well, i am starting to feel human again. one week post

[mopinko]

surgery. everything went fine, although they ran into bone spurs that they were not expecting. took almost 5 hours in all. the pain is calming down, but my throat is still swollen and sore. i was intubated for the whole thing, and i am still froggy voiced and have to think about every swallow.
the doc gave me a crazy little film with 4 xrays from the surgery. it is pretty cool. kinda creepy, but cool. the first view is of my neck with a scalpel poised to dig in. next is one with the spacers in place, then a couple showing the plates going in, and all buttoned down. weird.
was a little surprised by all the little bruises and wounds from the head clamps and the nerve conduction tests. guess that is not surprising, but it did take a minute to figure out what all those little blood clots in my hair were. nerve conduction was almost back to normal while on the table, so that was good.
had to be a bad patient on the night shift. they were a nurse short and had a couple out of control patients. 6 hours post and they still weren't getting me up. my iv was barely running, as was the god damned foley. it took me an hour to convince them that their choices were- you take it out or i do. dh was there to help me get up most of the night, although i was hooked up to so much stuff it was quite a trial to get up. i felt like one of those abducted by aliens stories.
i can't believe the toll that 4 months of pain took on me. i lost almost 20 pounds. by the end i could barely eat, and barely breathe. my blood pressure went up enough that they were nervous about it, and they kept me on the cardiac monitor till i left.
they gave me morphine in the hospital (i stayed overnight, then got the heck out.) it wasn't all that. they sent me home with norco (big vicodin) and they have worked fairly well. but after a week they are starting to give me some rebound, so it is time to try to get off. my neck and shoulders hurt some, but compared to what i went through before, it is a piece of cake. still have a buzzy finger, but it isn't connected to anything anymore.
our primary is tomorrow, and i am hating being on the sidelines. but i think i will walk over and stick my nose in. no driving till i am cleared on the 15th. but the campaign office is around the corner. so i will go by and get a donut and talk to human for a change.

so, thanks to all here who shared my long misery. i was pretty cut off from the real world by the end there, and this place kept me nailed to the ground.
:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: to all.

[Warpy]

1. There are anesthetic throat sprays

and now I think there's a better one in film form that will help your swallowing, although the cherry flavored one is nasty enough to put you off your feed until you can get the taste out of your mouth. They're marketed for colds and flu, but I used them on patients who were intubated with great success when they complained of irritation from the tube.

I'm just glad you're on the mend.

[mopinko]

2. it's not so much sore as scratchy

just still some swelling hanging on. i can't wait to get my voice back.
i am really glad, also. wont be long it will mostly be forgotten.

[Nite Owl]

3. Hope you are doing

better each day mopinko. What a hell to go through!

[sandnsea]

4. Glad everything is working out for you

I know you have been through hell. :hug: