The Good- It's over. I survived. I'm now on the road to recovery.
The Bad- Asking for nose spray and not getting until 5 hours later. Nurses who no nothing about jaw surgery recovery.
The Ugly- Waking up was horrible. Not going to lie. I couldn't breathe, my throat hurt and I was extremely nauseated. It also took me several hours to truly wake up. Once I did I felt pretty good. That's when we took some pictures. No real jaw pain, just stuffy and throat dry and sore.
Tools used: Dry erase board, syringe.
Post Op Day 1
The Good- No more nausea. And I actually made a lap in the critical care unit. After a failed attempt and some tears earlier today, it felt good!
The Bad- Did I mention nurses that don't know about jaw surgery. They are very nice though and are trying their best. The x-ray techs are vicious. They kept trying to push my face into the x-ray machine and even though I can only mumble they got the idea of how pissed I was and backed off.
The Ugly- It's all in the pictures. The swelling, swelling and more swelling. And check out my fish lips! I am having trouble swallowing. I actually tried to take some Ensure but because my throat is swollen from the tube, it kept getting caught which made me not be able to breathe.
Tools used: Hand held mirror to help me guide the syringe, towel to mop up the drool, suction for the blood I was coughing up in the early morning, dry erase board, q-tips with hydrogen peroxide to clean out nostrils.
I just checked out the blog. I'm glad to hear that you're able to let others know how you feel without the ability to speak. That's going to be important. Hmmm, I don't think you should ever get "collagen lips" - your natural lips are much prettier! Is swallowing getting any easier? I hope that you don't go home until you feel comfortable with that. Have you been able to nap during the day? Now the important question - are the movies at the hospital any good? Hope you sleep well tonight - love, Kathy
ReplyDeleteI just logged into the facebook orthognathic group for the first time and found your blog. It is late here but I wanted to say hello. I will be having upper and lower jaw surgery on February 18, 2011. I look forward to reading your future posts and appreciate that you are doing so! I'm a 33 year old mother of two children and it is so nice to find another mommy having this surgery in my age range! Sending healing vibes your way and wishing you peaceful rest and recovery. Go Mama go!
ReplyDeleteMichelle Portteus
Thanks Michelle! Good luck to you. Keep me posted. One thing I did with my 4 and 1/2 year old was show her a few non graphic pics of people about 2 weeks out so she could see what Mommy might look like. And then I showed her the same person when the swelling was gone to show it's not forever. We just say Mommy will look funny for a little while and try to approach it with humor. My kids are still with their grandparents so we will see if it helps.
ReplyDeleteJames (aka Grandma Kathy)- I got a lot of comments from the nurses about my lips. I think the nurses were jealous. =)No good movies but luckily it's football season so Brian and I watched together.