Day: April 9, 2022

Here’s Cat in Your Eye

Published on by heiditea3 Comments

I debated even posting this, but I’m bored, tired, and my brain is doing what it should be…thinking. So, that’s positive.

Timing is everything and the timing of this particular incident wasn’t great.

The night I got home from the hospital, our boy kitty cat Smokey, decided to either:

  • A) jump up on the bed and thought he was going to land on something OTHER than my face, but landed on my face OR
  • B) jump up on the bed, decided to walk ACROSS my face to get under the covers.

I was finally asleep when this all began, so I was not aware of the pre-show activities. However the main event woke me with a solid jolt of pain as a claw went into my eye lid and I pushed his butt off my face.

NOTE: Remember, I was put on Plavix and full-strength aspirin a week before my procedure to prevent blood clotting and thin the blood to prevent clotting and keep blood flowing. Major side effects of these meds together are increased risk of bleeding and hematomas (black & blue).

I quickly (well, as quick as I could) walked to the bathroom to see if I had a gushing, bloody wound on my eyelid and discovered a small 1/4” cut on my eye lid. Thankfully it didn’t bleed too much, but oh boy, did the hematoma kick in almost immediately.

I put an antiseptic ointment on the cut several times during the day and just sat back and watched the colorful show begin. It got darker and more purple and then it even jumped over the bridge of my nose to my other eye. When my eyes are open I’ve got a real Norma Desmond look going on with dark, purple/black eyeshadow/liner.

Today I think it has finally reached the peak of ugly. The cut is healing, but jeez, I look like I did after my craniotomy in 2014. Only this time the bruising has nothing to with the brain procedure I just had.

I have forgiven Smokey. He didn’t mean to hurt mommy and no doubt just wanted to be as close to me as possible. And he’s just too damn cute.

Smokey

FYI: These posts are half typed and half using the terrific keyboard dictation feature

Realities & Fears

Published on by heiditea5 Comments

FYI: These posts are half typed and half using the terrific keyboard dictation feature.

One thing I’ve realized in the last 15+ years of hospital stays with my brain aneurysms, is that a hospital gown, or Johnny as they are referred to, is the great equalizer.

When wearing the gown, no one knows how rich or poor you are, your political leanings, the internal trauma you have endured, and for how long. It’s the costume of reality in a hospital. The Johnny doesn’t care.

The richest most powerful woman in your state is essentially just another patient like the young man who washes dishes at a restaurant laying next to her. The opening at the back of a Johnny not only displays our backsides, but also exposes our extreme vulnerabilities while staying in the hospital.

Any modicum of modesty is thrown out the window as one relinquishes personal “duties” to the nurse working your room at the moment. God bless them ALL!

There was a woman and her teenage daughter in the waiting area for admissions when Dave and I arrive. The older woman had MS and her daughter had cerebral palsy. They both required assistance walking and the daughter had communication issues.

Having one person with a disability in the family can be challenging enough, but I had tremendous amount of respect and empathy for this woman and her daughter dealing with daily struggles to live a “normal” life. And the mom was upbeat, chatty, and smart.

Observing this woman and her daughter maneuver the hallway and communicate with the hospital staff was a swift dose of potential realities for the brain procedure I was about to undergo in a few short hours.

Although I had a tremendous amount of confidence in the staff and doctors here at Maine Med, it IS still the brain and there is aways some potential for something unexpected to happen.

With the only other exception being the heart, if something goes wrong during a procedure in the brain, it can effect the rest of your life in a dramatic way. Just what we needed to see before heading up to pre-op.

My fears dissipated after speaking to my doctor before the procedure and I was ready to get this over. I knew whatever came from it, that Dave and I could handle it.

But I’m still not a fan of the Johnny, however.