Week 11 post surgery : Sun 26 Feb 06

I'm losing count now - I think I'm now at the end of Week 11 today, Sun 26th Feb 06 and tomorrow Mon 27th Feb 06 is the start of Week 12 post surgery ie 3 months post surgery.

You can find me on the Make Me Heal Board on the thread about my brow lift and upper eyelid reconstruction at : http://www.messageboards.makemeheal.com/viewtopic.php?t=122&start=210

Life is fairly busy right now with me working almost 12 hour days and exercising when I return home and it's straight to bed. My hormones are playing up again and my thrush has returned for the 3rd month in a row since my surgery. I'm very concerned that the antibiotics and steroids were that strong to still be causing the thrush. I certainly don't get thrush normally and it's been years since I had it even when I was on antibiotics before I didn't get thrush. (sniffles). It's very painful and extremely uncomfortable.

I purchased Vagiclear http://www.highernature.co.uk/cgi-bin/HN.storefront/EN/ from http://www.highernature.co.uk and used the first tablet last nite and it seems to have had some effect thankfully. It's a course of ten tablets nightly over ten days.

Natural vaginal health
When in good health, the vagina is naturally supported by benign probiotic bacteria. But the vagina can also be invaded by yeasts and pathogenic bacteria, especially during and following a course of antibiotics. Vagiclear provides an exceptionally high potency of five probiotic bacteria, including: L acidophilus, L. plantarum, L. rhamnosus, L. casei and L. delbruekii, selected by experts to optimally repopulate the vagina. A course of Vagiclear is designed to be applied for 10 consecutive nights. A special applicator is also available (which is non-discountable)

On Tuesday this week, 21st Feb, I went to the Western Eye Hospital for my appt with Jane Olver to have my punctal plugs inserted. I was in for a surprise as a private room awaited me, which BUPA had made clear that they would not pay for and while I was only in the room for 2 hours, the charge will be approx £230 (ouch) which I'll have to pay for myself. It seemed I was in there as a Day Case and Jane hadn't mentioned this at all. I thought I was going to go in and out just like that. But oh no, the nurses prepped me ie took all my medical details, and even put me in a gown though thankfully I didn't need to take my clothes off. The nurse kept saying I was going into theatre ... and I was like, huh? But I'm only there to have punctal plugs put in ..... and thought it was like having contact lenses put in ..... and couldn't understand the big deal.

I was prepped and primed and the whole procedure took just 5 mins. Jane just put in anaesthethic eye drops which left a strange sensation or non sensation perhaps I should say though I could still see and voila injected in the punctal plugs in both eyes. She said I'd have watery eyes for the next 48 hours and/or slight bruising and I had neither. Though on the second night my left eye did tear all night which was bad and the next day it strung all day and felt awful - like it couldn't close and clean itself. I was off on Friday ill as I was coming down with the flu, my eyes hurt, felt hot and watery like I was having the flu and I was just generally feeling run down and spent 24 hours or so in bed.

Jane looked at my crinkly upper left eyelid and again recommended Restylane as she said this was her speciality and I politely refused her saying that while I was tempted, it'd only be as a stop gap between now and a fat transfer when I did my lowers but the Restylane would still be in my upper eyelid if I did it now and I don't want that. She really is pushing for Restylane but I really don't want it. I'd rather do fat transfers till it is done right than have Restylane injected into my upper eyelid. I've had Restylane once in my nasial labial lines and don't like the feel of the lumpiness nor anything foreign under my skin dissolving.

She said she'd see me in 2 weeks at my next appt on the 8th March to discuss my next stage of eye reconstruction ie the lowers.

The next day, Weds I believe, I washed my hair at night and was pleasantly and delightfully surprised to see that I could find a parting finally in my hair that did not show any incision lines or bald spots. I was trying to straighten my hair with a straigtening tongs and I liked what I saw. My hair felt thicker and it has to be the Nourkrin http://www.nourkrin.co.uk that I've been taking for a month now that is helping as my hair has never felt this thick before. It's always been flat and thin and especially after my surgery it was flat, dull and lifeless and looked brittle, like I'd had a really bad perm. All that is now seemingly almost healed and my hair is thicker and new hairs are sprouting up fairly fast all of a sudden where my incision lines were. Though there is one V spot on the front of my forehead that hasn't any hair around it nor any sprouts seemingly growing yet. But the hair is growing thicker around it.

Though now that I can hide my bald spots with the other thicker hair, I'm feeling much more happier and confident and it's such a relief. I may even consider no longer using my wig at work ... perhaps in a month's time as I really don't like to wear the wig. While people look at me and compliment me all the time, it's not me and I don't like wearing it.

Talking of people bumping into me, I bumped into WS on the 5th floor this week and the look on her face as she did a double take was just one of those that I was tired of seeing so I immediately said, before she could say anything, with a smile "Yes, it's extensions .... everyone's asking" - to which she smiled back and said "Yes, I know, ... black people wear them all the time". We exchanged a few more pleasantries and I was thankful to escape.

I also bumped into M who I haven't seen for months and while we chatted in the corridor, catching up, she kept staring at my hair and mentioned how long it was - and I just said, it's extensions .... a friend's daughter's x'mas present. I prefer to say it's extensions now rather than pretend it's my own hair. I've been wearing my wig to work for about 8 weeks now and in another 4-6 weeks perhaps I'll stop wearing it when my hair underneath has grown a bit more so that I'm more comfortable with the style (I may go get it cut properly before I show it) and go back to work with my normal hair saying I had removed the extensions.

Strangely it seems now that my hairline doesn't seem as high .... I'm not sure what's happened ... whether everything is just falling back naturally into place and/or if it's the thicker hair that's giving an illusion and covering the high hairline. Whatever it is, I'm feeling much more comfortable with my hairline ... right now. How long this lasts, I don't know. Hopefully for good :)

RK keeps looking at me and smiling when I look back .... spooky. I guess he likes the hair :) or rather wig! Men and long hair and they go ga ga I feel :) When I do eventually take the wig off, oh what a disappointment the guys will then have (grins). I'll just be back to plain ole me! That is such a scary thought and it may keep me wearing the wig until my lower eyelid reconstruction is complete .... we'll have to wait and see, cos if I do use my natural hair right now, my crinkle on my left upper eyelid is obvious (well to me anyway) as is my upper hollows in left upper eyelid and also my lower left droop is also obvious and that may stop me from discontinuing wearing the wig cos it helps me feel like I'm hiding underneath it, especially hiding underneath the fringe.

I am vacillating a lot.

Oh, and is this the week that I called a time out with my best friend? Or was it last week? I do feel much better cos of it. I'm also avoiding all the calls from an ex boyfriend of 20 years ago who keeps calling me .... it's a really long story I'd rather not go into. It's like ground hog day replayed over and over with him. We've nothing in common and I feel criticised when I'm around him and so I chose to stop answering his phone calls which over the years I've told him to stop calling as I feel harassed by him and he somehow manages to turn that round into my fault --- geez! and that he's hurt cos I say I feel harassed by him. Enough said ... I am making changes in my life right now .... and healthy ones :)