Day 3 After Surgery

I had a dream last night that I was walking through a store, pushing a grocery cart. I was wearing a purple silk shirt and tight jeans with pumps - and my bandage. In the store, I walked past a couple of male employees, and one said to the other, "Now I could go for that...minus the Ironman face." Hello?? I never saw "Ironman," so I don't know if he wore a bandage at any point or not. I guess the good thing about the dream was that, in it, I looked good from behind:-) (Note: I haven't worn tight jeans and pumps for close to 30 years.)

Today my face is more swollen, and I have yellow circles under my eyes. Maybe they won't get black and blue, but I'll have to wait and see. I'm very conscious of the fact that there's a major sore place on my face. On a scale of 1-10, I'd say the pain level is about a 3. 

Some of my friends are shocked that I'm posting my surgery/post surgery pics. Hey, what do I have to hide at this point? The time for vanity is gone, AFAIC. Now I'm just trying to get through this experience the best way I know how. I don't understand why blogging about it is cathartic, but it is. At this point, every little bit helps. 

Last week I saw my orthopedic dr. because of my swollen right foot. After an exam and X-Rays, he diagnosed it as gout. OK. I've never known anyone personally who's had gout, so I knew nothing about it. Well, except that old people got it a lot. After researching it online, I learned it was an "exceptionally painful" type of arthritis caused by too much uric acid in one's system. The uric acid forms needle-sharp crystals in the joint, which cause the pain. He gave me Prednisone and said I should feel much better the next day. Unfortunately, I didn't feel better. He also ordered lab work, so I made my way to the lab and had the blood drawn.

This morning, the doctor called and said my lab results didn't show any uric acid abnormalities, as he had expected. He said it showed I have an infection of some sort. He's phoned in a prescription for antibiotics. OK, this shouldn't really cause me any alarm, but it does. I've had knee implants since I was 42, and I've always been warned by my doctors that an infection has to be treated aggressively ASAP, because they can "settle" into artificial joints. doG forbid that should happen to me, because it would mean I'd have to have my implants removed, lie in a hospital bed with IV antibiotics until the infection cleared, then have the implants reinserted. This happens more than one would think. 

The good news today is that I had a shower and washed my hair. OMG. What a difference it makes when you feel clean:-)