October Update: Post-op, Chronics, Life

I had my post-op on October 6th, so a while ago now. Oh wow, time flies. I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to update those of you that have been reading all of the surgery updates, school has been extremely time consuming (more on that later).

Nervous

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Thumb Brace

My thumb is still having issues … Like I expected. These cramp things last for quite a while usually. For some reason, I’d never purchased a thumb brace, even though this is a fairly common problem. I have one now though!

Thumb Brace

It’s not beautiful, but it seems to be doing the trick. Writing is still painful, but much more bearable with the brace. Hopefully I can paint in it too.

The Funk Slump

School has been requiring lots of attention. Life has been requiring lots of attention. And I have been feeling pretty awful.

Stubbed Toe

This guy is goofy and I’m in pain, so I guess it works even though I didn’t stub my toe…

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Short Life Update… because, Insomnia

Mom is leaving to head back to CA tomorrow… actually, today… in, like, 5 1/2 hours. And I’m not sleeping. Oops. I told her I’d make her some maps. So what do I do? Decide I can’t stand the new way that Google prints maps anymore, so I decide to make my own. Now, they turned out really well. But I’m dumb, “Yes, I feel ill… so let’s spend three plus hours making maps from screen shots and typed directions.” Oh well, she shouldn’t get lost at least :-/ Though I suppose their could be random construction detours that weren’t marked… you never know on road trips.

Overwhelmed

Brain ‘splode!

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Don’t Worry, I’m Still Alive

I just haven’t been feeling up to doing this (blogging). Which I know means I should, but I just don’t want to. I’m three weeks post-op today! So I figured I’d mark the occasion with a small post filling you in on the last week.

My thoughts have been in a kind of dark funk lately… not things I want to write about though, which is part of why there haven’t been any posts. When my depression freaks out, it kind of takes over, and then I have a hard time doing anything at all.

Temper Tantrum

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The Pain of my Fibro Flares

This is the first time since starting my blog that I’ve had more than basic fibromyalgia symptoms. My fibromyalgia has been mostly under control for at least six months, but it’s kind of hard to tell with all the POTS stuff going on. Some of the symptoms between the two conditions overlap, with chronic fatigue and widespread muscle aches being the two main ones in my case. Towards the end of getting my fibro controlled, I’d been able to identify several of my triggers: injury, bad illness, exhaustion, major over exertion, severe allergy flares (if I haven’t been controlling things very well), sudden shift from warm weather to cold weather (like, from 70F to 40F, which happens in CO on a regular basis), and hurting my feet. Thankfully, many of these triggers need to be paired with others to set off a bad flare.

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Crazy Life… But, Gotta Love It! Right?

Life has been crazy.

  • I’m still recovering and it’s taking a LOT of energy. Though, I’m making major progress on my ear pain and have been able to reduce the pain killers.
  • School. School = homework. Right now: homework = reading multiple chapters. ‘Nuff said.
  • Fibromyalgia is a … unwelcome guest. I was doing so well, too. Oh well, I knew getting my hopes up that this surgery wouldn’t trigger a flare was a bad idea.
  • POTS is also unwelcome, but doesn’t care that I don’t want it around. And my insomnia is flaring up too. Overall, not much fun on the Chronic side of things, and too many unwanted guests hanging around.

So much going on, so many spoons that I want to spend, so many spoons that I don’t have. I also don’t tend to post much on weekends because Dan is home. I adore Dan, and I love spending as much time with him as I possibly can while he’s home. Monday was Labor Day this time, so he was also home; and now he’s on a business trip, so I definitely was not going to be on my computer. I didn’t even turn my computer on Sunday or Monday!

Post-Surgery Update, My Version

Warning: Post contains some images of the surgery site, which are kind of graphic looking.

First off, I’ll start by letting you know that the doctor says everything is fine, no complications 🙂 This is good, and I’ll give more details below. I just didn’t want any of you to be anxious while reading!

Lizz sleeping

Just a reminder of how the whole post-surgery recovery stuff started.

I’m going to start at the moment I wake up. I really hate waking up from anesthesia, it’s not like you’re going from dreaming to waking, but a weird and disjointed confusion. You only remember up until the anesthesia/amnesiacs take effect (provided they are administered properly). This time, I was given the amnesiac in the pre-op area. Continue reading

Quick Ear Update

I’m currently waiting for a call back from Dr K (the ear surgeon), and I’d like to do a better follow-up after that, if I feel up to it. The reason I’m waiting for a call is because yesterday I was in pain that was only about half a number away from my max. Today, the pain is a tiny bit better, but still very high. I’m hoping this is just because of the fibro… I really don’t want it to be a complication of any sort… I’ll try to write a better post-op report once I’ve heard back!


More posts from the Great Ear Saga: The Great Ear Saga of 2015Bawling BeanStay on the DropsCutting in Time for SchoolThe PreOp HighlightsClass, Surgery, Life, AnxietyDan’s Post-Surgery UpdatePostOp Physical TherapyMy Post-Surgery UpdatePain Killers, Exhaustion, LifeOctober: PostOp and Life