I looked like this for two days. I had the procedure on a Wednesday. On Friday, I had to take John and Kate with me to see the doctor. John was very concerned that he was going see my blood. The kids were very (uncharacteristically when together) well-behaved before and during the "great unwrapping." My hair had not been washed since before going under the knife, and it was not only dirty, but parts of it were sticky and stiff from the cleansing agent Dr. P. had used to clean my face and neck. When he cut the bandages off and left the room, I quickly snapped a shot with my phone. I thought I looked better with the bandages on. You be the judge.
To me it looks like a mug shot, like the ones posted on the Dayton Daily News on-line. This is how I would imagine a caption like this would read: Woman, 37, charged with suspected drug use and resisting arrest. My forehead is still a bit swollen in this picture, which is probably why my eyes seem to be two different sizes.
From the doctor's office, I drove John to school and then straight to my hairdresser friend's shop. I have naturally big and often frizzy hair. Once, when I went in for an appointment, I brushed my hair out. I looked like Roseanne Roseannadanna or Janis Joplin. Val came around the corner, and not expecting to see me in all of my fuzzy grandeur shrieked in surprise. She usually takes before and after pictures. Nothing prepared her for me on this day.
It was possibly the best hair washing I had ever had. She washed it twice, and despite the fact that I said she didn't need to, she dried it (an arm tiring exercise with my mop) and styled it. Val's daughter Brittany washed it a few days later, a Monday, to get me to Wednesday when the doctor would remove the stitches, and I could finally take a shower.
When he removed the bandages, Dr. P. told me to dab the stitched areas with peroxide on Q-tips but not to touch it and to avoid getting tap water in it. When he took the stitches out, he was not happy with my wound care. Even though I had diligently dabbed it with peroxide, I was apparently too soft on the forehead. Juan was with me at this appointment. Dr. P. had just removed two moles from Juan's back two days before. More on that later (maybe, if I get around to it)... Anyway, Juan laughed at me for not being clean enough.
My new instructions were to clean the forehead with peroxide, apply Bacitracin to it thrice daily, and return in two days. I was embarrassed to ask my friend for a hair washing again so I went to my daughter Julia's First Reconciliation with stinky, dirty hair pulled back in wide scarf and a sign around my neck explaining the Frankenstein look. Just kidding, there was no sign, but it would have been oh so helpful over the past few weeks.
So when I returned two days later, he told me that it looked very good and that I could shower but to continue with peroxide and ointment. And he wanted to see me in one week. I was as diligent as ever, and as the days went by fewer and fewer folks asked me if I had been in a wreck or if I had slipped in ice and cracked my head open or what the other guy looked like. In fact, I thought my forehead was looking quite well. Judge for yourself.
So I asked Dr. P. if I needed to keep up with the peroxide and Bacitracin. "No, you can discontinue that." I was waiting for him to say, "It will continue to heal on its own, and I will see you in a few weeks." But, no. He said, "Now, I want you to put tape on it. I will show you how. Up on the table." He told me to change it every three days for THREE WEEKS. Its purpose is to keep the area around it from stretching to hopefully leave me with no scar. I went to the apothecary in the hospital to find paper tape. They didn't have it in the store, but when I told them Dr. P. wanted me to wear it, and the manager went to the supply closet to fetch a roll.
One friend suggested that I could take the tape off for Christmas pictures, but I think Nah. I will look back at our photos of the Christmas of 2010 and have a good laugh.
In the meantime, I think I should rent space on it. What do you think?
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