29 days - 4 weeks - on month!

I made it!

*I've written a recap of my surgery as I remember it with pictures - March 31st blog post. Check it out and the pictures.
*I received the bill sent to my insurance. It didn't include my surgeon's fees, but still came in around $27,000. Oh my gosh. Wow. I'll have to scan and post it, because it is pretty interesting.
*There is still a lot of stitches left in my mouth. When are these going to dissolve/fall out/disappear?
*My swelling is very good. However, I still notice some puffiness in my cheeks and lips.
*My lips and chin are completely numb. My nose is still 50% numb, but I have seen improvement.
* I'm doing a little soft chew now and it is great!! I dipped some gluten free bread in hot soup (delish!), a ripe banana with peanut butter(Hmmm), and and some whitefish (yum).
*The drooling is still pretty awful. And frequent.
I've attached some pictures, but please remember that I have no makeup on, and my hair isn't done. They aren't the most flattering. Tomorrow I am going to put on makeup!! Can you see the bruising and remnants of my black eyes? My nose is still a little crooked which is normal. I like the way it looks from the side, the front I am still getting used to.

Day 27 Happy Easter

I can't believe it is going on a month since my surgery. I'm doing much better overall, but still pretty tired due to low hemoglobin and low iron. SOme days I don't do much at all, as healing takes my entire allotment of energy for the day. Since it was the Easter weekend, my husband was off Good Friday and my daughter's school was closed. I needed to desperately get out so my husband took me out to lunch. We went to a new Mexican place in town. Now, my bands are quite loose, so I can open around one finger and I received the clearance to try soft foods. This is easier than it sounds. It is sooo tiring and time consuming trying to ingest anything but liquids.

Anyway, I was reading the menu and feeling so sorry for myself. Paul ordered for me (people can't really understand me- blame that splint!) refried beans, rice, cheese, and guacamole. Wow, was it good! It was the first meal I hadn't drank since my surgery. I had a small plastic toddler spoon in my bag that works much better than a large utensil and shoveled it in. It was just what I needed. When I was done however, there was food all over the table, my face, my "scarf" aka "towel bib" and my pants. There was an embarassment factor, but my sweet husband thought I did great! It was super difficult not eating any of the tortilla chips though :(

Here is a picture of me smiling. Like my "scarf"? It is a large cloth restaurant napkin I acquired somewhere.

In negative news, I think I am getting another sinus infection. I've been snuffing thick bunches of mucus out the back of my nose and spitting into Kleenex. I can't blow my nose still. That is the worst!!!!!! Fingers crossed that it is just minor allergies or something.

3 weeks

Oh how I've longed for this day! I'm still hanging in there.

SLEEP - The last two nights I did sleep; Monday night - all night!! Last night I fell asleep at 9:00 pm and woke up at 12:00 am until 1:15 am when I took pain meds and had a snack. I then slept until 7:30 when a child played an electronic Barbie Laptop in the kitchen. Thanks sweetie!

ORTHODONTIST - Yesterday, I went to the Orthodontist. All the staff there is so kind; they treat me like a celebrity. The Ortho took a quick look and thought I looked great! He even gave me a hug. I don't have to go back until I get the splint out; and then the work begins. Hopefully that means the splint is coming out right on schedule at six weeks. Please?

EATING - I've been practice eating some more. Yesterday it took me 20 minutes to eat a third of a banana. Yesterday my neighbor bought me some gluten free raisin bread that is really crumbly (gluten free baked goods can be quite crumbly in general) and I've been trying to ingest little morsels of that which I've enjoyed. Last night Paul brought me Indian food like palak paneer (spinach w/paneer cheese cubes) that didn't even need blending and lentils. I found it to be a touch spicy for my taste, even after blending with some greek yogurt and cottage cheese. But it was nice to have something different.


PAIN/NUMBNESS - nose, lips, chin, cheeks completely numb. I had some ear pain last night in the middle of the night. Usually my chin starts aching and feeling cold in the evenings.

Trying to decide what to do for Easter. Weather is supposed to be crummy. Not up to a lot of travel. Can't go out to eat. Sigh.

Day 20

Well I spent a lot of this weekend feeling very tired. My mom came down to visit/help and I spent a lot of time talking, and did some running around. Which made me very, very tired. I didn't get naps or quiet time either. Last night I slept pretty poorly (the windchimes out clanging all night on the deck right outside the living room where I sleep in the recliner didn't help much). I need to remember to go remove the windchimes before I bunk down for the night. It's really a pain being in the recliner still. Saturday am I did a little test and tried laying down for a bit. It really made my neck and face and chin quite uncomfortable. It's difficult if we have guests because no one can be in the kitchen or living room where the recliner is since the light and noise keeps me awake. Frankly folks, I need my rest and I'm not getting great rest. I wish I could nap during the day, but that only seems to happen if I take some pain meds. I try not to take them during the day even I need them, because I don't want to be drugged up and feel crummy. Those meds make me feel like I have a hangover. I'm taking Ibuprofen every 6 hours or so half a dose of the Lortab before bed. I usually have chin and lip and sinus and ear pain by then. My chin, lips, cheeks, and nose are still almost completely numb. My swelling has gone down a lot on the outside, but I am still very swollen. By comparison it just looks like a lot less.

The drooling is becoming a little better. It is worse if I bend over. Talking is still a big chore. I tried some soft food to chew like cheese and banana. Wow, was it a chore. It is almost like my jaws forgot how to chew. I think I need to practice chwing. That sounds funny, doesn't it?

I am stilla huge mess when I "eat". I was sitting at the kitchen table with my mom, Paul, and V and drinking soup. Since my face is numb, this is what I looked like. Paul thought it was cute and picked up my phone and took a picture.

Do you see the black kitchen towel for drool and food around my neck? I also have my glasses off because they hurt my nose and sinuses.

Day 18

Today I don't have a lot of energy. Not sure why. I sat a lot of the day. I get up and do something, and then I rest for a while.

My chin has really been paining me lately. It feels numb and cold and tingly. My lips are still completely numb and quite swollen and my upper lip is really sore. There are still a lot of stitches under my upper lip (they did the majority of my upper jaw cutting there) and I have to keep wax on the brackets to keep my lips from bleeding. There is also an irritating stitch there.

My lower implant restoration mostly stopped hurting so that is a plus. My sinuses have improved slightly on the pain front.

Random stuff related to my surgery

* I finally tried the strawberry Myoplex drink today. Not too bad. Not too sweet, I don't like sweet tasting drinks.
* Tonight I had a bridal shower for a coworker and friend. Just not feeling up to snuff and I'm sad. She is so nice and I would love to celebrate with her.
* I'm a social cripple. I can't really drink in public, my talking is unintelligible to most, I drool, and I can't eat. What good am I?
* Still sleeping in the recliner. Getting really tired of it.
* I've certainly had enough of HGTV. It makes my house feel inadequate. Wish I could read, but my eyes still hurt because of that sinus pressure.
* I am stuck at 4 pounds lost since my surgery. I eat next to nothing! But apparently those smoothies are doing the trick to keep my weight steady. Hmmmph. I know the goal is not to lose weight and I am already a normal weight, but I did want to drop a little weight.
* It's difficult. Everyone asks how you are right after your surgery and now, everyone has forgotten about me. Seriously. I get texts from one friend (thanks Amy!), and visits from another (thanks Noreen!), and my neighbor stops by, but I'm lonely. I miss everyone.
* Since it is 58 degrees and currently not raining, I should go for a walk. But I'm tired today. Really tired.

Day 16 - two week check up

Today I DROVE MYSELF (my eyes hurt a lot during the drive) to Surgery Clinic 25 minutes away for my two week check up. I saw "my Resident" and he thought my swelling looked great. I saw my Surgeon and he thought I looked "outstanding". Everyone things my nose looks great! Apparently I did not receive a separate rhinoplasty, but they cut a small piece of cartilage under my nose during the surgery, which had the effect of pushing up my nose and changing the shape. My bite was slightly off to the left, but can be fixed with elastics, of which I received three new ones. We also took 2 week post surgery pictures. The sinus pain and light sensitivity I am experiencing is normal. I aksed when I could blow my nose and he said not for a while. I asked why, and he said that my sinsus cavities are full of stitches and I could blow them open with nose blowing. Okay, I'm convinced!

My Resident thought I should be off for another two weeks full time and then go back part time for two weeks. I tend to agree with that. But we will reevaluate that in two weeks when I return.


The good news is that I am allowed to chew soft things now - like eggs, pancakes, mashed potatoes. However, I can't open very wide with the bands and can't put them on myself due to the swelling and smallness of my mouth. Thus, I won't be soft chewing much. I tried to bite down on a few tiny specks of egg today, but it was like my mouth had absolutely no memory on how to chew and I had to spit them out. I guess I'll keep trying.

It's great not to feel miserable 24/7 again. But I'm a far, far cry from back to normal. But so glad my checkup was okay!

Day 13 - what do I eat

Someone is always asking me, what can you "eat" these days? Can you drink through a straw? I wish I could, but my lips are still numb and it is too difficult. I'm only down 4 lbs since the surgery; I had lost 2 prior to that due to not being to chew well after receiving my lower implant denture and it being so high that my back molars didn't touch rendering me unable to chew much food.

Yesterday I ate:

9:30 am - two eggs blended with some milk and butter. Water. a sweet potato blended with protein powder and vanilla soy milk.
12:30 pm - two cups of blended homemade corn chowder my husband made for me. 1 cup fruit smoothie (frozen fruit, soy milk, protein powder, little greek yogurt)
2:45 - became very hungry. blended 1/2 c rotisserie chicken, no salt organic chicken broth, instant mashed potatoes, butter and drank it. Delish!
6:00 pm - 1/2 refried beans, little greek yogurt, guacamole blended. Another small smoothie.
10:00 pm - felt a bit nibbly. Drank half of a 210 calorie vanilla muscle milk drink.

It's an added challenge eating gluten free. I also eat a fairly high protein diet, so it's difficult to eat so many carbs.

If you have any good ideas, let me know!

Day 11- Day of Pain

I am still taking about 400 mg of Ibuprofen every six hours. The Lortab (narcotic) I take usually around 8:00 pm because my muscles and sinuses are singing a pain song by that time. If I take Lortab during the day, I usually have to sleep it off approximatly 2 hours after taking it. Then I feel yucky and hung over. How do people function on this stuff? I feel guilty whenever I take it, like I don't really need it and am getting addicted to this stuff.

It's no secret I've had pain behind my eyes and in the sinuses immediately below my cheeks. It's this terrible dull ache and quite intense. The rest of my face is still somewhat numb and I get zings and burning twinges of the nerves coming back. This can be uncomfortable. The sinus/cheek pain started yesterday afternoon (I had it a couple of days ago), and didn't stop much of the afternoon. By the time Paul brough V home I realized I should have taken the pain meds. I took them around 6:00 pm and they did not help. Around 9:00 I took more ibuprofen. I was crying and putting a heating pad and writhing around in the chair it was so awful. Then my chin started zinging and hurting. Finally, I must have fallen asleep.

This morning - Day 12, I woke up feeling a little dizzy (ugh oh) and a little nauseous. I pray and beg that this doesn't develop into something.

Day 10 - double digits

I guess it is no secret I wish to leave this experience far behind me. Yesterday I saw a little improvement, but boy you guys, is it slow. I took a shower. And I loaded the dishwasher. During which I became short of breath. I then convinced myself I had a pulmonary embolism. Sigh. I think my Hemoglobin is low actually. I was anemic going into surgery and I see my Hemoglobin was down to 9.5 post surgery. Plus I'm not eating enough. A typical day I will "drink" blended rice cereal with peanut butter & soy milk, blended mashed potatoes w/broth & margarine, 2 boxes of high protein drink, maybe some more soup and a smoothie. Maybe 700 calories a day. It takes so looonggg to get everything ready and then to prepare it and eat it. Paul brought me home some blended (yay, saves time) lentil soup from the middle eastern restaurant last night and I drank two large cups of it.

I miss my routine. I miss work and being able to play and be responsible for my daughter. My husband is traditionally at the office until between 730-930 each night, he's had to do daycare drop off plus pick up so he is home by 5:20 most evenings. I like it but I know is extremely difficult from a workload standpoint.



The verdicts:
Down 5 lbs in weight
still red pus sinus drainage, but becoming clearer. When will this end ????
nose is so sore and crusty from drainage and wiping
Still can't breathe via nose
still hurts to wear glasses
Still haven't driven anywhere
Swelling is waaaayyyy down.
Still drooling. Lips are still numb and swollen.
my lower jaw slides around in and out of the split frequently. I don't think it is supposed to be doing that.
Still on antibiotics
Not taking much pain meds. Lortab maybe before bed when all the muscles are tired. Ibuprofen regularly to help with swelling
Much of my face is still numb. The nerves pulse and burn and surge frequently and it is a little uncomfortable.

I'll post pictures later.

day 9

I don't feel like posting today because I felt actually fairly decent yesterday but then am having lots of sinus pain. Ugh. I just want to get back to normal!!! It hurts just to be on the computer. My sinus are full of cement. Vi was up coughing all night too. I'm in HELL I think sometimes.

The only positive point? My swelling is waaayyyy down.

Need a side view pic. Like the dishtowel around my neck to catch all the drool from my numb unable to close lips? The left eye swelling has turned into a black eye.

Day 6-7

I think there becomes a point in people's surgery where they "hit the wall" so to speak. The worst part has come, and things have hit rock bottom and will improve from this point. I really hoped I reached that part yesterday. Because it was awful. I don't want to get any worse than totally miserable. I'm a step up from miserable today.

I don't remember if I blogged about this yesterday, but I woke up with a lot of swelling around my eye. New swelling. There also was the foulest nastiest sulfur taste and smell in my mouth. Yesterday, my nasal fluid had become thin and clear. It was orange and brown and puss like and did I mention the taste in my mouth? It make me want to vomit it is like rotten eggs.



I called the resident on call and came in. He said my bite wasn't in the splint and added about four more bands. Gee, thanks. He also said my mouth was dirty with food (I am trying so hard, you try to clean your damn banded shut with no feeling drooly mouth). He wasn't sure if it was an infection or not (It is, and I am sure it is a sulfurous bacteria like Actinomyces). I was given Clindamycin to take 20 ml four times a day. I think I notice a small difference today.








If you are considering this procedure, please be informed about all the potential awfulness this may involve. I'm also pretty darn depressed. I am lucky I have so many people to care about me..

Day 5

I really haven't had too much pain lately. I take Motrin twice a day and the Hydrocodone maybe twice a day. Last night I got myself into trouble. P was at work my mom was giving V a bath and all these nerve spasms hit me all over my face plus throbbing ears. P got me the painkillers, water, and made me feel so much better with a smoothie. I think I let it go too long, because it didn't kick in as I had hoped.

There is still tons of sinus drainage and swelling. WHEN IS THE NOSE FAUCET GOING TO STOP?

I brushed the teeth I could reach with saltwater and tried to rinse, but when your mouth is splinted and banded and almost swollen shut, it wasn't too successful. My mouth and teeth feel GROSS!!!

Day 4

It is only Day 4? I thought it was later.
My nose is still terribly runny. It is an orange tinged mucus. WHEN IS IT GOING TO STOP? I'm still pretty numb, but my ears and under my chin ache. I drool constantly and between my leaky nose, numb lips, and drooling, I am going through lots of clothes and small towels as bibs. Lots of swelling. So much work to drink anything. The skin sluffed off my lips, painlessly. Some scabs left around my mouth. I'm using ice packs on and off, but they are destroyed from frequent use.

I don't' feel that hungry but have been drinking as much as I can. It is much easier with my throat not hurting, but still really difficult with numb lips. Nothing sounds that good. With increased caloric demands for healing, I should be around 2000 calories a day, I'm probably doing 400-600. I'm trying so hard! Usually have some blenderized soup, some protein drink, and then nothing after that sounds that good. Today my mom made me some blenderized rice cereal and I ate 4 synringes of that which was a LOT of effort, but still was only 100 calories of food.