So today was full of the usual post-op ups and downs for us. Let's share, shall we?
Rob overslept and was a bit poky getting the Bigs ready for school, but fortunately he'd inadvertently awakened me an hour earlier, and I couldn't sleep. So I was able to help hustle them through the process and get them out the door. I didn't exactly do much, but it's the one step closer I'll need to being able to get them ready for school next week when I'm on my own again.
I had an excruciating headache, as I have had for much of recovery, and which is building again now. My vision just was not right. I couldn't see, and I needed to do something about it. So, Monday morning, 9 am, my finger was on the "dial" button to my surgeon's nurse. I spoke to her, and she spoke to him, and they were very concerned and wanted me to see my PCM right away. I couldn't get in, but Rob did manage to make me an appointment for an exam the afternoon.
Rob and the Nons are sick, which sucks for them but would be really bad for me. So I am keeping my distance from the poor illies. Rob's pretty miserable, which means, guess what, ain't nothing is gonna get done around here this week that would normally be on the "do during leave" list. Jack seems to be in denial that he's sick, but Sophie's having a tough go of it, too. She's really sneezing away and looking rough, and I feel bad for her. Hopefully this thing will sweep through without really touching me (I had the cough, but it seems to be gone) or Chloë (who needs to be in school).
Anyway.
I had a bit of a hard time with food last night and this morning. You could call it a breakdown last night. Rob went to the store multiple times to appease me, because I just could not get into anything else lableled "protein" whatever. Protein shake, protein yogurt, protein soup, protein pudding... go away! When he brought me some broth, and I thought it was regular store-brought broth but turned out to be more "protein" fare, I lost it. I just put my head down and cried and cried.
I know, I signed up for this. I know, I know, I know. I know it's going to be like this. But there are OTHER protein options out there, and I just don't like the ones I've got. The taste is overwhelmingly gross for me now, and it sticks to the tongue and teeth even after brushing. I planned to drink the broth, but not after I finished my good, long cry.
Rob had slipped out to get me some "real" broth, but I picked myself up and drank the protein variety. It really wasn't that bad, but the way I'd carried on, he was surprised to find I'd downed it. I kind of was, too. And the regular kind wasn't even any better. So you never know.
This morning, I was on about cheese. I'd decided, from my various online resources, that it was time to try some soft Laughing Cow cheese. I really wanted it melty with some sauce on a piece of bread, but that wasn't happening! I must have told Rob 37 times that I would like some "delicious cheese, please," before he finally put early-rising Sophie down for a nap and went to get the damned delicious cheese. Oh, it was good. Super, super good. Wholly delicious. I didn't quite like the way it felt going down, though, so I didn't eat too much of it.
And then I discovered the yogurt he'd brought me. Weight Watchers 1-point yogurts aren't the best as far as carb and protein grams, but they'll do, pig. They'll do. They have a lot more flavor than I expected (even though I've had them before when actually doing WW), and they slid down the pouch nicer than the cheese. I just finished my second one of the day, and I'm pleased.
So that's my food exploits for the day. Still lovin' those popsicles! Can't wait to chew on some chicken.
By the way, I'm still fat. I've lost, oh, a couple of pounds, but things are still swollen and retaining from surgery. Not skinny yet!
And they hurt. Oh, I'm aching inside. Someone woke the beast that is my new plumbing, and I can feel every little drop of water going down and every little bubble of air coming up, in a way that I can't begin to describe to you. And the feeling of my stomach hanging around like a barn door on a rusty pin? Shudder. I can feel it going back and forth across the abdomen, and it is most definitely not a pleasant sensation. Don't like that a bit. Can't believe I let them dissect me and reattach me like I have, but not going to dwell on that now! Onward.
Finally, it was time to get ready for the eye appointment. I had to wait 8 long hours from the time I first got up. We did the showering thing, which was a little bit easier than the last time, and I noticed a surprising thing: afterward, I didn't hurry to sit down because my back hurt, but because of my belly. My back didn't hurt! No pain. I haven't been able to really test it out and go for a long walk like I want to, but I think maybe tomorrow I will. ("Long" being anything over two minutes, anywhere past the driveway.) I'm not exactly skipping and jumping around, and I'm loathe to say that the pain is gone, but damn, it was a nice, freeing knowledge.
So we got me dressed and out the door. The Littles were back to bickering nonstop in the back seat. She's always yes, he's always no, and I'll bet even they don't know what they're fighting over. I got sick of it and shouted at them and probably said things I shouldn't, but I was having my own ordeal and couldn't take it anymore. Needless to say, Rob and the kids waited in the car while I did my thing.
My prescription has changed dramatically for the worse in both eyes, because of surgery! Both have taken several steps back, one more than the other, and I have a totally new Rx. The doc dilated my eyes, and I went next door to see about getting new glasses, "in about an hour." Whatever, we didn't have any extra money for glasses or the exam, so I just asked for the clearance rack and picked the cheapest pair, without really looking. They are bright, red Ray Bans, similar in shape to the purple RBs I'd been wearing when I came in. I was going to have new lenses popped into the old pair, but it turned out to be cheaper getting the new frames, too. So I reluctantly paid for that purchase, tried not to think about the unpaid electric bill, and went back to the eye doctor.
Everything looks fine inside my eyes, so we're just hoping the headaches and pressure I've been feeling are a result of anesthesia and will calm down after a few days in the new Rx. I paid that bill, tried not to think about the unpaid cable/internet bill, and went back to the van.
Someone rounded the corner on me and nearly squashed me, and all I could think was, Damn, what a waste that would be, after all we've spent on me lately!
We drove home and waited ten minutes for Chloë's bus to get home. In that time, my pupils were completely dilated, and I couldn't see at all. I tried to sit and do something, read something, see something, but I couldn't. I was frustrated and, yes, very bored. I know I said I'm never bored, but I was BORED then! I just yelled out, "GOD, WHY CAN'T YOU MAKE THIS EASIER ON ME?!!" and then went to take a nap. No sense fighting it!
This is getting ridiculously long for, really, a terribly uneventful day, but I never claimed to be short-winded. I could have just said, "I got some new glasses, I ate some shit, the end," but nooo.... You know me!
Anyway, Rob and the kids came back from Tap class, and I got into the car to pick up my new specs. I was gone maybe five minutes to get them, and the girls in the store were so excited to have found me a red Raybans case to match my new glasses. Woohoo, yeah, I couldn't get into it.
But I could SEE. I could SEE, I could SEE, I could SEE!!!! Finally, I could see the nails on my hands in front of me, the looks on their faces, the street signs going down the road, and words on a page or screen. It was a long week. I decided I really felt for truly blind people; they have a difficult life. I would not want to be blind. I could live in a world of silence, but I've gotta have my sight. And I will protect it.
Eh, that's the end. You don't really want to hear about my feet, anyway.
Fin.
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