One down... one to go!

Yesterday, was surgery number one of two.  I can't describe how excited and ready I was for this surgery. Afterall, it was exactly four months from the day of my actual accident.  I know both of my doctors are perfectionists so there were no nerves attached, just hope that I'd be one step closer to the final product!

Because we had to be at UK so early in the morning, we went ahead and sent the kids off Tuesday night so we wouldn't have to wake them up early to drop them off.  This always leaves me feeling empty inside, but thankfully, both kids did a great job and seemed to have a lot of fun!  Kermie and I headed for the hospital around 5 o'clock yesterday morning.  We were supposed to be at registration by 6 and surgery was supposed to start by 8.  Upon our arrival at the Center for Advanced Surgery, one of the nurses said that my surgery was going to be a long one due to the fact that there were two surgeons involved and each had quite a bit of work to accomplish.  I felt kind of bad for Kermie who was just going to be sittingt here.... bored. On the other hand, I kept asking the time because I was more than ready to get started!  My nurses hooked me up to fluids, took my vitals, and ran me through the schedule.  Then, both of my doctors came in to double check their plan and say hello.  They feel like family at this point.  The very last thing I remember is one of the nurses telling me she was going to put some "feel good" medicine in my IV and then I was off.  

A few hours later, I woke in recovery with a scratchy throat and sick to my stomach.  I remember them telling me that Dr. Patel decided not to revise my scar, but did accomplish one of his two goals.  They wanted to be sure that my new lower eye lid would not be pulled down by any work that he did.  Of course, I completely trust their judgement.  Therefore, my surgery wasn't as long as they expected it to be.  I now have a 1 gram gold weight in my upper eye lid to keep it closed at night, a lifted lower eye lid, and from what I can tell, the nasty looking scar below my eye has been stretched, tucked, or something else. :)  In other words, it doesn't look as bad as it did.  Recovery was definitely the worst part of the experience, but Zofran, Phenergan, water, and a fan did the trick.  I was out of there in no time, but extremely sleepy!  

Kermie and I got home yesterday a little past lunch and I slept off and on the rest of the day.  I ate like a pig too.  There's something about surgery that makes me so hungry!  Subway, sweet tea, ice cream sandwiches, Taco Bell, and Pepsi were just a few of the things on my menu in my awake moments.  Since I've been home, I really don't have any pain other than my throat which I assume is from surgery.  My eye feels great, although it is quite swollen.  I haven't had any pain medicine and I've been in great spirits.  Compared to my last return from the hospital, this is a breeze.  I'm thankful to still feel like me!!  I currently have a shield over my eye and have to put ointment on it throughout the day.

So, what's next??  I go back to Dr. Timoney's office next Wednesday to check on my healing.  I'm not sure about the plan with Dr. Patel yet.  Although I was scheduled to get stitches out Tuesday, but now there aren't any to remove. Towards the end of this month, I will meet with Dr. Stevens to finish up the details on the Strabismus surgery.  And, at this rate, I will be a new woman by the time we leave for Disney in June!

Here is a picture of what I currently look like... sorry I'm a bit rough!!