Recovery...

...is a long road.
Pain, pain, pain, is gnawing away at my hand in several places. Slicing and tearing at the surgery site, aching and cramping up my finger joints and wrist in the cast, and pinching a nerve in my thumb, making it tingle with numbness and a quick zing every now and then.

I can feel my stitches wanting to burst when the whole area decides to swell up 5x its size every couple hours. The cast puts so much pressure on it, and it feels like my whole hand is going to pop.

Tomorrow we go back to see Dr. Hanel to fix my cast so it's no longer pressing up against a nerve and making my thumb go numb. We hadn't been expecting to see him again until the 15th, but it will be SO nice to be able to get my cast taken off and wiggle my wrist and fingers, even for just a moment.

But so much to be thankful for! We were able to get a refill on painkillers (thank GOODNESS!) they aren't as strong as the ones before, but they help a little, which is better than nothing!

The Starlight Prom on Saturday was SO much fun! Here's some photos:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3824920671217.165019.1523766058&type=3



I wish I could post ALL the photos. It was FANTASTIC. :) Such a fun event. I definitely overworked myself though, just 2 days after surgery, and paid for it that night / the next day. But it was worth it.

So life goes on. Trying to get back into the swing of things, while only using my left hand. Today at work I tri-folded 50+ invoices, stuffed them into envelopes, and stamped and sealed the envelopes. All with just my left hand! Was pretty darn proud of that.

Sorry to cut this short. Have to go. More to update soon.

Keep on keepin' on :)

-Jessica

1:11:07:20

1 day, 11 hours, 7 minutes, 20 seconds... that's what the countdown on my phone says. That's how long till I get this painful, annoying, mysterious tumor outta my hand, hopefully for good! Gotta admit I'm a little nervous, just for the pain part, of course (you think I'd be used to the whole pain thing by now, but when you know it's coming, I think it's just human instinct to get a little nervous). But most of all I'll be happy to get it done and over with.

Took off my cute pedicure (don't ask my why, but you can't have any nail polish on at all for surgery, fingers or toes). Updated my dry erase wall-calender for May before I don't have the use of my right hand to write it with. Got caught up on homework (also, did my Senior Portfolio Presentation! So glad it's done and over with! woohoo!) Arranged a ride to get me to church youth group on Sunday night.

Sounds like I'm ready. Just gotta get through Wednesday, then onto Thursday. The pre-op call came in Monday. Check-in is at 9:20am. Surgery is at 11. Nothing to eat after dinner/bedtime. Only water from 3:15am to 7:15am. Nothing, not even gum or mints, after 7:15am...or we have to reschedule. So many rules! So much to remember! Agh.

Can't wait for the Starlight Prom on Saturday :) Hopefully I won't be in too much pain, or on the flipside, not too drugged up, and I'll actually be able to enjoy it. My dress is super princessy. Can't wait to show photos!

Thanks for the kind thoughts (: Should really be a piece-of-cake, no-big-deal, sort of surgery. Will update, left-handed, when I get the chance. Or maybe I'll have Logan or my mom type for me. haha

Now the clock says 1 day, 10 hours, 55 minutes, 52 seconds...

:) Goodnight