Rob took this photo.
a) I had no idea he was in the room.
b) I had no idea that both cats were on me.
I’m losing most of my saving throws against napping, and I’m fine with that. Smells are more vivid, which will be great when I’m cooking, but less exciting around the cats’ litter box.
That chair, by the way, is what I’ll be sleeping in for most of this week as I recover from surgery. I’m supposed to keep my head elevated. Pillows would do that but… the chair keeps me from accidentally rolling over during the night. When I’m just sitting around, there’s no pain at all. I’ve gone out with Rob for walks around the block, and my footfalls send up a dull ache.
One of the fascinating things about the walks is that at a certain point, I’ll have the urge to open my mouth, even though I can breathe adequately through my nose now. I guess that I had to do that for so long, that it’s become an automatic response to a certain heartrate. It’ll be interesting to see how much that changes when I acclimate to the restructured airway.
Laughing, smiling, and yawning are all no fun. I’ve also learned how often I wrinkle my nose in response to things.
Other than that, healing continues.
I recall that position well, minus the feline accompaniments in my particular case as we hadn’t been adopted by our cat yet. I think the first night I finally did sleep horizontal was 1) a huge relief, and 2) not very restful as I couldn’t shake off the concern I would roll my head at some point onto my nose. Pillows did come in quite handy then as side supports to gently remind me not to roll over.
The other disturbing little nag regarding my recovery week #1 was in regards to sneezing. As in: Dear God no. Let’s just avoid that entirely please, preferably for months. With the backup plan being, open jaw wide and let rip a 100% mouth sneeze if it absolutely, positively must happen. Luckily it never did and I wish you the same good fortune in that regard.
The last oddity that struck me in regards to my experience was the sudden realization about two weeks into recovery that my normal nasal breathing sound had changed. I seriously don’t recall being conscious of how I sounded before surgery when I breathed through my nose. All I knew was it now sounded different. Not bad or good. Just changed. My ENT chuckled when I told him. He said some people do mention noticing that. It’s strange what a person might spontaneously extract out of a background of white noise or even the memory thereof.
With both cats on the job I’m sure things will continue to go well.
P.
Glad you’re healing well!! 🙂
About the mouth automatically opening: it changes, but somewhat slowly. I spent most of my teen years breathing throughmy mouth due to a bad combination of witenr nose congestion, and everywhen else pollen allergies. I got desensitized to all my pollen allergies, but now, ten years later, I still find myself breathing through my mouth for no reason. Less and less, but still.
Glad to hear your improving and good to see the cats are on guard duty.
That is the best recovery position. Your cats deserve all the scritches. Hope recovery continues to go well!
Glad to see the Feline Home-Health Aides are on the job… They must be aware that petting cats lowers blood pressure and improves mood. Hope you continue with a very *purrrrr*ful recovery!
Glad it’s going well!