Day 5 Post-Op: 50 Shades of Grey, Blue, and Orange

January 28, 2013

With each passing day, I was told that the bubble will be slowing decreasing. And with that slow decrease in size, I would begin to see differently through it. Twinkles of blue, orange and yellow occur occasionally at the edge of the bubble. I can see color through it, but its like looking through a sort of psychedelic filter. Each time I tilt my head back to put in the eye drops four times a day, a morphing blob wiggles through my blurred vision. It jiggles when I move my eyes around. Ryan says it looks like a little white light sparkling in my massively dilated pupil. The edges of the bubble look like a tide changing as it creeps up onto the dry sand.

Lookin' good...

Each morning so far has been similar, and this routine, just like in my previous surgery, was comforting.

Beep. Beep.

Timer going off on my phone- first set of eye drops at 8 am. A gentle wipe of the crusties, and the sequence of drops begins. One of the four varieties of pudding down the hatch and next comes the Advil. Three pills, three gulps of water. Washing your face- use make-up removing clothes. They are easy and take off the tape residue from the eye patch each night with ease. I enjoy brushing my teeth on the floor. I use a bowl with water and rinse using that. Much easier, for me, instead of the sink.

My sink.

At this point, my mind just thinks, "time needs to start passing."

Prior to today, someone had been with me for every second of each day. I had yet to have to experience solitude. Trust me, I wanted the company. My parents, Ryan, his parents: it all helped time pass. Face timing is also a good way to have a "visitor" without actually having them over. Last night, I was on FaceTime with my cousin for about two hours- before I knew it, I needed to do the nightly portion of my routine.

Between my AM and lunchtime drops, TV does a pretty good job at passing time. Watching the price is right usually makes an hour tick faster.

Lunchtime! Drops time. Dizzy time. My equilibrium is balanced at this point for me to be horizontal, so vertical positioning with my head up throws me off. Ryan has to prevent me from pinging into things sometimes. Between lunch and dinner, board games usually help most, or a movie. Pick a board game that will last a while- monopoly, dominoes, something that makes you forget about time. I pop in another two Advil around 2 PM. This keeps the pain at a minimum in my neck, preventing major discomfort. Eat things that won't fall back out of your mouth. That's the biggest problem with eating, aside from the indigestion I get from having my esophagus tilted while face down. I wouldn't advise soup unless you want to drink it with a straw. Cut the food up really tiny, otherwise I guarantee you it will fall back out if your mouth before you have a chance to swallow. Try to have some humility when this happens. It's funny to other people. It's also funny to them when you drool occasionally. Sometimes it just happens! But that's ok, those are the lighter moments during the recovery so cherish them.

Hours tick by until dinner. More drops and another dose of Advil with my meal.

We come down home stretch at this point. Only four hours until the Advil PM and then I can get to sleep. Once the main chunk of the day is behind you, the evening hours pass quickly.

10 PM shows its face. At last. One more day of routine down. Two pills and three drops. Sleeping is still uncomfortable with my head in the u-shaped rest, but every time I fight through a night of broken sleep, I'm one day closer to being able to lay down in whatever direction I want!

Everyone else is tired, too.

Good things to do: play games, use an iPad or tablet to surf the web. Watch movies or hour long shows, time goes faster. If you're tired, take a nap. Take advantage of any sleep your mind and body is so lovingly giving you. (Sarcasm attached to the word lovingly).

Bad things to do: just sit. Don't do this. You'll start thinking about every little change in the bubble wondering if its just the bubble or something else. Don't think about the experience as a whole. When I think about the fact that by the time I'm finished with all of this, I will have spent two weeks of my life face down, it gives me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Easier to not think about it and skip the nausea of it all.

Today is my first day alone at home. Ryan packed me a picnic! In a little cooler. Which I am enjoying inside, under the warmth of a heating pad on my recovery chair. Jealous? You should be.

Tasty treats.

Take each part of the day one bit at a time.

Staring at the floor so often the past few days, I've noticed things I'm not sure I'm glad about or not... I discovered some red wines stains I had no idea were there... Must be time for a steam cleaning...

And now there is a pudding pack with my name on it, and a gas bubble view to help me pretend I'm watching the ocean tides come in and go back out. I even have my nails painted (courtesy of mom) to pretend like I'm lounging on my imaginary beach.

Multi-colored!!

Silver lining: I got to watch the ravens rally on TV that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to watch in the middle of the day.