Dark night of the ...eye

We were excited  to go back to Ann Arbor for Kevin's first follow-up with the facial nerve surgeon, he seemed to be going well overall, and it was a chance to make sure we were doing okay with wound care.  Got to see one of the residents on our team (who was still miffed that Tiffany was our favorite!) .  Dr. Kim said it was time to put a sliver of platinum under his left eyelid, to assist in closing , as there was some residual life in the facial nerve, but it would weaken, and it takes 6 months to a year for the transplanted nerve to kick in.  12 shots of lidocaine later, and what seemed like 100 stitches, we were sent away to return in 2 weeks to see both surgeons.  AFTER discussing the fact that we had a 4 hour drive ahead of us.  There were no written instructions given, other than, any concerns, page the resident.  (This was a Friday).  About an hour into the drive, Kevin became restless and extremely quiet.  Then he started getting testy, leading to surley.  Two hours in, I seriously did NOT recognize this person. It's not that Kevin doesn't ever get cranky, but this was, "throw Kevin from the car" and drive away fast cranky.

When we finally pulled into the driveway, and I turned to say something wicked horrid to him, I realized his left eye was almost swollen shut and purple, and gushing tears and blood,and he finally said he was in excruciating pain. I got him inside, afraid he was going into shock as he was chilled and shaky.  I paged the resident who was helpful; the fact was, he had been given no pain meds for when the Lidocaine wore off, being in that much pain would make it harder, so he suggested cutting the time between doses in half until the pain was under control.  6 hours later wasn't 't much better,and 6 hours after that, his eye was still gushing tears with blood in them and pain control still not optimal.  Hardest thing EVER.

Later that morning, our friend, Lester Hans, came over to replace our thermostat as our original one had gone rogue, and was self- adjusting without consulting us.  I had taken Kevin to buy a new one, but he couldn't replace it one handed.  God bless Lester, who saved the day!  I thought he described Kevin perfectly when he told his wife Patty that Kevin's face looked like it had been bitch - slapped with a shovel.  He didn't start to feel okay until the following week.  Note to self, never travel to Ann Arbor sans pain meds!