7 Days Post Op

Well 7 days have come and gone since surgery. Its funny how last week I was itching time to fly by and honestly it has. Pretty soon I will be sitting in the doctor's office for my 2 week follow up. There aren't any major changes other than decreasing the amount of meds I have been taken. I currently take ibuprofen in the morning and then before bed. I am also not having much TMJ pain anymore but I still have the right ear ache which I can do without. I still do not have feeling in my chin and lower lip. I also have some numbness at the tip of my tongue but it feels like my tongue is very slowly getting better. I honestly do not mind the numbess. I am more concerned about getting looser bands and being able to eat foods other than smoothies. I have been thinking that the swelling is going down but I think I am just getting used to the look of puffy cheeks. Feels like the swelling is going down on the right and very slowly on the left. I still ice through out the day but I think I may incorporate some heat soon. Walks at night seem to be going well. I still feel tingling through out my chin and lip when walking. I am noticing that I am able to control my bottom lip a little bit better as my smile is improving. I tried wrapping my face but I notice that it irritates my jaw after a few hours then my teeth become sore. I even tried to wrap lightly and this only produces the same results. But still my biggest complain in all of this is not being able to brush my the inside of my teeth. I even looked at my bands to see if I could get away with taking them off, brushing, then replacing them. But looked like a rocket scientiest placed the ones on my molars so I don't even dare. LOL

Well I hope these days fly by as I am ready to have a nice juicy steak. I am excited because I have already decided to buy a bbq grill. Im not buying it yet because I don't want it taunting me from my balcony LOL

Are things looking up? 6 days post

So when the doctor first put on the rubber bands and saw the pain in my eyes, he said that the pain would last about a week. I thought to myself, THIS PAIN WILL LAST FOR 7DAYS?! How would I be able to handle that for such a long time?! Well at least I had meds.

So today I awake and notice that my TMJ wasn't hurting as much. Honestly it wasn't really hurting at all. I was surprised and worried. So I went back to sleep as I thought I was only dreaming. I finally get up and notice that it was 9am. I was well passed my next dose. So I took some ibuprofen with a grape juice chaser. I have to be honest, my meds do not taste terrible but I think I am getting sick of the taste. Out of all the juices that I have, I find that grape juice goes well with both Lortab and the ibuprofen. I also take a look in the mirror and I want to saw that the swelling is slowly going down but I think its just my eyes. Well tomorrow with be 7 days post op and I will take some pics then to compare.

Prior ro surgery, my friends were worried about my potential weight loss. I am not the heaviest person around so losing so I could see where I should be worried about losing a ton of weight. Before surgery, I weighed in at 145-146 but yesterday I was at 140. The doctor did say that the more in shape you are the less weight you may lose. I just hope that I do not go past 135. I haven't weight that since undergrad and that was like 10 years ago.

Now if only I can get rid of this knot in my left shoulder blade I would be on cloud 9...

Rubber bands, headaches, and hot flashes...Oh my!

So it is now day 5. This is the dreaded day that everyone told me to watch out for. I thought I would be ok but that was not the case. I had a good day yesterday and even discovered that Butter Pecan Ensure is actually pretty tasty. I also noticed how badly I would like to brush the inside of my mouth/teeth but alas I can't. I am pretty anal when it comes to the hygiene of my teeth and this is killing me lol I pray that I will be able to brush the inside of my mouth/teeth at my adjustment. If not, I will beg. So I had company over and they were surprised at how well I was able to talk and how not too swollen I was. I go through bouts of pain but usually in the middle or near the end up my dosings of meds. I tried to wean myself off the Lortab and used mostly ibuprofen yesterday. Well once my company left, I became exhausted. So I opted to shower and head to bed...er...recliner...instead of going for a walk. I took my meds and headed off to sleep. Well this was the worse sleep since surgery. My right TMJ was sore, I couldn't get comfortable due to a sore shoulder muscle, and random hot flashes. It was pretty miserable. At one point I felt a pop in my mouth and I knee something was wrong. I also noticed that my right TMJ wasn't sore anymore. So I got up and looked in the mirror to see what is up. Well of course one of my bands broke and I stood there thinking how in the world will I fix this. This particular rubber band is in charge of shifting my midline over. And not only that, this band is double banded on itself. In other words, this one thick rubber band is flipped on itself and placed on hooks to form a tighter fit. So after fighting with several bands, I managed to get the band on after 30-40min. I know I did it right because I immediately experience intense pain in my right TMJ. Since it was time for my next dose, I opted for the Lortab and attempted to get some rest which was useless. I did manage to sleep 4-5 hours after that. For breakfast I tried a pinneapple juice, oreange juice, banana, strawberry yogurt, and a little dash of pomegranate/mango juice smoothie. This actually turned out really well. Since my jaw was still sore, I opted forthe syringe instead of a straw. I did my usual of updated friends and family, checked email, and watched some tv. Eventually, I grew tired and feel asleep. I awake and notice I was sweating. It was strange since I had the AC at the same tempt since I returned home and the temp outside wasn't any hotter. I touched my head and noticed a pool of sweat and that my head was hot. Surprisingly my cheeks were ok considereing. I have been icing like mad since surgery. I think the swelling has stabilized for the most part. So I am either getting used to my cheeks or I think I am actually getting better. I doubt the latter. So at this point, I feel really hot and have an intense headache with the TMJ pain. I felt miserable. I also felt helpless since I had like 4 hours before I could take my next dose. I managed to get through it after a couple hours of rest and take some ibuprofen and I immediately feel better. I turned the AC up a little and a fan. Crazy I know but it working. I need to take my temp to make sure I am not running a fever. Later on I take my temp and notice it is only 97.1F but at this point it is much later than when I experienced most of my sweating. I think it was due to all the swelling in my face which made me hot. Well if it was a fever, at least it broke. I did go for a nice 30 minute walk. Unfortunately, it wiped me out. So I drank an ensure, showered, and went to bed. I made sure to take some ibuprofen before bed instead of the Lortab as it seems to work longer and better. Went to bed at one and slept comfortably until about 9am. Thinking back, aside from being reubber banded for the first time, this is by far the worst day. Dreaded day 5....

My Poor Mouth...

So last night, I decided to go for a walk. I felt like I needed to get out for a bit. The walk was really nice. The interesting thing was that my chin and bottom lip, that has been numb since surgery, started to tingling with intensity. I think I am slowly getting feeling back into my lower face which would be nice. My biggest complaint in all of this is the being banded so much to move my midline of my lower jaw. I go through bouts of pain which tend to mainly occur at night when I am trying to sleep. I went to bed only to wake up at 3am with intense pain. So I took some Lortab and went back to bed which helped. I can't wait for my follow up because I do not know how much more I can take of this pain. I am told it will last about a week but my follow up is in 2 weeks. I am also having pain in my TMJ on the right side which I am sure is due to the rubber bands. Well I have been told that around day 5 is the worst. I hope I am going through the worst now cause I can't imagine things being any more painful.

The good thing is smoothies have been going well. The smoothie book has come in handy as a good guide. The thing that I did not anticipate is my craving for savory foods. I do have some tomato soup where I add sour cream and parmasean cheese. Yesterday I wanted something different so I opted for the chicken broth until I noticed it only has about 20-30 calories which would make me hungrier. So I just added the broth to the tomoato soup and it turned out pretty well. I have been trying my best to stay hydrated which the dr said is one of the things his patients forgets. He suggested 80oz of fluids. I pretty much hit this mark but it does feel like a lot. I think I may have to pick up some bananas so I can try some of the other smoothies. I am loving the magic bullet its definately a great buy. Now id only the head wrap I bought would come in then I would be all set.

Trial and Error

So last night was the first night that I slept through the night. I didn't have any nurses or techs constantly checking my vitals nor random lights, voices, waking me up. I was really tired so I took a brief nap and woke up with an intense pain in my jaw on the right side. Thanks to the bands pulling my midline into the proper position. Since I took a Lortab 4 hours ago I had to wait 2 more hours before my next dose so I decided to set my alarm and wait. I toss and turned until 11:15pm. My alarm was to go off at 11:30pm. So i went ahead and had my next dose and drank some water with it. Huge improvement. I also wrapped my face and iced. Went back to bed around 12:30am and slept through the night until 8:45am. I ended up taking the wrap off as I feel as it my face is being squished to death. LOL

So I woke up looked in the mirror to see the chipmunk cheeks still there so I decided to shave my head and face since it was getting a bit scruffy. I notice the tip of my tongue is still numb but slowly getting some feeling back. My lower lip and chin is still numb but I am still feeling random sensations so hopefully the feeling will come back soon. I noticed that there was some twitching in my chin which I think is a good sign. I touch around my lips and on the left corner, I can actually feel pressure. Its funny how the littlest things gets me excited. I took some orange flavored liquid ibuprofen and started to look up some food. I wanted something with fruits but instead I thought I would make something without using a book. I pull out some chocolate Ensure, peanut butter, a little Nutella, coffee yogurt, and a liquid multi vitamin. I whip out my Magic Bullet and go to town. I take the first sip and nearly gag. I think it was way too many ingredients and the multivitamin was over powering everything else and I come to learn it tastes like crap. Looks like thats $30 thrown down the drain. So I start to feel a little nauseated from the drink and decided I should have went with my first instinct. Something with fruit. So I whip out my new "Juices and Smoothies" book by Hamlyn and start searching. I found an easy recipe that called for frozen strawberries, pineapple juice, and strawberry yogurt. So I wizened up and added one of my Centrum multivitamins to blend. Cranked up the magic bullet and voila a good tasting shake. I had to add a couple packages of splenda to make it a little sweeter. So in hindsight I learned to just stick to the recipe book, avoid liquid vitamins, and customize much later once I find out what goes with what. LOL

Surgery and Home Again

July 24th:

I had a lot to get accomplish before my scheduled arrival time so I left the apt at 9am to take care of last minute errands. I return home just in time to shower and get picked up by my friend Harold who works at the hospital. I arrive at the hospital around 10:50am (a cool 10min before my scheduled arrival time) One thing I noticed is the surgery waiting room is PACKED. To be U of M Hospitals, this room was pretty small. But eventually I find an open seat and wait. Harold stops by to check up on me and give me some last minute words then heads off to work. Around noon, I see my oral surgeon walk down the hall for I guess his lunch break and then I realize that his surgeries will be pushed back. To my surprise, a few minutes later, I am called back to pre op. I go through all of the usual pre op stuff. Met with nurses, anesthesiologists, fellows, residents, and my oral surgeon. It was pretty cool seeing him. I was referred to him at the last minute and had only met with him once for like 5min. Seeing him in the pre op relaxed me a bit as he seemed pretty eager and comfortable with my procedure. He planned that I will be done in 1.5 hours. My surgery time was 1pm but they didn't take me back until 2:15pm. Didn't matter to me much because I was in no rush. I was staying overnight regardless. They wheel me in and I go from the rolling bed to the skinniest surgical table known to man. come to think of it, the table for my knee surgery was just as small. There were people in the room getting ready then all of a sudden, I am told I am about to receive the shot in my IV which will knock me out.

The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery. I was told surgery went as scheduled and the doctor came by to tell me that everything couldn't have been better. First thing I noticed is that my lower lip, tip of my tongue, and chin is completely numb. Seemed pretty routine which made me happy. I was told I would only be in recovery for no more than 2 hours but the hospital was pretty crowded. My attending nurse kept saying they are waiting for a bed since I was ready to leave. He was shocked that I wasn't in any pain but the only thing I wanted was water so I was given some. Harold stopped in to check up on my and said I looked pretty good. He said he noticed a difference. On his way out he picked up my cell phone from security so I could contact people. Eventually I get word that they have a room for me and I would be on the same floor that my other friend works on.

I am taken to my room and I meet Teressa and Calvin. Teressa would be the nurse taking care of me for the night and Calvin was filling in for Steve who was the tech for the night. Everyone was really nice and friendly. Everyone got a kick after learning that I am an athletic trainer for the university. I even had a good heart to heart with Teressa who wanted to be a PT but didn't like clinics which was the same for me. She was awesome and took really good care of me. She didn't really know how to handle my case very well but it was good that I know a few things about this surgery so I asked for ice to help with the swelling, the doctor wanted me to drink a lot of water and so I did. I drank so much water that I was taken off the IV after my third trip to the restroom and my third 32 oz cup of water. Between the IV and the water, I never urinated so much in my life. They had to keep track of all my fluids too so I would lose between 300-500ML. In the morning I lost upwards of 550-600ML. I was given morphine shots a couple times, IV drips of an antibiotic, and anti nausea meds. I slept at random bouts for 1-2 hours. Since I had to sleep at a 45 degree angle, I would snore once then wake up then go to sleep just to snore once again. This was repeated thru out the night/morning.

The staff change over occured at 7am and I met Peggy (nurse) and Raymond (tech) Breakfast is served and its cream of wheat, orange juice, milk, and custard. I hate cream of wheat so I ate some of the custard. I was first greeted by my friend Kyle who is a 10min walk away. It was good seeing someone I know who was visiting. He was surprised at how well I was talking and how different I looked. Much of the swelling haven't kicked in yet either. He left to go to work and Harold stopped by briefly. Again I noticed the nurse was a little worried about my case as she didn't have experience with lower jaw surgery. Both Peggy and Teressa have asked why would I need such a procedure which I explained to them. Steve thought I was hit upside the head and had a skull fracture lol. Well Dr Edward's residents and fellows come up to see me and are happy with my status. All I would need is to be heavily rubber banded then xrays and then I will be discharged. He even said he has written the paperwork already. Around 9am I am taken down in a wheel chair to the oral surgery clinic. I noticed that the place was pretty busy. A couple of the physicians I knew and have met the past 2 weeks stopped and said hi and how good I looked. So first come the dreaded rubber bands. First the fellow tries to band me up but has problems with my bite since it was slightly off. Dr Edward's resident comes in and does the banding. This was the worse pain I have every felt through this whole process of being braced. It was very uncomfortable. Once I was banded I had to wait 15min to see if my bite would adjust. Well my muscles didn't like this very much and I relapsed. So I was banded tighter and then waited 20min. Still this wasn't enough then I had to wait 30min. After this time I did not know what to do. The pain was nearly bearable. I felt dizzy and nauseous at some points. My happy mood changed immediately as I was centered on the pain. After 30-40 min, xrays were taken and the resident and the xray tech were amazed how the change in my bite. I tired to get excited but the pain took control. Next I was wheeled up by one of the guys who was with the girl who wheeled me down. He immediately noticed a change in my demeanor and how I couldn't talk very well. I told him what I just went through and he was speechless.

Back on my floor, I ran or wheeled into my friend who is a nurse on the floor. We caught up for a bit and he hung around my room until he was paged. He informed me that I shouldn't be on this floor. I told him about how the hospital was booked and he explained to me that the nurses on this floor do not have experience with a case like mine. Then I realized how Teressa and Peggy reacted when they saw me. It was sad to see Teressa go. In a way I had hoped I could have stayed as she was returning tonight. Both Peggy and Teressa said it is not often where they get a healthy person in after surgery. Around noon Kyle returns with some soup, gatorade, and a starbucks energy drink for me. He didn't realize that it was a energy drink and Peggy pointed out that I could not have that type of drink in the hospital nor would I want one but it was a nice gesture. For lunch there was creamy tomato soup, chocolate ice cream, apple juice and something else I couldn't remember. Kyle eventually leaves. I was not hungry but Kyle and Harold felt otherwise. After a few evil texts from the clowns I drink some OJ and Apple juice. At least it was some calories. Soon I begin to notice that I am talking much better. I also notice that I am bleeding a little bit more and swelling has increased big time especially on the left side. I then notice that one of my rubber bands (the one causing the most pain) had come undone. I tell Raymond who gets Peggy. Peggy tries to get the rubber band on but when she sees the blood she freaks a little and then pages my doctor. She informs me that I am being discharged and that I need to call the person picking me up. She also says that the dr wants to see me before I leave to fix the rubber band. Harold comes up within 10min with my bag from security. but being discharged takes over an hour. I was so frustrated at this point. Harold tells me how U of M patient's biggest complaint is how I was treated with a lot of waiting and not knowing whats going on. So finally I get discharged then I ask Peggy to call down to let my dr I am on the way. I wait in the waiting room for over 40min (Harold goes back to work) Another dr who I knew fixes the rubber band. At first he couldn't see what the problem was since my jaw already adjusted to my new bit but he tried anyway to get the rubber band on which he frustratingly did. He was a real trooper.

Then it was off to the hospital pharmacy to get my drugs of Lortab (Hydrocodone and Tylenol) and liquid ibuprofen. Well my insurance did not cover the ibuprofen so the Lortab was filled. We headed off to CVS to pick up some last minute stuff like peroxide, the liquid ibuprofen, and straws. I finally make it home by 5pm. Sad that after being told I will be discharged by 9am, I am not discharged until 1pm. At this point, I am just happy to be home.

Right now feeling in the tongue is better and I am starting to feel sensations in the lower lip and chin like tingling and itchiness. After a quick shower, I take some meds, and prepare some tomato soup and add some sour cream. I also add a nice big cup of water. I have to stay hydrated. Now that I am home, I hope that I will not be going to the restroom ever 3omin LOL

D Day!!!

Well the food has been purchased, appointments well attended, and work has been called off. The countdown has finally ticked to zero. At 11am, I will check into the hospital and prepare to have surgery which is scheduled at 1pm. We'll see if they are actually on time. If its anything like my knee, I will be waiting an hour or 2 later. But it will be ok. I am no big rush. As long as the surgery happens tomorrow then I am good. I am at the point where I just want a normal bite and this will get it for me. My main concern now is good night's sleep tonight. I want to be well rested for tomorrow. My achy body say otherwise. LOL But my sleepiness wins in the end. So with that said its time for bed...