My Life – Page 57 – The Dackel Princess

What I Did This Past Weekend

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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The fourth of May was Hubby’s 75th birthday. So on Saturday I baked a nice sugar free cake and even popped a bottle of champagne for the big day!

The rest of the weekend was spent tending my seedlings, doing laundry and taking care of Mr. Fritz again. I really think he has doggy dementia, as he had another episode of confusion again.

We watched some wonderful old movies too. “The Taking of the Shrew” with a young, beautiful Elizabeth Taylor (what a perfect nose she had! Yes, I now tend to look at people’s noses all the time! lol!) and Richard Burton. Great movie!

My friend returned home with her husband after a vacation in Florida! I stopped on my way home today when I saw them in their yard. It was their first view of my face since this past surgery.

Here is my face this weekend. It is still bright red, and very sore, but I decided to just keep on going and not let it get me down.

This & That Friday

On Thursday my Internet Connection was mostly down. We’ve been having problems with the connection for a few weeks. We’ve had two house calls now and hopefully this time they have it. If not, they will have to dig up the line and replace it. A really big deal!

Today I decided it was time for me to go out alone. Just a quick trip to the town hall to register cars, and the grocery. Two things became abundantly clear to me during my trip.

I need to work harder each day to present myself. I have really not spent the time I should doing my hair or dressing or anything. No, I have not become a Walmart dresser wearing pajama bottoms and hoodies that say “Whose Ya Baby” on the back, but I can do better.
I need to find a good, pretty, sunhat that will protect my face from the sun. Today when the sun hit my face when I went from my car to the store, I was amazed at how much the sun bothered my face. But then, that is how I got into this mess isn’t it?

Fritz is doing better and we will bring him in for his doctor’s appointment in a few days. I didn’t feel the need to rush after he literally woke up and was back to normal. I’m still watching him like a hawk, but he does seem to have recovered.

The News

The news, my dear friends, is very good. I will not need radiation on my nose! It is something I’d worried about since this all started, but today I learned that all is well.

I also had my head to toe check, and there are no other lesions at this time. Good, good, news!

Then I went to get my stitches out, and that was when I got the bad news.

I suppose it is not completely bad news, I mean the stitches are out, and the cancer is gone.

The bad news is that they want to wait several months before they finish my face. It means I will walk around looking like this:

May 01 13

for quite a while. I have never thought much about my face, but today, when a four year old little girl was frightened by my face, I admit, to dissolving into tears.

I got no good answers from the plastic surgeons, nurse practitioner. She was the one who took out my stitches. She was rather curt with me, which only made it all worse.

I wonder how long it will be, or if I will ever be able to look in the mirror and see my familiar face.

I am trying hard not to be too worried, but I am. This time I am worried for the one part of this whole process that I hadn’t considered.

My self esteem.

Right now it is in the basement!

Plastics

It has been a hard recovery for me this time. I’ve had more pain than the last time and quite honestly, this makes me pretty hesitant about the next surgery.

Yes, there will be another one in the next few weeks. It seems, things did not come out quite right.

So on May 1st I go back to see the plastic surgeon, my dermatologist and gynecologist. All at this one medical center an hour and fifteen minutes away. With that, I am actually happy. At least I got all three appointments on one day!

My face looks so much better than it did before the surgery, but under the graft on my nose it too much flesh and blood. Also on the forehead, that also needs to be cleaned up as it also did not come through the way the doctor wanted.

One thing I have come to learn is that plastic surgery, after this type of damage, often goes in stages.

So I was exhausted last night and fell asleep long before I wrote Dackel Princess.

I’m hoping to get back to my usual self soon, and get writing more often.

Have a great Thursday Everyone!!!

Twas The Day Before Surgery…

My Monday began much like any other day. Walking the dogs, making the coffee…and then my day turned upside down.

I had no Internet connection! I went and rebooted my router as I’ve been having a lot of trouble with that, but no, it didn’t work. So, as I got my second cup of coffee, I called my Internet Service Provider.

She tested the modem and it was determined that the modem was indeed dead.

So after breakfast, off Hubby and I went to exchange the modem, get the light bulb I talked about yesterday and food for our picky eater, Fritz.

As we roamed the isles of Walmart a little girl took one look at me and then followed me for several isles. Her eyes were wide with wonder and her mouth agape! Oh yes, I can hardly wait for my surgery!

Upon our arrival home, I hooked up the new modem and after another round with tech support, we got the modem running.

But then the router up and completely died! I sat down thinking. We already have our new, replacement router, but I was a little afraid to get it online.

I opened the box, read the almost non-existent instructions, where they actually said, “If you have any questions see us at www://……….

Now how the heck can you go online if the router isn’t working?

After several hours (I kid you not!) I finally got the router up and running. There are still tweaks to be done, but we can at least access the Internet! Yay!

I got the call for my surgery today. I must be at the hospital by 11:30 for a 1:00 pm surgery.

Folks, this nightmare is nearly over, and soon I will have my face back!

Savannah took her first steps!

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how happy I am about that! Oh, how I can hardly wait to see her in person!!!

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So off to bed I go and I’ll report in on Wednesday and let you know how it all went!

What I Did This Past Weekend

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

***************

Well this past weekend was the weekend I prepared in earnest for all that is to come. The really weird part is, I’m actually ready both here at home and in my head.

I look around my home and I see a certain amount of organization. Why I even cleaned my refrigerator today and discovered a burned out light bulb in the bottom, so we’ll take care of that on Monday.

There are several things I am looking forward to after the surgery!

I’m looking forward to being able to sleep freely. Right now I have to sleep on my back and after a night of sleeping like this, I wake up so stiff and achy.
I’m looking forward to showers where I can allow the water to splash in my face! Currently I can only shower with my nose covered and with my back to the water!

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I’m looking forward to being able to go outside and feel the wind on my face without pain, much like a cavitie, on my poor raw nose!
I’m looking forward to being able to go out and not have people stare at me and wonder…
I’m looking forward to going for a nice walk in the sunshine!
I am looking forward to wearing my glasses again! I never thought I would say that, after complaining about wearing them for years! Just call me vain!!!
I am looking forward to living life to the fullest! Spending time with Hubby, Mandy and Savannah! I haven’t seen my girls in a few weeks now and I sure miss them!

So you see, I have so much life to live and things to be grateful for. Right now it is just getting through the next week and I bet I will be good as new!

I Got A Friend

I was sitting here today, thinking about the weeks to come. The surgery, the recovery, and how my nose might look. As I sat in silence, I looked down, and this is what I saw:

No matter how I feel, or what I am thinking, Anneliese is always by my side. She loves me, snuggles with me, and with her I know, I am never alone.

It started when she was really young. I think she was about 6 weeks old when I fell in love with her and she with me.

I mean, look at that face! How could you not fall in love with her?

As the years have passed, this little dog has learned to cuddle and comfort me, always be by my side, and despite the fact that she can be a real mischief, she is also as gentle as can be.

And now, as I near my surgery, Anneliese has literally glued herself to my side. She truly lets me know, that no matter what, I have a friend!

Hope

A month ago when I saw myself after my initial plastic surgery, I was convinced I would be forever deformed. Looking at the swollen face, the draining incisions was not an easy thing to do on a day to day basis.

But then today, I looked at the pictures I’d taken and I noticed that I look so much better!

The picture on the left was taken the day of my first plastic surgery. The picture on the right was taken today, a month later.

Seeing the improvement made me feel so happy! I actually feel like I have a chance of getting my face back!

I have hope! Yes, HOPE!!!

Preparing

I’m going to forgo the usual thirteen this week and just kind of ramble. Hubby and I are working hard to prepare for next week. What this means is stocking up on foods and drinks, getting all the laundry done, including sheets, and dog beds.

I’m going to have Hubby do the vacuuming while I dust, and then on Sunday I will wash down all three bathrooms.

I know that after the next surgery there will be a period of lying around and allowing my nose and face to heal.

You know I have had nightmares about moving around in my sleep and waking up to find my nose on my cheek!

Up until today I could hardly wait for the surgery to come about. Now that it will happen in a few days, I am starting to get a little nervous.

You see, I want to be attractive. I don’t want my nose to look like Michael Jackson. I want to have my old nose back! And I know that this is not going to happen. I’ll have a nose. A new nose. But it will not be the nose I have always known.

I sort of slapped myself today and reminded myself that I should be grateful for what I do have and stop whining. Look at what the Boston victims are going through. Yes, I have far less to complain about!

The next few weeks will be a challenge for both Hubby and me, but I know we’ll get through it. I just hope that after all of this, the rest of 2013 will be uneventful.

Oooops!!!

I woke up this morning and I thought, ‘oh dear, I didn’t write an entry in Dackel Princess last night’.

So I’ve waited until the coffee is brewed and I can have my first cup writing to you all.

Yesterday was a very busy day. First I returned to Weight Watchers, where I learned that yes, I am a stress eater. Funny thing is that I did not eat chocolate or vast amounts of sweets. I just ate too much of the regular foods.

Next, I raced home so I could accompany Hubby to learn how to give himself insulin. His old pancreas is not working as well as it should, so the doctor has put him on a long acting injection of insulin each day.

After that I went off to have lunch with my girlfriend, Laurie at our favorite place in town, “The Coffee House”. The owners are our friends, and they have wonderful coffee and salads and quiches. Best of all is that this place is cozy and we just sit, relax and talk while we eat.

At the end the owner came over and gave us two home made chocolate chip cookies to celebrate my successful cancer surgery!

I came back home and was completely beat, and I still had dinner to make for the dogs and for Hubby.

We watched a little TV and I headed to bed at 9:30.

This morning I tested Hubby’s blood sugar and it was down to 130. This is fabulous news! This means he probably won’t need too much more insulin right now. Yay!!!