Thoughts on the First Week...

Hard to believe it's been a week now. I'm over the worst, quite easily, and it's all downhill from here... even if it is a very long slope.

In fact, in some ways, it feels like it's been forever since surgery... and what came before it. My apnea is now a memory, and now my day-to-day life is taken up in simple recovery and healing. I measure my progress in a little small victories, like being able to take a walk, swallow a pill, drink from a glass, or simply stop drooling. I take joys in simple pleasures like an Orange Julius or can of tomato soup, and am getting a little more adventurous with my blender, to the point I've already come up with a couple recipes that have made my morning meals much happier affairs.

Okay, but cut to the chase--having been through the procedure and knowing what I've been through/how much further I have yet to go--would I do this all again?

Hell yes I would. It worked, and everything else--the pain, the pressure, the puree diet--pales in comparison to that simple fact. There is no longer a CPAP machine sitting on my nightstand; I just go to bed now and be done with it. I'm still learning how to properly sleep again, I think, but that just means it's only going to get better over time.

This surgery was indeed life-altering, and so many new doors and possibilities open to me now that endless sleep deprivation should be a thing of the past. When I'm recovered, I will have my life back. No, better yet... my life starts anew and I can finally move forward with several longtime desires and dreams. Second chances like this are so rare in life, and I'm lucky enough to have had the ability to get one like this. Better yet, I *chose* this, and now know I chose correctly, even if there are another 13 weeks of recovery to get through.

That's fine. I know I can do it, and I will. I have the success of the surgery and the support of my friends and family to draw upon. I don't need anything more than that. There may yet be setbacks, but I'll deal with them as they come.

My surgery worked. My sleep apnea is history. And that's ultimately all I needed to know.