The most unpleasant part of the surgery was the numbing -- and that didn't even hurt as bad as the dentist often does. It wasn't bad at all. During surgery I felt nothing. I could tell the doctor was digging vigorously around my check and sucking up the fat, but it didn't bother me. The anti-anxiety pill the doc had prescribed me to take an hour before really did work. Also, the doctor allowed me to have my IPOD. Even though the earphones were a little bit in the way and he accidentally knocked one partly out a couple times, he let me keep them and that diversion helped.
Now, here is what I emailed to some family once I got home from surgery:
As the numbness wears off, I can feel the bruising in my neck and everything is still swollen. I have been busy since I got home, messing with the head gear, brushing my hair around it, trying pathetically to look normal and possibly cute.
I have to wear this black thing for 1-2 days, or as long as I can stand it. The brown thing beneath it must be worn a week at least. I thought I’d hide at home all week, but I think I’ll go to work anyway and get some more done in my classroom.
The pain is starting to set in and so I think I’ll have to take a Tylenol. I wasn’t going to take anything if I could stand it, but my sister-in-law told me that with too much pain the body tenses and has a harder time healing. I want to avoid the Vicodin.
FYI, if you've already had your pre-op appt, you might know there are two head compression garments, one for long term and one for short term. The black one -- the tighter one -- is to be worn over the long-term one for a day or two. It's pretty tight, but I was determined to wear it for two days.
I did end up taking Vicodin on the first day, but now that it is over, I can honestly say that the pain wasn't so bad that I actually needed Vicodin. I just started FEELING bad in a general way and thought that would help. Please read Day 2 entry to see what followed.
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