Day 19

Sorry, for disappearing, but I am back! All of the purple on my face is gone, as is a good amount of swelling. I still have a fair amount around my cheekbones, but my lower jaw is mostly swelling free. I still have green bruising on my face and chest. The bruising on my chest is really painful! I'm surprised it is so sensitive. My stitches are also starting to dissolve, so that's great! I realized that during surgery my surgeon accidental chipped my front tooth, but it is really minor, so I probably won't get it fixed until I get back from Korea.

 In the last few days my pain has really spiked. I'm not sure why, but I think it may be because I've started chewing more. I might try going back to the liquid diet and seeing if that helps. I called the surgeon office to ask about pain, and now I am taking 1000mg of Tylenol, 400mg Ibuprofin, and 15mg Oxycodone every 6 hours. It still doesnt seem to be doing much, and ive built up a tolerance to the oxy. Im thinking about asking if i should change the medication. We will see. I was able to eat a cut up burger and fries today, so that was delicious! I never thought McDonald's could taste that good. I also went to the coffee shop for a couple hours, and went on a short walk! My energy is almost back to normal.

I found out that I leave for Korea on August 27th, so that leaves about 2 more months for braces. I hope the orthodontist will take them off before I go to korea. I know it's not enough time, but 6 years in braces is long enough. I might just tell him I'm not coming back from korea. Decisions decisions.

Day 15

I am feeling so much better. The purple on my face is almost gone, although now most of my face/neck/chest is now green. Sadly, I still have no super strength. (Hulk SMASH) I am however back to being a panda, only instead of purple it's green.

I had enough energy to go to the movies today. I saw Independence Day: Resurgence, and it was actually really fun! I couldn't resist popcorn, so I just sucked on it until it was soft enough to swallow. Still delicious! I also only had to take pain meds twice today, so that's great too! I also made myself a pair of shorts, I have been in a sewing mood lately.

2 Weeks!

I had my first solid meal today. Eggs and cheese. It was so nice! Look at this cheesy goodness.

My jaw is a little sore from having to open it wide enough eat. I think tomorrow I might take it a little easier. My throat is all cleared up, and I have totally gotten rid of the syringes. Feeling is starting to come back into my chin, which is making it painful and itchy. The stitches on my cheeks are also really itchy. Well, at least they're healing.

 I was able to be up for a most of the day today, and I cut my oxy back to 5mg 2 times and 10MG before bed. I started at 15mg every 4 hours, so much better! I sewed a makeup bag for my mom today also, so my energy is coming back. Here are some photos. 

Day 13

Sorry for the missed days, I've been pretty busy. I had my 2 week post op appointment today, and that went well. The surgeon gave me the go ahead to start chewing soft food, so that is wonderful! He also said the swelling is about 90% gone in my lower jaw, although it is only about 60% gone in the top. The surgeon said that everything is healing well, and my bite is great. I posted my xray below so you can see the plates and screws.

The pain is doing well, although I am still taking oxy. I was able to go to the fabric store today, and it was nice to get out of the house. I am talking much better, and my airway has opened up a lot.

Day 10

I woke up this morning with my shirt drenched in blood. After a couple hours of trying to stop the bleeding I discovered that one of my stitches on my top gum line had come out. So now every hour I have to do a tea compress to help clot the blood. Fun times.

On a better note, today has actually been a really good day. I had enough energy to make my own breakfast and get my own pain medication. I also started knitting a hat today to pass the time. I still get tired very easily, but I am starting to feel much better.

The swelling went back up a bit because of the stitches, and for some reason my chin is very painful. I removed the chin bandage yesterday, and since then it is very sore. It is a different type of pain than my jaw though, more of a sharp, stabby pain.

I am still on a blendered diet, but I was able to eat some squares of chocolate. I just let them melt on my tongue. Heaven!

 I have my 2 week post op appointment on Thursday, so I am interested to see what they will do with my rubber bands. I currently only have 2, but my bite seems a bit off. I am also having trouble breathing through my nose, so I must remember to get that looked at. I am also going to ask about how long the liquid diet will last. I am going on vacation in a few weeks and I hope to be able to chew! It is probably too much to ask though. Below is a profile photo from today showing the difference. Before is on the right. You can see in the second picture the green bruising all the way across my chest, this is apparently normal after surgery?

Day 8

So today has been relatively uneventful, although I've gotten into a bit of a schedule now. I wake up around 7 in the morning in really bad pain, because the pain meds don't last overnight. I then take oxycodone, tylenol, paxil, and amoxicillin. After about 2 hours the oxy has me passed out, and in another 2 hours I repeat the process! So I am basically on a baby sleep schedule, hahaha.

The swelling hasn't changed much, although I can feel my lips a bit more now. My lips are both very swollen, so I can't close my mouth as of yet. This has led to some problems with a desert mouth! I can finally drink water from a bottle, but I have a tendency to choke and dribble everywhere. I feel like I've reverted back to infancy. My nose is also still swollen shut, so I'm having trouble breathing.
 The biggest annoyance right now, besides not eating, is this oily feeling on my face. Imagine covering your face in really thick peanut butter, and not being able to wipe it off. This feeling is maddening. I'm not sure if it's the nerves or what, but I am going crazy.

1 Week!

I am officially 1 week post op! It's amazing how quickly the time goes when you sleep all day long.
 The swelling is starting to go down some, but around my nose and upper lip is still VERY swollen. That spot is also my only really numb spot, although I discovered my upper palate is also numb. I am still in a good amount of pain, but as long as I take my meds every 4 hours it is bearable.
 The hardest part has been sleeping on my back and propped up, my back is so sore! I've never wanted to crack my back more than now, but that would hurt my face way too much.
 I am down to 99 lbs, but it seems to be leveling out, which is good. So far I've only lost about 5 pounds, but being 5'9 I didn't have any extra weight to lose.
  Another thing that is hard to deal with is the mucus feeling in my throat. No matter what I drink it won't go away, and because my sinuses are blocked I have to wheeze through my open teeth. I feel like a gorilla. On the plus side, my brother stayed home to help me today, and I really appreciate all that everyone has done for me on this journey. Except for you, cat who keeps stealing my syringes. No one likes you.

Here are some 1 week photos! On the top is my gnarly 2 day photo, and on the bottom is a photo from today.

 This looks like a PSA warning. o_0

You can see how much the swelling has gone down, although I can't wait for the bruising to go away! The surgeon scratched under my eye somehow, so I also have scabs under my eyes. Because of the bandages my face is also getting all gross and oily. 

Hopefully everything will clear up soon, I'm glad I seem to have gotten through the hardest part! I still can't close my lips, so dry mouth is really sucking right now.

Day 6

I was finally released from the hospital today! The swelling has gone down some, but it is still pretty painful and uncomfortable.  I hope this pain doesn't last too long. I also now have bruises all the way down my chest, like someone dipped my head and shoulders in mustard. It is nice to be home, but also tiring. In the photo you can see the bruising. My face is yellow too, but it doesn't stand out as much in the photo. I am still eating all liquid, and I have found it is really hard to get aftertaste out of your mouth! I think the hardest part is eating so much creamy stuff, it's just gotten gross. I am trying to drink more broths now, hopefully that will help.

This Hospital Sucks!

After being transferred fro ICU I have no meds. My alarm went off for 15 miutes, with staff just walking by no problem. No food,  pain meds, no one knows what they are doing. Something needs to change for this very unhappy patient. After being in ICU for 5 days, you'd think they might worry about the shrill alarm going off for 15 minutes straight. And yes, I pushed my call light twice, no nurse. Sorry for griping,  sometimes it is just necessary. I was also told I would be brought pain meds almost an hour ago, still nothing. I would definitely not recommend the "Jaw Ward", at Saint Mary's Campus. It might be quiet, perhaps because everyone is dead.

Edit, things have turned around a lot after the neglect was brought to the attention of the nurses. I took a nice walk today, and my surgeon let me know he is going to change my bands at 6am tomorrow. He is leaving early, so I have to meet him before he lives. My surgeon also let me know how bad the swelling was, and he is still confused. Haha, but at least it seems to be receding a bit. I am also doing a pretty good job drinking, I just wish I could brush my teeth! It is very stormy outisde, so my time clock is all messed up. I have no idea if it is morning or night. Hopefully I can sleep pretty well tonight w/o the icu machines beeping in the background. I am reading other people's blogs to try and figure out how they deal with swelling, but I haven't seen anything like mine. Interestingly enough, when I got my wisdom teeth out there was no bruising and barely any swelling! Same surgeon, so who knows... I should be discharged tomorrow, so long as swelling is okay. My eyes are also half full of blood, but that is slowly getting better. I hope I can go home and start healing faster! I also can't breathe out of my nose, which is not helping my dry lips.

Day 5

I woke up today round 3:30am, and have been dozing on and off since then. By dozing I mean completely passing out. I don't think pain meds are helping me stay awake. I am now on tylenol, paxil, oxy, and just stopped hydroxyzine. I am still in icu, but I will be moved to a room on jaw specialty floor later today. Sorry again if this post makes no sense, I am having trouble getting my eyes to focus. Because of the epic bruising these last 4 days were mostly a blur, and I'm just starting to wake up. I still have a major panda face, which is why I'm still in icu 5 days post op. The surgeon is not sure why there was so much bruising, because they only put tape on my eyes. I learned the moved my lower jaw forward 13mm, the upper to match, and my chin an extra .9mm. I am excited to see what I'll look like when this swelling is gone.

So far this 1 or 2 night stay is up to 5 nights,  so we will see how much longer I'll be here. I wish my lip swelling would go down so I could close them. 

Surgery! Day 1-4

I arrived in Rochester the night before surgery, June 10th, because I didn't know when my surgery would be until Midnight.  I waited in a room in the hospital for about 3.5 hours, before being wheeled back to the OR. They placed nitrous over my face, and then I was out!

The first I remember is waking up in the PICU. I had a nasogasttic tube, so I was having trouble breathing as well. My mom asked a question about my eyes, and it turns out I was bleeding from them! Due to the sinus pressure, there was no place for it to go. My surgeon said this is the first time he had ever seen it happen.

At around 3 o'clock in the morning, I was awoken with ICU bustle. Unfortunately it turned out a bot in the room next to me had passed away, and his mother was screaming for hours. Always great for a first night in hospital! After praying for his family, I realized because of the commotion my pain meds were skipped. I also have A TON of swelling and bruising, so I have yet tol eave the ICU. It's odd because this surgery is only supposed to be a night or two in the hospital. I am on my 4th night in ICU! Hopefully tomorrow my pain will be managed well enough to move to a regular room. The worst thing about icu is that you are woken up every hour for vitals.

I am starting to wake up more, and I am going over an hour without napping now! Because of the swelling, my rubber bands holding my mouth closed snappes. They replaced one, but they are waiting until the swelling is better before putting new ones in. Even without the bands, my jaw feels very stable. I am supposed to be trying to close my mouth right now, because it kind of just hangs open. I also have compression bands, and am taking liquid paxil, ibuprofin, acetominopen, oxicontin, and deproxid. I am also taking hydrocortisone for itchiness.

I am sorry if this post doesn't make much sense, I am still kind of out if it. Below you can see my horrible swelling before and after surgery. I am so grateful for my surgeon for keeping me calm, and checking on me when that boy passed. I have never witnessed it before, so it was frightenimg. I also had a panic attack when they put on a himidifier, and everyone is great with helping!

I look like Mr potato head, but the swelling appears to be going down slightly. I also can't really talk, and my nose is all stuffed. So I am also doing nose spray every hour, along with a pain pump. I also have a ice pack to help my bleeding eyes. There are movies for me to watch, but I've mostly just been sleeping. I'll keep you updated on how things went!