The State of My Nose

The surgery, such as it was, wasn't really a big deal. Just time consuming.

After waiting at least an hour, I was the only one in the waiting room when I was called back (previously, my company in the waiting room was all a generation older than me.)

Once we got started, the doctor reviewed the procedue, then left before the nurse injected me with some lidocaine. I waited a while longer, then the doctor took off some skin. I kept my eyes tightly closed the whole time so I don't have any idea how much skin. I didn't want to know. Then she cauterized the wound. That part was creepy. She didn't warn me -- I just heard a whirring noise and then smelled it. Ugh.

I waited in the back waiting room with all my "friends" from the front waiting room, all of us with bandages in peculiar places on our faces. No one spoke.

Eventually, I was called back again, and the doctor said she had to take off just a little bit more. The nurse injected me with more lidocaine -- happily, I couldn't feel the sting this time around -- and then the doctor came back and cut some more, and this time remembered to warn me before cauterizing.

Then I waited in the back waiting room again while they once more examined the specimens under the microscope.

Eventually I was called back into the exam room again and told the surgery was done, and I just needed suturing. The doctor had previously told me it was possible she would refer me to a plastic surgeon, but now told me she would be able to do the work herself. Apparently, nose surgery can be tricky because the skin there isn't stretchy, and she would need to cut and stretch the skin over wound to minimize scarring.

The nurse injected me a third time with lidocaine. This time I waited an insanely long time, more than an hour. Finally the doctor returned. The suturing was strange. It didn't hurt but it felt very strange to feel all this tugging on my nose.

The nurse bandaged me up afterwards -- using an excess of gauze and paper tape, I thought -- and finally sent me on my way with a prescription for antibiotics, instructions for cleaning, and an admonition to avoid exercise for a week.

Um, what?

I become a b*tch on wheels if I don't exercise. The one week of my pregnancy that I didn't exercise (week 39, when the chiropractor was trying to get my pelvis into alignment so the baby would drop), I nearly killed everyone around me.

So I took today off. And tomorrow I will do an easy workout on the elliptical. And will most likely take Saturday and Sunday off because we will be traveling.

The nurse said that increased blood pressure associated with exercise can affect healing. So, fine. I will avoid Insanity. I think it would hurt too much to be jumping around, but mild exercise... feh. I will take my chances.

I changed the dressing this morning, before I was supposed to, because I just couldn't go to work with this montrosity on my nose.

Monstrosity, right?

I thought about staying home but that seemed uncalled for. The pain was getting to me on the subway ride home yesterday -- thank goodness I carry Advil and remembered to take it -- but this morning I felt fine.

So I very cautiously unwrapped the tape and curiously peered into the mirror. And was totally impressed with the doctor's handiwork! She did a beautiful job with the sutures. As nice a job as I've ever seen. (To be fair, I don't see a ton.)

I packaged myself up with a minimum of gauze, bacitracin, and tape and it looks much better... but certainly not any less noticeable. You just can't attach anything to your nose and expect folks not to notice.

Much less bandaging but still, not subtle. Check out the swelling, 

especially at the bridge of my nose. I'm lucky I didn't have two 

black eyes as well. 

Calliope certainly noticed.

She seemed concerned, and kept pointing at me saying, "Hurt."

She didn't want to let me pick her up at first, but eventually got over her fear.

Sufficiently recovered from her fear to have fun playing with the
camera on Mommy's phone

I brought home her first box of (character) Bandaids with me, so that she and Eleanor could experience having "boo boos" of their own (especially because she skinned her knee the night before and a bandaid plus bacitracin rendered her hysterical). They played with the bandaids briefly but seemed a little nervous about the concept -- could wearing a Bandaid make me have a boo boo? -- and quickly abandoned them.

Oh well. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before a box of Bandaids is thrilling. I just read a suggestion to bring a box on airplane flights for entertainment -- brilliant!

She's since gotten over her fear, though she still points to me and says "hurt" occasionally.