The Purple Foam Pillow

So, back on the day of my surgery I got a purple foam pillow just before heading back to surgery. I’m sure this helped keep my neck positioned during surgery or had some similar benefit. When I first got it and placed it behind my head, I said, “Oh my gosh, this thing is terrible!” And I immediately put it to the side, down by my legs. But when I woke up and was settled in my hospital room, the regular pillow felt terrible! I said, “where did that little foam pillow go?” My family was like what in the world? You said it was terrible before surgery and now you want it? They thought it was the anesthesia talking, I’m sure. But I get my purple foam pillow and put it behind my head. I think it takes pressure off of my neck maybe, I’m not really sure but it felt much better than the regular pillow. In hind site, it was likely the pillow cover that annoyed me so bad at the time. I now can’t have anything touch my right neck/shoulder area without it causing extreme pain but I obviously didn’t know this at the time. This is a common problem for many suffering from CRPS. The lightest touch sends a signal to your brain telling your brain that you’re hurting. The light touch could be as small as a hair or a piece of thread!

The first time nurse grouchy butt walked in she tried to take my purple foam pillow! She said, “Oh we gotta get rid of that thing!” I said, “No, you can’t take that!” And every time I had someone new come in, they would each try to take my purple foam pillow! Even my surgeon said, “Amber, you want me to get you a real pillow?” I mean, can’t a girl just use her purple foam pillow in peace? Ha! Anyhow, I brought my purple foam pillow home with me and boy I was so glad I did! I wasn’t able to lay in the bed comfortably when I got home so I slept in my recliner. Again, a regular pillow wasn’t cutting it but my purple foam pillow was able to do the trick! I slept in my recliner for a couple weeks after getting home and used my foam pillow the entire time. I wasn’t alone sleeping on the couch, my niece (Skylar) and my daughter (Calli) slept with me every single night! Skylar would be on the opposite end of the couch in the recliner and Calli in the middle of us. I tried to get Skylar to go up and sleep in the bed, but she said she would sleep there as long as I did. I don’t think she knows how much this helped to push me. I may have slept there longer than a couple weeks if it were just affecting me. When I slept in my bed for the first night I wasn’t able to use my purple foam pillow because it pushed my neck up too high, so I had to retire it. I’ve kept her though, you never know when you might need a purple foam pillow.