I had expected my throat to feel kinda raw and abraded because they would have to intubate me. As it happens, because they both lubricate the tube and administer a local anesthetic, that hasn't been a problem. Instead, it's been all the muscles in the neighborhood that are aching. I saw a speech therapist last week who warned me that "swallowing will be weird" - she wasn't kidding! Yawning is a bit of a challenge, too - my throat doesn't want to stretch for a proper yawn, at least not yet.
Things have been shoved around, pushed, pulled, rearranged (because of course there's no more thyroid taking up space), poked, prodded, and scraped. My stomach is mostly settling down and I no longer have a headache (hangover?) in the wake of the chemical cocktail they pumped into me in the OR. I also slept better last night - not as uncomfortable, less coughing, but still had some very weird dreams.
I find that I don't want to turn my head independent of my torso yet, or at least not very much, and my lungs definitely need their PT. When I inhale through my mouth, e.g., prepping to cough, I wheeze in a way that the Chief admits he finds a bit scary.
The incision is wider than I thought it would be, maybe because of all the extra cancer the surgeon found? It's almost 4" wide, and purple, where the surgeon used a purple marker to indicate where he planned to make the initial incision. Imagine if he'd used a red marker! 😄
Oh, it's starting to itch! Unfortunately, I can't put anything on it to ease the itch until Sunday; for now, I just scratch around it and try to be content with that.
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