What a week I'm having
Mar. 1st, 2020 11:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwynChanneling Eugene Levy in Splash, because that's sort of how this week has gone. While I was down in LA for Escapade, the incision in my back opened up a little--I don't know if I popped one or two of the internal stitches, or it was just the scab area, but I noticed there was some staining on my camisoles and since I had a roomie, I could have her check it out and she said it was a little open. It might have even been the shower--it was like having my back pressure washed on high, I swear, and the stream hit exactly at my incision spot and I couldn't get it adjusted away from it, plus it was too late anyway. It seemed to get quite a bit worse as I got home (all that getting in and out of cars, plane seats, etc.), and so now I'm dealing with that on top of the face surgery--there is no way to get comfortable because it hurts so much, even with nonstick bandages, and it's in a spot where I can't get relief from it rubbing or having pressure on. It feels a lot like one of my wounds from the colon cancer surgery that took ages to heal--it wasn't infected, just gross, but that one wasn't on a spot that got a lot of pressure, so it could heal in time.
Then there was the adventure of the face.
Tuesday I had the surgery for the skin cancer spot on my right cheek, the one that got infected in December. I was really nervous, as I'd had Mohs surgery before and I knew that in between the surgery parts, I bled a LOT and was worried. (If you're not familiar with this type of surgery, it's basically designed to take less tissue, because the doc takes the tissue and examines it to make sure they've got all the cancer, and if not, they cut out a tiny bit more, till they do and they can close it up. You wait in a room to hear the results, rather than them just cutting out a large chunk and hoping they get everything--it's supposed to be better for scarring and such, but I didn't find that to be the case.)
Unfortunately, they had to cut a second time for this one, and they gave me a handful of gauze, but I started bleeding again shortly after the second round and it was really bad, so I once again had to go out to the front desk and ask for more gauze. They put me in one of the rooms (this is the big issue for me: there are only a couple rooms, which are occupied at any given time, so there's really no space for urgent or emergency situations) and let me lie back, but the pressure bandage was so soaked it was like squeezing a sponge, and I was soaking through the gauze like mad, and my hands were sticky with blood and it was staining my shirt. The nurse said she couldn't believe how calm I was, that she'd be curled up in a ball and wailing, but I just mostly wanted to get the blood off my hands and out of my hair and off my face.
Eventually, they came back and were able to stitch me up, so after a very long day, I was able to finally leave about 4:15 (my appointment was at 10). I had tried to eat a snack in the waiting area, but I'd gone through my water bottle and many cups of water, and I was so hungry, but I needed my ex to come by and drive me up to the pharmacy so I could get some oxycodone. I looked like I'd just come from Fight Club--the poor pharmacy tech seemed somewhat alarmed, because I hadn't really had a chance to clean up and my eye was so swollen and the pressure bandage was enormous.
You have to leave the bandage on for 2-3 days, so I couldn't take it off till Thursday at earliest, and I made the mistake of thinking I'd recovered from all the trauma and took a shower, which they recommend--except I was just not ready for it, and when I started trying to put a new bandage on, I got to feeling faint, so sat down on the toilet lid. At some point, I must have passed out, because I was aware of being on my face, right on the wound (about two inches long from just below my eye to below the apple of my cheek) of course, grinding into the bathmat. I honestly don't recall falling, or if I totally lost consciousness or just wasn't aware, but my head hurt fiercely and I was afraid I'd torn my sutures open.
Getting up, I realized I must have slammed down on my knees because they were badly bruised, my wrist hurt and I don't know if it's fractured or just sprained, I had a huge goose egg on top of my head, and my neck and shoulder were wrenched, because my bathroom's as big as a postage stamp and there really was no way for me to fall without twisting around. Everything hurt about ten times worse than before. My right eye's been so red and swollen that it's hard to see well, and I think the stitches were okay, but I guess I'll know on Tuesday for sure when I go to get them taken out. I'm just beat to hell, and there's no way for me to comfortably sit or lie down or anything. But at least today the swelling in my eye is better and it's not longer strawberry red, and there's some white in my eyeball instead of just all red.
I don't know if the passing out was from dehydration (entirely possible despite how much I was drinking), the blood loss, or what (I doubt it was the oxy, because that stuff doesn't affect me a super lot and I hadn't taken another pill in over 14 hours), but man, I could so have lived without that. I feel like such a dumbass. I spent an hour on Friday trying to take a picture of my back to send to the dermatologist, but never could get it, so I still haven't been in touch with them. It doesn't seem infected, but the discharge doesn't look great, and I feel like this has something to do with the stitches under the skin, like maybe I'm having a reaction to them.
I will say that at least this time they believed me about the bleeding and the adhesive allergy and how fast I burned through anesthetic; it's just that sitting in a room trying to stanch the flow of blood with little gauze pads doesn't work well, and I don't think they're really set up for patients like me (though they kept reassuring me I wasn't that unusual, they've had other patients with issues like mine). I don't really trust myself to drive right now, though I did take a shower last night and was okay, and stopped doing stuff to rest for a bit when I began to feel a little tired. Which means that I'll have to cab it to the clinc for my stitches and to the dermatologist if she wants me to come in for my back, and that's not cheap. I don't live that far from the clinic, but traffic there and back is always a nightmare, so it adds up fast.
I want to take some ibuprofen, though. They always insist that you have to take Tylenol and no NSAIDs, but that is useless and my knees, wrist, and head hurt so much. I just want a lower level pain reliever than oxy for being awake during the day. I feel like I'm past the risk of bleeding, although everything I read says two weeks after surgery. Ugh. At least, thank god, I have plenty of 3M Micropore tape, which is amazing and does not give me an allergic reaction. That stuff is a miracle, and the only thing I can use long-term on my face without getting burnlike sores. I feel like I could become a Micropore evangelist; it's such a lifesaver.
I'm finally going to have my Heidelberg Fencing School scar. The doctor suggested laser therapy to minimize it because my forehead scar is so white and noticeable, but I already don't know how I will pay for this, I can't imagine that's an affordable treatment. It will be a very large, very visible scar. I'm...not going to lie, I'm kind of depressed about it; it's not like I have any beauty to mar but this makes me feel even worse about my face than I already did.
Then there was the adventure of the face.
Tuesday I had the surgery for the skin cancer spot on my right cheek, the one that got infected in December. I was really nervous, as I'd had Mohs surgery before and I knew that in between the surgery parts, I bled a LOT and was worried. (If you're not familiar with this type of surgery, it's basically designed to take less tissue, because the doc takes the tissue and examines it to make sure they've got all the cancer, and if not, they cut out a tiny bit more, till they do and they can close it up. You wait in a room to hear the results, rather than them just cutting out a large chunk and hoping they get everything--it's supposed to be better for scarring and such, but I didn't find that to be the case.)
Unfortunately, they had to cut a second time for this one, and they gave me a handful of gauze, but I started bleeding again shortly after the second round and it was really bad, so I once again had to go out to the front desk and ask for more gauze. They put me in one of the rooms (this is the big issue for me: there are only a couple rooms, which are occupied at any given time, so there's really no space for urgent or emergency situations) and let me lie back, but the pressure bandage was so soaked it was like squeezing a sponge, and I was soaking through the gauze like mad, and my hands were sticky with blood and it was staining my shirt. The nurse said she couldn't believe how calm I was, that she'd be curled up in a ball and wailing, but I just mostly wanted to get the blood off my hands and out of my hair and off my face.
Eventually, they came back and were able to stitch me up, so after a very long day, I was able to finally leave about 4:15 (my appointment was at 10). I had tried to eat a snack in the waiting area, but I'd gone through my water bottle and many cups of water, and I was so hungry, but I needed my ex to come by and drive me up to the pharmacy so I could get some oxycodone. I looked like I'd just come from Fight Club--the poor pharmacy tech seemed somewhat alarmed, because I hadn't really had a chance to clean up and my eye was so swollen and the pressure bandage was enormous.
You have to leave the bandage on for 2-3 days, so I couldn't take it off till Thursday at earliest, and I made the mistake of thinking I'd recovered from all the trauma and took a shower, which they recommend--except I was just not ready for it, and when I started trying to put a new bandage on, I got to feeling faint, so sat down on the toilet lid. At some point, I must have passed out, because I was aware of being on my face, right on the wound (about two inches long from just below my eye to below the apple of my cheek) of course, grinding into the bathmat. I honestly don't recall falling, or if I totally lost consciousness or just wasn't aware, but my head hurt fiercely and I was afraid I'd torn my sutures open.
Getting up, I realized I must have slammed down on my knees because they were badly bruised, my wrist hurt and I don't know if it's fractured or just sprained, I had a huge goose egg on top of my head, and my neck and shoulder were wrenched, because my bathroom's as big as a postage stamp and there really was no way for me to fall without twisting around. Everything hurt about ten times worse than before. My right eye's been so red and swollen that it's hard to see well, and I think the stitches were okay, but I guess I'll know on Tuesday for sure when I go to get them taken out. I'm just beat to hell, and there's no way for me to comfortably sit or lie down or anything. But at least today the swelling in my eye is better and it's not longer strawberry red, and there's some white in my eyeball instead of just all red.
I don't know if the passing out was from dehydration (entirely possible despite how much I was drinking), the blood loss, or what (I doubt it was the oxy, because that stuff doesn't affect me a super lot and I hadn't taken another pill in over 14 hours), but man, I could so have lived without that. I feel like such a dumbass. I spent an hour on Friday trying to take a picture of my back to send to the dermatologist, but never could get it, so I still haven't been in touch with them. It doesn't seem infected, but the discharge doesn't look great, and I feel like this has something to do with the stitches under the skin, like maybe I'm having a reaction to them.
I will say that at least this time they believed me about the bleeding and the adhesive allergy and how fast I burned through anesthetic; it's just that sitting in a room trying to stanch the flow of blood with little gauze pads doesn't work well, and I don't think they're really set up for patients like me (though they kept reassuring me I wasn't that unusual, they've had other patients with issues like mine). I don't really trust myself to drive right now, though I did take a shower last night and was okay, and stopped doing stuff to rest for a bit when I began to feel a little tired. Which means that I'll have to cab it to the clinc for my stitches and to the dermatologist if she wants me to come in for my back, and that's not cheap. I don't live that far from the clinic, but traffic there and back is always a nightmare, so it adds up fast.
I want to take some ibuprofen, though. They always insist that you have to take Tylenol and no NSAIDs, but that is useless and my knees, wrist, and head hurt so much. I just want a lower level pain reliever than oxy for being awake during the day. I feel like I'm past the risk of bleeding, although everything I read says two weeks after surgery. Ugh. At least, thank god, I have plenty of 3M Micropore tape, which is amazing and does not give me an allergic reaction. That stuff is a miracle, and the only thing I can use long-term on my face without getting burnlike sores. I feel like I could become a Micropore evangelist; it's such a lifesaver.
I'm finally going to have my Heidelberg Fencing School scar. The doctor suggested laser therapy to minimize it because my forehead scar is so white and noticeable, but I already don't know how I will pay for this, I can't imagine that's an affordable treatment. It will be a very large, very visible scar. I'm...not going to lie, I'm kind of depressed about it; it's not like I have any beauty to mar but this makes me feel even worse about my face than I already did.
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Date: 2020-03-01 11:36 pm (UTC)Bodies suck.
Fixing bodies sucks even more.
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Date: 2020-03-02 06:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-03 02:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-01 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-02 12:27 am (UTC)(Also, thanks for the tape rec! I am two weeks out from mole removal and now have a giant itchy rash that looks worse than the mole because I too am sensitive to adhesive.)
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Date: 2020-03-02 04:15 am (UTC)(BTW, I found that taking two of the 'arthritis' acetaminophen actually relieved my shoulder pain somewhat. Those pills are 500mg each, so 1000mg at a time.)
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