Day 2 post-op

Now we're up to the present. I've been taking it easy, dozing in between medication alarms. I haven't felt hungry yet, but I've drank two chocolate protein drinks. Yesterday early morning was my last dose of medication stronger than ibuprofen, so this morning I was able to nurse my son which felt like such a relief.

My eye is doing marginally better, and I expect tomorrow it shouldn't bother me hardly at all.

Here's a list of medications/remedies I'm currently taking:

--antibiotic eye drops

--general antibiotic

--liquid ibuprofen

--liquid tylenol

--petroleum for my lips

--nasal spray

--eye ointment

Later on I also plan to add in my fish oil and my liquid vitamins.

I have these available but have not used them:

--hydrocodone

--liquid sudafed

--liquid anti-constipation stuff

Day 1 post-op

Sleeping overnight after the surgery wasn't too bad. Of course I got woken up every few hours to have my vital signs checked, but I got back to sleep quickly each time. I was a bit annoyed because my roommate had her television on all night which did not help for restfulness. Since it wasn't a private room, neither of our husbands could stay overnight--they both slept out in their respective vehicles. Because of this I did not get help pumping or eating until I saw my husband again at noon. I wasn't hungry, but my breasts were beginning to feel uncomfortable from the unused milk.

I had a trip to the oral surgeon's office for x-rays and a mini exam. They said everything looks great and that my teeth are going together well. During this whole morning I mostly kept my eyes closed because of my corneal abrasion.

After the OS, I was sent to see an opthomologist who agreed that it was a corneal abrasion and measured it and gave me information and medication for it. I hadn't brought my glasses with me, so he (the resident) was a little worried about how bad my vision was. They couldn't get it up high enough with a little hand-held device to say for sure that my eyes weren't really screwed up. I told him I remembered my contacts prescription, though, which allowed him to use his machine to show that I can see normally with the right lenses. During this time he also put in some numbing drops which felt heavenly. But you can only use those once because after that it starts to do its own damage.

After the opthomologist, I was wheeled into their waiting room and supposed to wait for someone to take me back to my room. I don't know how much time passed, but it seemed like way too long so I went to the desk to ask about it. They called again for some help, and finally I was on my way again. Back on my floor, they were trying to determine what room I was in. Someone said, "Michael?" which I thought referred to my husband being there, so I nodded. Instead, they thought that was my name (I guess a swollen face really makes you look less feminine), and they put me in Michael's room. I drank a little of his water before they figured out the mistake and got me to the right room.

After that I had some education on feeding myself, and got some discharge papers, and we were on our way!

Getting home was really nice, especially being able to hug my children. I let everyone gawk at me for a while, then got to take a long nice nap, and rest the rest of the evening. My dear husband set up a series of alarms that would tell me when to take my various medications and the like.

Day of surgery

My surgery was scheduled for 11:30 on the 26th of October. The day before the surgeon had called and let me know that he would probably only have to operate on the top jaw (though he reserved the right to do the bottom if necessary).

An 11:30 surgery meant a 9:30 check-in time. I had my own little private waiting room, where I was given disposable cloths with antibacterial stuff on them. I had to basically give myself a sponge bath with them, then air dry until I could put on the hospital gown.

A nurse came in to start an IV, but my vein 'rolled' on her the first try and my body did a protective thing where I started feeling faint, sound was echoey, and I felt hot. She decided to let the anestheologist put the IV in in the operating room. From my waiting room I was escorted to a bed (Mike and I parted ways at this point), and wheeled through some halls to my operating room. I scootched from my transport bed to my operative bed. I asked the anestheseologist some questions (such as why you needed leg pump circulation things during the surgery and not when you're sleeping--apparently your blood is more likely to coagulate during surgery). She then put a mask over my face and told me to breathe deeply. This was not comfortable because it felt like I could not get enough air in, but I was out so fast that it didn't bother me for long.

Next thing I knew I was being wheeled through more hallways and being told that the surgery went fine. Right away it felt like there was something in my eye and I was trying to rub it to get it out. I spent some time in the recovery ward, but don't remember much from there except nice nurses checking on me periodically.

After that I got wheeled into my room and was reunited with my husband, Mike. At first he thought the tears streaming down my face was from pain, but it was really due to the eye thing. Even now, the worst part of it all has been the eye. It turned out to be a corneal abrasion about 3x5 mm. Most of the rest of the day was spent complaining about my eye and learning to drink water with my mouth messed up.

When I drink liquids I feel a bit like a lizard. I get the liquid into my mouth, then do a large gulp to get it down my throat.

Pre-op video

Pre-Op Appointment

Last Friday I had my pre-op appointment with the surgeon. The orthodontists had implied that the surgeon might still decide that my mouth wasn't ready for surgery, but the surgeon said it was definitely a go--it wasn't even a question for him. So the surgery is on! The only thing that could derail it now is if I were to get sick. The last day or two I started to feel a bit iffy, so I slept extra and took loads of vitamins and today I'm feeling better. C'mon body, just a few more days!

At the appointment we did a number of things:

• took two molds of the upper and lower jaws
• did measurements with the face bow
• took x-rays from all sides
• took pictures from all sides (including one where I put a stick in my mouth, in case my jaw was slanted)
• got a prescription for steroids to take the night before
• answered all my questions
• got blood drawn (hematocrit and hemoglobin)

The surgeon doesn't think any of the alternative medicines for pain would really work. He also says most people get by with ibuprofen and Tylenol. So my current plan is to do what I can to not take any stronger medications after I'm home. He says it's a pump-n-dump situation for 24 hours after taking anything stronger. I'm not happy about this. We'll have to see how it goes.

They are not going to be doing huge changes to my jaws--maybe 5 mm at most in any one direction.

He says right from the start I'm going to be on a 'no chew' diet, and this will last 4-6 weeks. He says there's no restriction on using a straw. I probably won't have to use a splint, either. So it sounds like if I'm able I'll be able to eat a wide variety of things rather quickly.

On Monday I went to get my surgical hooks put in. My orthodontists have their main office in a town that's 25 miles away, and each week they come to my town as a satellite office. The disadvantages of this model became apparent as they discovered that they did not have enough surgical hooks to completely wire me up. Oops! So the end result is I'm going to stop by their main office after an unrelated appointment in the Big City (an hour away), and one of the orthodontists is going to come in special to put the surgical hooks on. I feel a bit bad about making her come in on an off day, but it's not my fault they were out of hooks!

A few more things bought

Last night I bought a baby toothbrush, and some prune juice. Just about everyone recommends the baby toothbrush for post-surgery cleaning, and many have mentioned constipation due to the pain medications. Well now I'm prepared on both fronts!

In the next day or two I'm going to try napping in one of our recliners to see if I need a neck pillow, and which one I'm going to use during my recovery.

Waking up is hard to do

In honor of my impending surgery, my father-in-law forwarded me this video made by five Minnesotan anesthesologists.

Via http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2009/11/waking-up-is-hard-to-do.html