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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