Final surgery?

I went to my pre-op appointments on Thursday, October 28. Anesthesia was first. It was pretty uneventful. The most noteable thing at this appt was finding out that I was tentatively scheduled for 7:30 AM. Whoo Hoo! Of course, that very first appointment was running late so I was an hour late for my appointment with Dr. Skoracki.

He gives me such grief! I had a long list of questions. One was about when I could work out again. Silly me, I mentioned having a trainer and he got a big kick out of that. I also asked him about doing something about the extra chin I've had since birth! He said "I can't believe I'm letting you talk me into this!" and agreed a little lipo would do the trick. Hey -- let's make the most of this situation! I'll go back in 1 1/2 - 2 weeks for follow up. The incisions should heal nicely even with post-radiation skin. No much he can do about the chunk missing from my ear and the lingering pain is due to poor blood supply. I should give that another year or two and if it still gives me grief I can try a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Uh, I think it's feeling better already!

The skin flap will be left alone this time -- we can re-visit that in about 6 months. Another surgery?? I think I might just learn to leave well-enough alone.

Surgery day:
Arrived at the hospital at 6 AM. I went back around 6:30 and the P.A. stopped by to say they were ready so things moved rather quickly. I think I had my "margarita" by 7AM. Seems like I heard they were finished by 9. We were out of there by 11 and back at Pop's house just after 1. My chief complaint when we left was dry mouth. And I mean DRY. I couldn't swallow anything without water to wash it down. The other pain in the neck was the pain in my neck from the drain. I'm supposed to leave that in 5-7 days even it there's nothing draining. I think I can make until Tuesday. Dr. S did say he was able to get some of the skin flap and he did lipo on my face/cheek, neck & right thigh. It's all a little sore -- I can't imagine having lipo done in large quantities. Ow! Post-op instructions are to keep the wounds covered and wash & apply Bactroban 2x daily; no strenuous activities for a week.

As far as surgeries go, this one was pretty much a breeze.

Upcoming surgery

My next surgery is just around the corner. I am so ready for this! It's scheduled for Friday, October 29. Just found out today that I'm tentatively scheduled for 4:45PM. Are they kidding me? If they think I'm going to go an entire day without eating, they are sadly mistaken! I left a message for the nurse to request a morning start time.


I'm going to have the excess tissue from my neck removed and probably some of the thigh flap. I'm calling it a face-lift! I think they are also going to clean up the scar on my thigh -- the top part is bulging a bit so apparently a little lipo will take care of that. The whole thing is scheduled to take about 2 hours, then I'll spend a little time in recovery before they kick me out the door. Not sure how long I'll be down & out... hopefully, just a day or two.


Since my last post, my recovery has gone remarkably well. I have lots more energy and most of my tastebuds have come back to life. In fact, I even started working out with a trainer. That's probably been the most helpful in many aspects. Now, if I can just keep from getting sick before next Friday... croup is making its way around my house.

Will post an update when the anesthesia wears off!