Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Good Luck on the 8th, Kim!

Hey Kim, thanks for the comment. I wanted to write you back but I don't have your e-mail address. So here it goes:
  1. Yes I do have a splint. I have a plastic piece between my upper and lower teeth.... my surgeon says he'll remove it on Monday.
  2. No I'm not driving yet. Mostly because I've been on pain killers. I don't plan to drive in the next couple weeks... just to be on the safe side. If I had to, I defnitely could, though.
  3. Yes in the past week I slept quite a lot. Dozed off a lot at the hospital. Since I've been home I sleep about 7, 8 hours at night, and maybe two more hours during the day. That's a lot for me - since I usually need only about 6 or 7 hours on average.
  4. I felt reasonably well on the outing yesterday (stopped by a pho noodle house on the way home from my follow-up appointment, and had clear broth). It was a total of four hours, from the time we left the house (a friend drove me) to the time we came back. I felt exhausted, though, and fell asleep in the car. After we got home, I had to take another nap to recover from all the excitement.

What time is your surgery on the 8th? Get plenty of rest the night before and think positive thoughts. Relax your mind. Other tips:

  1. Ask your husband to get a dry-erase board or notepads ready for when you wake up.
  2. Drink as much fluids as you can post-op. I'm sure your nurse would tell you the same thing.
  3. Do what your body tells you. If you're tired, get some rest. Don't push it. I think our bodies are pretty smart... so just listen to them. ;)
  4. Have a good mindset. When people asked me if I felt nervous in the days leading up to my surgery, I always replied - "No. Why should I be nervous? My surgeon should be the one nervous. Hahaha." All you need to do is relax, let the meds kick in, and let your doctor and the anesthesiologist do their thing. Just another episode in the adventure that we call life. :)

I'm sure all will go well on Thursday! Take care Kim.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hey Kristen,

Thanks again for all the information. As far as not being nervous, I wish I had your stamina. I had to sit an extra 10 minutes this morning before I could leave for work because I thought I was going to lose my breakfast. I hadn't been thinking about anything but it must all be in the back of my mind. Surely things CAN'T be as bad as my mind has made it out to be!!! I know i'll be fine.
Surgery is at 8:30am with a check-in of 6:30am. At least I don't have to wait all day like Sue did. I'm not sure I could have done that.
Good news though.....my OS did tell me he was practicing on two other patients today so I shouldn't worry...he'd have lots of experience by the time he got to me. He definitely has a sense of humor.
If you want to contact me direct my email address is kgower5529@yahoo.com.
Thanks again for all the encouragement!
Kim