S3 10 days post op

Hello~
Sorry I didn't update yesterday. Not much changed yesterday anyway!
The bruise under the right eye is healing but still there. The left lower is a little tender if I rub it but is otherwise fine. The right upper is as if nothing happened there. It was only a tiny dot anyway!!!
The left upper, where the flap and moat are continues to heal. I got it wet for the first time yesterday and it appears to have done it some good. It actually looks like its sliding into place now. The moat is still there but after it got wet, the new "scab" looks a lot better. It's going to take it's time, just like the raw spots but it is healing.
On the photos, you may be wondering about the red dot under my left eye. Remember with the last surgery how those 2 bumps came up? Well, this bump had been there since that time but never looked close enough to the surface to do anything with it. Over the past few days it has come up a little closer to the surface so, since I'm totally incapable of leaving well enough alone, I decided to fool around with it. It's definitely just like the other two but is still too deep to get out. It even has a little blue tinge to it. Strange that any remnant stitch would still be there but I cant imagine its anything else. One thing I have to say, after playing with it, my eye doesn't twitch nearly as much as it had been twitching. Connection of some sort?? Possibly. As I said, it appeared to be coming to the surface more over the past few days and that's when the twitching started getting worse. Hopefully over the next day or so I can get what ever is in there out. If not, I see Dr. T on Tuesday...maybe he can get it out.
On another note, I spent some time looking at my eyes and previous photos. There are still 2 areas that I think need work.
1) Right lower lid: Dr. L removed the entire lesion in S1. Within 4 months it was back in its entirety. Dr. T removed the lower 3'rd of the lesion in S2 and after 6 months, it has not returned. In S3, he only took a slither off from the top 3rd. I'd like to see more of the body of the lesion removed using what ever technique he's using that keeps them gone.
2)Left upper lid: Now that the swelling has gone down and the flap is falling into place, I can see what he did and what still needs to be done. There is a piece of xanthie above the flap that is part of the reborn xanthie on that lid. Dr. T took about half or maybe 2/3'rd off but there is still a piece that I would like to see removed.
It looks like he may have used a laser on the right upper, right lower and left lower. I'll have to ask him. I had originally thought there were actual incisions on 2 of them but I'm starting to doubt that. It just isnt the same as previous incisions and looking closely at it, it looks like laser to me. Add that to the list of questions for Tuesday!

Here are tonight's photos. Sorry I didn't take the time to get the clear shots I normally get. It's kind of late and I'm tired but since I didn't update yesterday, I didn't want to update without photos. Besides, this blog is not just for you guys, it's for me too! I think somewhere down the road I'd be upset with myself for skipping 2 days of photos at only 10 days post op!
Have a great Memorial Day weekend!!

S3 8 days post op

Hello~
I was thinking last night how boring the recovery for this surgery has been. Well, maybe not exactly boring but more un-eventful than the others. Dont get me wrong-- I'm not complaining!!!
Todays report is good. Upper right, lower right and lower left all look and feel fine. If it wasn't for that bruise under my right eye and the red on my eyeball, you wouldn't even know something had been done! The left upper is still doing it's thing. The moat looks to be closing in just a little bit and the flap doesnt look as weird. It may all be falling into place but it definitely has a ways to go. The moat is still a moat! I was looking closely at it today and it reminds me of the raw spots I got with the other 2 surgeries. Obviously this is larger but it looks and feels sort of the same. Raw, itchy and mad! One thing I dont think I've mentioned is this new twitch in my left eye. It's coming from the lower outer edge. No scalpel has touched that area so I have no idea why it's happening. I'd really REALLY love to rub that eye... nice and hard!!!
Something else I didn't mention this time that was issue last time is washing my hair. My recovery was so much easier this time and the surgery so much less extensive that I washed my hair IN the shower on day 4! Ha!!! I didn't even tell you guys! I figured, it's really just the left upper that shouldn't get wet and it was easy to cover AND shampoo at the same time! Actually... my hair could use a color touch up but I'm not that crazy. That will have to wait until the moat heals. I remember the raw spots and what happened when they got wet. It was icky. I'd rather wait it out.

So that's todays update. The photos are taken with ointment on so they have that glossy look. It makes the moat look worse doesn't it??. Tomorrow I'll do them dry.
See ya!

S3 1 week post op

One week since the surgery... I cant say it went slow or fast this time. It kind of went by normal!
Not too much to report today as there isn't too much of a change since yesterday. The bruising on the right lower definitely looks better and so does the bruising on the left upper. The right upper, right lower and left lower are all healing, and closed. That was probably faster than any of the other surgeries!!! The left upper still looks a bit angry. Its struggling to heal but looking at it closely, I can see why. I have to keep in mind that it IS only a week and it was the deepest and largest of the incisions this time. The flap doesn't seem to be quite as swollen but it definitely still hurts underneath. The moat part is kind of raw but I continue to use the ointment on it and keep it clear. Remembering not to rub that eye has been a challenge....
So, here are today's photos. They look kind of the same as yesterday dont they?? ;)

S3 6 days post op

Good Morning~
After stressing my eyes yesterday, you'd think I would have gone to bed and slept for 10 hours right..? Hardly. If I got 4 I'm lucky. I woke up SO early today and just couldn't go back to sleep. Oh well...
The eyes are continuing to heal. The right upper and left lower look fine. Unless you look closely, you cant even tell something was done to them. The right lower still has that bruise that looks like a black eye. What ever external stitches he had on that incision fell out yesterday afternoon. If it didn't have such a deep bruise, that lid would look fairly normal too. The upper left on the other hand definitely still looks weird. The last of those stitches fell off this morning and after wiping around it with an alcohol pad, I can finally see what he did. Its like he cut a U shape of skin or a flap and moved it to cover the hole left by taking out some xanthie. I'm not convinced the flap piece was big enough though and around the lower margin, there appears to be like a moat. Yeah, I know... weird. I'm hoping it will all heal together and flatten out---one day! There is still bruising on that lid but only slight swelling. I still think I'm healing faster than before but it could be that it just wasn't as extensive.
My post op appointment was scheduled for Thursday but I have a conflict so I called yesterday to reschedule. The soonest they had available was next Tuesday. I asked the girl to bounce it off of Dr. T and if he wanted to see me sooner I'd find a way to get to his other office. I told her I was doing fine, that this wasn't my first time and that there were no external stitches to be removed. She said if I dont hear from her then Dr. T is okay with Tuesday. So far I haven't heard from her.
There really isn't much else to report today. This surgery seems almost boring compared to the other 2. ~sigh~
Here are today's photos. I'm not sure what to think. Because of the bruising, the right lower remnant xanthie looks huge. Its definitely not thick and gross like they were originally but clearly, there is still xanthie there. There is also a decent size piece still on the left upper. I guess we'll have to see what Dr. T says on Tuesday about that.
See ya tomorrow~

S3 5 days post op

Just a quick update. As I have found out before, I always try to do too much my first day back at work. 7.5 hours later, my upper left lid has a little bit of fresh blood and both eyes hurt and are a little swollen. I should know better by now...

No photos... maybe later. I'm kind of bummed. :/

S3 96 hours post op

Hello~
Would you believe there is really no significant change since yesterday? Well.. it's true!
The bruising on the left upper and right lower may be slightly better. It's sort of hard to tell because its dark and rainy today. No good sunlight to inspect the eyes with! The left upper still hurts and still looks weird but its not a painful type of pain. More of an irritating raw feeling. I haven't had the huge swelling that I've had with the previous surgeries but there is some, again on the left upper and right lower. It's better than it was a few days ago but it never really got too bad. Overall, I'd have to say this surgery was the easiest of the three. However, how the left upper turns out still remains to be seen. Looking at it, I cant imagine he's done with it. There seems to be just too much xanthie left. It's still a bit early to tell though.
I've been sleeping a lot these past few days and I cant say I'm looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. Then again, in this economy, I am thankful that I have a job to go back to...
Here are today's photos. Maybe there will be more of a change to report tomorrow!
See ya~

S3 72 hours post op

Okay, so it's round about 72 hours LOL.
I'm feeling fairly good today, and for the most part my eyes are too.
The right upper does not have any stitch in it. Just a little "hole" where Dr. T took out that dot that was there. The left lower looks fine. It's closed and healing nicely. The right lower, where that huge bruise is looks fine also with just a little swelling. What's weird on that side is my eyeball. As I told you yesterday, it appeared to be bruised in a few places. Its still red and funny looking. I cant wait to ask Dr. T what the heck happened with that eye...
The left upper is still bruised and a little swollen. I dont know what to make of the incision area because it still looks strange. Another stitch dropped out of it this morning too. As I mentioned a few days ago, those 2 stitches weren't holding anything together anyway so I guess it doesn't matter that they fell out. There is still considerable dried blood around it so until that clears, I wont be able to tell what it's doing. It still hurts some, and from what I can see, there is definitely xanthie still on there. My post op visit is Thursday. I'm going to ask him about this one too. I had thought he was going to take more of it off. Maybe he couldn't though... I dont know.
So that's today's update. Even though I took the past 3 days off, my work people still managed to find me. Today it's quiet and I've been able to relax. Yea!
See ya tomorrow!

S3 48 hours post op

Good Morning!
Today I actually feel more like myself! Yea!
As for the eyes.. well... they're coming along. After I posted last night I checked the left upper lid even closer. There wasn't much I could do with it other than check that the skin flap was in the right place and it was. This morning, it looked like it stayed in place but a stitch definitely dropped out. In fact, it kind of got stuck between my two lids. It was weird but I was finally able to nudge it out. I didn't put a lot of ointment on today because I think that flap needs to dry up a bit so that it will stick. Or at least that's what I'm hoping! I promise not to fool around with it today!!! LOL There is still considerable bruising across that lid but the swelling doesn't seem to be too bad.
The left lower looks fine. That's where he took that piece left over from the first surgery. There is one small stitch in that incision but it seems okay.
The right upper looks fine also. I cant decide if there is a stitch up there but its not swollen or bruised too bad.
The right lower is weird. There's a deep bruise right under the eyelash line and that has been there since the surgery. My eyeball is also bruised in some places. I have no idea how that happened. Maybe I was coughing and something slipped..?? The incision itself looks fine, definitely swollen. I cant really tell what he did on that lid. Remember, that's the one he had originally said he wasn't going to do. Looking at it as I type this, I think he may have thinned out the remaining xanthie a little bit. That piece definitely looks thinner in width up at the top. I'll have to compare with other photos once that deep bruise starts to fade.
So, in a nutshell, its the upper left and the lower right that we'll be watching the most.
Here are today's photos. I included a close up of the left upper so we can keep track of that flap and make sure it stays in place!
See you tomorrow, unless of course something changes!!!

S3 36 hours post op

Well.. I'm back, much sooner than I expected. After I posted my last post I went to put ointment on and noticed the left upper lid didnt look right. I'm thinking that when I accidently rubbed the eye earlier, I may have dislodged something. It almost looks like the skin graft came aloose. It still hurts too. I kind of nudged it back into place but I'm not sure it will hold. It appears there were 2 stitches holding it and while the stitches are still there, they arent connecting skin A to skin B. Great... Dr. T is going on vacation really soon and I dont know what I'll do if something happens and he's not here. I'm going to check it again in the morning and if it still looks the same, I'll have to go see him. He'll probably want to reconnect A to B. That should be fun. Here's a quick photo of it. It looks like I mushed it back into place, but I have no idea if it will stay.
I'll let you know what happens tomorrow.

S3 first post op +24 hours

I finally feel a little better. Sorry I didnt get on here yesterday but I was just so out of it.
So, lets start at the beginning.
The hospital had called here a few times on Tuesday gathering information about me. Much more extensive than the surgi-center. One of the calls was even a sort of medical history check. As it turns out, it did save some time before the surgery.
We got to the hospital at 9:45am. I signed in on the 5th floor (believe it or not, thats the main floor...) and filled out a short form. A lady came out and took me to a cubicle where they photocopied my ID and my insurance and entered me into their computer. She printed a few things and 2 sheets full of labels. From there, I was sent to the 6th floor to wait. Apparently they have more than one surgery area for outpatient procedures--one on the 4th floor and the one I was at, the 6th floor. Frank and I sat down and the first thing I noticed was a huge TV screen with patient information on it. Nothing really personal, just name, doctor and OR number. Next to that were a bunch of boxes that indicated where in the process you were, ie: pre-op, OR, Recovery etc. I thought it was kind of cool. I told Frank he could watch my progress but he just rolled his eyes.
Around 10:30, they called me in to the pre-op area. I was instructed to undress to my undies and to put on a gown and some booties. I also had to take off all my jewelry. Typical hospital routine. After I did that, they did a urine pregnancy test which of course was negative. A nurse stayed with me in the little room filling out something on her computer and another nurse came and started an IV. Naturally, she saw what she thought was a great vein and despite my protests, she inserted the IV in it. I now have a HUGE bruise there... Anyway, they got that running, checked my BP and temperature and then wrapped me up in warm blankets. I cant say I was cold but they did feel good. The gadget they used to check my temp was pretty cool. They touched it to my forehead then moved it quickly across my skin to my neck. Very Star-Trek'ish! After that, he first nurse went and got Frank so he could sit with me while I waited. Then the anesthesiologist came in to talk to me. Pretty standard stuff, but way more in depth than at the surgi center. A few minutes later, Dr. T came and talked to us. He had originally said he wasnt going to do anything with the right lower but somewhere between my last visit with him and yesterday, he changed his mind. Um... okay. I just told him to do what ever he thought was best without wrecking my eyelid function. He poked around at my eyes a little as if he was confirming some plan he had made. I guess my eyes agreed with his plan because he really didnt say much else.
A few minutes later, they rolled me into the OR. Dr. T was pushing the stretcher with the nurses too! They got me positioned, and an old Stevie Nicks song was playing. The anesthesiologist said I looked nervous so he gave me something to relax me. It did nothing and he noticed that so he zapped me with some more. I felt that one! There was some talking going on but thats when it gets hazy. I think that was around when they gave me the white stuff to put me to sleep. What seemed like about 2 minutes later though, I could hear myself asking them to put me back to sleep. I think I repeated it about 3 times before the anesthesiologist said they couldnt because I was coughing. Let me back track there for a minute. Over last weekend, my daughter was here. I took her to the doctor because her tonsils were really big and she had been sick for a few days. I think I caught something from her because for the past few days I had a slight sore throat and a little coughing. I didnt have a fever or anything so I didnt mention it to the docs. My theory on that was that I didnt want my surgery canceled and since I felt okay and wasnt feverish I kept it to myself. Yeah, I know... So, back to me coughing. Naturally, they dont want to have me coughing while they are working on my eyes so they gave me something to stop the cough but also couldnt put me back under. Interestingly, I havent coughed since... what ever they gave me killed it. In reality, I was asleep for more than the 2 minutes I thought. It was more like 20-30 minutes. The doc says its more like a coma and not sleep because you dont dream. Now that was new... I never heard that before but I didnt dream, so he was probably right. During the last half of my surgery, I ended up in coversation with the docs about their specialties and medicare. Go figure. I cant say I remember details other than asking Dr. T why he chose occular plastics and a few other sketchy things. I'm pretty sure he answered me but I have no idea what he said LOL.
After he was done, they rolled me into the first recovery room. I was wide awake so I didnt have to stay there long. The anesthesiologist (sorry, I just cannot remember his name...) left orders for nausea medication and morphine if I needed it. Seriously? Morphine would have been way overkill for this kind of surgery but I guess that's what he's used to doing. I didnt have any nausea but I did feel the pain coming on as the novicaine wore off. They asked me on a scale of 1-10 where it was and I said about a 2 working its way to a 3. Definitely not morphine worthy! They tried to find him to get me a percocet but he was gone. Eventually they moved me into the second recovery area where I was able to sit in this incredibly comfortable recliner. Note to me... must find out if they sell them to the general public. Frank was able to come see me there and since at this point, it was around 2pm, he was quite antsy. After about another 30 minutes, I was allowed to leave. Of course, since its a hospital, they have to wait for someone to roll you out in a wheel chair. Gotta love it. I finally got out of the hospital and as usual, the first stop was Dunkin Donuts! haha!
I have to say, at first I felt okay but by the time I got home, all the drugs they had given me to relax me kicked in. I felt really sluggish and just didnt want to move out of the bed. Thats why I never did get on here to update. I snapped a few photos and decided I should just go lay down. I applied some ointment, then situated myself with ice packs and took a percocet and went to sleep. Here are the first photos:



My daughters called around 8pm to check on me and I went on back to sleep until around 3am. Thats when I finally got up and looked in the mirror. The incisions are definitely smaller than any of the other ones but they still hurt and of course, the bruising and swelling had started. I got some fresh ice packs, put some more ointment on and went back to bed. This morning, I got up, checked on the incisions and did the ointment, snapped a few more photos and went back to bed. My daughters came over this evening with cupcakes and flowers. What a nice surprise! I think it perked me up a little too. They said I didnt look too bad and that made me feel good!I had cleaned up some of the gunk earlier in the day and I'm glad I did!
So, here I am. Almost 36 hours post op. Right now, the left upper lid hurts. Thats the one where he did the most work. The others arent really painful at the moment, but I am aware of them. Earlier, I absent mindedly rubbed my eye. UGH!!! that hurt! I didnt take any photos tonight because the camera battery is dead. I'm charging it but I think by the time it gets charged, I'll be asleep again. The photos below are from this morning. Maybe I'll just take photos once a day. We'll see how that goes and as you all know, if something out of the ordinary happens, I'll photograph it all!
I'll be back tomorrow to update again. I want to take a good look at what he did and then try to explain it to you guys!

S3 brief post up update

Hi guys...
Sorry I didnt write last night. I just didnt feel up to it. I did take some photos when I got home and I'll post them along with the story a little later. Having this done in the hospital was definitely different!

In a nutshell... I'm okay. Bruised and swollen but okay! I promise I'll be back later today.

S3, the day before~

Hello~
Tomorrow is the day... surgery #3. Am I ready..? hmmm... not sure!

I finally got a copy of the authorization from my insurance. They did put it through as just excision of b9 lesions so there was no review. It automatically approved.
The hospital called this morning to pre-register me. I gave them all my info, which in a way seems pointless to me because I'm going to have to give it all again tomorrow. Whatever. I also got a call from Ellen. They moved the surgery up a few hours because the patient scheduled before me canceled. So, I have to be at the hospital by 10 for surgery at 11:30.
Can you tell I'm in a weird mood?? Yeah, I guess I'm a bit tired too.
I have been working really hard on catching up my work for the past few days. I dont feel quite as prepared as I have for the past 2 surgeries though. At this point, there isnt much else I can do. I'm sure it will all be there when I get back!!!

On a slightly different note, Samantha graduated university yesterday. I'm so proud of her!!! Go Samantha!!! :)

That's pretty much it. Here are 2 photos from today. I tried something a little different with the camera to see if I could improve the quality. Not sure if they are any better or not though!
See ya after the surgery!!!

3rd beginning, brief update #3a

I ended up going for my pre-op physical last night. My daughter needed to go to the doctor so I went with her. Two birds...one stone! I'm all clear! I dont think they faxed the paper over to the eye doctor so I faxed it myself along with the consent form from home. I'll call them today or tomorrow to make sure they got it. While I was talking to Ellen yesterday, I mentioned that the one prescription was spelled wrong and she is sending me another one. I'll tear up this original and then get the new one and the ointment filled over the weekend. No biggie. Now if I could just catch up on all my work I'll be set!
See ya Tuesday or Wednesday!

3rd beginning, brief update #3

Hello!
Ellen, the surgical coordinator called this morning. They received approval from my insurance! I don't have it yet, but if they got it, I guess that's all that matters. She also let me know that a slot at the hospital opened up for the 19th, the original date they had offered me. I took it. I'm scheduled for 1pm that day and have to be there at 11:30am. Since it's approved now, I'll go ahead and get the pre-op done. She says it's just the history form. I do not need an EKG or blood work, only a pregnancy test, which will be given at the hospital. Having had my tubes removed (not just tied!) back in 1994, I'm pretty certain I'm not pregnant but if they want to check, fine.
So that's it for now. I'll be back the day before or the day of the surgery for pre-op photos which will include uppers and lowers this time. Eeek. I'm starting to get nervous already. No particular reason... no holidays, vacation will be 9 weeks away... why be nervous..?? :)
See ya next week~

3rd beginning, brief update #2

I received the paperwork from Ellen (the surgical coordinator) in the mail today. They listed the procedure as excision of benign lesions. If that's how they put it through to my insurance, it will get approved. I'm pretty sure Dr. T described it a little differently though. Then again, I could be wrong. She also included the pre-op form which is the same as the one the other girl gave me last week and some instructions, again same as before. She gave me 2 prescriptions, one for erythromycin ointment and the other for percocet. She spelled percocet wrong and CVS will probably have to call her but that shouldn't be a problem. Percocet is definitely stronger than Darvocet which is fine since Darvocet did nothing for the pain anyway. So, I'll be nice and loopy for a day or so! :)
Nothing else to report. I dont expect to hear from my insurance until at least the weekend. I still have my fingers crossed!
I'll be back as soon as that happens!