Pictures - 6.5 months after upper and lower jaw surgery

I doubt anyone is still reading this blog, but in case you are...it's been six and a half months since my jaw surgery so I thought I would put some pictures up. I still have my braces on and no idea when I will be getting them off, but everything is going great. I'm very happy I had the surgery done.

Help/Question

Last night I kept waking up to two of my teeth sliding off each other and my bite settling with a big CLICK. I looked at those teeth this morning and it totally looks like the top one just wore the bottom one down and has fit itself into place. Does that make sense? This doesn't seem right. Has anyone else experienced this? My whole bite just feels completely weird. And does anyone know exactly what the rubber bands are doing? I didn't even ask. I have one on my left side on 3 upper teeth and one on the right side on 2 upper teeth. Are they moving teeth or moving jaws? I hope my teeth aren't getting ruined with all this rubbing and grinding. I'm so fed up with all of this.
My face is still swollen and looking like a "stone face." I'm not too thrilled about any of this right now. The ortho said that it takes 3-6 months for the swelling from upper jaw surgery to go away. It seems like most everyone's swelling is gone by 6 weeks though. At least most of it. I'm definitely not at the point where I'm super glad I had this done. My smile is weird too. It looks forced and stoney. Grrrr.....

6 Weeks Post-op/Adjustment

Yesterday I went to the orthodontist for an adjustment. They put new wires on the top and bottom and gave me new rubber band configurations. My ortho was looking in my mouth and checking out my bite and said to himself, "That man is a genius." (Referring to Dr. Relle) I guess my bite was pretty messed up, especially the top jaw. So the ortho is happy with the way things are looking.

I'm still trying to get used to my new face. The swelling is still there. It is pretty bad today. Advil helps to bring it down, but it's only temporary. Some days I think I am happy with the results (cosmetically) and other days I'm not. Some days I just feel like it's not me and this chubby face is just weird looking. :)

P.S. I ate some pasta today and tried to chew a little just to see what it felt like, and it felt so WRONG. Teeth on the bottom were hitting teeth on the top in all the wrong ways. It felt so unnatural. Dr. Paz mentioned that I have a crossbite (the reason for the rubberbands). I hope this can be fixed because it feels really bad.

A little over 5 weeks....

Today is 5 weeks and 3 days post-op. My swelling is slowing going down. And I do mean slowly. My bottom lip is still pretty numb and so is my chin. I can tell the feeling is starting to come back though ~ it's not dead numb like it was. I'm still getting used to my face, especially when I accidentally catch my reflection in a mirror or a window. It's weird. I'm still waiting to see the final result.
I am sick of rice and beans and don't know if I will ever eat them again. Lately I have been eating Indian food. It's just a matter of time before I get sick of that too, I'm sure. I've also been mashing up avocado and eating that. And I've been eating lots of pancakes. Lots and lots of pancakes. I can't wait until I can bite into a big fat slice of pizza with tomato, garlic, and basil. Yum.
I'm actually kind of nervous to chew. I can imagine it is going to feel very weird.
I'll post a picture soon. I haven't taken any lately. (My chin is tingling like crazy right now) Goodnite!

Pizza, Pancakes and Pain

I think I'll start with the pain first. Last night I had the worst pain so far. It almost brought me to tears. The roof of my mouth and all my teeth and jaws were aching like crazy. I'm guessing it's because the nerves are waking up and I'm not as numb. I'll take the numbness over the pain any day. I took 2 Advils and the pain went away and I feel fine today.

So last night I was starving as usual. I cannot get myself to eat blender food or smoothies. It just doesn't appeal to me. We had gotten a pizza for the kids and I couldn't resist. Did you know you can eat pizza without chewing it? I broke it in little pieces and was able to eat it. It was delicious. Today I thought I would try pancakes. Yum. No chewing required.

I'm still swollen. I'm trying to be patient, but it's frustrating. I find that when I take Advil, the swelling goes down for a bit, but
then it comes back.

A Before Pic

You can see in this picture how my chin used to veer to the left (and how long it was).



Once I can smile normally, I will post a picture. I still have a lot of stitches that pull when I smile. I'm wondering if they are going to fall out by themselves or if they will have to be removed.

Orthodontist Appointment Post-Op

I went to the orthodontist this morning. Dr. Paz checked things out and then told the tech to put a new wire on the top. An active wire. I asked her what the wire will be doing and she said it was to level things. I was kind of surprised because they said they wouldn't be moving my teeth until 7 or 8 weeks after surgery. I think Dr. Relle wanted this done, so I'm sure it's fine. Two of my brackets had come off, so I had to get those replaced. I was so glad that my mouth is numb so I didn't really feel anything. It took her awhile to get all of the figure 8 wire things off and then put in the new wire. My jaws were really tired afterwards. I can't believe tomorrow will be 4 weeks since surgery.

Day 25/Pictures

It still hurts to smile...




I finally took pictures today. I'm still swollen, but I doubt most people would notice it much. And my eyes still look lopsided. Ah well.
It's so great to have that splint out. I saved it and took a picture of it. It felt so much bigger when it was in my mouth. It's so easy to talk now. Both my kids noticed right away when I started talking to them that something was different. Of course, I got a sore throat and my voice is almost gone. That's a bummer, but at least the splint is gone.
I had a nice day today. I had some coffee and oatmeal in the morning, some Indian food for lunch (very easy to eat if you just take the sauce from the food and mix it with the rice, yum), followed by PinkBerry and then of course my usual rice and beans and salsa for dinner. I'm definitely not going to keep the weight that I had lost off for long. That's okay. No blender food for me. I would rather not eat at all.

Here's my splint: :)

Got the splint out!!!

I just got back from seeing the wonderful Dr. Relle. Wow, that splint was really in there. Lots of wire cutting and snipping and pulling and then it was out. It felt weird at first and the top of my mouth behind my front teeth is numb. It felt really gross behind my front teeth so I asked if I could brush. That felt great. He said that my splint was really clean. I owe it all to the water pic. That thing is priceless.

So right now my teeth are hitting on a high point so Dr. Paz may have to shave down that tooth. My teeth aren't touching completely on the whole left side, but Dr. Relle said it should all settle into place. I am wearing two rubber bands. Ideally, I would have seen Dr. Paz immediately after I saw Dr. Relle today, but because it's a Friday and long weekend, I won't be seeing him until Tuesday.

Well, I am off to eat .... what else? Rice and beans!! Whoohooo! (still no chewing allowed)

Day 23, Last day Before I get the splint out

I will not miss this splint. Good riddance! My appointment is at noon tomorrow to get it removed. I'm wondering why some people have to have it in for longer. Rita had hers in 6 weeks. Sometimes I notice that my bottom jaw "slips." It's hard to explain. But it feels like it goes backwards or forwards on its own and then the rubberbands catch it and bring it back where it should be. I don't like when that happens.

I don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but since the surgery, I have had a lot of dizziness. When I look down, I feel dizzy. When I lay in bed and turn over, I feel really dizzy. It's kinda scary. I will ask the surgeon about it. I don't know how it could possibly be related to the surgery, but that's when it started. For awhile I thought it was related to not eating enough, but I am getting quite a bit of food down, so I don't think that's it.

Today one of my neighbors (she's well into her 80's) said hi to me. I said hi back and of course, sounded like I had marbles in my mouth. She said, "Oh, you've got some big problems going on, don't you." I tried to explain to her what I had just gone through. She didn't get and kept going back to "teeth". She said if my parents had fixed my teeth when I was little, I wouldn't be going through this now. I tried to explain again that it wasn't my teeth. She still didn't get it, so I gave up. Ah well. Even some people that aren't in their 80's don't get it. Most of the time it's not worth it to try and explain. Every time I do try to explain, it seems as though they all bring up having had their wisdom teeth taken out. It's not the same, but I'm tired of explaining so I just (try to) smile.

It's Been 3 Weeks!

I can't wait until Friday to get this splint out. I feel like a broken record, but I really hate this thing. It's really getting on my nerves. I'm tired of people not being able to understand me when I talk. It's very frustrating. Especially in the morning when I am trying to get my kids up and ready for school when I'm tired and crabby already ~ it's not fun. At the same time, I am anxious about getting it out. I hope it doesn't hurt. I'm also anxious about how my bite is going to feel in its new position.

My cheeks and chin feel pretty swollen this morning. I'm wondering when it's going to be gone. It's hard to be patient.

So yesterday I was excited to be able to "eat" oatmeal with lots of brown sugar (thinned down, of course), pintos & cheese from Taco Bell with lots of hot sauce, and then rice with lots of green sauce at our local Mexican place. Food with flavor is so exciting.:) I can't stand all this bland stuff I had been eating.

That's about it for now...

Coincidence?

Last night when I was taking a bath, I put a washcloth with really hot water on my face over and over again and my face started tingling like it was waking up. So today, so far all morning, my face is going crazy tingling. I wonder if the heat helps with the swelling and the nerves. Does anybody know?

Rice and Beans Never Tasted So Good/Day 20

I don't know why I'm posting every day.There's really nothing to tell. Except that I went to a Mexican place down the street and had rice/beans/salsa and YUM was it GOOD. I hadn't really eaten anything all day so it felt really good to get something in my stomach. I tried to eat Spaghetti O's at lunch ~ YUCK. I remember liking them as a kid, but they were really sick today. I couldn't eat them.
I'm still numb, not very swollen, and hate the splint. That's about it. I'll take pictures soon. I'm just lazy.

Day 19, Not as Crabby

Today wasn't too bad. My husband, son and I went to lunch at PF Changs and I actually got some food down. We ordered Kung Pao Tofu with extra sauce and I was able to cut the tofu up in small pieces and eat it. I also drenched the (brown) rice with the (spicy, delicious) sauce and got it down with no problem. It was so very good. We topped it off with PinkBerry. Yum. I was in heaven. Later on for dinner we went to an Indian restaurant and I did the same thing with the rice and the extra sauce from the entree. It wasn't as good as the Chinese food (harder to get down) but it was better than nothing. This is the most I have eaten in one day in the past 17 days. I never knew how much I love to eat. I will never take eating for granted again. :)

On the face front, my swelling has gone down quite a bit. My chin is pretty much totally numb. It's a really gross feeling, especially when I am washing my face. The feeling on the left side of my nose is starting to come back. My chin is totally broken out. I don't know if it's from the anesthesia or what, but zits on a numb chin = totally gross. I really can't believe it's day 17. The time goes by so fast.

P.S. I honestly don't know how people with braces and people recovering from jaw surgery can live without a water pic. It's been a life saver with this splint in my mouth. Definitely worth purchasing if you are going through this.

A crabby post...

I am very, very crabby today. I am so sick and tired of having this splint in my mouth, I could SCREAM!! It comes out on Friday, which seems so far away right now. I am hungry and nothing I eat tastes good when I have to basically swallow it whole. I tried some pasta and butter today and thought I was going to choke to death because it was getting stuck when I swallowed. I quickly gave up on that idea. It's to the point where it's too much trouble to eat and I don't even want to. I'm trying to keep hydrated. I'm going to try and eat some egg flower soup later on. I am so sick of soup. Someone mentioned that I should be drinking Ensure. The word ENSURE makes me want to puke. I never again want to think about, look at, smell, or taste Ensure. Ugh, so gross.
So there's my bitchy post for the day. Sorry, but I had to get it off my chest. :)

Day 16, shhhh don't tell...

I slept until 10:00 this morning. I thought I would try and be productive today so I cleaned up a little and ran some errands. I was so hungry by the time my husband came home that I convinced him that we could go to our favorite pizza place and I could chop up the spaghetti in little pieces and swallow it (against doctor's orders.) Shhhh. It was so good. I could only eat about 1/3 of what was on the plate and my jaw was very tired afterwards. I probably shouldn't have done it, but at least I didn't chew. I won't do it again. I'll stick to my doctor's orders of blended/soft food only. I just had to taste something besides soup and smoothies. I think I still look the same as yesterday, so maybe I'll take pictures tomorrow. Good luck to KATE!!! I'm thinking of you and hoping everything goes smoothly tomorrow.

Day 15

I will probably stop posting daily since I am feeling so much better. My swelling is still there along with the numbness in my chin and left side of my nose. I get lots of tingling in my chin which I hear is a good thing. I've been using wax at night to cover all my brackets on my top teeth so that my lip will heal. It's looking a lot less gross than it was. The swelling in my lips has gone down a lot. I went shopping today to buy my son some shorts. When I have to talk to strangers, they look like they feel so sorry for me. One lady asked what happened, so I told her "jaw surgery." She said, "I know exactly how you feel. I just had my top teeth crowned and it really hurt." Uh, yeah. I wouldn't really compare this to having some teeth crowned. :) At least she was trying to be empathetic, which is nice.
I've been trying to keep my teeth as clean as possible. I can tell it's going to be really gross when the splint comes out though. The doc said to bring a baby toothbrush with me so I can brush there when I get the splint out.
I didn't eat enough today, but I didn't feel hungry either. I've been sleeping in until noon. It's nice, but I feel like such a bum.

Here's the pics of the day. I obviously need my hair cut and highlighted. I haven't worn any makeup in 2 weeks. It's been kinda nice not having to worry about it actually. I'm not really that vain so it isn't a big deal. I must say though, after comparing my before and afters, I am really happy with the results so far. Especially with my profile. Wow, what a difference jaw surgery can make. :) Oh, I like the change in my nose too. It's more upturned and shorter looking from the side. Did I say I wasn't vain? ;)






And here are some reminders of what I looked like before:

Day 13 and Day 14

Day 13: Very boring day. My husband took the boys to school. I woke up around 10:30, took a shower and was bored the rest of the day. I did have to go to a teacher conference for one of my sons. That was fun trying to talk to the teacher with the splint in my mouth. I haven't eaten much at all today. I'm starving. My husband brought me some mashed potatoes/gravy from KFC, but they grossed me out, so I didn't eat. Not good. I want some real food. I want nachos. Mmmmm, that sounds so good. Ugh, this sucks. Okay, enough whining. :)


Day 14: I didn't post yesterday so I'm putting Day 13 and 14 together. I slept in until noon today. I had to go to the orthodontist at 2:00. It was my first day out on my own. Everyone at the ortho office was so nice, saying how good I look and how they were surprised that I don't have much swelling or bruising. The ortho couldn't really see in my mouth much, but he said he was happy with what he could see. I'll see him again after I get this splint out.

I was finally starving enough today to make potato leek soup. It was a recipe I got online and it was so good. It was really nice to get some food in my stomach. I think I ate 3 bowls of it. I had added extra butter and cream so it was nice and fattening.

I'm being impatient and really wishing this swelling would go down faster. I was thinking about it, and the surgery/recovery really weren't that bad at all. Not even close to as bad as I thought it was going to be. Dr. Paz was saying that years ago, patients would have to be completely wired shut for 10 weeks!! I can't even imagine. I was shocked that Dr. Relle cut my bands 9 days after my surgery. It's pretty amazing. I really can't complain ~ hardly any bruising, minimal swelling, minimal numbness, clear sinuses after surgery, no vomiting, and hardly any pain ~ I feel really lucky. I think I'll give all the credit to Dr. Relle. :) He really is good at what he does.

Okay, I don't know if that is bruising on my lower face/chin or what, but the color is really weird.

Day 12, My Mama's Gone Home :-(

Before I forget, I've meaning to mention that for the last 4 or 5 nights I have been sleeping on my side and not upright. I guess it doesn't matter. I was really surprised to wake up on my side one morning and then just decided to start sleeping like that at night. It's way more comfortable and I guess my jaw can't come apart or anything? Lots of drool on my pillow though.
My mom went home today so I have to start fending for myself. :) I was so sad to see her go. Even though I was on painkillers most of the time she was here and not very aware of anything, it was so nice to have her here. She kept the place clean, beds made, laundry done, kids' lunches packed, not to mention just having her here for the moral support. I can't thank her enough. My hubby is going to take the kids to school for two more days and then it's back to reality for me.
Tonight as I was putting my rubberbands back on, I peeked up underneath my upper lip and almost puked. You would not believe how disgustingly raw it is. I just showed my husband and he told me I should not have shown him. He's all grossed out now. I'm surprised it doesn't hurt more. I don't even want to know what the rest of my mouth looks like ~ when I feel around with my tongue, there are areas that feel like raw bumpy meat. Yuck.
No pictures tonight. I'm not in the mood. :)

P.S. I would smile in my pictures, but it hurts sooo bad to smile. I guess it's because of the stitches underneath my top lip.

Day 11 (Yesterday) Best Day So Far

I have to agree with Indiana and Jaw Surgery Aficionado, Day 11 has been the best day so far. My mom and I walked down to a shopping center not too far from here and shopped for a little bit. It felt good to get out. My bff came over made me fresh juice with her juicer. It was delicious. I took a nap. And then in the evening we all went out to dinner to celebrate my son's 12th birthday. Everybody had delicious meals, except me. I ordered a strawberry/banana smoothie with a side of chocolate syrup. Not very satisfying, although I think my 8-year-old was a little jealous. :)

Stephanie noticed that my eyes look different so I was just looking at the pictures to check them out. It looks like my left eye is lower than my right eye. Is that because of the swelling?? I hope so. That is weird!

Day 10, Visit with the Surgeon

Today was my first real day out of the house since my surgery. My mom drove me to see my surgeon this afternoon. He snipped off the rubber bands that were holding my mouth closed and only put two back on - one on either side of my mouth. I can take them off when I eat and when I brush my teeth. I will have the splint in for two more weeks. I haven't taken the bands off yet because I am nervous about putting them back on. I had some mashed potatoes and gravy from KFC (even though they aren't vegetarian) and they were soooo good.
At my appointment he said everything went well and my face is more balanced now. He said I look like I am healing well and didn't seem to have much swelling compared to a lot of people after surgery. I had to go get an xray taken. I have 4 plates/screws in my upper jaw and 1 plate/screws in my lower jaw. I've lost 8 pounds. As far as I'm concerned, it can stay lost. But he said I would probably gain it back.
The swelling seems to have gone down some more but my lips are still big. I asked him if they will go down and he said that yes they will but that a lot of women would pay a lot of money to have these lips. haha.
My little Connor picture taker is at a sleepover tonight so I might skip my Day 10 photo.
Oh yeah, I had some stitches on the side of my face where they had to make a hole to put in the screws, so he took those out. He said they'll heal up with no scar.

Post-op, Day 9

Nothing new to report. I'm still tired and swollen. I slept until 11:00 today and took a nap in the afternoon. My hubby brought home egg flower soup tonight - I didn't even bother straining the egg. I was too hungry. The surgeon said liquids only, but I thought I would risk it and eat the eggs too. Well, the egg ended up wrapped all in my rubber bands and up in my splint. I washed out my mouth as best as i could; I hope I got most of it out. I'll see the surgeon tomorrow and tell him. :) As I was cleaning out my mouth, I noticed that my left cheek feels like raw hamburger meat. It's so raw and chunky. Gross. I wonder what that is all about. It doesn't feel like the area where the stitches are. It feels like I have been chewing on it or something. My chin is completely numb. I don't like it. I hope the feeling comes back soon.

I Added Pictures to my Last 7 or 8 posts!

I just sat down and took some time to add pictures to my last posts. Whew, I'm tired now. :) Every little thing takes so much energy. I've lost a lot of weight, so I am going to try and eat more today. It's really hard to get anything down when my tongue hurts so much and nothing tastes good. I know not eating is what is contributing to my feeling like crap and being so weak.

Post-op, Day 8

It's still sucking. I didn't get much liquid down today. My tongue is all torn up and raw. I have no idea what from. The splint? I woke up at around 9:30 and have been awake all day. I only took 2 Advils today for the pain. I get really dizzy and weak when I stand up, so I've been laying down most of the day. I know I should be getting more calories down, but my mouth really hurts ~ between the splint, the rubberbands and whatever else is going on in there. I don't think the swelling has gone down at all. Lots of tingling in my chin, which is annoying. The numb areas feel really weird. I can't feel anything dribbling down my chin.
I had to go out with my mom today to pick up one of my kids from school (so she could drive, and I could show her the way). It felt so nice to be outside. It was such a pretty day. It's depressing being cooped up indoors with this swollen face. :) I was supposed to see the ortho today but I cancelled since they wouldn't be doing anything anyway. I see the surgeon on Friday. I could have sworn that the surgeon said the splint would come out then, but I could be wrong. I hope I can post something soon without complaining. My poor tongue. :(

Post-op, Day 7

I can't believe I'm 7 days post-op. It feels like I blinked and 7 days went by. I guess it's because I've been taking the pain medication and sleeping so much. I stayed awake all day today and didn't take much pain killer. My face is hurting and tingling
like crazy. It really hurts underneath my nose. My chin and bottom lip are still really numb. I drank some broth today, a little bit of shake and some gatorade. This is probably the most of I have eaten since last week. I drank some jamba juice last night and my hubby is out bringing me another one now. My lips are still huge as is the rest of my face. I do have some yellow bruising showing up on my left cheek and neck. The inside of my mouth is hurting and it's hard to open it and talk so I have been writing most everything down on my white board. My nose seems to be numb also. I took a shower, washed and dried my hair was totally exhausted afterwards. I hope I get my splint out on Friday when I see the surgeon. It's very uncomfortable. I've tried to clean my mouth out but it's really hard to get in there. I'm feeling nauseous even though I haven't had any antibiotics today. The swelling is driving me nuts. That's about it...

Post-op, Day 6 : Today sucked too

I'm so uncomfortable. And tired. And hungry. And swollen. I finished the last of my antibiotics today. I hope that helps with the nausea. I woke up at 1:00 this morning with a lot of pain. I tried to get up to take my pain meds but I was too dizzy so stayed in bed. I finally got up around 4:00 and took some Tylenol with codeine and went back to bed. I slept most of the day. I've hardly eaten anything in 6 days which is probably contributing to my weakness, dizziness and nausea. I just had a little bit of banana smoothie, which totally made my mouth and throat itch. I must be allergic to bananas. I never eat them. Ugh. I'm frustrated. My swelling looks the same. It's hard to imagine that the swelling will ever go down. I'm starving. I can't imagine 5-6 more weeks of a liquid/blender diet. Ugh. Thank you for your comments ~ they are very encouraging. :)
Oh yeah, I don't have any bruising but my neck is really swollen. And it still hurts when I swallow.

Post Op, Day 5

I think yesterday and today have been the worst so far. I've been pretty nauseous all day and hoping I don't throw up. I need to keep up on my pain medication because once I stop, I'm in quite a bit of pain. I got myself to take a shower today and washed my hair. I felt a little better but I was exhausted afterwards. I also tried to clean my teeth with the baby toothbrush. It just seems impossible with this splint in my mouth. My ears keep popping. The swelling looks like it may have gone down a little bit from yesterday. My lips are huge. Oh and my chin and bottom lip are completely numb. It's getting tiring sleeping upright and I wake up with a back ache. I haven't had much of an appetite, but I know I will feel sick to my stomach if I don't eat. So I've been sipping some banana cream Ensure, which I am totally sick of and I just had some egg flower soup broth. I really want to get my pictures up because that is my favorite part of other people's blogs, but I just don't have the energy right now. Some of my back teeth hurt, especially when I breathe in. I think that reading tons of blogs of people who have already gone through this has been extremely helpful. I knew exactly what to expect so nothing is freaking me out. I hope you all are well. :)

Post-op, Day 4

This has not been a good day. I woke up around 4:00 this morning with a stuffy nose and have been so uncomfortable all day. The swelling is crazy. I'm starting to wonder when it will go down because there's no sign of it going down right now. I have a big fat face and a big fat neck and it's not pretty. Oh my face is hot and red also ~ is that normal?
I'm also starting to feel nauseous. I am taking antibiotics 4 times a day until Monday. I have been taking pain meds as well because of the throbbing, tight feeling in my face. I've been applying ice consistently (which does not seem to help with the swelling but feels good) I've been sleeping a lot and not "eating" much. I got a little bit of egg flower soup broth down today. It was so rich though I was scared I was going to throw up. Thank God I have my mom here to take care of my kids. She's a huge help. And my hubby has been awesome too. I think he's a little stressed out seeing me like this. He keeps telling me that the swelling "isn't bad at all." Obviously he's lying to make me feel better because it is bad. I should get up a walk around a little bit. I get so tired doing the smallest things. It's hard to believe this is day 4. I can't wait until the swelling starts going down. I do not like this fat face look. :)

Post-Op, Day 3

So I slept pretty good last night. I think I woke up twice to change the ice packs on my face. I slept most of the day today ~ in between taking my antibiotics, pain meds and changing my ice packs. The swelling is really bad. The pain is moderate. I'm uncomfortable, but it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I'm trying to get some Ensure down every few hours. I don't have much of an appetite though. It's hard to swallow because the roof of my mouth is sore and my throat is sore from the breathing tube. I'm able to drink from a cup so that's good. I do have some numb areas but not as much as I thought I would have. My son Connor is so cute ~ he likes to come in and check on me and change the ice packs when they get warm. I think I'm going to go back to sleep now. :)

Surgery Day and Post-Op, Day 2

Well, I made it through surgery. I don't really feel like writing my blog yet, but I also don't want to forget. I got to the hospital around 7:30 yesterday morning. My surgery was booked for 10:30. I guess it was around 9:00 that they took me into the pre-op waiting area where I changed into my gown, little cap, and socks. The nurse gave me an IV and started me on a lactated ringers solution. They then took a sample of blood to screen my blood type (even though they did this when I donated my blood 2 weeks ago) I think they finally came and got me for surgery around 12:00. The CRNA gave me some Versed to relax me and it all went pretty quickly from there. I was out and awake before I knew it. They kept me in recovery for 3 hours. I was fine when I woke up ~ no feelings of choking or not being able to breathe. In fact, my nose has been super clear, which has been great. They finally got me to my room around 8:00 where my family came to visit and took some pictures of me. (I will post those when I am feeling stronger)
I had a really nice private room at the new Kaiser hospital. It was awesome not to have anyone else in there with me. My nurse
was really great too. She gave me my morphine every 3 hours and brought me new ice packs. I think I slept pretty good, waking up every 3 hours or so. I had to go to the bathroom a lot because of the IV. I chose to use the bedpan because I felt pretty dizzy. I don't have much numbness and no throwing up so far, so that's good.
I did have a couple of small nosebleeds, nothing major. I got to leave the hospital at around 12:00 today. Dr. Relle said everything went great. I am (in my opinion) really swollen and my lips are huge. I have some bruising on my cheeks. He said the swelling and bruising will continue to get worse over the next couple of days. I've been keeping ice on at all times. He gave me Tylenol with Codeine for the pain. I wish it were something stronger just to help me sleep better. :) My face feels really tight and has a dull ache. Nothing unbearable.
I can't really tell yet about my appearance. To me I just look the same with some major swelling. My husband and my mom are here taking good care of me. Thank goodness. I'm very uncomfortable so I really just want to sleep. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. And beware ~ they aren't pretty. :)

Today is the Day

Wow, I can't believe today is the day. It doesn't seem real. I don't feel nervous. Maybe I've resigned myself to everything. I just want to get it over with. They want me to check into the hospital at 7:30 and my surgery is scheduled for 10:30. The doctor prescribed me an antiemetic transdermal patch to put behind my ear. It's supposed to help with nausea for 72 hours. I hope it works. I'll be back home tomorrow and will try to update as soon as I can. Thank you all for your well wishes! It means a lot.