The Road to Recovery

Well, it’s been a while since my last update, so this one might be rather lengthy. First, apologies to everyone for not replying on icq or email, I can’t really stay in front of the computer for that long. This blog itself it taking a while just to post. Anyway, if you’re wondering how I am, then you’ve come to the right place.

The surgery was a complete success… that’s what the doctors say, but I’d beg to differ. I can officially say that I didn’t know what I was getting into when I agreed to going under the knife. Not that I regret doing it, ‘cause I know it had to be done, but still, I can easily say that these last 5 or so days have been the most difficult ones of my life by far.

Waking up from the operating it still sorta hazy, but I remember bits and pieces of it. I think that the surgery took only a couple of hours, but by the time I woke it up was around 3pm. I was in the ICU for most of that day as the doctors wanted to make sure there were no serious complications. I woke up on the bed with a tube down each of my nostrils (to breathe for me and keep my stomach empty during the surgery), and let me tell you, it’s a lot worse that you’re imagining. And when they took it out… oh boy what a struggle that was. A big relief when they finally got them out though. Afterwards they brought me to my room where my parents were waiting for me.

The next couple of days were not too bad, mainly ‘cause I was drugged up a lot and I spent most of the time sleeping (in the words of Nelson, the fastest road to the future). I walked around the second day a little bit, but I still slept most of the time. I got a glimpse of myself in the mirror when I was draining the lizard, and oh man… I was puffed up like you wouldn’t believe. The whole bottom part of my face was maybe three times the size that it ought to have been. I couldn’t close my mouth as my lips were swollen too, and basically, I looked like a train wreck. I couldn’t feel anything at all either. Everything is just numb, which I must say is one of the weirdest feelings in the world. If you’ve ever had a cavity, you’ll know what I mean, but this time the numbness just sticks around.

I went home on Thursday morning without much trouble, but that’s when things got the hairiest. The doctors said that the 3rd and 4th days of my recovery would have the worst swelling, and they weren’t kidding. Everything was a struggle when I got home, sleeping, walking around, everything. I’ll fill you in on the eating part later…. But yeah, Thursday and Friday were the hardest days of my life, and trust me, I wouldn’t want anyone to go through what I did. The worst part about it was that since I would have to constantly ice my face to sooth the swelling, I couldn’t sleep too much at night. I’d sleep for maybe about an hour and a half to two hours, and I’d wake up ‘cause the bags holding the ice had leaked and my shirt and pillow were wet. But of course, my dear mother was there to wake up and help me get new ice and get re-tucked in. You don’t know how grateful I am to her right now.

As for the eating part, well, there hasn’t been much of that at all. I drink as much water as I can, but even that is a struggle. Everything is put into my mouth via plastic syringe, so everything’s pretty slow. I try to drink juice too, but I can only drink so much at a time because it creates so much phlegm. And I’ve lost sooooo much weight that I don’t know if I’ll ever get it all back. I’m having a really tough time drinking that Ensure meal replacement stuff, ‘cause it has some very weird tastes, and it makes me kinda nauseous. So, I drink as much soup and stuff as I can, but I can tell I’m not getting as many nutrients as I really should be.

The swelling has subsided somewhat since Friday, but I’m still pretty puffed up. I’m off the painkillers now, but it looks like it may be a while before I look anything like I used to. Whether or not I’ll be able to go to church this weekend is still in the air, but I’ll do my best. I must say, the weirdest thing about all this is that I get this itchy spots on my face for some reason, but I can’t scratch them away, ‘cause I can’t feel my face…. Hahaha… tough to explain, even tougher to comprehend. The toughest part right now I guess is just the fact that part of my neck is still swollen so I can’t look up very well, and the whole hunger thing. What I would give to have a big bowl of chasiu fan and yuw choi… oh baby, how that would hit the spot. = (

Anyway, thanks for all the prayers and support, it means a lot. Please continue to, as I know I’ll need them. I’ll also try to update as often as I can, but no guarantees. Till next time…