If you haven't heard, I recently got nasal surgery.

Here's my one shot to prove my manliness: As a bachelor, I never owned any mirrors; just had access to 2 mirrors. Can you guess the two? Correct! In whatever apartment I was renting at the time, it would be (1) The bathroom mirror and (2) the medicine cabinet mirror next to it!

.... On to the castration!

So, when I needed a mirror to bring to work to inspect my bloody nose to make sure there were no trails of blood running down my cheeks, guess who I went to for a portable mirror? Yup! "Yinnggg... do you have a mirror I can bring to work?"

I was sure she'd have some generic-drug-store flavored mirror for me to bring to the office. Something I could just keep at work forever and maybe bring back home with me if "they" one day decide to send me packing with a cardboard box of my belongings.

... But noooOOoo I couldn't be that painless.

This is what Ying gave me to bring to work:

 

*sigh* ..... it's .... hello .... kitty ...

 

Opened up, there's even a comb for me to comb my hair!!!!!! *squeals delightfuly*

So there you have it folks -- I am a proud Hello-Kitty-Mirror-Compact-With-Built-In-Comb-Carrying citizen. I know all you girls are jealous! Even some of you guys.  I bet Ariel is green with envy too. (obscure alusion to The Little Mermaid combing her hair with a fork)

 

Considering the other alternatives Ying offered me, I think Hello Kitty was a good choice.

Presenting an assortment of Chanel, Bobbi Brown, Shiseido, Dior and MAC
(Even knowing these labels puts me dangerously close to the castration chopping block)

 

Sarcasm aside, I did crack a grin today as I casually put Hello Kitty back in my drawer and quietly slid the drawer closed.

-Dean :)

I guess my nose is still kinda big. Too bad because I think it's always been like that. Hehe At least I can breathe!

 

I got the packings removed from my nostrils today!!!!

It would have been done in the morning, but the doc had a surgery and rescheduled me to the afternoon.

Ying was there for the "event" ...

Her reaction was "EWWWWWW!"

The doc literally extracted a 3-inch-long, 1cm round rectangular foam tube from each of my nostrils.  It felt like he was pulling something out of my brain.  I wouldn't say that pulling it out hurt; but it was definitely a strange feeling I've never felt before.

The instant he pulled out the packings I could breathe through both nostrils. The difference was night and day!!  I can breathe!!!

I still have a week to go I think before total healing... My left nostril that got the most work is still very very tender, sore and bleeding a little bit. And I have a LOT of leftover snot that I can't blow out for risk of opening the surgery wounds.  So I've resigned to snorting and hocking a lot.  Doc prescribed an off-the-shelf saline nasal spray (brand: Ocean) to use 4 times a day to help recovery.

Nose is normal sized now too! Too late to take pics, but I'll update Tuesday afternoon.

-Dean :^)

           ^-regular sized nose again!

Looks like I overdid it yesterday (Sunday Night).

Around 9pm, I took my 2nd dose of antibiotics for the day.  Shortly after I felt my bloodpressure go through the roof. I had been sitting in front of the computer troubleshooting some server problems.

How could I tell? Because my sinuses were THROBBING and I could feel the tissue really squeezing the packing with every heartbeat. Not good! :( 

I went to lie down right away, but it was too late... room spinning, sinuses swelling in protest.

It was a pretty restless night too -- lots of snot and blood leaking through the gauze.

Today I get my packings removed, but I've learned my lesson; I'm going to Mister Take-It-Easy for the next week and beyond.

 

-Dean  :o|

            ^Solemn big-nosed me.

See? I told you I'd go!

 

Looks like if you want to view the video, you have to be our youtube friend... just log on to youtube and add 'deanying' as your friend. Once we approve it, you'll be able to watch the video.

-Dean :o)

Note to Self:

DO NOT LAUGH at any time when packings are in nose. Pain, nasal stretching, almost choking on sushi will ensue.

 

The Situation

Ying brought back some sushi today. Not real sushi for me; I just ate the tofu pouches and the california rolls. Ok, I cheated and ate a piece of yellowtail too.  It's just that the thought of raw fish festering somewhere in my nasal cavity was a turn off so I held back.

Midway through the meal..

Ying: "Aw, I forgot to return this Wii game to Blockbuster. Hey do you want to go with me?"

Me: "No way, I don't want to go with out outside like this." (Earlier, I already asked Ying to go down and check the mail for me so I didn't have to go outside my Phantom of the Opera mask)

Ying: "So? Who cares?"

Me: "Hey I could wear sunglasses! That'll disguise me!"

And for whatever reason, the mental image of me in my gauze and a pair of shades set off a chain reaction of laughter, stretching nostrils and near-choking on rice and wasabi. Not fun.

Me: <Laughing><grimacing>"ow, stop don't make me laugh"<laughing><holding hands to face to offset stretching of already-stretched nose>"ow, it hurts. Sschttoppp"<tears running down cheeks, soaked up by gauze>

Aw the hell with this, i'm going to Blockbuster. At least I can say, "yeah I went to Blockbuster in gauze this one time."

Stay posted for videos...

-Dean   :o)

            ^--That's me and my big nose

Friday I slept most of the day, Saturday, same thing.

Today, Sunday, I've been up and about, watching some TV, reading a book (Day Watch, 2nd in a series, translated from Russian author Sergei Lukyanenko).

Today I also took my first shower since Wednesday night.  It really is a milestone on the road to recovery when you're standing in the shower rubbing the surgical tape residue off your hand from where the IV was taped.

My left front tooth is still kind of numb! And I found a vertical crack in the enamel running all the way up the middle of the tooth :( That's bad news... maybe the trauma was too great to my tooth when they put the breathing tube down my throat.  The first thing I did was get online and read everything I could about cracked teeth. Seems like I could be ok, as it looks very similar to a "craze line" -- a technical term that means hairline crack.  I think the numbness is the different pressure being put on my gums behind my teeth. I'm guessing my gums will adjust and the numbness will go away.  But having odd pressure worries me since my teeth are already crooked enough! More odd pressure is sure to make them even more British comedy worthy. (think Austin Powers)

Looks like I won't be making it back to work on Monday after all. My appointment to remove the packings got moved to the afternoon because the doctor has a surgery in the morning. BELIEVE me, I'd rather be at work, slouching in a computer chair and programming than have this packing jammed in my nose for another day.

Ying's taking really good care of me! She's made me the most DEEELICIOUS get-well food. Chicken soup made from a whole chicken (organic, from Mitsuwa). And a beef soup made from scratch as well. Then she took some of the soup stock and made rice porridge. And a secret to make the rice porridge taste REALLY good, she put in a raw egg yolk and let the heat from the porridge cook the yolk. You folks are missing out. (the food, not the surgery)

No new pics; I look pretty much the same as last post.

-Dean :)

I'm HoooooOOoooome!!

O ... M ... G...  I thought it was going to be a walk in the park, a piece of cake, no sweat.

Boy was I wrong!

Background

I have a deviated septum. What does that mean? It means the cartilage in my nose is crooked -- Enough the point where it blocks my left nostril from breathing.  Also, the tissue inside both my nostrils is always swollen.  The combination of those two pretty much makes me breathe through my mouth 90% of the time.  On really good, allergy-free days, I could breath out of my right nostril and a little bit of my left nostril.  I saw an Ear Nose Throat doctor last month and he recommended nasal septoplasty (fixing the cartilage) and interior turbinate reduction (cutting away some of the overgrown tissue inside my nose).  I had done some reading online a while back and read really positive stories about it.

 

The day of the surgery

Here's a play-by-play version I wrote in an email to a friend:

I just woke up. Been sleeping most of today.

Yesterday I arrived at 1pm, got wheeled in on a bed at 3pm, feeling pretty nice. Everyone was super nice!

Got past the IV-in-my-hand jitters sometime around 330. Woke up at (I think) 530... That's when things got bad!! I had severe nausea, the room was spinning. Nothing like the anesthesia experience I had when I got my wisdom teeth taken out in '99!!

Ying dropped me off at 1, but had come back at 5 to pick me up. I slept/threw up for a few hours after the surgery. They suggested I stay the night, but I didn't want to sleep there. At 9pm I said I was well enough to go home so they got me a wheelchair and someone to push me to the car... then I threw up in the elevator (I rule!). Good thing I had made friends with the half-circle throw up tub and it was readily by my side. Now I know why they don't want you to eat before the surgery! Threw up in the car once. Got home threw up again! Man I was weak. All this time it's near midnight (Ying stopped by CVS to pick up my antibiotics and pain killers). I realized my last meal was 8pm the previous night; I hadn't eaten in nearly 28 hours.

<..some parts snipped...>

Anyway I'm better now! My nose is hideous -- they have it PACKED with gauze, then I have this big gauze square rolled up into 3rds taped across my [face] to catch any leakage. I can't breathe out of my nose of course. It makes swallowing hard. Lips are way dry and should start cracking soon... I can't feel my left front tooth (all I want for xmas is..?) Nurse says to ask my doctor about that, she thinks it was because of the breathing pipe they had to stick down my throat in the OR and that feeling should come back eventually.

Ok this is turning into a blog post. Maybe I should put this online! I took some pictures of me in a OR gown (if only I had known what was in store for me that night!) I think Ying stealthily took some pictures of me after the surgery too (heh heh heh, she said I looked soooooo bad) I knew she was taking pictures of me. She said she felt bad taking pics but knew I'd wanna see. And I'm glad she did! It'll be cellphone pics, but I'll doctor them up (no pun intended) with photoshop.

I'm in high spirits now though! Ying made awesome chicken soup with an entire whole chicken! And there's a beef soup waiting for me right now too. Oh and I had the most delicious bowl of cheerios this morning too. I let them get soggy so I wouldn't have to chew too much, which on any other day would have made them into a bad bowl of cheerios... But not today!

So there you have it!

Here's me around 1pm in good spirits!

My feet in booties!! hahahah so cool.

No pants!! No boxers! ho ho ho!

 

AFTER the surgery... I'm totally PWND. The anesthesia really got to me. The pink thing near my right hand was my new best buddy -- the puke pan.

 

Close up of me in my anesthesia-induced stupor:

 

WARNING ... For those of you that don't like to see blood, you can stop reading here..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

... really, if you dont want to see blood then go somewhere else...

 

 

 

..

 

.

 

. Last Chance!....

 

 

 

So you saw me with the gauze after the surgery... this is what the gauze looked like the morning after... you can see my nostril markings!:

 

This morning there was a trail of dried blood running down my face onto my neck. And me, in my infinite wisdom, chose to wear a nice (at least soft, comfy cotton) A&F off-white t-shirt to sleep last night. It's got blood stains on it now. Go me!

24 hrs after the surgery, the gauze isn't too bad:

 

Here's my face without the gauze. My nose is HUGE! Don't worry, it's just packed with packing inside my nostrils. It'll go back to my normal Dean-size after it's removed (I HOPE!)

 

The black thing is string. I don't know if that's a stitch or if it's to help make packing removal easier...

 

 

I'm trying to smile for the camera...

 

 

I am the Phantom of the Operrrrraaa!!!

 

So at least I'm well enough to post long blog postings!

-Dean :)

Mai是我國中同學,因公出差到FL.

M也是我國中同學,正在FL"生"論文拼學位.N是他大兒子.

這麼難得的機會與認識20年之久的同學在國外相聚,怎可錯過.一見面當然又是一番譏譏喳喳.晚上聊天聊到半夜三點,決定隔天睡到自然醒才去magic kingdom.FL的天氣與太陽這次算是讓我見識到囉!溼度與台灣差不多,可是溫度卻高許多.我開玩笑的說,在加州兩三年流的汗,可能都不及那兩三天在FL的多吧!排排水,曬曬太陽裝好野人也不錯.

(其他照片文字後補)

最近這裡的華人電視台在播台版白色巨塔.因為已經看過日版白色巨塔,雖然故事不同,但台版的就只是純粹當花痴看帥哥,劇情是啥我一點也不在乎...

有天晚上老爺邊洗碗邊"陪看",劇情正上演陳寬醫生準備進手術房開胃癌的手術,鏡頭帶到他寫了一封信給對他期待非常高的父親,希望父親能原諒他無法達到他期待的成就.那位嚴厲的父親當然是一時無法接受兒子正在要飛黃騰達時竟然得到不治之症,就在他不得不接受了事實之後,也來到醫院探望正要進手術房的兒子時,卻因為情緒過於震驚昏倒在醫院,醒來時,自己也躺在病床上打點滴.

正當我感動於陳寬醫生那封字字血淚動人的家信時...................

老爺開口說了:

"哇!兒子得cancer生病要開刀,他爸爸聽到了又昏倒在醫院,這樣不就是一石二鳥了!"

我:"...................................................................."

那一刻,我無語睜大了眼睛看著老爺...三秒鐘後,老娘我的笑聲已經響徹了方圓十里.

好個一石二鳥....還好你不當醫生,真是夠啦!!!!!

*****************************************************

給老爺漏了氣以後,還是來幫他打一下廣告.

對我家老爺電腦設計有興趣的,可以到下面intel的網站,他網路的"花名"是envador,裡面有intel訪問他的內容,title是"Mods from Envador",按下那個他設計的吉他電腦就可以聽了.

http://www.intelchallenge.com/archives/79/mods-from-envador/

謝謝觀賞^^

 

這是去年在舊家拍的照片.

結婚時有個很另類的學長送我一個小型望遠鏡,沒想到竟然成了老爺的最愛.很nosey的他有事沒事就會拿出來到處看一下.之前已經說過美國的建築物大多是木頭造的,所以隔音效果不太好.鄰居在罵小孩,詛咒老闆或者夫妻互相對嗆都會聽的一清二楚.當然這種時候加上這個望遠鏡,"順風耳"馬上有"千里眼",可說是所向無敵,銳不可當!

那那那那那老爺,你明明在家裡,老婆什麼顏色的內褲不用眼鏡就看的一清二楚,到底在看什麼?

看蜘蛛.

有天晚上正當我沉迷在別人家部落格的世界裡時,發現到一向很吵的老爺竟然安靜了好一陣子,探頭一看,就看到了這幅景象.看蜘蛛不稀奇,重點是蜘蛛生蛋.俺這輩子還沒見識過蜘蛛蛋長啥樣,一開始其實只知道有隻大蜘蛛在那裡結網,過了幾天竟然看到蜘蛛旁邊多了好多的小小絨毛球的東西,我這個天兵還跟老爺說,哇!這隻蜘蛛是怎樣?家裡要過年嗎?抓那麼多小蟲回來準備吃大餐.對動物科學生物天文類的知識一直都很沒有興趣的我,一下子就把這件事情忘了.

直到那個晚上,老爺很認真的在那裡看了快一個小時後,結論是....那是蜘蛛蛋,不是什麼小昆蟲的屍體.

哇咧!!!! 粉多粉多耶....(由這點看來,蜘蛛應該是不容易絕種.....嘿嘿).旁邊毛絨狀的小蛋,至少至少超過五十個....

你要問我說,是怎麼樣知道"五十個"這個數字的呢?

請看下圖.....

 

對啦! 不要笑啦!就是我們兩個笨蛋站在那裡用望遠鏡數了很久很久很久很久.....

本來老爺提議要站在椅子上,近一點數.....可是我怕靠太近的話,蜘蛛媽媽或者蜘蛛蛋就直接掉在我臉上,到時候恐怕會嚇到心臟病叫救護車,送到醫院醫生問起來怎麼心臟病發的,答案是被蜘蛛嚇到,豈不糗大了.作罷作罷.還是用望遠鏡慢慢數就好了.

就這樣大約觀察了兩個小時以後再加上老爺之前獨自觀察的一個小時,兩個笨蛋"僑"到大約50顆蜘蛛蛋這樣合理滿意的答案為止.

近點看....

 

那天晚上看完蜘蛛後,我們早早就上床睡覺了,因為眼睛太酸了,有種快要"脫窗"的感覺.

現在想想,唉!真是兩個吃飽沒事幹的呆子.