Jordan's Jaw Journey: 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!