It's been 27 days?!? They're going by fast now!
I woke up this morning thinking about how I was one month ago today. In short - I was a wreck! The surgery was only three days away, I was scrambling around at work to finish stuff up, and I was nervous about what I was about to go through. Very nervous.
But, here I am a month later, a month later and feeling better and better each day. I'm pretty much eating everything now - even things that require a SMALL amount of chewing (i.e. last night I had a hamburger for the first time.....no bun obviously!.....the hamburger meat falls apart easily enough with some light chewing, so it was all good!). There is still a good amount of swelling inside the mouth, but I don't think the swelling is noticable any longer to an outsider. The numbness is still there - I've accepted the fact it will probably be like that for a few more months at least.
The one new thing I've noticed is a little discomfort in my left cheek when I bite into the splint. I'm going to ask about this the next time I go in for an appointment, but I'm speculating that I'm feeling this discomfort because I'm working some muscles in that cheek that simply have never been worked before! The left side of the jaw - as you know from my pre-op photos - has never been functional, and now all of a sudden it is theoretically perfectly functional.....so the muscles that control my bite are getting a workout they have never had before. Again, this is just me speculating! As long as it's nothing seriously WRONG with me, I'm sure it's fine whatever it is!
Nothing much else to report on. I do not see the surgeon again until next Wednesday. And the Wednesday after that is the day the splint is removed! Needless to say that I am looking forward to this!
I'm sorry about the pics. I will get these online very shortly.
Take care all,
Paul
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
Day 979 - 19 Days Post-Op
I am probably the worst patient to wear a splint! I'm eating EVERYTHING I can get my hands on as long as it's small enough to fit! Hahaha. Eating so many solids means that things are no doubt getting lodged in that splint, but right now, I don't care! I'm loving the food! In just the past three days, I've had spaghetti and meat sauce three times, several bowls of meatball soup, chili, pancakes, toast, scrambled eggs, chicken, french fries (made soggy with gravy!), etc. Holy. I may weigh MORE now than I did three weeks ago! Hahaha. I definitely bought too many Boost's and Ensure's!
So my tone should convey that I'm in good spirits, which is kind of strange considering I'm going back to the office tomorrow! Honestly, my work has been very understanding and supportive of this process. I have been working from home for the last week and a half, and never once did I hear a complaint or anything in regards to the time away from work I was taking.
I'm still swollen, but it's going down. Stitches are starting to fall out of my mouth...kinda gross, but whatever! I also shaved my goatee off. I hated that thing. It was a weird feeling to shave an area of your face that's completely numb, but I felt MUCH better after. Ugh, how did I once have a goatee for five years????
Now that the swelling is fairly minimal, I can really get a good look at the actual teeth. Wow. They line up! Left side and right side line up with each other! No gaps. However, I'm still concerned I have a crossbite. The surgical hooks between my two front and bottom teeth do line up perfectly, but I'm concerned that the hooks themselves are not QUITE in the middle of the teeth. In fact, I think the top hook is skewed a little to the left, while the bottom is skewed a little to the right, creating a crossbite. That would SUCK if this was the case, but at this point, I can't do anything about it. I'm going to ask Dr Holmes about it again this week.
I spent the weekend away from home this weekend and went to see my parents for Mother's Day. It will be the last Mother's Day before my wife becomes a Mother herself, so I figured it would be a good opportunity to see her. I also got to spend time with my brother and sister. My sister's off to university next year. Hard to believe. I feel it wasn't THAT long ago that I went off to school. But it has been 11 years. We're all getting older. It's starting to get scary.
Anyway, I promise to post the post-op pics in the next couple of days. Twenty-two days left with this splint!! Woohoo!
Take care,
Paul
So my tone should convey that I'm in good spirits, which is kind of strange considering I'm going back to the office tomorrow! Honestly, my work has been very understanding and supportive of this process. I have been working from home for the last week and a half, and never once did I hear a complaint or anything in regards to the time away from work I was taking.
I'm still swollen, but it's going down. Stitches are starting to fall out of my mouth...kinda gross, but whatever! I also shaved my goatee off. I hated that thing. It was a weird feeling to shave an area of your face that's completely numb, but I felt MUCH better after. Ugh, how did I once have a goatee for five years????
Now that the swelling is fairly minimal, I can really get a good look at the actual teeth. Wow. They line up! Left side and right side line up with each other! No gaps. However, I'm still concerned I have a crossbite. The surgical hooks between my two front and bottom teeth do line up perfectly, but I'm concerned that the hooks themselves are not QUITE in the middle of the teeth. In fact, I think the top hook is skewed a little to the left, while the bottom is skewed a little to the right, creating a crossbite. That would SUCK if this was the case, but at this point, I can't do anything about it. I'm going to ask Dr Holmes about it again this week.
I spent the weekend away from home this weekend and went to see my parents for Mother's Day. It will be the last Mother's Day before my wife becomes a Mother herself, so I figured it would be a good opportunity to see her. I also got to spend time with my brother and sister. My sister's off to university next year. Hard to believe. I feel it wasn't THAT long ago that I went off to school. But it has been 11 years. We're all getting older. It's starting to get scary.
Anyway, I promise to post the post-op pics in the next couple of days. Twenty-two days left with this splint!! Woohoo!
Take care,
Paul
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Day 973 - 13 Days Post-Op
So today marks the second post-op appointment with the surgeon. I have no reason to think things will go bad – I can tell I’m healing up day by day. Things are still more uncomfortable than comfortable, but there have been a few breakthroughs in the last few days. First, I’m off the morphine. I decided I didn’t really need it anymore. Instead, I’m just taking Advil when needed. Advil’s a good drug to have because it acts as an anti-inflammatory in addition to a painkiller, so be sure to have Advil if this is a surgery you’re going through! Second, I’m eating FOOD again. Okay, not all foods. Not even close to all foods. But I’m managing to eat soft foods such as pasta. As long as the pieces are small enough for me to swallow them whole, then that’s good enough for me! Most of the time, a small piece of pasta may get lodged in the splint, which is kind of annoying, but I have so far been successful at flushing out the splint after eating.
Cleaning my teeth is getting easier and easier. It generally takes up to 10 minutes to do, and every time I eat, I have to do it, so it takes a good portion of my day, but the food is worth it! I use a baby toothbrush with toothpaste, and then again with baking soda. I use the baking soda because a side-effect of the medicated mouthwash is stained teeth. My teeth are definitely not as clean as I normally would keep them – I use an electric toothbrush usually – but I’d say I’m doing a pretty good job so far.
Reintroducing food into my diet also means that the weight loss is probably going to stagnate for a while. Right now, I am at 12 pounds lost – which isn’t nearly as high as I thought it would be (good thing!). Still, those 12 pounds make me the lightest I’ve been since my third year of university (that was a bad year for me!). In the three years since having the SARPE, I am down nearly 45 pounds.
My pain has been managed pretty well. Like I mentioned, I am off the morphine, but continue with the Advil as needed. I will probably take a couple of them before leaving for the hospital for today’s appointment (I am on my own for today!). My left cheek, chin, upper jaw, and area of my nose between the two nostrils are the numb areas on my face. The left side of my face is still pretty swollen, but I think it’s going down every day. Overall, I think the recovery is going very well. So well in fact that I decided I was well enough to start working again. Luckily, my work affords me the ability to work from home – so I have been doing just that since this past Thursday. My plan is to continue to work from home this week, and then return to the office on Monday. Also, I did some socializing this past weekend. A friend of mine who I used to work with stopped by on Friday. She brought some soup with her, and I managed to talk for a few hours without being in too much pain. The day after, we went up to see my wife’s family (who I had already seen the week before, but still) for lunch. And finally, I capped off the night by seeing another friend of mine to watch the Mayweather/Cotto fight. While it is important to allow yourself adequate time to recover, I think it is important to try to get back to your normal daily activities as soon as you are able to, or at least some subset of those daily activities. I think it can help speed along the recovery process.
Anyway, again, I’m sure everything will go fine today, but I’ll be certain to update the blog again after today’s appointment! Four more weeks with this damn splint!!!
Take care,
Paul
Cleaning my teeth is getting easier and easier. It generally takes up to 10 minutes to do, and every time I eat, I have to do it, so it takes a good portion of my day, but the food is worth it! I use a baby toothbrush with toothpaste, and then again with baking soda. I use the baking soda because a side-effect of the medicated mouthwash is stained teeth. My teeth are definitely not as clean as I normally would keep them – I use an electric toothbrush usually – but I’d say I’m doing a pretty good job so far.
Reintroducing food into my diet also means that the weight loss is probably going to stagnate for a while. Right now, I am at 12 pounds lost – which isn’t nearly as high as I thought it would be (good thing!). Still, those 12 pounds make me the lightest I’ve been since my third year of university (that was a bad year for me!). In the three years since having the SARPE, I am down nearly 45 pounds.
My pain has been managed pretty well. Like I mentioned, I am off the morphine, but continue with the Advil as needed. I will probably take a couple of them before leaving for the hospital for today’s appointment (I am on my own for today!). My left cheek, chin, upper jaw, and area of my nose between the two nostrils are the numb areas on my face. The left side of my face is still pretty swollen, but I think it’s going down every day. Overall, I think the recovery is going very well. So well in fact that I decided I was well enough to start working again. Luckily, my work affords me the ability to work from home – so I have been doing just that since this past Thursday. My plan is to continue to work from home this week, and then return to the office on Monday. Also, I did some socializing this past weekend. A friend of mine who I used to work with stopped by on Friday. She brought some soup with her, and I managed to talk for a few hours without being in too much pain. The day after, we went up to see my wife’s family (who I had already seen the week before, but still) for lunch. And finally, I capped off the night by seeing another friend of mine to watch the Mayweather/Cotto fight. While it is important to allow yourself adequate time to recover, I think it is important to try to get back to your normal daily activities as soon as you are able to, or at least some subset of those daily activities. I think it can help speed along the recovery process.
Anyway, again, I’m sure everything will go fine today, but I’ll be certain to update the blog again after today’s appointment! Four more weeks with this damn splint!!!
Take care,
Paul
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Day 968 - 8 Days Post-Op
The first week post-op is done!
Now that it is, I can officially tell everyone that, overall, the week BEFORE the surgery was actually worse than the week AFTER the surgery. I was suffering from the anxiety of the surgery for the week leading up to it, and that takes a toll. Note that I'm comparing the WEEK before and after surgery. Had I been comparing, say, the two days before and after surgery, the post-op was worse since those first couple of days were rough.
I had one of the worst sleeps last night. I kept coughing and coughing....but it's hard to really let the coughs loose because of the broken jaw. I think I was just very very phlegmy (gross, I know), and I spent a good portion of the night coughing and coughing. Luckily, the movie Vertical Limit was on TV. I saw that movie in the theatres when I was in high school (one of my fonder high school memories actually!), and it's a great flick. Finally got to sleep around 3:30am, but was able to stay asleep until 9:00am.
I also decided that I'm now well enough to do some work from home. I have an office job, so it's not like I'm doing anything physically strenuous. I basically spent the morning catching up on my emails (not done yet actually), and letting people know I'd be working from home for the next little while. If the recovery keeps going this well, I think I'll be able ot get back into the office a week from Monday. I'm still fairly weak, which is keeping me away from the office right now. The weakness was re-confimed yesterday when I decided to take a walk to a Starbucks for a coffee. It's just over a kilometer away. I didn't even make it to the half-way point before turning around and walking home. Too much. Ah well. I'm going to go for another walk today, but only to get some air. I'm not going to try to make it all the way to that Starbucks just yet!
Not much else to update on. The swelling still persists but is receding and I THINK the bruising may be receding as well (tough to tell - it could be just starting!). Hopefully this recedes a bit more by Monday.
I finally took a look at my post-op pictures....they ain't too pretty. In fact, I'm not too sure I want to post them. When I saw other people's pics, I'm not going to lie, they freaked me out a little bit....probably unnecessarily so. I certainly did not FEEL as bad as I looked, but still. I'll probably still post them, but I want to be clear that EVERYONE'S experience is different, and again, I didn't feel nearly as bad as it looks.
Take care all!
Paul
Now that it is, I can officially tell everyone that, overall, the week BEFORE the surgery was actually worse than the week AFTER the surgery. I was suffering from the anxiety of the surgery for the week leading up to it, and that takes a toll. Note that I'm comparing the WEEK before and after surgery. Had I been comparing, say, the two days before and after surgery, the post-op was worse since those first couple of days were rough.
I had one of the worst sleeps last night. I kept coughing and coughing....but it's hard to really let the coughs loose because of the broken jaw. I think I was just very very phlegmy (gross, I know), and I spent a good portion of the night coughing and coughing. Luckily, the movie Vertical Limit was on TV. I saw that movie in the theatres when I was in high school (one of my fonder high school memories actually!), and it's a great flick. Finally got to sleep around 3:30am, but was able to stay asleep until 9:00am.
I also decided that I'm now well enough to do some work from home. I have an office job, so it's not like I'm doing anything physically strenuous. I basically spent the morning catching up on my emails (not done yet actually), and letting people know I'd be working from home for the next little while. If the recovery keeps going this well, I think I'll be able ot get back into the office a week from Monday. I'm still fairly weak, which is keeping me away from the office right now. The weakness was re-confimed yesterday when I decided to take a walk to a Starbucks for a coffee. It's just over a kilometer away. I didn't even make it to the half-way point before turning around and walking home. Too much. Ah well. I'm going to go for another walk today, but only to get some air. I'm not going to try to make it all the way to that Starbucks just yet!
Not much else to update on. The swelling still persists but is receding and I THINK the bruising may be receding as well (tough to tell - it could be just starting!). Hopefully this recedes a bit more by Monday.
I finally took a look at my post-op pictures....they ain't too pretty. In fact, I'm not too sure I want to post them. When I saw other people's pics, I'm not going to lie, they freaked me out a little bit....probably unnecessarily so. I certainly did not FEEL as bad as I looked, but still. I'll probably still post them, but I want to be clear that EVERYONE'S experience is different, and again, I didn't feel nearly as bad as it looks.
Take care all!
Paul
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Day 966 - 6 Days Post-Op
Today is my first follow-up appointment with the surgeon. I think everything should check out fine. I have no signs of infection, been keeping up on my meds like clockwork, and generally LOOK a heck of a lot better. I'm still quite swollen (although the swelling in my lips has come way down), am experiencing some degree of pain (especially I approach my morphine dosage time!), am numb from pretty much under my eyes to my chin, am quite exhausted (probably lack of substance....still on clear liquids until hopefully after today's appointment; the Boost is chilling in the fridge already! Haha!), and the bruising is beginning to appear underneath the eyes, but I can tell I'm on the mend.
I guess the biggest milestone yesterday was being able to drink from a cup instead of using the syringe. It is probably faster for me to just use the syringe, but I figure that I may as well get back into the habits of daily functions as soon as possible. I was having a look at my old posts from after my SARPE, and it seems like I couldn't drink very efficiently for the first week there either. So far, I would say that the recoveries from SARPE and this jaw surgery have been quite similar. Again, I think I benefited mentally from having the SARPE. I had some idea of what to expect post-op.
Today's milestone, aside from hopefully graduating from clear liquids, is that I shaved for the first time since the surgery. Weird feeling since the face is mostly numb. In fact, I didn't even want to touch the area around my mouth, so I'm rocking a goatee right now for the first time in several years! Hahaha. We'll see what the wife thinks about it when she gets home from work.
A few other updates:
- Sleeping last night went GREAT. I slept all the way through from midnight until 6:00am (I take my meds on the 12's and 6's). Looking forward to much of the same tonight!
- Weight loss is now at 10 pounds. This should slow down if I can have other non-clear liquids.
- My mother-in-law brought me a chicken broth last night. When it's pretty much all you can have, you can REALLY tell the immense difference in taste between the Campbell's stuff and something that is homemade. It was very tasty.
So I guess that's about it until the appointment happens this afternoon. I will be sure to update the blog again then!
Take care,
Paul
UPDATE:
I just got back from the appointment with Dr. Holmes. He said everything looked great, and also gave the ok to start with pureed foods! Yes! This outing also served as a reminder of how fragile my jaw still is however. I slightly tripped over my feet on my way into the hospital (common occurrence for people who are 6'7"!) and felt the shock in my upper jaw. Later, as I was waiting for my appointment, my nose started to bleed! I'm not sure if the two events are related or not, but I have not had any nosebleeds all week while at home, and then all a sudden when I go out for the first time, I do. I think I just need to remind myself that I'm nowhere near 100% yet, and need to take things slower when I do go out.
My next appointment is in a week from now. Will update again then!
I guess the biggest milestone yesterday was being able to drink from a cup instead of using the syringe. It is probably faster for me to just use the syringe, but I figure that I may as well get back into the habits of daily functions as soon as possible. I was having a look at my old posts from after my SARPE, and it seems like I couldn't drink very efficiently for the first week there either. So far, I would say that the recoveries from SARPE and this jaw surgery have been quite similar. Again, I think I benefited mentally from having the SARPE. I had some idea of what to expect post-op.
Today's milestone, aside from hopefully graduating from clear liquids, is that I shaved for the first time since the surgery. Weird feeling since the face is mostly numb. In fact, I didn't even want to touch the area around my mouth, so I'm rocking a goatee right now for the first time in several years! Hahaha. We'll see what the wife thinks about it when she gets home from work.
A few other updates:
- Sleeping last night went GREAT. I slept all the way through from midnight until 6:00am (I take my meds on the 12's and 6's). Looking forward to much of the same tonight!
- Weight loss is now at 10 pounds. This should slow down if I can have other non-clear liquids.
- My mother-in-law brought me a chicken broth last night. When it's pretty much all you can have, you can REALLY tell the immense difference in taste between the Campbell's stuff and something that is homemade. It was very tasty.
So I guess that's about it until the appointment happens this afternoon. I will be sure to update the blog again then!
Take care,
Paul
UPDATE:
I just got back from the appointment with Dr. Holmes. He said everything looked great, and also gave the ok to start with pureed foods! Yes! This outing also served as a reminder of how fragile my jaw still is however. I slightly tripped over my feet on my way into the hospital (common occurrence for people who are 6'7"!) and felt the shock in my upper jaw. Later, as I was waiting for my appointment, my nose started to bleed! I'm not sure if the two events are related or not, but I have not had any nosebleeds all week while at home, and then all a sudden when I go out for the first time, I do. I think I just need to remind myself that I'm nowhere near 100% yet, and need to take things slower when I do go out.
My next appointment is in a week from now. Will update again then!
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