It's swell...ing

I slept partially upright, propped up on pillows for 2 nights, as recommended by the surgery center, to prevent bleeding.  I was relieved to be able to sleep normally last night, but had a fitful night.  I woke up around 4am and my face felt very tight.  I touched it, and could tell it had swelled.  So I sat up the rest of the night (until 5am, when I get up), and put ice on it after I got up.  I'm not sure ice helps with swelling if you don't apply it during the first 24 hours, but the outer bandage on my face was so thick I don't think ice would have helped that first day.  Even if the ice doesn't help the swelling, my cheek and lip feel better with ice (inside two twist-tie bags for insulation).  Sitting up helps the most, to keep the blood flowing away from my face.  I'll probably prop myself up again tonight, to try and keep the swelling down.  My face didn't swell much at all after the first surgery--must be all the stitches that are causing the irritation.

I taught my yoga class today--I already had a sub for last week's classes, and didn't want to have subs 2 weeks in a row since I'm already the sub for these classes.  I felt shaky and nervous, but had mentioned to the class that I was having surgery so they weren't totally surprised.  I didn't say much--just that I'd had stitches a few days ago.  I felt fine guiding the class--I was afraid I would get spacey and mislabel directions or body parts.  But it went fine--I could tell I was already less flexible after not doing much for over a week.  I was worn out by the time I got home, and have rested (watched new PBS Mystery series Silk, which was rerun from last night).  Well, I slept through part of it, but saw the last hour.  I thought if I stayed up, I would try to do too much.  I keep wanting to play my flute, but know that's a really bad idea, with a swollen lip and cheeks.  I'll go a good 2 weeks without playing it.  Maybe not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but I'm more aware that the time I have to learn the flute could slip away from me if I continue to have physical health issues.  I may try to play it later this week and focus on the fingering without working the embouchure.  Is that possible?  It's not like the piano, where the sound comes from the fingers only.  Maybe I'll try tomorrow afternoon...