Day 8: The Day Bionic Man Crashed

On day 8, I woke up choking. Not the most pleasant way to start a day... Then, as I began to become aware of myself, I realized I had also awoken to the worst pain since surgery, my nose was stuffed 100% and I couldn't breathe through it, and even my eyes were swollen! The doctors had told me when I went to get this surgery that "The first two weeks will be the worst two weeks of your entire life". I can definitely say with assurance, this day convinced me, they were right. I was able to remain fairly positive until this-making fun of myself and even making up fun games. Finally, today, I broke. The pain, new and extra swelling, nausea, inability to breathe, and possibility of throwing up broke me. I burst into tears what seemed like every 15 minutes. I think I cried more that day than I have in my entire life. I wish I were exaggerating...

By the latter part of the day, I had only been able to take a few of my meds and water... I had maintained a positive attitude until now, but today, the crash hit and it hit hard... Suddenly, that evening, I was getting incredibly nauseous and felt I was going to throw up. Now, when your jaws are banded shut, if you throw up, you have two options: 1) suffocate or 2) if someone is fast enough, as soon as you throw up, they have to cuts the bands for you. The second option also means, after you stop puking,  another trip back to University of Michigan which is 2 1/2 hours from my house to get new bands to hold my jaws shut. I was instructed to go for another visit to the Emergency Department. Three shots and another 2 meds added to my daily regimen and I was on my way... That night, since I couldn't talk, I emailed my doctor's office with pictures to see if this was normal. All they could say was "Oh my god, you poor thing. I'm so sorry." before adding two more meds to my daily regimen. If you're counting, that would now be over 15, but the antibiotic and pseudafed had ended... giving me just under 15 meds to manage...

You know that moment in every superhero movie where the superhero is faced with something that seems insurmountable? The villain seems to be winning. Nothing is going well. He's ready to give in. That was Day 8 for this Bionic Man...

Thank you to everyone who stepped up to send me positive notes, prayers, words of encouragement. You all have no idea how much that meant to me. Also, a big thank you to my mom for bringing me to the Emergency Department. Seems I've been there enough since surgery that I should get a frequent flier discount by now.

Sincerely,

The Struggling Bionic Man