Day 9, post surgery…stitches out..Yea!!

  A short update on my neck surgery saga…Today Dennis chauffeured me up to Dr. Ghaderi’s office in St.Charles for a 9:15AM appt. to have my stitches removed…

 

 

This is the door to his office…I didn’t take any photos inside…I didn’t want to act like a Dr. Ghaderi Groupie, but I really AM one…I had thoughts of having McGyver take some photos of the good Doc removing my stitches, but thought better of it…This place is a Class Act,and I didn’t want to seem too “hayseed”…even though I truly AM….FYI, his nurse and office girls are absolutely gorgeous…I am now re-thinking my former employer ( an Optometrist), and wondering why I didn’t apply for a position with a  Plastic Surgeon…JUST THINK OF THOSE PERKS!!

 

I was almost giddy as we got into the elevator to assend to his office…I was hoping the head gear was going by the way of the trash can soon…

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                     Before….                                                                                           After….

If there ever was any doubt that I am secretly related to the Tom Turkey family, here is the proof…I do believe I could have requested a purse be made from this chin.

Dr. Ghaderi is very pleased with the results, and assured me that it would only get better from here…I do NOT have to wear my spandex panties on my head during the daylight hours, but until next week (when I see him again), I do have to sleep in it…Hey, this I can handle…Poor Dennis is the only one who sees me in it …and if he’s smart, he will sleep on his left side so he can avoid it…After all, it’s only one week…I need not bandage it, nor do I need to put any balms or lotions on it yet..He just wants it to heal, and told me that the scar will soften up a lot in the next few weeks…I took this opportunity to mentioned that we are thinking of leaving here just before the New Year, and asked if that would be a problem for me and future appointments…Dr. Ghaderi saw no problem with me going out of state by then..WAHOO!!! I love this man!!…Now, if we can just get our ducks in a row, maybe..just maybe…Dennis and I can hit the road in the Hiker by New Years Eve…Time will tell..

 

After visiting my Doc today, we headed for Uncle Jr.’s and Aunt Jeanette’s to take them grocery shopping and so some banking…We hadn’t been there since my surgery, and they thought I looked great.  That photo above, right, is NOT the grocery store…It is Jr. and Jeanette’s basement…Yes, that IS a shopping cart..Den and I carry the groceries to the basement, Jeanette puts them in this cart and takes them to the back room to put them on their shelves…By the looks of those shelves, they  must know something that we DON’T know.  Are we going to be invaded soon?…Is this a make shift bomb shelter???? These two wonderful  people absolutely crack me up..and they never cease to amaze us…Now if I could only get the skinny about just how they acquired that shopping cart…!!

Just a couple more pics…Since we got home, I took a frontal shot of my incision…

Yes, I AM one very self confident and HAPPY CAMPER!!!!!…Oh, and if you think this is the last of my graphic photos, well, you are mistaken..I am going to take you all, albeit kicking and screaming, on this entire journey..and it only gets better from here on…Do I regret this surgery??? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!

“I do not care so much what I am to others as I care what I am to myself.”
― Michel de Montaigne

Tickfaw State Park..one year ago today..

  Well, today is day 8 post surgery, and also day 8 of wearing my spandex panties on my head..A.K.A., my head gear.  I do believe it is slightly stretching out, leaving me a bit more neck room and feeling less like I am being strangled by my compression garment…(Key word here is COMPRESSION:..)

compression (km-prshn)

1. A force that tends to shorten or squeeze something, decreasing its volume.

2. The degree to which a substance has decreased in size (in volume, length, or some other dimension) after being or while being subject to stress. See also strain

Yup….stress and strain, that’s exactly it…Don’t get me wrong, I am NOT complaining.  I am just taking it one day at a time in this “head girdle”, and hoping when I go to the Doc’s Thursday to have my stitches removed he will utter those words that will be music to my ears…”Let’s ditch the head gear.”..at least during the daylight hours…I would even go along with wearing it only at night..I have the compressed snoring down pat!!

…Soooooo…..One year ago today, McGyver and I were happily camped at Tickfaw State Park in Louisiana…

We had a great place there, and used that as a home base to tour the plantation Oak Alley…

Oak Alley had been on my bucket list, and I highly recommend the tour to anyone who enjoys our country’s history…good and bad…

Tickfaw park was pretty neat too, but quite removed from any “stores” or food places…

Gators???? Why, of course…Canoeing??Why of course….(key word WHY????)

I will post again after my stitches are out….a process I am actually looking forward to…Yes, I know, I am a bit of a masochistic personality…Thanks to all of you for your support in this endeavor…blogging about my incisions…Catch ya later, eh??                                                

                                                             “I don't dawdle. I'm a surgeon. I make an incision, do what needs to be done and sew up the wound. There is a beginning, a middle and an end.”

                                                                                                                                                                                                          ~ Dr. Richard Selzer

43 years ago…my lucky day

…A quick blog for a belated Happy Thanksgiving .  Hope you all ate turkey, ham and mashed taters ‘til they came out your ears!! McGyver and I celebrated Thanksgiving remembering our parents and family members who have since passed with smiles and fond memories…We also shared our Wedding Anniversary with the Pilgrims yesterday..Yup, 43 years ago yesterday,  November 22, 1969, Dennis Robert Cave and Donna Janeane Ross exchanged vows at the Congregational Church in Sandwich, IL…We met in May of 1969, got engaged that August, and married that November…whirlwind, I know….Kelly was born Sept. 5th, 1970….a very busy year for us!

Our wedding was at 1PM, the reception was in the church basement immediately following ( no liquor at this reception!!), and McGyver and I were on the road to Janesville, WI by 3PM  …We were riding in style in Den’s deep turquoise 1967 Chevelle…4 speed on the floor and some loud pipes!  No big fancy band and late partying for us…My parents were on a budget, and Dennis paid for our photos…The flowers were provided free of charge by the florist I worked for, and the honeymoon was in  “Ya Hey Der” country….4 days of putting up with the Packer fans..

Left, me and my Sis….middle me and my Dad…and right, me and my date. (Is that a leer on his face??? )

Left, our vows..See that feather light turquoise hat on the right side, 3rd row of the church pews, down front???…Aunt Jeanette…no surprise, eh??

WHO ARE THOSE TWO YOUNG KIDS????

For those of you who are weak of stomach when it comes to incisions, you may want to skip these next pics…Dennis took these this AM after my shower…

Not too bad for just 3 days post surgery…I still have to wear my headgear 24/7 until next Thursday.  That’s when the stitches come out…I hope I can at least shed the elastic during the day!!

Yesterday we met some family members at The Olde Tyme Inn for a Coke and a beer to celebrate our anniversary…yes,the Coke was mine …

THIS IS ONE ANNIVERSARY I SHALL NEVER FORGET…DENNIS, I LOVE YOU MORE EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MY McGYVER…

FINALLY…I’M SAFE TO WALK IN THE WOODS THANKSGIVING DAY!!

  OK…a quick peek at my last 24 hours….

Therein lies my metamorphosis, Delnor Hospital….  Let’s change this turkey neck so I can have just ONE chin..I’m ready!

Bring on the big drugs!!!!     They put some air pumps on my legs to keep circulation going..and that fluffy thing on top of me in the second pic is called a “Bear Hugger”…It is a giant air mattress that heats up and keeps you warm.  The Nurse Anesthetist informed me that Dr. Ghaderi is adamant about keeping his patients comfy and warm for surgery….Then, when they wheel me into the surgical suite and put me under, Dr.Ghaderi turns back the heat to igloo temp and the whole surgical team is frozen…I loved this nurse…

Dr. Ghaderi came in about 10 minutes before surgery and did some artwork on my soon to be “turkey neck be gone” (that is my daughter-in-law’s words)…

He had trouble getting the color off his hands…I told him he needed washable crayons like our grandson has…HMMMM, I sure hope this stuff comes off my neck??

I was scheduled for 12:45PM surgery, but the Doc told me the day before that I should never believe the time I am told…He had 2 cases before me, and surgery is one thing you do NOT want to rush through…I was wheeled into the surgical suite at 2PM…at least I think that was the time…by then I was already speaking in foreign tongues and seeing pink elephants on the walls…

 

 

Time:….4:10PM..Out of recovery and trying to get ice chips into my mouth…This was not easy..I could barely get my mouth open to speak…McGyver was in 7th Heaven.

 

 

 

 

 

I was let out of jail about 5:45PM, wheeled out the front door to the GMC and on the way home by 6PM….Let me just say that for once, I did NOT try to back seat drive…I was pretty much silent for a change….

Last night was fun??? not so much…Ice became my new best friend…I tried the Tylenol w/ Codeine and that made my erpy, but luckily the Doc has prescribed drugs for nausea….Hey, he must have known this was going to happen..I had some chicken soup broth and switched my drugs to 3 Extra Strength Tylenol…Bedtime was 8:30, with my head elevated above my heart (I thought that’s the way I was made anyway!)…Actually, I  had a fairly good night..Today I felt somewhat partially human. I had a bit of a time brushing my teeth, and combing my  hair was a NOT…I did, however, find a way to get some bling into this outfit..

A ribbon on my head and my attempt at make up….lipstick…But, I do see the makings of just one chin in this deal..!!!!

That will be enough for today…I am still sore, but much better than last night…I have an appt. with the good Doc at 5:30PM (yes, another hour drive to and fro), but he will take off my head gear momentarily to change the dressing…and then show McGyver how to redress me..(he need not be shown that !)…Sorry, but at least my sense of sick humor didn’t go with the other 3 chins!! More later…

“Scar tissue is stronger than the regular tissue.  Realize the strength and move on.”

                                                                                                                                                                                                              ~ Henry Rollins