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I came home this morning.

Yesterday was up and down. The nausea came in waves. I asked for anti-nausea meds more than I pressed the little green button for pain relief. I felt enormously tired and dozed on and off. My face continued to swell.

Dr P and Dr J visited mid-afternoon. Dr J had participated in this surgery and I vaguely remembered him from the pre-surgery haze. They brought photos from the surgery. The titanium plate had come away easily, Dr J said. That’s a good sign that it wasn’t necessary to support my jaw. However, the plate probably wasn’t pressing too much on the nerve and he wasn’t overly hopeful that its removal would increase the movement in my lip. Time will tell.

While the drain in my neck couldn’t be removed because there was still too much fluid draining out, my blood pressure finally returned to normal yesterday evening. The blood test results came back normal too. Just one of those things, I suppose. I did begin to feel better when my blood pressure improved and the nausea and dizziness subsided.

This morning, Dr P visited early. It was up to me, he said, whether I felt up to going home. Darren and Alannah came mid-morning. I’d asked that she not come yesterday. Today, after initial hesitancy, she accepted me. It must be harder for her this time around. She understands so much more.

The nurse removed my drain and tubes and redressed my neck dissection wound. She sent us home with dressing instructions, a bundle of antibiotics and pain medication, and instructions to call Dr P if we had any concerns.

My left eye is half closed from the swelling but the pain is manageable. Dr P expected it would be two weeks before I was up for much and four weeks before the swelling went down.

It is lovely to be home.