Day 18, post-surgery: Better sleep and a tightening

Also, dreaded sneezes. Last night the itchiness/numbness eased enough that I had a relatively normal sleep again after the one-night hiccup. Hooray for that. The reason for the change, at least in my trying-to-be-logical mind, is: healing! The surgery area is reaching a point where everything is starting to stitch back together, and this is making the area feel tight. Not in a painful way or anything, but it feels different, less surgery-y and more like sore muscles? Dreaded sneezes: Sneezing still lights up the whole area like an atomic bomb and I hate sneezing. I sneezed once today, that was enough. I should add the discomfort from the sneeze fades after a few seconds. The knowledge that a sneeze is imminent is, in a way, worse than the actual sneeze itself. I have an appointment now with my surgeon for a follow-up on June 18th, just one day short of four weeks post-surgery and when I may potentially be on the cusp of full recovery. In that spirit, here is an energetic cat, plus a…