Recovery

So this may be a little graphic in terms of medical stuff for some.  If you get squeamish, then I suggest you stop reading and move on to something more enjoyable.

Now that you have been warned....

The week prior to Barony Wars I went to see a doctor about removing a sebaceous cyst I had on my back/left shoulder.  It had been there for about 18 years or so.  My doctor (who happens to be my dad) told me that if it didn't bother me, there is no reason to get it removed.  Well, it was not bothering me, but had grown and now I wanted it gone for aesthetic reasons.  So on Wednesday, I go see the surgeon to discuss options about removal.  He said the same, if its not bothering you, no real hurry or reason to remove it.  So leaving the office I scheduled an appointment for early November.  This would have allowed me to get through my Disney vacation and not miss a whole lot of fencing time.  And fencing has been one of the reasons I had been putting having the cyst removed.  I didn't want to do it in the winter, and then have it still healing during Mudthaw.  I didn't want to do it in the spring and not be fencing at events.  I didn't want to do it over the summer and be healing at Pennsic.  So on and so forth I justified my position to myself for a number of years.

Drive up to Barony Wars, I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with the cyst aching.  Not a full out hurt, but it was sore.  By Sunday night, when I had gotten home, it was red and had grown larger.  I called to move my surgery up to the next week, September 18th.  The pain kept getting worse and worse.  The only way to describe the pain by Thursday and Friday of that week was, it felt like bones were being broken.  Yes, it hurt that much.  Friday night, my parents played night time golf at their club.  By the time they got home, Jennie was very concerned as I was now also feverish.  My dad took one look at it and called a friend from the golf course, another surgeon who had recommended the one I had visited the prior week.  He told my dad to bring me in Saturday morning.

So Saturday morning rolls around and my dad, my mom, Jennie, and I go to see the surgeon.  He looked at it and said it needed to be opened and drained to relieve the pressure before it bursts.  Now if there is one thing I am afraid of, its needles.  Terrified of them in fact.  They got me on the exam table, used a numbing spray and then used a local anesthetic to dull the pain.  He then proceeded to relieve the pressure and drained the cyst.   Let's just say it was not something I ever want to do again.  But I got through it.

He didn't clean it out fully as I'd be going in for surgery in a few days, so they could do it under general anesthesia in an operating room, not on an exam table.  So Tuesday rolls around and back to the doctor's office I go.  I had to get changed into one of those silly gowns.  And then they brought me to the chair.  You may know the chair if you've ever had an IV put in.  Big industrial looking thing.  So I explained to the nurse about my fear of needles.  I told her I go into fight or flight.  So she asked me if its ever gotten violent.  I said "No, and I'd really like to keep it that way" to which she agreed...

Of course there was one time I almost punched my dad when he was standing between me and a doorway when someone was trying to draw blood a few years ago... but I digress.

So it took three people to get the IV in me.  The nurse to start the IV, the anesthesiologist held my arm down (gently) so I would not move accidentally, and another nice doctor who talked to me, held my hand, and distracted me while it was done.  After that I was still shaking, so they gave me a sedative.  They had to wheel me into the OR, and then asked me to climb onto the operating table.  I remember trying to get on the table as the last thing before waking up in the recovery room.

So its now been a week and a half since the surgery.  Things are healing nicely.  My dressing needs to be changed daily, but thankfully, I live with a doctor.  Because they had to drain the infection, they were not able to stitch me up and close the incision, so its healing on its own.  Hopefully I'll be fencing in a few more weeks.  By my Disney trip, I hope not to have to have it packed any more.  It actually feels pretty good.  The only bad part is after the dressing is changed, I am sore for a while.

So that is the current state of me.