| * Ouch! Ha ha * Wow, what a ride this has been! My surgery went well, as expected, since I was under the care of Dr. Gary Alter and Dr. Harrison Lee. They really know what they’re doing, and this shows in how quickly and how well I’m recovering. |
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| * I had this surgery for several reasons… I could say that, in a way, it was a long-awaited corrective followup to the upper jaw surgery the Navy gave me over 10 years ago‚Äîthat old surgery left me with some extra skin and muscle and a slight unevenness in the lower jaw area that I saw as an unaesthetic “heaviness”. I could say that this was a good whack at the bony buildup of my bout with adolescent hormonal imbalanaces. I could say a lot of things, and they’d all be true, but in any case I’m glad this is done and quickly moving behind me. * I got up at 5:00am on Wednesday morning and left for the surgical center in Beverly Hills with Andrea. I was on the “Gremlins” diet‚Äîno food after midnight‚Äîand ready to get on with it all. The film crew was already there, and I left Andrea to wait inside with them. We chatted and joked for a little while in the waiting room, and I thought how weird it must be that they were all going to be looking at my viscera within the hour. * I got undressed and hopped onto a gurney, where the nurse was kind enough to tuck a little heated air hose under my blanket while I waited. It’s been lovely weather here in LA, but naked in the morning is still a cold way to be. * Soon I was in the OR, and a super kind anesthesiologist took my arm in hand to start the IV. He numbed the spot first, so I felt nothing when he put in the IV catheter. He said, “Are you feeling anything yet?” I actually shed a few tears because I was nervous, but I said, “No’. He said, “Let’s turn things up a little, then…” and that’s all I remember. * I had no dreams or anything. The next thing I rememer, I was waking up slooooowly and everyone was moving around putting things away. I vaguely remember the camera recording this ignominious moment, and I think I groaned and moaned quite a bit at this point. My instinct is to make fun of myself about it, but honestly it was pretty scary and I was way high on anesthesia, so I’ll cut myself some slack here. My face felt really stiff and swollen, and I had bandages all wrapped around. Andrea was there, and the doctors came and shook my hand. As the anesthesia wore off, I settled into “coping mode” and knew that now the real hard part began‚Äîrecovering. I genuinely thanked the docs, and was soon in a wheelchair taking the private “celebrity exit” to my waiting car. * The ride home was kind of a blur, and I was terribly glad to crawl into my own bed, which I had prepared as I like it. All clean and spotless and soft. I took my pills, packed on some ice, and commenced to sleepin’ somethin’ powerful, as we say back home. * I had an acting class in less than 48 hours at the studio I attend in Hollywood. The class is not for bored housewives looking to fill an afternoon, nor dilletantes paying to live out a dream. It’s a real, hard-core working class and missing even a single day leaves you hopelessly behind in the coursework. So Friday I got up early, took my pills, sipped some broth and packed on ice until time to leave. I cleaned my face as well as I could, wrapped a leopard scarf around my head and neck, and put on the most enormous sunglasses you’ve ever seen. I was miserable, could barely speak and felt woozy, but I hopped into the car and Andrea drove me to class. It was a long four hours, and I couldn’t participate in the active portions, but I listened and took notes, and the teacher was impressed that I came. A really cool girl asked to be my scene partner, probably because a flaky scene partner that misses class can ruin your presentations and she thought I was now a sure bet to come to class, ha ha. * Now, four days and 14 hours later, I’m doing well. My bandages are all off, but I’m still terribly swollen with black eyes and sutures here and there. I’m still taking pills and applying ice, working hard every day at my computer and making things happen. This is going to be a good year! |
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