I modified this post rather than start a new one. I'm five days post-op and so far recovery from this has been a bitch. I bounced back after my gallbladder surgery in Feb but I haven't bounced from this one, I've thudded.
Pre-op visit on the 18th. Dr. Haben measures my pitch using a variety and tells me what I can expect. I'm at 128hz or B3. He says he can reliably get me to 200 or 210hz or middle C or G3, a good average range for a woman. Than he scopes my cords...
Turns out my right cord is almost entirely paralysed and there's pronounced asymmetry of the anatomy, likely due to my being tubed for my gastric sleeve and hiatal hernia repair (my thoughts, not his) so suddenly, my minimally invasive double is going to be a much more invasive triple. Hello CTA. **sigh** Dr. Haben is nice, has a dry sense of humour, not much for being especially personable but he's a surgeon. What can you expect.
Day of surgery: car picks mum and I up at the hotel at 0545. I register, get the requisite paperwork done, and wait in the waiting room a wee bit before they bring me back to the pre-anesthesia area. There I get the gown that makes me arse want to show, get the IV put in, answer some more questions, meet the anesthetist (really nice guy), one more talk with Dr. Haben then wait for them to come in and start the Decadron (steroid for swelling and inflammation and the antibiotic). The anesthetist comes back in and starts the Versed (causes sedation and anterograde-amnesia) and wheeled back to the operating theater. Little more chat with the doctors, some small joking then the Versed kicks in and I don't remember a thing until they're waking me up in recovery. This is where the hell starts.
First off, I have a monster sore throat. No nausea or vomiting but I start coughing. A lot. The cough lasted for days, even with the cough meds (I'm allergic to hydrocodone so I asked for dextromorphan which is a cough med with promethazine). My neck is swollen and I generally feel like I've gone a few rounds with an out of control lorry. So I sleep. A lot. Until they wake me up and tell me I can go home (back to the hotel). BTW - you can eat or drink as soon as you wake up but your throat may be very sore and your taste buds off. There's also a list of things to avoid and a lot of meds you go home with (antibiotic, Medrol Dosepak as the swelling can be fatal [I just finished my last dose today], omeprazole [since reflux can dissolve the sutures], and the cough med. Plus he wants you to take both ibuprofen and acetaminophen together every 6 hours for pain. The surgical site pain isn't bad, the sore throat is a monster).
I feel like I want to clear my throat. A lot. So lots of water and learn to exhale without clearing your throat.
Back at the hotel room and right back to bed. I end up sleeping. A lot. I also end up with a low grade fever and a hematoma so I'm bleeding. My fear is that the cough has split an external suture but Haben assures me the next day that it's a hematoma.
Post-op visit the following day: Haben looks at the incision site and sees the blood and states it's a hematoma which has since drained on its own, numbs a nares and scopes my cords and says they look "a little beat up" from the cough but the sutures are fine. He reiterates the post op instructions:
No food after midnight
Never get me wet-wait...wrong instructions, sorry!
No talking, no whispering, no mouthing of words, no lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk until the sutures come out eight days after surgery (this Thursday), avoid making sounds if possible, plenty of warm water on hand, take all the meds, call with any complications and come back in three months. Due to the complications I mentioned above my voice will take longer to recover. Free to go home. Back to the hotel where I sleep. A lot.
Still feeling like a lorry hit me my mum extends our stay another day where....I sleep. I also have a lowgrade fever, still coughing, still having a lot of phlegm, still weak as a kitten. We ended up extending through Saturday and then driving back. My throat is still sore, I'm still kind of weak and I can't make a peep for another three weeks.
This is one rough surgery.
I'll update this again when I get the sutures out on Thursday.
