The Biggest Blessing of September
I never ever thought I would write that having surgery is a blessing.
But it has been.
I closed out September by having sinus surgery on September 29th. I was scared stiff - by the descriptions of the recovery, the fear of having a puffy black and blue face that would scare my children, of being the terrible patient that I tend to be during recovery.
The reality: even before I was awake enough from anesthesia for the nurses in the recovery room to notice, I knew I had made the right decision.
The terrible pain that had been predicted? Less than half of what I've been walking around with daily for the last 8 months. Mostly feeling like I've run face first into a brick wall, but in reailty not enough to notice unless I touch it or bump it on one of my kids.
The puffy, black and blue face? Some slight brusing under one eye that looks like I didn't get enough sleep. Some very slight puffyness around my nose that you don't notice with my glasses on.
The terrible patient? I've basically been sleeping. And watching Disney movies with Buddy and Missy. Not bad at all!
The bad parts?
John was sent home from work with what we believe is a really bad cold on Thursday. Since he works at a hospital, it's all H1N1 precautions so he's off for a full week.
And...he shared.
So I had a lot of extra guck in there I shouldn't have. And since I can't blow my nose for a week, it's driving me crazy to let it run and mop it up. Do you want to know how much hand washing we've been doing in this house? :) The other bad thing: my Mom caught it too, so my Dad's been doing the bulk of the child care. Not that my Dad doing the child care is bad, but I don't like getting my parents sick while they're here.
THE BIGGEST BLESSING:
I know I'm not fighting an awful infection anymore - this was something I felt almost immediately.
My face doesn't hurt constantly (something I'd gotten so used to I didn't even notice anymore).
In spite of being down with the crud, I feel better than I have in years - literally.
My right ear feels normal for the first time since I can literally remember (at least high school - and we won't say how long ago that was!).
I don't feel like I have to fight with all my energy for an hour of productive time on anything.
I feel like I will be able to have the energy to meet all my goals (all 240 of them!) by the end of the month in spite of recovering - since most of them are schoolwork, writing letters, and catching up on things like shredding, it seems even more do-able than I ever would have thought.
Am I totally out of the woods for sinus problems? No. But this I can live with and thrive with very easily.
God is SO good!
But it has been.
I closed out September by having sinus surgery on September 29th. I was scared stiff - by the descriptions of the recovery, the fear of having a puffy black and blue face that would scare my children, of being the terrible patient that I tend to be during recovery.
The reality: even before I was awake enough from anesthesia for the nurses in the recovery room to notice, I knew I had made the right decision.
The terrible pain that had been predicted? Less than half of what I've been walking around with daily for the last 8 months. Mostly feeling like I've run face first into a brick wall, but in reailty not enough to notice unless I touch it or bump it on one of my kids.
The puffy, black and blue face? Some slight brusing under one eye that looks like I didn't get enough sleep. Some very slight puffyness around my nose that you don't notice with my glasses on.
The terrible patient? I've basically been sleeping. And watching Disney movies with Buddy and Missy. Not bad at all!
The bad parts?
John was sent home from work with what we believe is a really bad cold on Thursday. Since he works at a hospital, it's all H1N1 precautions so he's off for a full week.
And...he shared.
So I had a lot of extra guck in there I shouldn't have. And since I can't blow my nose for a week, it's driving me crazy to let it run and mop it up. Do you want to know how much hand washing we've been doing in this house? :) The other bad thing: my Mom caught it too, so my Dad's been doing the bulk of the child care. Not that my Dad doing the child care is bad, but I don't like getting my parents sick while they're here.
THE BIGGEST BLESSING:
I know I'm not fighting an awful infection anymore - this was something I felt almost immediately.
My face doesn't hurt constantly (something I'd gotten so used to I didn't even notice anymore).
In spite of being down with the crud, I feel better than I have in years - literally.
My right ear feels normal for the first time since I can literally remember (at least high school - and we won't say how long ago that was!).
I don't feel like I have to fight with all my energy for an hour of productive time on anything.
I feel like I will be able to have the energy to meet all my goals (all 240 of them!) by the end of the month in spite of recovering - since most of them are schoolwork, writing letters, and catching up on things like shredding, it seems even more do-able than I ever would have thought.
Am I totally out of the woods for sinus problems? No. But this I can live with and thrive with very easily.
God is SO good!
