Hi everyone,
Just an update on day 12 post-op. I am still not talking. I have not uttered a peep since surgery day on Feb 7th. It is honestly one of the most frustrating things about the surgery. I am a consultant, and being able to talk and advise my clients is rather difficult right now. I was even offered a quick project which could have needed me some more money, but I might not be able to do it since it is very client facing...no worries, at least I was the first one they thought of for the work, that means something.
I did get the botox injections following the procedure because of a slight tremor. There really have been no complications because of this other than I do not have the energy I use to have. I read that this is a side effect, so basically I just want to nap all the time. I am still drinking a ton of water, and fortunately, I have not had any coughing fits. I have had a few incidents when I ate or drank something that made me cough, but I was able to follow their directions of keeping everything open and relaxed , then immediately follow up with slowly drinking water.
Another frustrating thing is that I find it so hard to interact with people here in the states. It was easy in Seoul, since we had the language barrier, but here many people think I am deaf. I want to shout "dude, I can totally hear you, I just cannot talk right now!!" But obviously I cannot do that.
I am also on an exercise hiatus while I heal up, and being a very active person, I cannot wait for another week to pass, so I can start running again. Today I went on a nice long walk, and other than the cold dizzle, it was wonderful to just get out of the house and wander through the wooded neighborhood again. I have also been spending a fair amount of time alone, since having conversations has been difficult, this has not helped my mood much, so tonight I am going to a friend's house for the evening. The benefit here is that she is interested in the surgery, so hopefully it will be less awkward than the other times I have been hanging out with people I know.
I think Rose asked about the cost of the surgery. Here is a rough breakdown of what I spend on this trip. Please note that the travel & hotel costs may vary, especially, since my friend and I did stay at a 5-star hotel on the executive floor. I was able to cash in some rewards points which covered just over half of the cost of the hotel stay, meaning that my personal hotel cost was for only 4 days, not 10. They benefit of years of accumulating travel and reward points I guess. Plus my friend and I tend to treat ourselves to nice things
Airfare: $1,584.76
Hotel: $1,697.40
Yeson: $7,932.57 (surgery, plus botox)
This nets out to just over $11k
I still have another 18 days of no talking left. I am being good and quite honestly, it isn't that hard not to talk, since I feel like I have a sore throat anyway. I did laugh once while in Seoul, it was very brief but sounded better than how I laughed in the past.
I recommend getting a nice pen and notebook, I pretty much use this all the time. I also have an iPad and the Apple pen, which is also quite useful.
Lastly, I have nothing but positive things to say about Yeson. Dr Kim, Jessie, and the rest of the staff have been nothing but helpful, understanding, and nothing but a pleasure to work with.
That is it for today. I will update again if there is anything new to add...
-Sarah
