Exciting is a term I have come to know the past few months. Exciting is a Tindall term, and it doesn't always mean what you think it does. In my mind exciting means something great, fantastic, or awesome, but for Tindall boys it can mean something completely different. It's not always good. Sometimes it can mean anything that causes you to become excitable. In the eyes of these people some things they define as exciting are: surfing, car accidents, good food, surgery, surprises, fights, action movies, etc.
Today, my life was exciting...
I began a trial process of botox injections in my face and neck to relieve muscle tension, headaches, and my overabundance of facial movement. The Dr's aren't sure if it will work but their philosophy of "it's better to inject a medicine directly to the effected area then to have you take multiple pills that go throughout your entire blood stream causing you other multiple side effects" is one that I agree with and I was willing to give it a shot. Shot being the key word for the day. I went into this thinking I was would be getting 8 shots in my face and 4 in my neck. I was excited about the end result this could produce but also excited (AKA nervous as heck!) about these needles. I'm not one to be afraid of needles but when they're in my face it's a different story. I had a dream earlier this week that my face twitched right as they gave me the injection and it got stuck that way permanently. I decided I needed some support and since my mom was unable to attend, my dear friend Megan went with me. We had quite an adventure... it was exciting.
It started with me finding an awesome parking spot. My car was barely smaller than the space and yet I was still able to parallel park in one back up and one pull forward! (after I went around the block one more time because the guy super close behind me was making me nervous about parking.) It was also less than a block from the office which in center city is nothing short of a miracle. Then Megan so gracious provided the insane amount of quarters needed to park at a meter in center city. I mean really, 10 minutes for one quarter, that ridiculous!
Once in the appointment I was first informed of all the possible things that could go wrong during this (which was a surprisingly short list compared to most medical procedures) and then came to find out, after a lot of awkward (on my end) staring at my face, that what was originally thought to be 8 injections would now be 16. Yes... 16!!!!! The Dr. plotted out each injection site on a computer face that showed all the muscles (and also looked freakishly like something out of The Terminator) and then it was go time. I'm laying on the table and I grab Megan's hand. Yes we actually held hands! And apparently I have a very strong grip. (It's OK, as an OB nurse, she has felt worse!)
This procedure was much more painful than I expected it to be and I can not believe that people would volunteer to do this for cosmetic reasons! Who volunteers to get needles in their eyelids!?! It will take a week or so to see if it worked. Until then I play a waiting game. The appointment was super fast. I was in and out of there in an hour. Another win for team Marti/Megan was coming out to the car and fining only 2 minutes left on the meter. Ha! Take that city of Philadelphia, no overpaying for your ridiculously priced parking here!
I was surprised by how much pain I was in after. I felt like I had a headache just around my eyes and like I had terrible sinus pressure. I came home, took Motrin and slept for the afternoon. 10 hours later the pressure is still there slightly but it's not painful, just noticeable. I have a mild shiner from some of the needle spots but nothing major, just some small battle scars. :) I'm glad the initial experience is over. My fear of the unknown has been put to rest. Megan was hysterical, keeping me laughing through most of it, and loving the fact that she was able to witness the craziness. My favorite of her quotes from the day were "you looked badass" and "there was a shit ton of injections happening!"
And I would love to give a shout out to my new doctor. She is seriously awesome! Not only does she seem like a real person that truly cares about her patients but she even brought a compact to work today so that I could see how I looked afterward. It's been a long journey trying to find this new doctor and although the last year of drama with the office was terrible, I'm hoping that she will be with me for awhile. I say 'with me' because I truly believe that's how medicine should be. It's not about you going with them, it's them coming along side you in your journey.
So yes, today was exciting: some ways good, some ways bad, and some ways crazy...
but exciting none the less.
