A cut above, or below, as the case may be.....

1:01 pm - Tuesday - February 26th - Wittmann, AZ - 66º F, 25% humidity, wind 8 mph out of the east by southeast......blue skies today with a forecast high of 68º F.

We checked out of our hotel just before 6 am on Monday, and were at Flagstaff Medical Center by 6:10 am.  We found a parking spot right in front....I would hope so at 6:10 am in the morning!  We walked into the hospital and headed for the pre-op registration office arriving about 6:15 am.  By 7 am my name was called, and we were led into the surgical center where I was placed in a curtained room to change out of my clothes, and into the ubiquitous backless dressing gown.

TLE then took this picture of the cyst in my right cheek saliva gland......

 Before....

.....the surgery was scheduled for 8:30 am, and Dr. Tritle stopped by about 8:10 am to apply a 'smiley face' to my right cheek, so there would be no error......

 Dr. Tritle put a smiley face on my right cheek so there would be no mistake

JUST IN CASE YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE THE GORY DETAILS STOP READING HERE AS THERE ARE GRAPHIC PICTURES FOLLOWING

.....the last thing I remember, just like the last three times I've had surgery, was having an oxygen mask put over my mouth, which also includes the anesthesia.....the next thing I knew I was waking up 2.5 hours later.....about 11 am.....from the surgery.  Where the large golf ball like lump was is now a small crater where the rather large cyst called home for the last few years.  That 'crater' will gradually fill back in over the next 6 months.....

Just after I woke up.....I had a drain for about 24 hours

.....according to Dr. Tritle it took over 50 stitches to close everything up....as you can see from the picture above the incision begins about the middle of my ear, and runs down my jaw line then below the jaw line for total length of about 5-6 inches.....that was all pealed back to get at the cyst.  It took me most of the rest of the day to get over the effects of the anesthesia which left my mind in kind of a fog, and my stomach feeling slightly woozy.  I was authorized by Dr. Tritle to have as many as two Percocets every four hours, but I was able to get by on one every 5-8 hours before the pain would rise above a 6 on a 1-10 scale.  With one Percocet the pain was between a 2 and 3 on the 10 point scale.

For the first 24 hours I had a drain running out of my lower jaw area to a bottle kept in a pocket in my dressing gown, which was periodically emptied....by the time the draine was removed the discharge was down to a minor trickle.....  

Just after the drain was removed 

......frankly the pain, and extreme discomfort I was expecting did not materialize.  I was, understandably,  just a little uncomfortable for the first 6 hours, but then my disposition improved dramatically.  I am able to eat regular food.....no straws involved.  There are no bandages engulfing the right side of my face as I expected......just a long, ugly incision, which will improve in appearance over time.

The one thing I love about Flagstaff Medical Center is you can order anything off their menu anytime between the hours of 7 am to 7 pm.  For lunch I had a bowl of tomato soup, and a cup of coffee.  For dinner I had breakfast......scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, a fruit cup, and a glass of Sierra Mist (soft drink).  You just pick up the phone, dial 12345, and place your order.  Within 15 minutes the food is delivered to your room, and it is actually pretty good food!

So, now I am in recovery mode for the second time this month.  My first surgery back on February 5th is a distant memory, and pretty much healed.  Now I start the process all over again, but all is well in Whatsnewell land.

Thanks for stopping by!

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