Hi guys! My apologies for the delay in response, recovery
and all that stuff really hit home with me again LOL.
It all went well, in fact the Dr. came out and did a clench
to my parents and my girlfriend basically saying the bite is PERFECT. So yay to
that!
The hospital this time around was much more relaxing. I'm
not knocking on the other one at all but this one was much more up-beat with
large windows, lighter colours, more open spaces, and technology that allowed
my parents and GF to follow where I was throughout the hospital on a big screen
(I.E Pre-Op Admission, OR, Recovery, Ward #). So that was great piece of mind
for them to know things were actually moving.
Like last time, I DID wake up from anesthetic before I was
supposed to. They call it "emergence" (sp?) and since it happened the
last time around this time they were prepared they said haha (they strapped my
arms down to the bed). Everyone was really nice, pre-op nurses, nurses in the
OR, etc. They even played the radio for me while I waited for the Dr. to come
in.
Recovery was a bit rough, I threw up a bit of blood and I
had a mini panic attack as I forgot that my mouth was closed with elastics and
that I literally couldn`t feel anything below my top lip LOL. After a little
bit of that I was pretty calm, fading in and out of sleepiness as the
anesthetic wore off. The nurses really nice in there too, saying all positive
things and helping me get back to reality.
A different approach in this hospital vs. the last hospital
was the way they managed oxygen flow and blood; I don't know if it because the
last surgery only had my top jaw and this one had two but for this one they had
a contraption going into my nose. In my right nostril, I had a tube feeding
oxygen to me, and in my left nostril, it seemed the tube was sucking out any
blood that was lingering around inside of me that generally would have went
into my stomach for me to throw up. The blood tube though seemed to actually be
working in reverse and putting blood BACK into me, thankfully the nurse finally
realized my panics weren't crying wolf and noticed the flow herself. She
changed the pressure of the device, the tube, and put the container down to the
floor (I suppose it works with gravity).
The next morning the nurse shift changed happened and the
nurse on shift decided I didn't need to tubes any more as my oxygen readings
were 97% in my blood and any drainage was very minimal. The oxygen tube was no
more than 1.5CM/.6in long, no biggie... but the drainage tube, be prepared! It
seemed like it was 13/14CM or 5 to 5.5in! I was told it goes down into the
throat and thus needed to be that long to catch any drainage of blood.
That day in the hospital was pretty relaxing; I had some
visitors and the Dr. came by to check up on me. I have to say I couldn't feel
any better with the Dr. I've chosen, he really cares for his patients. He
noticed due to either the elastics and or my unintended jaw-clenching at night
I shifted the mid line a bit but he says it's no big deal and happens all the
time. On Wednesday (now today), I'll be going into his office to get the bands
adjusted.
I had some tape on the lower bottom part of my jaw up until
last night I believe until I couldn't take it any longer and took it off
myself. I called the Dr. before to make sure this was okay of course. The
reason why I wanted it off was because kept my bottom jaw really pushed in,
making a bit difficult for me to breathe, and added a big strain on my neck
(especially when sleeping!) Trying to lock your neck downward in let’s say a
10* angle and then add tension on your jaw when you want to look up wasn't fun,
and was the cocktail for massive neck pain and headaches even the prescribed
morphine couldn't deal with for that long.
Showering on the 4th day was GREAT. It felt SOOO good. I
definitely recommend you shower as soon as you can; it makes you feel in an
overall better mood.
I haven't eating anything solid since last Thursday and
surprisingly my appetite isn't coming back any time soon, which is good in a
way, because my dad's is always there haha! He made a yummy smelling sandwich
that I sort of shrugged off like nothing. I like that; I hope I can keep that
up. I entered into the surgery weighing 214.5 on the 17th and I am now 199.8 on
the 22nd. Pro tip for anyone who wants to lose weight fast, get jaw surgery! In
regards to what I can eat, well not much - I will find out more today when I
get back from the Dr.s' but as of the first day is was only clear liquids with
no bits of anything inside, which, essentially limited myself to these healthy
choices: Soda, Water (okay so that's healthy), broth galore, and see-thru
juices. Surprisingly, I'm still not hungry per-se, but I am getting heart-burn
here and there now, especially when I burp. After meeting with the Dr. today, I
believe I'll be approved for things like Boost and Ensure and only dairy like
things so I can coat my stomach with something more substantial and get back
some nutrition in my body. I have to say though; I love the head start on the losing
weight bit!
My swelling seemed to hang off in the distance until these
past few days where it came on pretty hard, which sort of makes sense as most
say swelling maxes around 72 hours. No black eyes yet like the last one haha,
but you never know!
Numbness is there like no tomorrow all along the bottom of
my face, but last night for like three seconds I felt a tiny tickle under my
lip so that's exciting! As far as I remember, it will take almost a month to
get most of it back, and up to a year to see if it all will come back. :D
I hope this was a good update, I'll be adding more as time
and experiences go on! Probably as soon as this evening after the Dr's visit.
