Day One

I finally gave up on sleeping around 8. My back hurt, my leg was cramping, and I was HUNGRY!!! When my breakfast came, they had mistakenly given me rolled oats. Sure, torture a girl when she is down. If I could have stuffed those in somehow, I would have. My proper breakfast eventually came. Homo milk again and my friend, Ensure.

Last night, on one of my frequent bathroom trips, I happened to glance in the mirror. I know, how come I didn't look before? A. Too scared B. Too tired to care.    Yikes!!! I was one big swollen face from the eyes down. My lips were huge!!!! I have pictures. I can prove it.

My OS dropped by at 10:30. I could tell he was pleased with his handiwork. He told me I could leave after 2 if I wanted to. My husband came with my youngest son and daughter a few minutes later. Despite sending him an advance picture, he was still quite surprised by my swelling. The kids were also shocked. I drew a pumpkin head on my whiteboard and they laughed. They agreed to come by later and pick me up.

I had lunch and the nurse did up my paperwork. She gave me prescriptions for an antibiotic and a mouthwash. She then tried to take out my IV. She put on a little bandaid and it seemed all was well. She turned away to do some paperwork. I looked down and started grunting at her (Hey, I grunt. At least I'm communicating). My bandage, the gown and the pillow had blood on them. She had to rebandage me.

My husband took me home. I would be lying if I said the car ride was pleasant. My leg was spasming and I felt dizzy. As soon as I got home, I went right to sleep for about an hour. I came out of my room and the first thing I saw was the dog. I mentioned my chicken dog. She took one look at me with my ice pack around my head and started growling. I had to let her smell me before she remembered who I was. The rest of the day was blurry. I tried to sleep on and off.

At one point, I was lying on my side (yes, it was allowed). and my nose became congested. I woke up in a complete panic. I swear, there is no air getting in or out through my mouth. In theory, I know it is possible. In reality, it wasn't happening. I had to gently blow my nose and use nasal spray. My heart was pounding so badly I just about passed out.

Thinking my sinuses needed a good rinse, I tried my neti pot. DON'T DO THIS!!! Again, a horrible sensation of not being able to breathe at all. I also had an episode where some Ensure went down the wrong way and I had to cough. Coughing is scary. I was worried I'd rip my jaw off.