The most asked question is how my neck feels today as compared to before the surgery. Before the surgery I was in intense pain and on constant pain medication. Lately, I have only been taking pain medication before I go to sleep. I definately feel the "hardware" that I have in my neck. I also have some residual low grade tenderness that is probably the remainder of the cancer still touching some nerves, which the radiation should take care of. I have not worn my neck brace in over a week, but my neck feels very tired by late afternoon. For the fun of it, I thought I would do a little before and after comparison.
Things I am grateful for regarding my neck:
** No itchy stitches
**I can sleep on my side (yeah!)
**Minimal pain medication (no constipation)
**Getting more mobility in my neck
**If startled and I flinch my neck, I don't feel searing pain that would take hours to calm down.
(that is no reason for Jon to try to scare me!)
**I still can get the best seat on the couch by just pointing to my neck
**I can run up the steps two at a time. (Just Kidding!)
The down side of my neck:
**I still can't bend forward very easy to pick things up. (Girls need to help)
**I wonder if all the stiffness will ever go away because of all that hardware in my skinny, non-
fat little neck
**I still can't fly a kite with the girls (running and looking up at the same time is my goal for
next year)
**I can't use my neck for an excuse if I am too tired to have sex
**I can't dive into the pool (wait, I never did learn how to dive- strike that)
**Still hard to look down for scrapbooking
Positives outway the negatives!!!!
Happy 4th of July!
Sandy :)
P.S. Scroll down for new pictures
