take more than 6 100mgs in a 24 hour period though so I'm not sure how many or how often I should take them other than what's written on the bottle. I honestly wish I had something stronger. Definitely more painful this time. Not just uncomfortable like before.
Here is the first post op photo. I don't think I need to photograph closed eyes this go'round because only the lowers were done and those are well seen on just the open eye photo. The swelling and bruising have not set in yet, but I'm sure that will happen soon enough. I'll try to update again in 12 hours to let you know how I'm feeling.
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