Surgery Time!

My best friend and hubby, Tolan, and I are headed to California today for surgery for my facial paralysis. My eye isn’t working well, I no longer have the ability to open and close it at will. Dr. Robert Levine, who implanted the spring into my eyelid 2+ years ago, thinks it COULD mean I am getting some more movement back, which is changing the way the spring functions with the muscles in my eye. It is always a bit scary to move forward and have the faith to put my face and life in the hands of another, but I am also grateful for people like Dr. Levine, who have trained and spent their whole lives using their expertise to benefit others. He has helped many, many people with facial paralysis, and I am so grateful for his help.

We have the pre-authorization from our insurance, which includes all sorts of potential procedures, from correcting the spring, to creating a new spring, to doing a brow lift, facial implants, collagen implants and all sorts of other “possible” options. This will allow Dr. Levine to have the flexibility to do the right thing to help me with the functioning of my eye, and for the symmetry and functioning of my face. We will not know the actual plan until after our day-long pre-op on Tuesday.

Surgery will be on Wednesday at the Cedars Sinai Medical Center outpatient tower, and it will likely be an all-day operation. We will be staying at a hotel in Beverly Hills, just a mile from the hospital. It is the smallest hotel in BH, with miniature rooms, but it is clean, and the only way we could afford to stay close.
I will have a post-operation appointment with the doctor on Thursday, where he will check to make sure my eye is functioning properly, and he will check the incisions and stitches, and look for infection. If all goes well, Tolan and I will be flying home late that night. Flying so soon after surgery won’t be optimal, but it will allow us to get home to our family and give me the chance to rest and recover in my own bed!

This week is a welcome one. I am anxious to get functioning back, and I am anxious for progress. I have had some hard weeks lately, with days and days of dizzy spells and headaches. The operation feels like progress and forward movement, and I am ready for that!

So, as you go throughout your busy week, if you have a minute or two, please include us in your prayers. And, pray for my little kids, too. We are not used to being separated anymore, and that will be hard for all of us. We have not had a separation of this length since I was in the hospital for my brain tumor surgeries, and that is something we hope never to repeat. Tolan’s mom has lovingly and graciously offered to stay with our kids for the week, and we are thankful for her help and kindness.

Thank you, to all my friends and loved ones, for your continued support and care. I will be thinking and praying in gratitude this week for the amazing, wonderful body I have, and for continued improvement with my paralysis.  The body is truly miraculous! And, I think the medical professionals help bring miracles, too. I hope you join me this week in feeling grateful, for bodies, for miracles and for life!