I can't believe it's been over 2 weeks since surgery. It's been fast and slow at the same time-sounds weird, but I think everyone knows what I mean by that.
Sleeping is ok. I slept all night last night but I am still sleeping in the recliner. The doc said at my one week appointment that I could sleep normally, it might just increase swelling and that I wouldn't hurt anything. My face is still tender to touch in spots, so I am nervous about laying on it-it will hurt. I don't want more swelling either since that is doing pretty good. I don't know how long I will sleep in the recliner. I remember reading someone else's blog and that she was afraid to sleep in bed normally for a long time too. I know I will get over it eventually. No big deal, I'm getting sleep.
Eating is ok too. I have a yogurt smoothie with bananas and strawberries for breakfast with some tea. I have been having blended soups for lunch. I had split pea soup yesterday, it had extra carrots and potatoes in it and some ham, I put it all in the ninja along with a little milk and a few crackers and blended it, heated it and ate the whole can!! It tasted good. Blended vegetarian vegetable soup was good that way too. No chewing needed. I ate really soft stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and a little bit of shredded up bbq chicken for dinner last night. It was all really soft and mushy and doesn't require chewing, of course, but my tongue gets sore from working it around to swallow it since it's rubbing on the roof of my mouth and the splint all the time.
The infection seems to be gone. I still have a little hole in my cheek where they removed a few stitches to let it drain. I am still on the antibiotics till Saturday and I thought I would keep doing the salt water rinses till then too. The swelling still seems a little more on the left-which makes sense since that is where the infection was. I am trying not to judge my face because it is way too early for that, but my nose seems a little crooked at the end right now. I hope just from the swelling. My face does feel puffy right along both sides of my nose so I'm sure that's why. I don't see much difference in my jawline right now. Still swollen along there and into my neck, it's tender. I hope I have some good cosmetic benefits, even though that wasn't the main reason for doing this. I can still hope to look better though, right??
My energy level seems ok. I did about 4 hours of running around on Tuesday. I was tired after that. Yesterday I felt just kind of blah and headachy so just took it easy. No plans today, I can just get some laundry and small chores done around the house. I have my appointment for the splint removal next Wednesday, the 14th. I go to the surgeon's in the morning and then the ortho in the afternoon to get the wires replaced and the surgical hooks out (I hope). I am nervous for those appointments-I am afraid it will hurt for them to do that work. The quick check I had with the ortho on Tuesday, she said I probably wouldn't even feel it with being numb and all-I said, I am not numb!!! I have feeling on the left and light tingles on the right, my chin is very tingly, but I am not numb!! I am glad that I have feeling, but at the same time, those appointments could be painful! I can't wait to eat and talk without the splint in my mouth and I am so glad that it comes out before I go back to work on the 19th!! I want to know how I sound without it in there, I hope the lisp that I had before surgery (due to a 10 mm overjet) will be gone, but will I know how to talk properly when everything has been moved so much?!
Well, that's really all I can think of right now...until next time.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Day 11 (August 3)
The good news today is that the infection seems to be really clearing out. I only have a little drainage occassionally, but I am still taking the antibiotics (10 day course), doing the salt water rinses and the warm compresses. The warm compresses just feel good on my tender face. The right side feels alot better than the left, so I never use the warm compress there. The swelling seems about equal now, meaning all that extra swelling from the infection on the left is just about gone. I even have been trying to wear the elastics for short periods of time and I plan on wearing them to bed to make sure the bite lines up. After all, that's why I did this crazy surgery to begin with.
My parents went home today, so I was doing more around the house and I haven't napped today either. I guess I have given that up so that I can get to sleep at a decent time at night. I am a night owl anyway. I have still been getting up several times at night to drain the infection and rinse my mouth. I don't know how long I will need to keep doing that.
I am going to call and update the surgeon on Monday, to see if they want to see me again before the splint comes out in a couple weeks. I hope not, it's a long drive and I am afraid my energy isn't quite up to that drive yet. It should be by the next week though-which will be good, since I am also getting closer to having to go back to work at that point.
I didn't have too much to eat today. My tongue hurts trying to eat soft stuff and push it around my mouth to swallow it. I have a sore on the end of it. I drank dinner-soup-and I plan to make a banana milk shake for a treat tonight. Sounds good and refreshing. Trying to eat soft stuff without chewing is more difficult than I thought it would be and tiring trying to work it around with your tongue to swallow it down. My water intake is going up, since I have to wash so much food down!
My chin is very tingly and I have a sensitive tooth on the bottom right side that seems to react harshly to cold things. I hope that's just normal nerves waking up from surgery and not an indication that there is tooth damage or anything like that. I would think it would be a little early for signs of that-I hope, anyway!
How long do people sleep elevated?? I asked at my one week check and was told that I could go ahead and sleep normally, that I wouldn't hurt anything surgically. But my face is still swollen and tender. I am nervous about that. I know the swelling might increase by laying down now. But I'm afraid of hurting something. I am still in my recliner. I guess I will just do that for a while until the tenderness subsides more. Well, that's about it for now I guess...until next time.
My parents went home today, so I was doing more around the house and I haven't napped today either. I guess I have given that up so that I can get to sleep at a decent time at night. I am a night owl anyway. I have still been getting up several times at night to drain the infection and rinse my mouth. I don't know how long I will need to keep doing that.
I am going to call and update the surgeon on Monday, to see if they want to see me again before the splint comes out in a couple weeks. I hope not, it's a long drive and I am afraid my energy isn't quite up to that drive yet. It should be by the next week though-which will be good, since I am also getting closer to having to go back to work at that point.
I didn't have too much to eat today. My tongue hurts trying to eat soft stuff and push it around my mouth to swallow it. I have a sore on the end of it. I drank dinner-soup-and I plan to make a banana milk shake for a treat tonight. Sounds good and refreshing. Trying to eat soft stuff without chewing is more difficult than I thought it would be and tiring trying to work it around with your tongue to swallow it down. My water intake is going up, since I have to wash so much food down!
My chin is very tingly and I have a sensitive tooth on the bottom right side that seems to react harshly to cold things. I hope that's just normal nerves waking up from surgery and not an indication that there is tooth damage or anything like that. I would think it would be a little early for signs of that-I hope, anyway!
How long do people sleep elevated?? I asked at my one week check and was told that I could go ahead and sleep normally, that I wouldn't hurt anything surgically. But my face is still swollen and tender. I am nervous about that. I know the swelling might increase by laying down now. But I'm afraid of hurting something. I am still in my recliner. I guess I will just do that for a while until the tenderness subsides more. Well, that's about it for now I guess...until next time.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Day 9 (August 1st)
Day 9
So things have been going a little better today. I think the swelling is down somewhat (still more on left side-infection-than the right) and my food intake is up (good thing-I have been really hungry) I have continued to do the warm compresses and drain my mouth and rinse with salt water several times a day. I did get up every couple of hours last night again to follow that same routine. I think tonight though I will only get up once in the middle and leave it at that. I actually left the house yesterday and today and was seen in public! Yesterday was also the first time I drove since surgery. I just went a few miles down the road to the pharmacy to get my antibiotic filled. Today, we went to the High School to watch the marching band perform their set that they have been practicing all week at band camp. My oldest two are in High School right now. They do a great job, it's always fun to watch them. I wasn't sure this morning if I felt up to going since not resting well and the swelling and all, but I was feeling pretty good, so I surprised them and showed up. I haven't napped at all today and I really think I will be ready for bed tonight!! I have had to write down the times I take all the meds-tylenol, penicillin, diclofenac, salt water rinses, to make sure I'm not forgetting anything.
My parents are staying for a few more days, they will make sure that I'm set for food (my oldest can also drive me to the store if need be) and they will go home, they have been here almost two weeks now. I really appreciate the help with laundry and making meals for the kids, etc. I was just starting to feel really good, then got the infection, so that was a little setback in recovery. But I think the meds are kicking in and everything will be fine soon. I still have 3 more days before appointments next week. So there is still time for improvement on the antibiotics. I guess that's really it for now...I was thinking there might be something else, but I can't remember right now! I hate that feeling! until next time... (Oh! I remembered what it was-I have the drooling under control, I am not constantly holding a tissue, napkin or paper towel to my face!!!!!-how could I forget that, it was so annoying!!)
So things have been going a little better today. I think the swelling is down somewhat (still more on left side-infection-than the right) and my food intake is up (good thing-I have been really hungry) I have continued to do the warm compresses and drain my mouth and rinse with salt water several times a day. I did get up every couple of hours last night again to follow that same routine. I think tonight though I will only get up once in the middle and leave it at that. I actually left the house yesterday and today and was seen in public! Yesterday was also the first time I drove since surgery. I just went a few miles down the road to the pharmacy to get my antibiotic filled. Today, we went to the High School to watch the marching band perform their set that they have been practicing all week at band camp. My oldest two are in High School right now. They do a great job, it's always fun to watch them. I wasn't sure this morning if I felt up to going since not resting well and the swelling and all, but I was feeling pretty good, so I surprised them and showed up. I haven't napped at all today and I really think I will be ready for bed tonight!! I have had to write down the times I take all the meds-tylenol, penicillin, diclofenac, salt water rinses, to make sure I'm not forgetting anything.
My parents are staying for a few more days, they will make sure that I'm set for food (my oldest can also drive me to the store if need be) and they will go home, they have been here almost two weeks now. I really appreciate the help with laundry and making meals for the kids, etc. I was just starting to feel really good, then got the infection, so that was a little setback in recovery. But I think the meds are kicking in and everything will be fine soon. I still have 3 more days before appointments next week. So there is still time for improvement on the antibiotics. I guess that's really it for now...I was thinking there might be something else, but I can't remember right now! I hate that feeling! until next time... (Oh! I remembered what it was-I have the drooling under control, I am not constantly holding a tissue, napkin or paper towel to my face!!!!!-how could I forget that, it was so annoying!!)
Days 7 and 8 (July 30/31)
Day 7-
We went to the surgeon's for my 1week follow up. I got a really good report from the doc. My mouth is really clean-one if the cleanest he's seen one week post op:) and my bite was just a little out of the splint so they tried some loose bands and let that settle for a few minutes. When they checked, it still wasn't quite where they want it, so I got the heavier bands. That did the trick. So I left with 2 bands toward the front to pull things in line. We got home several hours later and I crashed on the couch. When I woke up, my mom noticed my face had really swollen on the left again. Like, right after surgery swollen! We spent the next few hours calling the doc to relay different information to see what to do. As I was sitting there, all of a sudden I started bleeding. I hadn't done that since right after surgery. When I pulled my cheek out to let my mom see what was going on in there, blood and puss started pouring out of the incision line by my bottom teeth. SOOOO GROSS!! We got some more direction from the doc and we were to talk to them this morning. I spent the whole night waking up every 2 hours or so to let the spot drain and to rinse with the antiseptic mouthwash. Not a restful night at all.
Day8-
I got up early this morning to shower and call the docs office right when they open at 8. The attending was already in a surgery, but when I told the woman all the information, she called him (or texted him) to see what to do. I reminded her that if I needed to be seen, it takes 2 hours to get there, I need travel time. She called back fairly quickly with the news that the doc wanted to see me at 1:15. So we made another long trip up to the surgeon's office. (I won't miss that part) it was a fairly quick appointment. He did remove a few more stitches to let it drain more easily(yes, really gross!) suctioned it and irrigated it and pressed on my face (hard). I got an antibiotic and was told to rinse with warm salt water 4 times a day and use warm compresses. He said really he would like to see me next week to check things, but he knows we have the huge drive, so he said to call and give him an update. He could then decide if I need to come up before the splint removal appointment or just wait till then. Obviously I am to call sooner if things aren't improving.
The plan is to wake up every couple of hours again tonight to let it drain and rinse my mouth and put the warm compress on it at least once during the night. We'll see how that goes.
We went to the surgeon's for my 1week follow up. I got a really good report from the doc. My mouth is really clean-one if the cleanest he's seen one week post op:) and my bite was just a little out of the splint so they tried some loose bands and let that settle for a few minutes. When they checked, it still wasn't quite where they want it, so I got the heavier bands. That did the trick. So I left with 2 bands toward the front to pull things in line. We got home several hours later and I crashed on the couch. When I woke up, my mom noticed my face had really swollen on the left again. Like, right after surgery swollen! We spent the next few hours calling the doc to relay different information to see what to do. As I was sitting there, all of a sudden I started bleeding. I hadn't done that since right after surgery. When I pulled my cheek out to let my mom see what was going on in there, blood and puss started pouring out of the incision line by my bottom teeth. SOOOO GROSS!! We got some more direction from the doc and we were to talk to them this morning. I spent the whole night waking up every 2 hours or so to let the spot drain and to rinse with the antiseptic mouthwash. Not a restful night at all.
Day8-
I got up early this morning to shower and call the docs office right when they open at 8. The attending was already in a surgery, but when I told the woman all the information, she called him (or texted him) to see what to do. I reminded her that if I needed to be seen, it takes 2 hours to get there, I need travel time. She called back fairly quickly with the news that the doc wanted to see me at 1:15. So we made another long trip up to the surgeon's office. (I won't miss that part) it was a fairly quick appointment. He did remove a few more stitches to let it drain more easily(yes, really gross!) suctioned it and irrigated it and pressed on my face (hard). I got an antibiotic and was told to rinse with warm salt water 4 times a day and use warm compresses. He said really he would like to see me next week to check things, but he knows we have the huge drive, so he said to call and give him an update. He could then decide if I need to come up before the splint removal appointment or just wait till then. Obviously I am to call sooner if things aren't improving.
The plan is to wake up every couple of hours again tonight to let it drain and rinse my mouth and put the warm compress on it at least once during the night. We'll see how that goes.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Day 6 (Monday, July 29th)
Today is my son's 15th Birthday! Where has the time gone?? Luckily we celebrated before my surgery. Anyway...
Today has seen improvement of a few things. I am getting more fluids, the drool seems to be lessening and I actually slurped some soup and a vanilla malt with a spoon! Which is good as it seems the syringes are starting to malfunction! I guess I need to transition to cups and silverware now otherwise I will just delay learning how to use the new jaw. When I use the cup to swallow my meds, I have had water come out my nose several times, so annoying. My one week follow up appointment is tomorrow. I spent some time writing down some questions for the docs. I hope all goes well.
I didn't sleep that great last night, it kind of felt like I was half awake most of the time. I did catch a little nap this afternoon once the house got quiet. I feel a good sleep coming on though:) one thing I have been worried about was my energy level returning quickly, since I have 3 teens, 2 pets and a husband that travels alot for work. My parents have been helping me out alot, which I really appreciate. They will drive me to my appointment tomorrow since it's so far away. I know I won't have the energy for that so soon. Then we have some days off, so my parents will go home and I won't have any appointments or obligations till next Monday. I plan to just hang around the house and rest. I still have three weeks before I start work again. My splint will come off the week before I go back-thank goodness! I will have to take that trip with my youngest daughter, we can have a girls day:)
I just have doctor appointments set for the kids for their school physicals and that's about the only obligations I have till work starts. I know I will have another ortho appointment once the splint comes out so they can replace the wire that they cut when they widened my top jaw. My lips are doing much better, but the skin around my mouth has been peeling. I will get the splint removal appointment tomorrow, then we'll have to coordinate with the ortho.
My face feels pretty tingling all over, which I guess is a good sign, it just feels so weird. There is a spot on my left cheek that feels normal, the rest is all tingles. I also have this spot on my left cheek that looks like a blister, so I'm going to ask what that's from. I have been swallowing pills today, a combo of ibuprofen and acetaminophen. My jaw is just really achy right now, from trying to open and get a spoon in there when I had my malt, so I have a warm compress on it. That feels good.
Well, I guess that's it for now. I'll try to update tomorrow after my appointment. Did I mention I wish the drooling would stop already?! until next time...
Today has seen improvement of a few things. I am getting more fluids, the drool seems to be lessening and I actually slurped some soup and a vanilla malt with a spoon! Which is good as it seems the syringes are starting to malfunction! I guess I need to transition to cups and silverware now otherwise I will just delay learning how to use the new jaw. When I use the cup to swallow my meds, I have had water come out my nose several times, so annoying. My one week follow up appointment is tomorrow. I spent some time writing down some questions for the docs. I hope all goes well.
I didn't sleep that great last night, it kind of felt like I was half awake most of the time. I did catch a little nap this afternoon once the house got quiet. I feel a good sleep coming on though:) one thing I have been worried about was my energy level returning quickly, since I have 3 teens, 2 pets and a husband that travels alot for work. My parents have been helping me out alot, which I really appreciate. They will drive me to my appointment tomorrow since it's so far away. I know I won't have the energy for that so soon. Then we have some days off, so my parents will go home and I won't have any appointments or obligations till next Monday. I plan to just hang around the house and rest. I still have three weeks before I start work again. My splint will come off the week before I go back-thank goodness! I will have to take that trip with my youngest daughter, we can have a girls day:)
I just have doctor appointments set for the kids for their school physicals and that's about the only obligations I have till work starts. I know I will have another ortho appointment once the splint comes out so they can replace the wire that they cut when they widened my top jaw. My lips are doing much better, but the skin around my mouth has been peeling. I will get the splint removal appointment tomorrow, then we'll have to coordinate with the ortho.
My face feels pretty tingling all over, which I guess is a good sign, it just feels so weird. There is a spot on my left cheek that feels normal, the rest is all tingles. I also have this spot on my left cheek that looks like a blister, so I'm going to ask what that's from. I have been swallowing pills today, a combo of ibuprofen and acetaminophen. My jaw is just really achy right now, from trying to open and get a spoon in there when I had my malt, so I have a warm compress on it. That feels good.
Well, I guess that's it for now. I'll try to update tomorrow after my appointment. Did I mention I wish the drooling would stop already?! until next time...
Sunday, July 28, 2013
First five days
Since I'm several days post op now, I need to catch up the blogs so I'll do a long post but try to re-cap each day. Hope it's not too long/boring :)
Wednesday, July 24th (day 1)
The docs visited me in the morning and removed the compression bandage completely, which was awesome since it made me feel like I was suffocating. I was only allowed to get out of bed that morning once they removed the catheter and the leg compression stocking things. Due to the fact that I hadn't really been moving, had been so nauseas, couldn't get anything down,etc. the docs said that I was not being released but they would move me to a regular room for another night. Thank goodness. I felt like a train wreck. They did say the swelling in my lower lip was looking better though and my bite was good, still biting into the splint so no elastics needed to guide things yet.
It did take a while to get moved, we had to wait for a room to open up on the med/surg ward. The staff was all super nice. They did their best to try and help my pain. I was refusing the stronger stuff and was basically getting iv Motrin type stuff. They were giving meds for swelling, nausea and pain. I had tried some oral pain meds too, but they wouldn't go down either and they tasted horrible and gagged me. I would rather have the pain than throw up again! But due to more old blood in my stomach I threw up again-so nasty, but that was the last time. Thank goodness. I was able to sleep a little better that night and was getting up to use the bathroom, etc since I was still hooked up to the iv.
I tried to get fluids down, some tea, melted sherbet, etc but nothing really worked or tasted very good. I have noticed that my taste buds are on high alert right now and things taste stronger.
Thursday, July 25th (day 2)
The docs visited me again in the morning and said everything looked on track, I was doing better, they had a few early afternoon surgical cases and would check me after that, but the plan was for me to be discharged after the afternoon visit. They wanted me to walk the halls for some exercise and to see what else I could take in fluid-wise, so they capped the iv but didn't take it out yet. I walked down to the nurse's station twice, was able to get down some tea and plain water and ice chips. The docs came back around 3 and started the discharge process. They knew I had a long drive home (about 2 hours) so they got me going fairly quickly, we just had to wait for the prescriptions to be ready, one more dose of pain meds, then they removed the iv, then I was transported to the door. I was awake (I think) for most of the very long drive home. Once I hit the door, I burst into tears. I was happy to be home. I slept a little better in the recliner. Lots of pillows, cozy blanket, ice packs, etc.
Friday, July 26th/Saturday, July 27th (days 3 &4)
I was able to sleep a few hours at a time. I finally was able to shower also, that makes such a difference. The swelling is going down day by day and the fluid intake is going up as the swelling improves. I mostly laid around all day. I did fall asleep late on the couch and woke up at 10, but then couldn't sleep again until about 4 am. That sucked. Then I took a nap after lunch on Saturday and then was up until around 11:00pm.
We also called the doc on Saturday to ask a few questions about cleaning my teeth, and why my tongue was still so swollen and sore. Everything is going normally-nothing out of the ordinary and I go for my follow up on Tuesday, July 30th, so they will double check everything then. At least the phone call reassured me on what I could or couldn't do to clean my mouth. There was so much dried blood in there-so disgusting, but he said I could brush as much as I was able to. I wouldn't hurt anything. So I brushed and rinsed for the longest time and got the grossest blood clots and gunk out-sorry if that's TMI! But my mouth felt and tasted so much better and I have been using the rinse 3 times a day.
Sunday, July 28th (day 5)
Since I went to bed around 11, I woke up around 3:30 and actually tried swallowing some ibuprofen. It worked!! I couldn't feel it go down though, so I had to check my mouth with a little flash light to make sure it wasn't hiding in there. I'm sure I would have tasted the nasty medicine though. But I was so happy that I was able to swallow it whole without drinking it all ground up and mixed in my drinks!! So, when I woke up around 6, I showered again and drank some juice, then around 9, I swallowed another dose of pain meds-it's a prescription I had for knee pain, but it's a stronger anti-inflammatory and I only have to take once every 12 hours so that's really helpful.
It's time for me to take it now, actually. I took a 1 1/2 hour nap today, but didn't want to mess up my sleep tonight, so I set the timer on my phone. I got up and had more soup for dinner. I had my mom make a cheesy potato soup (blended and strained) and had about 1/2 a mug full. The liquids fill you up fast, but they don't last long. I also had some other smoothies and shakes and trying to get a much water as possible. I am still drooling an outrageous amount and wish that would stop, but I feel I am getting better control of my lower lip and am able to close my mouth better,so the drooling should stop soon too. The swelling has gone down dramatically, my face is a lovely greenish-yellow from bruising though, but my lips are looking much more normal and not all peeling and inflamed like just two days ago. It really is amazing how fast your body tries to get back to normal. I need to take another picture for my records, at least I have the "after surgery" ones on my phone, so maybe I can figure out how to post them. I really am terrible at this technology stuff ;)
Well, sorry for such a long update, but this is the first I felt up to trying to get it all down. I wanted as much detail to look back on later. I do not know how people feel up to blogging right away, but I am glad they do, I wish I felt that good. I am getting there. I will blame being older on this rough time I am having. It seems all the younger patients bounce back much better. I am glad for them and a little jealous, I guess! Lol!
I will try to update daily for a while, I go on Tuesday for my one week follow up. Not really looking forward to the long ride, but I guess I've come a long way since I came home on Thursday, so another couple of days should make even more of a difference. I just hope the drooling stops by then:)
I just took my pain pill and when I swallowed, water came out my nose! Does that happen to anyone else?? It feels so weird. I remember when I was a kid and had my tonsils and adenoids removed, the same thing happened a few times, then I guess I figured out how to drink properly! Until next time...
Wednesday, July 24th (day 1)
The docs visited me in the morning and removed the compression bandage completely, which was awesome since it made me feel like I was suffocating. I was only allowed to get out of bed that morning once they removed the catheter and the leg compression stocking things. Due to the fact that I hadn't really been moving, had been so nauseas, couldn't get anything down,etc. the docs said that I was not being released but they would move me to a regular room for another night. Thank goodness. I felt like a train wreck. They did say the swelling in my lower lip was looking better though and my bite was good, still biting into the splint so no elastics needed to guide things yet.
It did take a while to get moved, we had to wait for a room to open up on the med/surg ward. The staff was all super nice. They did their best to try and help my pain. I was refusing the stronger stuff and was basically getting iv Motrin type stuff. They were giving meds for swelling, nausea and pain. I had tried some oral pain meds too, but they wouldn't go down either and they tasted horrible and gagged me. I would rather have the pain than throw up again! But due to more old blood in my stomach I threw up again-so nasty, but that was the last time. Thank goodness. I was able to sleep a little better that night and was getting up to use the bathroom, etc since I was still hooked up to the iv.
I tried to get fluids down, some tea, melted sherbet, etc but nothing really worked or tasted very good. I have noticed that my taste buds are on high alert right now and things taste stronger.
Thursday, July 25th (day 2)
The docs visited me again in the morning and said everything looked on track, I was doing better, they had a few early afternoon surgical cases and would check me after that, but the plan was for me to be discharged after the afternoon visit. They wanted me to walk the halls for some exercise and to see what else I could take in fluid-wise, so they capped the iv but didn't take it out yet. I walked down to the nurse's station twice, was able to get down some tea and plain water and ice chips. The docs came back around 3 and started the discharge process. They knew I had a long drive home (about 2 hours) so they got me going fairly quickly, we just had to wait for the prescriptions to be ready, one more dose of pain meds, then they removed the iv, then I was transported to the door. I was awake (I think) for most of the very long drive home. Once I hit the door, I burst into tears. I was happy to be home. I slept a little better in the recliner. Lots of pillows, cozy blanket, ice packs, etc.
Friday, July 26th/Saturday, July 27th (days 3 &4)
I was able to sleep a few hours at a time. I finally was able to shower also, that makes such a difference. The swelling is going down day by day and the fluid intake is going up as the swelling improves. I mostly laid around all day. I did fall asleep late on the couch and woke up at 10, but then couldn't sleep again until about 4 am. That sucked. Then I took a nap after lunch on Saturday and then was up until around 11:00pm.
We also called the doc on Saturday to ask a few questions about cleaning my teeth, and why my tongue was still so swollen and sore. Everything is going normally-nothing out of the ordinary and I go for my follow up on Tuesday, July 30th, so they will double check everything then. At least the phone call reassured me on what I could or couldn't do to clean my mouth. There was so much dried blood in there-so disgusting, but he said I could brush as much as I was able to. I wouldn't hurt anything. So I brushed and rinsed for the longest time and got the grossest blood clots and gunk out-sorry if that's TMI! But my mouth felt and tasted so much better and I have been using the rinse 3 times a day.
Sunday, July 28th (day 5)
Since I went to bed around 11, I woke up around 3:30 and actually tried swallowing some ibuprofen. It worked!! I couldn't feel it go down though, so I had to check my mouth with a little flash light to make sure it wasn't hiding in there. I'm sure I would have tasted the nasty medicine though. But I was so happy that I was able to swallow it whole without drinking it all ground up and mixed in my drinks!! So, when I woke up around 6, I showered again and drank some juice, then around 9, I swallowed another dose of pain meds-it's a prescription I had for knee pain, but it's a stronger anti-inflammatory and I only have to take once every 12 hours so that's really helpful.
It's time for me to take it now, actually. I took a 1 1/2 hour nap today, but didn't want to mess up my sleep tonight, so I set the timer on my phone. I got up and had more soup for dinner. I had my mom make a cheesy potato soup (blended and strained) and had about 1/2 a mug full. The liquids fill you up fast, but they don't last long. I also had some other smoothies and shakes and trying to get a much water as possible. I am still drooling an outrageous amount and wish that would stop, but I feel I am getting better control of my lower lip and am able to close my mouth better,so the drooling should stop soon too. The swelling has gone down dramatically, my face is a lovely greenish-yellow from bruising though, but my lips are looking much more normal and not all peeling and inflamed like just two days ago. It really is amazing how fast your body tries to get back to normal. I need to take another picture for my records, at least I have the "after surgery" ones on my phone, so maybe I can figure out how to post them. I really am terrible at this technology stuff ;)
Well, sorry for such a long update, but this is the first I felt up to trying to get it all down. I wanted as much detail to look back on later. I do not know how people feel up to blogging right away, but I am glad they do, I wish I felt that good. I am getting there. I will blame being older on this rough time I am having. It seems all the younger patients bounce back much better. I am glad for them and a little jealous, I guess! Lol!
I will try to update daily for a while, I go on Tuesday for my one week follow up. Not really looking forward to the long ride, but I guess I've come a long way since I came home on Thursday, so another couple of days should make even more of a difference. I just hope the drooling stops by then:)
I just took my pain pill and when I swallowed, water came out my nose! Does that happen to anyone else?? It feels so weird. I remember when I was a kid and had my tonsils and adenoids removed, the same thing happened a few times, then I guess I figured out how to drink properly! Until next time...
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Day zero-July 23rd
I had to be at the hospital by 6 am. I was scheduled for 7:30 surgery time. They took me back for surgery right on time. First was the typical pre-op stuff, met the surgery team to talk to, placing the iv, etc . It was nice that my mom could sit with me and keep me distracted. I had this weird gown to wear that they hooked up to a warm air pump- it was nice!
The nurse doing the iv stuck me three times and still didn't get it. She was probing around in there. I have two really nice bruises from that. The anesthesiologist resident got an iv in first try. Then they gave me the "happy juice" and took me back. I remember changing to the surgery table, they start hooking things to me, then put the oxygen mask on and it was lights out! I woke up in my room when I needed to transfer to the regular bed. That's so hard to do right after surgery. I don't think I remember anything from the recovery room.
They actually started the surgery at 8:15 after everything was prepped. Waking up was tough. My bottom lip was the size of a small continent. It was just dangling in the air. I had ice on. I remember being aware that my mom took a picture. (My lip was shocking when I saw the pic days later.) I had lots of bleeding going on. The nurses actually called the drs back sooner to check me, but they said everything was ok. I had lost a lot of blood during the surgery, I needed 2 units of blood. That's not really supposed to be a problem with this procedure. So glad it happened to me- not!! So since losing so much blood-guess what happens? Yes, you throw it up-repeatedly. I think I threw up 5 times that night. The pain meds do that to me too. I had so much swelling. They left the catheter in place till 6 am which also meant I had the leg compression stockings on-til 6 am (annoying) also when I was awake I got to stare at the clock at the end of my bed. Minutes dragged on for hours!!
By the morning, I was desperate for the docs to come and take the compression bandage off. I felt like I was going to suffocate and was trying hard to focus on breathing but I was shaking and couldn't stop. Finally the nurse loosened it a bit and I got some relief from that. Holy cow-it was a horrible night.
I'll post the next day starting with seeing the doctors....
The nurse doing the iv stuck me three times and still didn't get it. She was probing around in there. I have two really nice bruises from that. The anesthesiologist resident got an iv in first try. Then they gave me the "happy juice" and took me back. I remember changing to the surgery table, they start hooking things to me, then put the oxygen mask on and it was lights out! I woke up in my room when I needed to transfer to the regular bed. That's so hard to do right after surgery. I don't think I remember anything from the recovery room.
They actually started the surgery at 8:15 after everything was prepped. Waking up was tough. My bottom lip was the size of a small continent. It was just dangling in the air. I had ice on. I remember being aware that my mom took a picture. (My lip was shocking when I saw the pic days later.) I had lots of bleeding going on. The nurses actually called the drs back sooner to check me, but they said everything was ok. I had lost a lot of blood during the surgery, I needed 2 units of blood. That's not really supposed to be a problem with this procedure. So glad it happened to me- not!! So since losing so much blood-guess what happens? Yes, you throw it up-repeatedly. I think I threw up 5 times that night. The pain meds do that to me too. I had so much swelling. They left the catheter in place till 6 am which also meant I had the leg compression stockings on-til 6 am (annoying) also when I was awake I got to stare at the clock at the end of my bed. Minutes dragged on for hours!!
By the morning, I was desperate for the docs to come and take the compression bandage off. I felt like I was going to suffocate and was trying hard to focus on breathing but I was shaking and couldn't stop. Finally the nurse loosened it a bit and I got some relief from that. Holy cow-it was a horrible night.
I'll post the next day starting with seeing the doctors....
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