3 posts tagged “head”

I'm a little excited.  Assuming everything goes according to plan, which I've realized doesn't necessarily happen often, I get my staples out tomorrow!  Which means I get to wash my hair on Sunday.  Hell.  Yes.  Do you know what happens when you don't wash your hair for three weeks?  If the answer's "no," then be very very happy that you've maintained both the faculty and the facility to shower and wash your hair on a regular basis.  Don't take it for granted that you don't know the feeling of being able to style a mohawk without product.  Though it is pretty punk rock, it's not as awesome as it sounds.

*Disclaimer: May contain disgusting and/or offensive descriptions*

So, the good news is that I'll be six months out from my surgery on Wednesday.  The not-so-good news is that my incision opened up on the side of my head on Saturday.  Yay!  I went to put my sunglasses on as I was heading out to the gym, and there was pain.  Upon closer inspection, there seemed to be an area above my ear that was all open, bloody, and oozy.  I pulled some scab off, put some Neosporin on it, and headed to the gym. 

I was feeling really good up until that point.  I started seeing an acupuncturist the week before last, and that seemed to be helping with the pressure on the side of my head.  However, with this gross, open wound, the pressure is back.  The area seems to be right over where one of the screws in my skull is, so I'm wondering if it's just having a tough time healing with that there.  Anyhow, I went to my GP today, and she was a bit concerned.  It's far too long after surgery to be having this happen, so she took some cultures, (ow) and prescribed me some antibiotics because it looks a bit infected.  She recommended that I call my neurosurgeon, and try to get an appointment ASAP.  I did. He's in China.  Of course he's in China.  I'm not sure which part of China, but I'm really curious.  She didn't mention if he was alright or not, but she said that he's due back Thursday (which makes me think he's probably okay), and to give his nurse practitioner a call first thing tomorrow morning. 

There were two things that she thinks it could be.  One could be what I suggested, that the screw is inhibiting healing.  The other is that white blood cells are accumulating at the area in an attempt to heal the area from infection, thus preventing the area from healing properly.  If that's the case, she mentioned that it would probably need to be burned or coagulated.  She could have said cauterized, but I took her meaning.  She has a pretty thick Russian accent, and I'm pretty sure she grasps for English words sometimes.  I don't think she'll seal it with a cigarette or anything.

Ugh.  So I'm a little bent out of shape about it.  I was really just starting to feel good again.  I don't understand what's going on.  At first, I was freaked out that the screw itself may be causing infection which will lead to horrible infection, then death.  Okay, I'm still freaked out about that a little, but my doctor reassured me that that wasn't the case. 

Of course, she also said, "I wouldn't worry about it" when they found the tumor in my head.  Right.  

This weekend has flown by.  I tried to cram a whole bunch of stuff in, plus we lost an hour.  Stupid daylight savings time.  Seriously, I'm not really a fan.  I guess it will be nice to maybe get out of work when it's still light out though. 

I went to a wedding yesterday at the El Rey theater on Wilshire.  It was a couple of friends that I have seen in a long while.  I worked with him at a record store back in the day.  By "back in the day," I mean six years ago.  His wife and I actually went to college together, but I never would have met her were it not for him.  She plays bass, and I was learning guitar, so we used to jam together, and eventually formed a band with three other girls.  We were the epitome of a garage band, metaphorically speaking, and we never made it out of the garage.  Our drummer did go on to marry the singer from "Reel Big Fish" though, so there ya go. 

Anyhow, it was fitting that they rented out the El Rey for their wedding.  They had two different bands play, and they were really good.  The wedding itself had a 1930s theme, so I wore a pinstripe suit, minus the jacket, and a fedora.   I don't have a good vintage dress lying around, believe it or not.  And I like to wear ties.  I went by myself, which kind of blew because I didn't know anyone other than the bride and groom, but ended up having a good time anyway because of the music.

She's still playing bass, and I still really want to learn trumpet.  If I end up taking lessons, I'm going to try to convince her that we should start a band again, only this time with a trumpet player.  =D  Plus, that will totally get me out of singing backup. 

I'm totally going to skip out on work tomorrow.  I have an appointment with my opthamologist tomorrow morning, and then I've decided that I'm going to go to UCLA because that spot on my incision still hasn't gone away, and the pressure on the side of my head is still there, and might actually be a bit worse.  I called my surgeon's office on Friday, but they didn't really get back to me on whether or not I should come in or not, so I'm going to make that call on my own.  If I have to wait in the ER, then so be it.  If I can get an MRI out of it, all the better because I'm about due for one anyway.  Dillon said he'll come with me.  It's weird - he's always sick when we go to UCLA.  When I was in the hospital, he had a bronchial infection.  When I had to go to the ER two weeks later, he had a really bad cold or flu that turned into an upper-respiratory infection.  This weekend, he's come down with a cold or the flu. 

I've decided that I'm not going to worry about work, especially since stress makes the pressure worse.  That was re-affirmed this morning when I almost got killed on the freeway by an RV towing an SUV that decided to change lanes without signaling.  I slammed on my brakes and leaned on the horn.  The pressure in my head increased.  It decreased after a few minutes, but man, it was crazy.

Anyhow, I think I'm going to go have some chamomile tea, a bath, and sleep.  I've decided to lay off the gym for awhile...at least until I get my head checked.  But not by a jumbo jet.  Kudos if you know what the hell I'm talking about.