Being Sliced and Diced (well only kinda)

I have thought about whether to post this or not about my recent surgery. It wasn’t anything horrible but I know that it will affect some of the things I do in the future whether it be blog related or life experience related. So here’s my story and now you'll know whenever I reference it. And while you are at it, do me a favor and just go to the doctor. What may seem like a small problem now may turn into a bigger problem later? Don’t believe me, read on and some slight discretion on the pictures…

One of the great things about my awesome boyfriend is that while I know he cares, he is also not afraid to call me out on our agreements. One of our agreements were to go to the doctor about our respective issues and honestly both were minor but still required surgery, well technically at least. He got his done and while they classify it as a surgery, they were able to numb him and do the thing. Wham, Bam, Thank you ma’am and if it gets sore, take some Motrin. He’s not big on medication things of the like and so he went on and ‘walked it off’.

Myself on the other hand, I dreaded going in because I knew it was going to be straight up surgery. IV followed by loopiness and out like a light and asleep for about two days. Wasn’t anything major but I had a couple cysts. Can’t remember the actual name of what it was but in lamen’s terms, there’s a gland that keeps the skin hydrated all over the body and sometimes when the channel is blocked or clogged, your body forms this bump of stuff that’s trying to do its thing but can’t go anywhere.

As it worked out, I was able to go into surgery about three weeks before vacation. In my head, this was ample time to get in, cut it out, sew me up and basically be healed before we went to Vegas. Yes Las Vegas, Nevada. As life would have it, my incisions got infected. I popped a couple of my internal stitches, probably in my sleep as I am a hard core back sleeper, and low and behold I was forced to have and care for open wounds. Since I obviously can’t see behind me, I’ve had my mom, my grandma, my younger brother, and my wonderful boyfriend clean and pack my wounds twice a day. (thank you Birchbox for the perfect sized boxes for my wound care storage)

About three weeks later and the skin irritation from all the tape and bandaids hurt more than the wound itself. I’d put a picture up but it’s pretty graphic so I won’t take you guys to that point. But twice a day, carefully remove medical tape with the help of rubbing alcohol. Carefully pull the packing strip out which at first started at about 8-10 inches long and thankfully gets smaller and smaller. Clean and drain it all out to put more packing strips in and cover the same spot with the dreaded tape. I’ve used the paper tape, the silk tape, Band Aid waterproof pad bandaids, and termagants (or the clear sticky pad that nurses put on top of iv’s to keep everything from moving around).

Because the tape wouldn’t stick to my hair line, I’ve shaved that part of my head after the surgery twice. Not a pretty site but wearing my hair down created too much heat for 1, my tape to stick to my skin. 2, my already super irritated skin to sing the painful song of their pained people which would turn into my pain and 3, my patience with all of this happening. Here's a couple not terrifying pictures...

My bf has said on multiple occasions that he’s sorry and I tell him not to because I had been putting this off for years, literally. This will be my last year on my parentals’ insurance so might as well take advantage while I can. Instead I thank him because even through it all, you have to look at the long term. I’ll be able to wear necklaces again and have another reason to contemplate tattoos haha. But I also have more ways to help prevent this from happening because the doctor I had gone to actually helps!!!! Who knew?