Cyst Removed
I had my plastic surgery today to remove the cyst from my left cheek. I had to get to the surgery waiting area at 5:15 AM for my 8:00 AM surgery. Mostly nurses and the anesthesiologist asked me the same questions about allergies and fillings over and over again while I tried to watch CNN (all about Obama and his tire gauge). I appreciated the redundant questioning, and the staff constantly checked to make sure I was the right person and that I was getting the right procedure done. I also made sure to tie all the appropriate ties on my hospital gown so that I didn’t flash my goods at any of the hospital staff.
When the time came for surgery, my bed was wheeled into a chilly room with some scary looking large lights and tools. The doctors hooked my IV up (I hate those things) to a sedative, and I started getting a little groggy. By the time they got me on the bed and tucked my arm in, I was pretty out of it, and I don’t remember much after that.
I woke up to feeling some pressure on the left side of my face (which was totally numbed with Novocain), and the procedure was done. I was told everything went well and the first thing I wanted to do was to see my cyst. Wow, it was huge! They had removed a big gumball sized hunk of flesh. It was fairly spherical and almost an inch in diameter! I had a hard time believing that that was in my cheek. I guess the stuff will be sent to a pathologist for testing, and I kinda wish I could have taken a picture of it. It was funny watching the plastic surgeon just rotating the flesh bit around in the tupperware container thing.
I felt pretty sharp as soon as I woke up, but looking back I was probably still a little out of it. The staff monitored me for about another hour to make sure I came out of the anesthesia ok. Meanwhile, Bunky waited impatiently because her Blackberry didn’t seem to work in the waiting area… My face is still really numb and I have a big patch on my face. The gauze is on for two days to absorb any seepage, and underneath are some hydrophobic sutures and coverings apparently. After that I think the sutures will fall off, and I will go back on Monday to get some extra patch on the wound.
The surgeon told me to take Tylenol and gave me a prescription for Darvocet so that I can pretend I am House-lite. I’m hoping I won’t need it, since the painkillers I took after getting my wisdom teeth removed made me nauseous. For five days I am only allowed to talk through clenched teeth (and even then, sparingly), and I cannot chew or use straws. I had a depressing supermarket sweep with Bunky to buy soups, pudding, V8, and applesauce. However, I’m really anxious to see how the cheek looks after everything is said and done. Hopefully any scarring will be minimal.
By Kungfucius, 8/8/2008 @ 2:19 pm
Hope you have a speedy recovery! I let TheDragOnfruitS know about your surgery since he had a cyst taken out of his mouth about a year ago, so maybe he could let you know of some things to help get by.
By TheDragOnfruitS, 8/8/2008 @ 2:41 pm
All the best man, soon it shall be over :).
). Pain wise, I hate pain pills, but I learned that at a certain point its worth swallowing some of my pride and concerns with pill crap in order to stay functional and keep a better hold on sanity. Also, its easier to avoid pain with the pain killers than to stop it once its flared up to full force. Aside from the prescription pain killers, my docs said I could pretty much take Advil (or non brand name) at will, perhaps you are allergic to them? If not, then that’s a pretty good option as an alternative if the pain is not too bad (up to 400 or even 800mg doses). If you do go on some of the stronger pills, I have one piece of advice which they did not mention to me. Make sure you drink enough water, I for some reason did not often get thirsty and when I got off the drugs I was quite dehydrated which apparently is very painful (headaches, muscle pains etc).
My main piece of advice is:
Do NOT get an infection, infection BAD ;).
Otherwise, try to spoil yourself with ice cream shakes of many flavors, I also liked apple sauce, and go for a variety of lukewarm soups and weird jellos, not just your favorite (otherwise it will soon become your least favorite
Well, I wish you all the best, hopefully this helps a little :), let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help.
By Ender, 8/8/2008 @ 3:25 pm
Dude, when did you get a massive cyst in your cheek? Was it not visible from the outside? I certainly never noticed it. Also, how and why did this cyst form?
By Kabitzin, 8/8/2008 @ 4:20 pm
Several months ago, but not sure why. It was slightly visible. I had it when I visited Columbus actually.
By Hung, 8/8/2008 @ 6:08 pm
Shoulda asked for the harder, House-grade stuff. It’s a small price to pay for medical genius.
By Kabitzin, 8/8/2008 @ 8:01 pm
Didn’t want them to take a piece of my thigh instead of my cheek, though.
By Chris, 8/10/2008 @ 8:23 pm
So this means no more cyst in cheek humour I guess.