Photos in order of progress
My room in Clinica Latino was spacious, to say the least. My friend Carly, who had her surgery at the Hospital Del Rio, told me, “There was plenty of sleeping places for lots of people, and I had a refrigerator. What would I do with a refrigerator? It felt like staying in an all-inclusive resort.”
The night before my surgery I won’t be washing my face because Dr. Victor has carefully drawn dark purple lines sectioning parts of my face. I look like a Marvel action figure!
That same evening, 3 young nurses, chattering in Spanish,
separated my hair into one-inch squares. They held up the hair in each square, braided it tightly, and secured the end with a tiny rubber band.
I was reminded of my mother French-braiding my hair when I was seven. She pulled my hair so tightly it was painful. When I cried and complained, she said, “It takes pains to be beautiful.”
With the friggin' little tight braids sticking out all over my head, I hadn’t slept well. But I put on a "good face." I'm ready!
Chicken, rice and salad for dinner. Notice the jello. I figure jello must be an international hospital food staple.
Of course, everyone was curious to see my face in all its gory glory, so to tease my friends, this is the first photo I put on Facebook.
Only one eye...
DAY 5 - I'm home, but it's not a pretty picture.
Still bruising and "scaling." Ick!
DAY 8 - The orange color is from the Povidone Gaby applies regularly on the stitches.
DAY 9 - Every day is a tiny improvement... no, right now I don't see it, either.
DAY 10 - Yes! Today the scaly stuff is gone.
DAY 15 - Bruising almost completely gone. Still rather read around y mouth.
DAY 20 - Wearing glasses again! I can see! But not really sure I want to...
DAY 12 - Better and better, but not yet ready for make-up! LOL.
DAY 14 - Feeling GREAT!
DAY 20 - Progress seems to be sooooooo slow...
DAY 25 - The redness is finally beginning to fade. All good!
Here's my sleeping arrangement. Not really so bad... with the help of those little white pills.
I couldn't leave you with just the gory photos. This was taken in mid-September, in Seattle for my 60th high school reunion!
No, nobody noticed... LOL.