Nasal/sinus surgery: Independence Day report

My recovery at this point is mixed.

I'm no longer bleeding from the schnoz, so the nasal sling/gauze pad is gone. There are points in the day where I don't have to take Vicodin for pain relief -- just plain ol' liver damaging Tylenol. I seem to be doing well having quit caffeine cold turkey.

But my stomach is still in an uproar. I am craving a hamburger or hot dog today, but my stomach protests at the little chocolate truffle that I ate this morning -- a get well gift from the parents. And my energy level is relatively low, to where I could fall asleep without the help of narcotics. And I still need the Vicodin at certain times of the day. And I can't bend over or stoop down, meaning I need help doing basic tasks.

I'm getting a bit stir crazy, but I'm under orders not to do anything too strenous or to get too over excited. I honestly feel lazy and loser-ish when I'm not doing anything -- and having watched those "hurt in a wreck? One call, that's all!" lawyer ads on daytime TV does nothing to help me feel like I'm not lazy.

To get out of the house, mom and dad are taking me to McDonough to see my baby niece and my sister. I will miss not going to ABF or Blowoff today. That's what hurts the most -- missing the 4th of July fun -- but I guess my recovery is more important.

I'd like to know how things were and the fun people had; I just don't want people lording it over me.

Nasal/sinus surgery: 24h after

Well, I'm out of the hospital.

I can't say it didn't hurt. I woke up and it felt like my nose and the bones behind it were on fire. They had me pumped up with as much Versed as possible. The BF and sister were with me, and it made me feel better that they were. (It was kinda cute that the BF was smiling and had a tear in his eye when I woke up. He was just concerned about me. Yeah, we're sickenly in love.)

I've been eating crackers and pudding, and ingesting ginger ale. I really haven't felt like eating too much.

I'm wearing a sling around my nose to hold gauze in order to drain the unpleasantness. I'm using vaseline to keep the nostrils moist, and spraying saline mist to make sure the nasal passages don't dry out. I'm also using a q-tip to get crustulence (sorry, it's gross) out of there. With this thing around the nose, I think that the cat believes I'm a monster, and he hisses and runs away from me.

(Also, invest in Chapstick if you ever have to have this done. Breathing through your mouth will dry you out something wicked.)

Right now, I'm on Vicodin to help with the pain. The doc is trying to have me use it only as a last resort and to use Tylenol alone but honestly, I hurt too much to just acetamenophen. I can't tell if the surgery is helping, because I can't breathe through my nose right now.

I've been resting in bed and watching DVDs of Family Guy in between naps. I've tried not to move around too much.



BF is being a great nurse and oh so sweet. I can't bend down, so he's had to help bathe me, pick things from off of the floor and reach into cabinets. I'm so lucky I have him, and it's not just the drugs talking (well, maybe a little).

Nasal/sinus surgery: T-Minus 24 hours and counting

My stupid sinuses, a deviated septum and a cyst in a sinus.

I will have nasal surgery tomorrow at Emory University Hospital Midtown (formerly Crawford Long) in Atlanta for multiple problems which have caused me miserable sinus infections:

Septoplasty: this surgery will straighten out a deviated septum which keeps me from breathing normally.

Turbinate removal: these things can keep the sinuses from draining normally.

Cyst removal: I have a cyst in my left sinus above my cheek, which is causing me problems.

This will be done intra-nasally, which means that I will not have to have my face cut open. The surgeon has an excellent reputation, so I'm not worried about him.



However, I'm a little nervous. Yesterday was my pre-op visit, where I received instructions as well as a prescription for Lortab (hydrocodone), 10 mg with 325 mg of Tylenol. I was simultaneously amused and made nervous by the doctor's instructions: take 1 to 2 tablets every 4-6 hours for severe pain. Do not exceed 12 tablets in a 24 hour period Is it going to be that bad? Will I become House? I also received some post-op antibiotics.

I am lucky that I will have family to take care of me: the BF and my sister. I am not looking forward to riding home in Atlanta heat with no A/C, though.

I must arrive at the hospital at 11:30 a.m. to do the pre-op surgical procedures, blood work, anaesthesia consult, etc. Surgery will be at 2:30 p.m.; I probably will be at the hospital until 7 - 7:30 p.m.

I will not be a very happy person before the surgery as I can't have anything to eat or drink after midnight. So, no breakfast + low blood sugar = heightened anxiety and bitchiness.



After surgery, I will be given the equivalent of a nose sling to hold nasal maxi-pads (fancy gauze) to catch drainage. Luckily, there will be no nasal packing or splints, which hurt like hell when they are removed. I will be at home for at least 7 days, missing work, not to mention Atlanta Bear Fest 2009, as well as other fun July 4 events. I'll sit on the deck at home, stoned on Lortab with a hot dog and playing with sparklers to make up for it, though.

There will obviously be no update on July 1 due to being out of it; I might update the blog July 2 if I'm not too high. Teh wurds migt be a litl strng tho.

Other fun times: no strenuous physical activity for one week, which includes you-know-what; no sneezing for 3 weeks (I'll have to cough it out, which will be hard to remember); general mouth-breathing only for a week; nasal sprays/douches; strange and disgusting discharges.

But in a way, I'm looking forward to this -- being at home for a week on a forced vacation, not to mention the prospect of better breathing.

I will try to spare y'all post-pictures as they're generally yucky. I've seen them on Flickr and other blogs, and I generally don't want to subject people to them after looking at others' pix.

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Reporter-Cub Street?

Feedjit knows all. It can tell me how some of you stumble upon this blog, and I'm completely fascinated with some of the weirdness provided by Google searches:

Warrington arrived from google.co.uk on "Reporter-Cub: Atlanta crime: breaking into an Americorps van? WTF?" by searching for news reporter fucking in van.

Palm Springs, California arrived from google.com on "Reporter-Cub: Holocaust museum shot up by Nazi; Fox News' lead pic is Ms California" by searching for nazis shot babies.

Athens, Attiki arrived from google.gr on "Reporter-Cub: WAR: Liberal blogs attacked, hacked; gay bars in Seattle threatened with ricin" by searching for gay mad cub.

Sanford, North Carolina arrived from google.com on "Reporter-Cub: 6/22/08 - 6/29/08" by searching for bazooka tubes give cub plane real punch.

Waltham, Massachusetts arrived from google.com on "Reporter-Cub" by searching for waga cram analog.

Another favorite was a person who was looking for nude pictures of a local TV reporter.

And we kissed/as though nothing could fall

and the shame was on the other side...

So, we've come to the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. Gay life existed before then, including in Atlanta, but it unleashed the movement that we've seen today. I could retell the story but so many others have. For me, it is my independence and it's a celebration to honor the trailblazers that have made it possible for me to live my life openly, and to even think about the possibility of being able to marry the one I love.

It is not just an independence day for American LGBTs. It is for the world -- a good example is that pride in Europe is called Christopher Street Day.

Yes, I'm disappointed that Atlanta Pride is not happening this weekend. It's happening in the fall due to the regime of the Piedmont Park Conservancy, and the aftermath of having pride at the Civic Center instead of the park (I could go on about how we should have supported Pride in 2008 despite being there, but that's been said, argued and it's over with). But I'm glad the uprising is being observed in ATL in both the bars and with .

Personally, the BF and I will be at Mary's in East Atlanta Village for Fag Bash -- a fun celebration replete with fabulousness and keg stands.

Also, note that on Sunday, the anniversary itself, according to the TV schedule, the Seth McFarlane hour of Family Guy and American Dad will be gay gay gay, with both episodes being gayer than Christmas -- Family Gay and Daddy Queerest.

In the end, as Joe.My.God. says, Pride is essentially a Jewish holiday:

I'll end this by making one final Jewish reference. Possibly you've heard the Jewish in-joke that sums up the meaning of all Jewish holidays? "They tried to kill us. We won. Let's eat." My Pride version?

They wish we were invisible.

We're not.

Let's dance.

Happy Pride, everyone.

Mark Sanford's Evita moment

The (Columbia, S.C.) State: “I’ve spent the last five days of my life crying in Argentina,” Sanford said. “I am committed to trying to get my heart right.”


Completely stolen from ManchuCandidate on Stinque.

It won’t be easy
You’ll think it strange
When I try to explain how I feel
That I still need your ass
After all that I’ve done
You won’t believe me
All you will see
Is a man you once knew
Although he’s a good white Christian male
Still wants the sexy time with you

I had to let it happen
I had to change
Couldn’t stay all my life with that wife
Looking out of the window
Staying out of the sun
So I chose freedom
Hiking around trying everything new
But nothing impressed me at all
I never expected it too

I’ll cry in old Argentina
The truth is I want to do you
Just for a few days
My sad existence
I did the lady!!!
Cause I made the distance!!!

And as for power and the White House
I sooooh wanted them all
Though it seemed to the world
They were all I desired
They are illusions
They’re not the solutions
They promise to be
The answer was here all the time
I do you and hope you do me

I’ll cry in old Argentina

I’ll cry in old Argentina
The truth is I want to do you
Just for a few days
My sad existence
I did the lady!!!
Cause I made the distance!!!

Peaches teaches Atlanta

Peaches rocked so hard at the Masquerade, I needed a cigarette afterward. I was in the second row from the front, with people dancing and pressed up all over me. With the BF. Awesomeness, to say the least.








Also, earlier in the day the BF and I planned to go see a Monet exhibit at the High Museum of Art. However, it was closed. We went to see The Hangover instead -- highly recommended. One bit of weird, sad randomness from the theater afterward...

Signing on in '49, signing off in '09

This is kinda cool: WAGA-TV was, I believe, Atlanta's second television station to sign on, in 1949 (the first being WSB-TV in 1948). The chief engineer, Paul Cram, who turned on the analog signal -- and who is nearly 100 years old -- gets the honor of turning off on Digital-Day, June 12, the signal he started.





I believe the official call signs now have DT at the end, not "TV" as the sign-off indicates.

Don McClellan at WSB, who has been there for like eleventy zillion years, got to throw the switch there.

---

OK, I'm going to be completely elitist here, but I have to say it: the transition was moved a few months to help prepare more people. There have been TV ads everywhere about it. There have been help centers established. If you weren't prepared for the transition today, it's your own damn fault.

--end rant--

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UNRELATED, BUT WHILE WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT OF ATLANTA TELEVISION: OK, there are sho 'nuff some pervs in the area. My feedjit feed lists the following arrival to this blog:

Duluth, Georgia arrived from google.com on "Reporter-Cub: Show us your rack, get a boob job" by searching for [ATLANTA TV REPORTER NAME REDACTED TO KEEP PERV HITS DOWN] NUDE.

Holocaust museum shot up by Nazi; Fox News' lead pic is Ms California

But of course. Screen cap from 3:31 p.m. Mind you, they at least made the shooting a top story. But Miss California, who believes only in opposite-marriage, getting fired, is waaaaay more important.

Scariest looking politician. Ever.

US-America has some pretty fucking scary politicians, not to mention hideously ugly ones, but good God almighty this one from Canada gives me nightmares. John Baird totally looks like Sam the Eagle.

From This.That.No Other (bstewart23), who is moving from Toronto to Vancouver soon:



v.