It's so nice to be on day 7. Each of the first 5 days was so long and hard. The hardest part for me overall has been the sore stomach. Between antibiotics, motrin, an inability to swallow, and lack of an apetite, I have felt sick to my stomach and weak. But, each day swelling seems to go down a little, appetite up, abilities come back (like swallowing) and I'm finding food that's sitting well in my stomach.
The other thing is the sudden feeling of hitting a wall. This morning I got up, took a shower, picked up some doggie messes (our puppy likes to chew paper), and suddenly, hit the wall! My stomach felt so sick and I felt so weak! Fortunately, my 20 year old daughter came home last night, so I called her cell (we have a pretty big house), and she came up and fed me. Cream of wheat - yummy. But, yesterday I felt so good, I probably a little wiped out today.
So, gradually, I'm doing better. I'm sure the next frustration will be the lack of mobility in my face. I tend to be a very demonstrative, expressive person, and right now my face is not cooperating!! I'm wondering how I will look when the swelling is gone, right now I pretty much look like a chimp. My cheeks are still big, and my lips and jaw line, of course. But, I have a chin, my jaw is where it supposed to be, and I'm beginning to sleep well at night. I hope that continues to improve and makes a real difference in my life. That would be the best outcome of all!
Kapoor and Sons (2016)
8 years ago
10 comments:
Wow, hang in there! I'm scheduled to take one work week off, but now I'm wondering if I'm going to need more time. It seems that patients can't even talk until day 14 or so. Are you taking off from work, and if so, for how long? Or are you playing it by ear (or in this case, by jaw)?
It'd be good to ask your oral surgeon. I thought I'd be banded shut and not able to talk but I can talk pretty well. I only have bands on the sides of my braces, nothing in the front. The hard part is my tongue and roof of my mouth are numb and swollen so talking is difficult at times. Also, I felt great yesterday but today I feel bad again. Being under general anesthetic for 4-6 hours is BIG and hard on the body. You're 11 or 12 years younger than I am, so maybe that will make a difference in your favor. I'm a substitute teacher so I am taking off as much time as I need, probably a month at least! I think it's 6 weeks until you feel pretty normal (with the exception of numbness lasting longer) but people seem to go back in 2-3 weeks. But, you are having a lot done, those were the 3 procedures I had done, minus the scar revision - I had laser resurfacing for acne scars 1-1/2 years ago! And that's a lot for your body to go through. Like I've been told, the first 5 days are the roughest and it's better after that. My OS was so grateful I was well informed. That has helped me immensely. So, keep reading and figuring things out and write a list of questions for your OS. And, I'll keep blogging about when I feel better for several whole days in a row!!
yay elaine, you were out of the clouds (albeit for a while). I promise promise, it will get better. Trudge on! hope your tummy situation gets better. When it does, you may want to try bromelain supplements to help with the swelling. I've been taking them after the first week, combined with moist heat, and I must say, my swelling has gone down by about 70%, I'm now in my third week.
Carolina! I was going to try the bromelain as well but decided to wait until my stomach was doing better. Do you think it will upset my stomach? Thanks for your encouragement and always spurring me on. It feels like we're running this race together and you're ahead of me, looking back saying,'come on, you can do it!' Just the kind of help I've needed! Thanks again. I do hope the swelling will go down and the bruising go away soon. I look pretty messy!
To be honest, I was sooooo miserable the first week I could hardly put anything in my stomach. I don't remember the bromelain doing anything worse to my tummy, plus bromelain for swelling works only if you take it independently of food, if not it will just serve to break down the proteins in your food, if you take it just before or with food. Buuuut, to be sure you won't be more miserable with the bromelain swimming around in your bad tummy, perhaps wait til it gets better? And yea! I started commenting on your blog when I realise that I'm just weeks ahead of you in surgery, just wanted to encourage you along. The ortho bloggers have been sooooo helpful offering up their pearls of wisdom and kind words, just wanted to do my part :)
Oh so happy to hear that you're seeing that light off in the distance. Sure hope that continues to improve just a bit more each day ~ that's got to be encouraging to see the progress. Won't be long you'll be looking back thinking, "Wow! I did all that?! It seems so long ago!". :)
Phew, thank goodness your daughter was around to help you out, must've been an awful feeling at the time.
Even if you can't see those colourful expressions on the outside yet, keep practicing....
It'll help loosen up those muscles again! And if you get caught inspiring odd looks from the watchers, just say you're 'working out' :)
My daughter had surgery in July, we were able to trace her upset stomach to the tylenol 3, when we switch her to reg. tylenol she started feeling better. Her sore throat and stuffy nose were a problem. I think if we had a humidifier that would of helped. Campbell's makes a pretty good potatoe soup, maybe you could blend it with a hand blender to smooth out the potatoe chunks. I got my daughter LaMadelines tomatoe basil a couple of days after surgery, it didnt take much to fill her up. Hope you feel better soon.
Mo-Mo
Thanks everyone for your comments and information. My stomach doesn't hurt today. I've been drinking A LOT of water. As far as the meds go, I've only been on motrin since last Thursday, the vicodin was giving me a headache, so I quit that - I HATE headaches! Thanks also for the soup ideas. Doing a little better today.
You're doing so great!
I remember those stiff-face days. It was like wearing a mask that I wanted to tear off. It got better each day though - I think the more you move your face the faster it unstiffens, so yay for being expressive! One night I spent hours watching the Daily Show even though it hurt a little to laugh, and that seemed to help.
Elaine...I'm so happy to hear you're feeling a bit better every day. You well on your way and you sound so good in your last paragraph...LOL...I'm having a brain freeze...LOL...I think I lost my memory during my surgery. Ha! Keep up the good work and eat lots of cream of wheat! I ate it almost every day the first week because it tasted so good...today I'm three weeks post op and I feel great.
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