2 weeks!!!

Monday was 2 weeks since my surgery, but I haven't found the time to update till now!

Not a whole lot has changed.  I'm still swollen in my upper lip and cheeks under my eyes.  I have been "eating" things like yogurt, pudding, and pastina (really tiny pasta), basically anything that I can take from a spoon and swallow without chewing.   That's why I'm using the term eating loosely here.  I feel like it's not eating if you're not chewing.  It really is a weird thing.  I can't fully taste or enjoy food. It's just sad, lol.  I really took the ability to chew for granted.  Now I know.

I'm going for my 3rd post op check up tomorrow am, so I may have more to report after that.

I've been feeling decent.  Not ready to run a marathon, but able to get out and about and function.  I keep trips to only a few hours because I'm not able to eat in public (easily or comfortably), so I just skip out between meals.

Here's how I look:

Here's a comparison of day 1 to 2 weeks: 

Definitely an improvement.  Here's a comparison of 1 week and 2 weeks post op:

Big improvement, even though I still am swollen and not looking like myself.  

Day 10 - 2nd post op visit

Yesterday was day 10 post op.  I'm still a little swollen and numb/tingly mostly on my left cheek/upper lip.  I'm seriously missing food as well. Protein shakes and soup are old news.

I went for my second post op visit.  Doc says things are healing nicely.  I told him I was concerned about the way I look (I don't look quite like myself and don't wanna look this way forever). He assured me it's from the swelling, and told me to give it at least 6-8 weeks before I freak out.

He gave me the "ok" to remove my rubber bands to talk, eat, brush, etc.  I just have to keep them on most of the time.  He said next week, I'll probably switch to having them off for 12 hours then on for 12.

Stitches are healing nicely and my X-rays look good.  They look wayyyy different than my before X-rays, so I'm very anxious to see how that translates to my face.

He told me to sip drinks from a regular cup and try to eat soup from a spoon.  He also told me to try yogurt, pudding, ice cream, etc.  my diet is basically sugar, carbs, and dairy :/. Good news is I can say so long to that stupid syringe and hello to spilling soup all over myself lol.

Here's a pic:

Day 6 Post Surgery - 6/7/15

I never did an update for day 5, but it aS mostly same old.

Today was a big day. I got up, showered, dressed, put on some make up!  I took the girls to the park for a little while.  

Later on we went to a family party to celebrate St. Anthony's feast day.  Nothing like a party with a bunch of delicious italian food and desserts that I can't eat 😩.  It was nice to get out of the house, but it was hard trying to communicate.  I don't look great, but I felt ok so I figured why not go.

I ended up bringing home a meatball and lots of extra sauce which I put in the vitamix and ate via oral syringe.  Almost as good as the real thing.

As far as meds, I've been taking only the antibiotic and some Tylenol and sudafed. I'm not in pain.  I do have a lot of sinus pressure/headaches, so I'm trying to just treat that.  My face is still swollen and yellow bruised.  The pins and needles tingly feeling is driving me nuts.  I have to lay a cloth or my hand on my face to make the feeling go away!  I'm mostly ready to just get back to normal, so I hope my swelling goes down a lot this week and the tingly feeling goes away.

Here's a photo from today:

Here's a photo of how I eat (if you can call it that):

Day 4 Post Surgery 6/5/15

Friday was day 4 post op.  I woke up feeling pretty good.  I went downstairs and tim made me some cream of wheat. I hung out with my 2 year old for an hour or so, then felt like I wanted to rest.  Still, I had no pain meds.  The swelling seemed like it has gone down, bruising is not too bad (just yellowish on my cheeks).

My appetite is definitely back.  I was so hungry, all I could think about is food.  I definitely want a cheeseburger and fries as my first meal in 6 weeks lol.  I'm making a list! Last week I wasn't in the mood for anything, but now that I'm starving, I want EVERYTHING! 

I spent a decent part of day 4 out of bed.  I was feeling pretty good.  The numbness is going away, so my face is very tingly.  It's kind of driving me crazy.  Swelling seems about the same.

According to my scale, I've lost about 8 pounds since Monday.  

Here's a photo from day 4:

My nose has been looking crooked and I hope that is because one side of my face is more swollen.  Also, I can close my lips!

Day 3 Post Surgery - 6/4/15

 On this day I woke around 8:30, and felt that I wanted to get out of bed.  I decided to take a bath because we have an amazing bath tub that I had never used.  Also, I was afraid to stand in the shower for fear of being dizzy/lightheaded.  So, I drew a bath and laid in there for a while. It felt really good. Once I was finished, I brushed my teeth (mouth was still rubber banded shut) so only the outside teeth, the best I could with a baby toothbrush.  That was my first time brushing after surgery. Until that point I was only using the prescription mouthwash.  I felt tired so I laid down in my towel and ended up falling back asleep for an hour or so.  

We had a doctor appointment with my surgeon at 12:15, so my mom offered to wash my sheets while I was gone.  So I got up, dressed (yoga pants and tshirt, if that counts), and actually went downstairs for the first time since I had been home.  I was feeling better than I had been, so I decided not to take any pain meds.  I'm not a fan of feeling loopy, so I really only wanted to take them is I absolutely had to.  

I was feeling super weak and lightheaded, but I'm pretty sure they was due to the lack of eating food lol.  Tim took me to the surgeon's office, and they took some different X-rays.  The nurse there showed me the new X-rays versus my old X-rays, and wow what a difference. 

Then the doc came in and showed me how to take off and put on my rubber bands.  He told me to brush and rinse 5 times a day.  He also told me to eat 5-6 times a day.  He encouraged ensure protein type drinks with lots of protein and calories, so we got some.

When we got home,  I was feeling tired so I went upstairs and laid down.  I slept for maybe an hour and then woke up STARVING!  I sent tim out to the grocery store to get me some soup, and he came home with 10 different varieties (good thing since I can't eat much else).  Heput the soup in the vitamix, and it was the perfect consistency to use the oral syringe.  It tasted SO good.  I've been having cream of wheat, puréed soup, and smoothies to eat.  I tried the ensure things, but they are pretty gross.  Plus I'm not a sweet eater, so smoothies and yogurt and cream of wheat are already boring to me.

I ended up taking another bath before bed because I felt like I had spilled so much food on myself that day.  I took only 1/2 a percoset before bed, and that was my only pain medication at all for day 3.

Here's a photo from day 3: 

Day 2 Post Op - 6/3/15

Day 2 was my first day waking at home.  I was pretty swollen.  I spent the majority of the day in bed.  Actually, besides walking a few steps to my bathroom to pee, I was in bed the entire day.  Not much to report.  I took my meds on schedule (including percoset every 6 hours).  I sipped water and maybe some juice.  My mom was here taking care of the kids, and she made mashed potatoes for dinner, so I ate puréed mashed potatoes with chicken broth so it was pretty liquid.  So far meds have all been crushed, mixed with water and taken via oral syringe.  All food/drinks have been via oral syringe or just me sipping from a cup.  I had to use a towel on my chest because otherwise it would be a total mess.  Eating was tiring and frustrating, but I didn't have much of an appetite, so I would have a few sips and give up.  

Here's a photo from day 2:

Day 1 Post Surgery - 6/2/2015

Day 1 Post Op started out in the hospital.  I didn't get a ton of sleep because I had to pee every hour and the nurses had to give me meds and check vitals.  I decided to "wake up" for the day around 7:30.  At 7:45 I rang my call bell to ask for pain meds, but the nurse just turned it off and ignored me. My nurse totally sucked, and I couldn't wait to leave.  Tim finally went and got her around 8 am, so I took 1 vicodin at that point.  I had to leave right after to get wheeled down to the oral surgery office in the hospital to get some X-rays done.  Nothing like sitting in a dentist office one day after surgery in a wheelchair while everyone stares at you. The doctors and assistant were nice, and luckily I was in and out in only about 30 minutes.  

I got back to my eoom and peed again, even though the nurse had actually DCed  my IV fluids at like 5 am.  I still had a lot of fluids in me I guess.  My breakfast tray was there with orange juice and cream of wheat.  They told me to stick with clear liquids since I vomited so much on surgery day, but I felt fine.  So, I had the OJ via a syringe, then a few small bites of cream of wheat via oral syringe.  It was nice to finally (sort of) eat something.

The doctor (resident) showed up shortly after and told me he send the X-rays to my surgeon.  He said they were waiting to hear back from him, but that once they got the "ok," I would be ok to leave.

We didn't hear anything for another two hours, so I was getting anxious.  Tim asked the front desk clerk and they must have called my surgeon because about 15 minutes later the nurse came in with my prescriptions and paperwork.  She took out my IVs (I had two but she didn't realize because they were near each other so she pretty much ripped the second one out and I bled. She sucked.

They wheeled me to the front door while Tim got the car, and we drove straight home.  He dropped me off, and I went up to bed while he went to the pharmacy.    I got home around 1:00.  He was back by 2:30ish? and he filled everything except they gave me Percocet instead of vicodin.  It's a little stronger so I was wanting vicodin, but at that point I was in pain so I didn't care.  I took one and it knocked me out.  I spent most of the rest of the day sleeping or just laying in bed.  I had some chicken broth and some water and juice I think.  

Here's a photo from day 1:

Here's tim trying to sleep in the hospital with me: