A month? Already?!

I cannot believe it has been almost a month!

I'm feeling pretty good. I haven't taken a pain killer in a few weeks, but I will need to take some Advil in the mornings or at night if swelling is hurting.

The last two weeks have been hard at times. This recovery is definitely emotional as well as physical. Luckily, there has been nothing like coming off the steroids like last time, but there were a few days where I just felt kind of down, like nothing felt normal or routine.  That's bound to happen after two weeks of recovering when all you do is watch tv and movies and work through sudoku and word search books. Don't get me wrong, that's a great day, but it definitely gets old after weeks.  I finally got to a point where I knew I needed make some conscious changes in order to get out of a funk. Going to the mountains with family and some family friends last weekend  helped... except for the fact that eating delicious food is a high priority in the mountains, and I was stuck on liquids!  I also put the living room back together by deconstructing the recovery camp I had set up, moved back to my room, and actually started back to work a little bit. I work in an office right now, so it is a lot of answering phones and interacting with people, so I've only been doing a few hours a day.  It goes well, but it wore me out the first couple of days.

There isn't much pain, but I have had been a little sensitive to coughing and yawning the last few days. I'm not quite sure what it is, but on the upper gums on my right side something hurts, almost like a sting or burning, when I open my mouth.  It stops after the initial "sting", so my guess might be that I'm getting feeling back in that area and a surgical hook might be catching on some tissue.  That's just my guess though. The swelling is still there, and it will be for a while longer and reduce at a slower pace. Oooh! Once thing I've noticed and really like is that my relaxed mouth stays closed now.

 

   

        

Today was my third post-op appointment with Dr. M.  Again, he was very happy with how things are looking! That's incredibly reassuring! My bite has settled a little more, so teeth are touching on both sides. Woo! It is still hitting a little heavy on the right side, and I actually forgot to mention that today, but I know it will get resolved by one doctor or the other. I mentioned to Dr. M about the pain on the right side of my mouth, and he said that it could be some scar tissue that is being stretched when I yawn. He took a look, and didn't say if he saw anything, but he did say that the stitches up there may be restricting that skin that is trying to move, so he clipped and removed a lot of the stitches in my mouth.  Continuing the warm, salt water rinses throughout the day will continue to help them dissolve.

One thing that has been worried me over the last couple of weeks is the fact I noticed my lower jaw was no longer aligned with my upper jaw (like in the image from a few weeks ago).  That exact thing was a major reason I had the double jaw surgery and not just the upper, so, of course, I worried! Not to mention, it was perfectly aligned the day after surgery. I may have noticed it on an off day because I definitely stressed about it for an afternoon before mom finally called Dr. M's office.  She was right to call because I would have worried about it for two weeks. One of the amazing nurses/surgical assistants called us back to answer some questions. She explained that the jaw is still settling, and it will continue to shift for a little bit. The swelling and scarring are affecting it right now, and it is normal for the bite to change at this point. When I was apologetic for being needy, she was more than comforting pointing out that I haven't gone through this before and how was I to know what is and isn't normal in the recovery process.

I expressed my concern with Dr. M this afternoon, and he didn't seemed too worried. He said that Dr. S will be about to shift it back into place.  He also gave me the go ahead to set an appointment with Dr. S to get all of my surgical hooks and wires off.  I am seeing them next week to get part of this grill out!

Old orders from Dr. M: Pucker and smile, pucker and smile, pucker and smile. This will break up some of the "stunned" nerves and get more motion back in my face. I try to do this, but I just don't do it like I should.

New orders from Dr. M: Keeping moist heat (hot water bottle, steamed towels,, hot baths... NOT heating pads) should help with the swelling at this point. He said no more ice packs, which I haven't used in a few weeks.

Leaving the office, Dr. M said that I am "still on a restricted diet with super soft foods". The sword still eally makes me feel like nothing has changed on that front.  I feel like I'd be able to handle some more substantial food, but what do I know! So for two more weeks, I will continue to drink a lot of my meals. I can do mashed potatoes, eggs, and I started grits recently.  Part of me thinks I could move to noodles, but I think that might qualify as a soft food, not a super soft food.  Plus, I think I'll wait for that green light from the surgeon.  I'm alright with it right now. I've gotten pretty used to this diet, and I've lost nearly 15 pounds since surgery.  All that being said, I ventured out with my dinner tonight. We had some friends over for soup and salad, and there were Red Lobster biscuits.  I broke off tiny little pieces and ate them.  No chewing, but I feel sure that was a little overzealous.... Whoops! I'm paying for it now. I think it was a little too rich for my stomach after the diet from the past two weeks.

Since I am on the super soft food diet for two more weeks, if you have any suggestions or recipes, please feel free to share them in the comments! :)

Also!! This blog has been read on SIX continents! Thank you all so, so much for taking the time to follow my silly little experiences. It means so much to me.

Week 2 and Post Op #2

Tomorrow marks two weeks since surgery, but not much has changed.

While most of my days are still very lazy, I've gotten out a bit more this week.

After picking up the correct prescription last week, mom and I stopped by our church and a friend's work to say hello.  It was a lot of attempted smiling and more talking than I had been, which was probably good for exercising those muscles, but it wore me out for that afternoon.

I also ventured out of the house on Saturday. My dad, brother, and I went to see Interstellar. (Incredible movie!) I felt almost guilty being at the movies when I am still not at work, but movies don't exactly require much effort.

The swelling has gone down a little bit more each day.  Pain and jaw spasms (Random occurrences since surgery) is rare now. My smile is improving as the swelling goes down, but there is still a lot of stiffness in the front of my face.

I had my second post-op appointment today. Dr. M is still very pleased with how things are looking. He keeps talking about how nice my profile will be. The rubber band that Dr. M told me to keep on the left side of my braces helped a lot this week.  He told me to go ahead and stop wearing it when I told him it almost feels like my bite was hitting a little heavier on the left side as of the last day or so.
I got in a little bit of trouble when mom  mentioned to Dr. M that  I'd lightly been blowing my nose. Even though I thought it was fine by now, he made it clear with the "Do NOT blow your nose."
This appointment also made me realize how numb I still am. Dr. M mentioned that the two back brackets popped off during surgery, leaving the wire exposed.  He and a nurse showed me that these wires had been digging at my gums and cheeks in the back.  There were two ulcers that had some bleeding, and I had no idea until I saw it in the mirror! Dr. M said to keep some wax on there to prevent to irritation.  I see him again in two weeks and will be on a mostly liquid diet (maybe some thinned mashed potatoes or eggs) until then.

When I got home, I tried to put a ball of wax on the end of the wire until I got frustrated.  I don't have my full range of motion back, so I can't open my mouth too wide.  I even tried using some tweezers to place the wax in the right spot, but I just couldn't reach back there. Part of me just wanted to ignore it since I can't feel it, but that would just mean more discomfort later.

I have an appointment with Dr. S on Thursday for him to take a look at things, but mom called the office while watching my many attempts with the wax to see if they had anything this afternoon or tomorrow. After hearing what the issue was, they said to come on over since it is such a quick fix.
All Dr. S had to do was clip off the excess wire. He asked if it felt better and laughed when I just said, "I don't know!" He was real happy with my bite, and said that he doesn't need to see me again until Dr. M gives me the go ahead.

Keep your fingers crossed everything stays where it is supposed to be the next two weeks!

Days 5 and 6 *Post Op*

Day 5

Lazy, lazy, lazy afternoon with movies, crosswords, and Sudokus!

The morning was rough again.  I'm learning that I wake up in the early morning from my face aching. I should set an alarm in the night to take some medicine in hopes of curbing the pain, but it hasn't happened yet.  The swelling had gone down some more. Thank goodness! I didn't realize how tight my face was a few days ago.

It was a perfect Sunday afternoon watching movies with family and friends and snuggled under blankets.


Day 6 (1st Post Op)

Aching in the morning, but an ice pack helps relieve some of the discomfort. I dozed off and on until it was time to slowly get ready for my post-op appointment.  I got up, made a smoothie, took all my medicines, took a shower, put on real clothes, and headed to the surgeon's office.

All the sweet nurses and Dr. M kept saying how good I looked for being a week out of surgery. I laughed at the comments because I still feel like a balloon, but I don't know what is typical for these recoveries.

The first thing we did was take a new panoramic xray. It's crazy looking at all the hardware on in my face now!

Plates and screws above upper jaw and to the sides of my lower jaw.

After the xray, two of the nurses took off the small bandages on my cheeks. To my stupid surprise, there were stitches on the cheeks.  I don't know why, but I just imagined the bandages were there to cover some cuts, not stitches.

Dr. M was very enthusiastic and happy with how my bite and profile are looking.  He did have to pull on my lips and cheeks to get a good view, and that definitely didn't feel good.  I told him that the bite still hits on the right side first. This is probably due to a molar that hangs a little low, but he doesn't seemed worried about it.  It will be adjusted correctly with the rubber band connected on the left side of my braces as the swelling goes down or, if need be, shave the tooth down later on.

I have to thank my mom for asking all the questions I don't want to.  She brought up the fact that my pain medicine hasn't been lasting as long as it should.  Dr. M immediately said he could prescribe a different pain killer and a new anti-nausea medication.  She also remembered to ask him about my diet... still liquids until I see him again next week, but I can now do puddings and jellos.

As tasty as smoothies and protein shakes are, I'm already growing tired of them.  My dad has gone on some hibachi soup runs, but something wasn't right. I think it was drinking soup through the syringe that made the flavor taste off, but I quickly lost my appetite.  We were on the way home from my appointment when I thought of something I could finally get a little excited about eating... Chili's potato soup! We brought it home for two reasons. 1) Doctor the soup so I can actually eat it. 2) Save myself the embarrassment of eating in public.  I did not want to ruin this soup with the syringe, so I had my first attempts of eating with a baby spoon.  Thank God I was at home because I had soup all over my face and clothes. I tried my best to stay clean, but I couldn't even tell there was soup on my face because I'm still so numb.

I had barely finished lunch when we got a call from the pharmacy saying they couldn't fill out my new pain prescription. A new law passed last October that requires any narcotic prescriptions to be written on a specific paper, and whoever printed out my prescriptions forgot to print it on that paper. It's a pain because we have to go back to the office to get the prescription since pharmacies cannot take it by fax or over the phone, but I understand it's a new law and an annoying change for any offices.

I think getting out in public today gave me a false sense of recovery.  I almost said we could forego the new prescription because the pain wasn't unbearable, and I was feeling finnnne. No, not the case. It's nighttime again, and I'm hurting. This recovery is longer than six days. I'm still on a liquid diet, can't feel most of my mouth/face, and have a difficult time speaking.

On a positive note, I am going to sleep with a refreshing mouth. I braved some discomfort and brushed some of my teeth with my baby toothbrush. I'm crazy about having clean teeth, and it was killing me not being able to brush at all the last week.

I'll leave y'all with some pictures from today!

On the way to my pre-op

Removed stitches

Removed stitches and bruises

Smiling

Pucker

 Dr. M said to smile and pucker my lips throughout the day to get 

some feeling back to my lips and face. 

Day 3 and Day 4

I'm not too sure how I managed to get the last blog post out because the last three five days have been a complete blur.  None of my memories seem very clear, and I have no accurate measure of time. That being said I will do my best to give you a very brief update on the last day or so.


Day 3 was rough.

Luckily, the night before mom and dad found a humidifier and a Vick's vapor humidifier that helped me sleep easier at night.  Even with that though, I woke up with some congestion. And let me tell you... feeling stuffed up but not really being allowed to cough, sneeze, or blow my nose is awful.  I just want to blow my nose!

We had some friends and family stop by quickly to drop of some beautiful flowers and dinner for mom and dad.  They froze some for me for when I can eat again, but now I can only imagine what it is like to be a dog after smelling all the delicious aromas in the kitchen that I'm not allowed to eat yet.

I did well through most of the day, but I had a mini-meltdown in the afternoon.  My pain medicine was wearing off after only half of the time it was supposed to, my face felt like it was about to pop from swelling, I was already tired of the drinking the same foods, and I couldn't breathe through my nose. Miserable. Mom ended up calling the surgeon's office because of how little the pain medication seemed to be helping.  She spoke with my surgeon's partner and said that the third day is typically the worst with swelling and discomfort, but alternating Advil and Percocet every few hours should help.

I tried my best not to cry because that just makes things worse, but a few cries escaped before a strawberry-banana smoothie made me feel better.


Day 4

I woke up today feeling like I had turned a corner. I felt pretty coherent and jumped in the shower in
hopes of getting rid of any congestion. It helped for a bit, but then I got really nauseous and weak. I jumped out of the shower, yelled for my dad to bring  me something to eat, and ended up falling asleep for another few hours.  That weak feeling is always scary to experience, but I'm just glad I didn't fall at all.

The extra few hours of sleep helped, and I feel like I've turned a very tiny corner.  There is still a ton of swelling, but I don't feel quite so tight in my face.  I am realizing there is a lot of numbness and tingling present though. I can lightly touch most of my face and tongue without there being pain, but everything will tingle/burn, like a foot waking up from being asleep.

I've already had to discontinue use of one of my nasal sprays. Apparently, people can get addicted to it, but that sounds crazy to me. I hate the nasal sprays, so I am more than happy to be done with one of them.

Well, it's dinnertime now, and I want to try something new for dinner, but I'm not sure what.  I'll post some more pictures in the next day or so.

Happy weekend to you all!

Day of, Day 1, and Day 2

The last three days have had its ups and down.  I am just going to start from the morning of surgery until now.  *DISCLAIMER: I look super sexy in a lot of these pictures.*

Day of - Showtime
We got to the hospital in great time! We were signed in and waiting by 7:30, and I was taken into the pro-op area a little before 8:00. After I changed into my hospital gown, some nurses came to check my vitals signs and ask me some last minute questions.  Once that was done, a nurse brought mom and dad back for a while. We were all our usual, goofy selves and got the giggles in the pre-op unit. Oopsies!  Better that than stress though! IT was a bit later when we saw Dr.M, he wrapped my head, and then just had to wait for the surgical team to turn over the operation room.

                                                 Last before pictures

 

At 11:00 the nurses gave me a vial of antibiotics and a vial they describe as "a few margaritas". Man, that description is spot on! It is meant to help me relax as they wheeled my into the OR.  Like last time, I was completely intrigued with everything that happens in there. I had to move from one gurney to another, and then the team all went to work on me.  Some people were putting compression sleeves on my legs to keep blood moving, some were putting warm blankets on me, and a few were rubbing my arms and holding a mask to my face. That is the last thing I remember.

Mom kept a small timeline of what happened. One of the surgical nurses had a cellphone to call and update them as things progressed.  So, this is the timeline of what apparently happened while I was out of it.

11:45 - call from nurse - Dr. M started on upper jaw
12:45 - finished upper jaw
1:30 - Halfway done with lower jaw
3:15 - Dr. M went to greet mom and dad after surgeries. They said he gave a great report, and he seemed really happy and enthusiastic with how everything went.  No nerve damage and no need to be wired shut!

I remember waking up in the recovery room, and again, like last time, I came to doing this little cry moan until a nurse came over.  They gave me some vial of pain killer, and I started to feel better.  I kept falling in and out of sleep there, but the nurses would try to keep me up. Apparently, I wasn't getting enough oxygen.  I'm not quite sure how or why, but I would start to doze off then hear "No, honey! Deep breaths through your nose, and out through your mouth."  I tried my best... while I could stay awake and kept my oxygen level above 94%, but it would drop as low as 87% without the mask and my conscious effort.   I'm not quite sure what that means or how bad it is, but I guess it wasn't good!   It was also in the recovery room when I realized I had a urinary catheter, and my only thought was "Who did this?!" because it was definitely not there before I was under anesthesia (not to mention that there was a really cute guy helping during my surgery)!

By 5:00, I was finally wheeled to my room. My parents were already waiting there.  It's really odd because I remember being wheeled to the room, waiting outside the room while, watching my parents step out, and telling the nurse that she was very pretty (typical me), but I don't remember getting from the gurney to my bed. I'm actually realizing that I am missing a lot memory from the last few days, but I guess being under anesthesia for a large part of the day will do that to you.

Waiting outside my room for the night

Covered in wires! 

Mom snapped before I was even in the room.
 I look like a sad toddler with a black eye.

I fell in and out of sleep some while dad had the UGA game on in my room.  Mom was trying to keep everyone updated with  how things went during surgery.  During this time, a nurse came in to take my dinner order. I ordered chicken broth, sweet tea, apple juice, and lemon jello (which was too thick to eat), and a strawberry ice that I let melt.  Even with all of the food being liquids, I couldn't eat it with a spoon. A nurse brought in a syringe and taught me how to use that to get my food. I have to suction the liquids up then just fit the small tube in my mouth. 
While I was eating, Dr. M came into check on my and tied the cutest balloon on the end of my bed.

First attempt with my chicken broth...

Even with this technique, I still got a lot of food on me. Hah, I can't imagine what it'd be like without the syringe.

Mom and dad were debating on who would stay with me, but I sent both of them home for a good night's sleep in their own bed. I was perfectly fine in the hospital by myself.  I would snooze a bit, wake up, drink a syringe of juice, tea, or broth, then watch whatever was on TV at 2:00 am. I think I settled for some soccer before sleeping again. 

Soccer and the balloon Dr. M brought me.

All of the fluids from my IV and dinner had me needing to go to the bathroom all through the night, which always led to a small nosebleed. On one of my last bathroom visits, I accidentally ripped out the drainage tubes from my mouth. Oops, but luckily they were going to come out in a just a bit anyway. 

Day 1

Mom and dad were back at the hospital by 7:00am.  They wanted to get there before Dr. M came in to check on me. He came in with two other oral surgeons, and they all seemed pleased with how things looked! That's definitely encouraging. My bite looks correct and there are a lot of teeth touching, but the left side of my bite still wasn't touching completely.  Even though Dr. M said the bite was perfect in surgery, the bite was a little off still because of my muscles being more relaxed under anesthesia.  To fix this, one of the surgeons put on a rubber band around an upper and lower hook on the left side.  This will hopefully bring the bite a little closer together.  If this doesn't fix it, we will just have to shave down a little bit of a molar that hangs low on the right side of my mouth. No biggie! At least, it shouldn't be.  

Also, mom asked Dr. M what the side bandages on my face were for. From what I understood, was that he went through this area to screw in some of the bolts in place. Whhhhat? 

Swelling was a little worse, but that is to be expected.

Morning after surgery

Below are the profile pictures my parents think are adorable.
I don't agree so much...

My Francine (from Arthur) face.
Also - that little patch behind my ear keeps my from
getting sick from the anesthesia. Life saver! 

OR my Whoville face.

When Dr. M left, he said I looked great, my color was good, and I could go home early. Little did we know that it takes hours for the discharge papers to get together. I got wheeled to the car and promptly fell asleep again.

Mom and I had already stocked up on some protein shakes and smoothie ingredients for me before surgery.

The first thing I did was set up my recovery station. We moved one of the comfy chairs to the TV side of the room and set up my little medical station on the side of it. 

Living the good life here! 

I was already surprised that I had cards waiting for me when I got home. If you're reading this, thank you, thank you!! I know that later my brother, sister-in-law, and niece stopped by for a bit. They brought me a card and a Sudoku book.  My friend Whitney also dropped by before New Years Eve festivities. She made me the cutest activity book for my recovery. 

Just a few pages of the booklet. 

Day 2

I slept on the couch last night hoping that this would help me keep my face elevated some and reduce swelling. Nope... it was not a great night. I slept through the alarms I had set to keep up on my pain medicine, and I woke up sleeping on my side.  And! I hadn't taken a nasal decongestant before going to sleep, so it was not so pleasant waking up this morning.  I definitely miss my adjustable hospital bed and the morphine drip. 

My magic button

It always kept my pain at bay without making me feel awful.  I have definitely noticed that the pain pills I was prescribed don't work as long as the bottle says they should. My entire face aches and tingles about an hour and a half before I'm allowed to take another. :( 

It's a helpless feeling when you're congested, but can't do anything about it.  I'm not supposed to cough very hard or strain my jaw, so I took a hot shower in hopes of breaking up any congestion.  It felt good to shower, but I was probably a little overzealous with the energy it actually takes to bathe and comb hair, get dressed, and go downstairs again.  I forget how fragile I feel until the smallest motion will make my face ache.  

Nasty bruise from the arterial IV to track my blood pressure under anesthesia.

More swelling, but attempting a smile.

Trying to cover up the nasty corners of my mouth, but look at that bite! 

It's definitely time to get some more medicine in me. I'm not quite sure how to explain a face being completely numb, tingly, and painful at the same time, but that's where I am at. I feel like that from my eyes down to my neck.

But to end on a happy note, these made me laugh once I was a little more lucid.  I hope they can make you laugh too!

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