Passing For Normal

Thanks to all who commented pre- and post-surgery with good thoughts and wishes. Y'all are a tremendous comfort. <3

So I knew it would be an unpleasant few days, following surgery, and that I would be doing some mouth-breathing for the first three or so and would probably have to sleep sitting mostly upright in the recliner.

The day after surgery, however, I realized that I had caught a whopper of a cold. This was after a long night learning that my sleep apnea has progressed to the point that it is almost impossible for me to sleep when I can't breathe through my nose. I have two masks for my CPAP machine, but both of them require nose-breathing; neither does anything for mouth-breathing. (Oh, God, I miss my CPAP. I live for the day when I can use it again.)

So in the time since surgery, I have:

- been the reigning Snot Queen from the Planet Mucus, streaming icky stuff that you really don't want to hear about pretty much 'round the clock and feeling miserably sick

- slept only rarely, anywhere from two to at most four hours out of any 24-hour period, and then only in fits and starts; at this point I'm feeling kind of demented from sleep deprivation

- been forced to interrupt said grossly inadequate periods of sleep frequently to drink water, because the dry mouth and especially the dry throat get wretchedly parched and painful

- had to find things to eat that required minimal chewing because having a mouth full of food while you're forced to breathe through your mouth is seriously hazardous

- and find soft foods that wouldn't be too painful to swallow, the post-surgical intubation throat pain being exacerbated by the sore throat from the cold and the mouth-breathing

- had to squirt salt water up my nose at least half a dozen times a day (salt in the wound, there's a treat) "in order to minimize crusting" (you don't want to know)

- and been forbidden to even think about blowing my nose.

The only good thing so far is that the NSAID-withdrawal headache that I'd lived with for eight days prior to surgery has been GONE every since I re-started naproxen the day after surgery. \o/

On the plus side, as far as I can tell I'm healing more or less as expected? Or at least, the bleeding has slowed to the odd spot every now and then, and I haven't had to wear my gauze pad sling (hooks around the ears and goes under the nose) to absorb the leakage since Sunday evening.

I'll have my post-op visit with my ENT surgeon on Friday morning. I hope to get a gold star for virtuous (if cranky) behavior. And permission to blow my damn nose! Pleeeeeease!!!

In other news, did anyone watch this week's Castle? There was a guest star in a good role that should very much please some of y'all. seascribe, I'm talkin' to you, among others. ;-)