Day 6

Good Afternoon! I went to see Dr. Franco today for my first post OP. He said that the surgery went very well and my recovery shortly after waking up was really good. He mentioned that he was surprised how "smooshed and slanted" my turbinates were and said that I'll be able to breath so much better now. On Thursday I'm supposed to go back and get those small stitches removed from my cheeks. He said that I could start brushing my teeth more aggressively. My lips are so numb and there is so much pressure on my face. He took off the loose bands and put some tighter ones on so now my teeth are pretty well closed and there's no hope of stuffing some eggs or hummus in there. It's all liquids. It's funny because I have the usual things that I like to eat and of course some favorites but I can't stop thinking about this chicken fried steak I had a year ago at a Fancy restaurant 30 minutes outside of town. It was really the best chicken fried steak I've ever eaten and I think about it a lot now. It came with mashed potatoes. As soon as I'm able to eat I'm going to go there and eat that. In the meantime I'm stuck with liquids. If you're in the Dallas area and you're having jaw surgery there's a place called GREENZ that sells pureed soups. I stopped by there today and got a few bowls to go. Chicken enchilada soup! It was delicious. That's about it. Pain is about a 2 and discomfort is around 5.

Day 5

Today is Day 5 and I'm just sitting around waiting to get better. I hate waiting. I'm taking my medication (1 antibiotic and 1 Hydrocodone) every 6 hours so I'm maintaining this "dream wake". I'm not very functional but I'm trying to do things to feel better. I'm hungry but everything I eat tastes gross. I'm not getting enough calories and so I have a hungry headache constantly. I'm trying to vamp up my shakes and soups with coconut oil, peanut butter, etc. so that I can get more fats but I just feel gross. Today we went for a walk around the park which was a one mile walk. That felt nice but again, I'm kind of dizzy and headachy. My boyfriend told me that my breath smelled disgusting. I noticed all this gross slime building up on my braces but I couldn't get it off without a good brush and I was having a hard time. Finally though I thought I could use the pick I have for plaque, you know the sharp one? I used that and pulled all this gross, chunky stuff off my braces. I was able to get pretty much all of it off and brush my teeth and rinse with the bacteria cleansing rinse I was prescribed and my boyfriend said I smelled so much better after that. Ha! That is so gross!

Dr. Franco said not to blow my nose and I have been very stuffed up. It's not quite as bad as what I was expecting. I read other blogs and was expecting to not be able to breath, but it's on a level with being stuffed up with a head cold. I don't think I'm experiencing quite as much pain, problems and discomfort as others. I'm not sure, but this just doesn't seem that bad to me. I felt my TMJ surgery was worse, more painful and I had nausea which I don't have this time around. I made sure to tell my Anesthesiologist about it and she said she'd look at what I had and decide what she thought would have made me so sick and not use it. I think whatever she did worked! I'm not saying that this is fun by any means, I guess I was expecting worse. My nose has gross dark dried blood crusted in it and I keep trying to clean it out. I don't want to mess with anything too much. I'd rather nature take it's course. Speaking of nature...Dr. Franco said I wouldn't get my period but I did. Talk about bad luck. It's a small one and barely noticeable but still it's here. I got it for my TMJ surgery as well. Today's food was the same stuff shakes, pureed soup, fresh juice. I did have a miso soup that had tiny tofu and seaweed in it that I was able to get down. That was pretty tasty.

Day 4

Hello! I'm doing fine. I've been sleeping a ton and overall pretty boring. Lets see..My lips are gross. They're covered in slime and I'm drooling and just gross to say the least. I still haven't eaten much. I usually drink 3 syringes of something before I feel kind of sick. I have a terrible headache that I think is coming from not getting enough calories. I added 2 TBS of peanut butter to my shake this afternoon to try to beef up the calories and fat. I went for a walk in the park today! My mom said she can't believe I was able to get up and go for a walk in the park on the 4th day. It was breezy and nice outside so it felt good. By the time I got home though, I was in bed right away. Here are today's shots:

Pretty scary huh! I got a baby toothbrush in there enough to brush my tongue and the inside of my teeth. It wasn't good enough to be satisfying. I'm only taking an antibiotic and a pain pill every 6 hours. Today I took a Colace for constipation because I still haven't gone and I know Dr. Franco wants me to go. My pain is low, in fact it's been low the whole time. Discomfort is high though because I have bed sores and a headache. Here is the pain scale:

I'm a 2 for pain and a 6 for discomfort.

Surgery Day plus 3

I'm finished with my surgery! I went to Baylor on Wed. at 5:30 am. They took me to the pre op area where they had me change into my gown, tight socks and bottom tape. Yes they put bottom tape on you to help with your skin while you're on the operating table for so long. They had a lot of trouble finding a vein and stuck me all over both arms trying. My mom and fiance were with me but as soon as my doctor showed up they were wheeling me off.

Because they spent so much time on my vein search I wasn't able to get a relaxing shot so I went to the OR completely lucid. It was really terrifying. The OR was freezing and pretty much the second I was in there they were rushing me to get on the table. I don't remember anything after that so I guess the last minute relaxing shot kicked in right around then. I woke up in the post OP area which was the same area as the pre OP. I couldn't open my eyes but I could hear and I was NOT in much pain thank goodness. My mom was invited in and she sat with me while I recovered a bit. I was barely awake during this time so I don't remember much. At some point they took me to my room. They gave me massage socks which were wonderful

They also gave me a syringe to drink my liquids from

I got an oxygen band on my finger that reminded me of E.T.

The first day in the hospital went fine. I wasn't in much pain and I was able to drink a lot. I have been drooling which is really annoying but better than being in pain! My mouth is not closed all the way. Dr. Franco left loose rubber bands so that I could fit a pill in between. It's too swollen right now to show you pictures. But the first day's swelling was like this:

I haven't had much to eat. Just little sips of soup or drink here and there. They released me from the hospital yesterday and I slept ok last night. I took a shower today. I'm really tired so I think I'll write more later.

T-1

I have one more day until Surgery! This morning I had pre-admitting and everything went smoothly. I sat with a woman who registered me and she said that I was to pay $1900 for my copay. I told her I'd given that portion to Rachel because that's what she told me to do. The woman said that Rachel knows that I'm not supposed to pay her. Whatever. Rachel has been a mess since the beginning of all this. The bottom line is that I really like Dr. Franco and I want him to be my surgeon. After I registered, I was introduced to a nurse who took me to another room and asked me a series of questions about my health. She gave me a little card and wanted me to write on it what I wanted on the day of surgery the most from my nurse. I wrote that I wanted them to make sure I got some water. To me, being thirsty for water is worse than pain from broken bones. I talked to her a little about how I vomited after the TMJ surgery and I'm so worried about vomiting after this surgery. She said that I should talk with my Anesthesiologist and see what he thinks. After, I went to a third room and had blood drawn. After work today I stopped at the store and got a big back pillow, a Nutribullet and a soup mug.

Tomorrow is my last day at work of course. I'll stop by the store for some soup and juice and then I'm done! It's finally here. I can't wait to be on the other side. I hope it all turns out ok and nothing weird happens. It's been raining and lightning here. I really wanted to go for a run in the morning so I hope there's no rain so I can go one last time for a while!

T-7

I went to Dr. Franco's office today. I was fitted for my trays and signed the paperwork. Rachel gave me some literature about my surgery and asked for my final payment. I'm supposed to include the Baylor deposit with the final payment and give it to her. I feel like something will get messed up there, but we'll see. My pre-admitting appointment is Monday at 9am. I'll let you know how it goes!

T-9 Days

My surgery is next Wed., we've been through this song and dance before but I think this time it's going down. I went to see Dr. Simon a few days ago for my broken bracket. She replaced the bracket and put the surgical wires back on with the hooks. She wanted to get a little room in between my incisors for Dr. Franco. I have an appointment with him this Wed. for molds. It's funny because last time I felt very consumed by the surgery. It was hard to concentrate as I got closer to the date. But this time, I'm barely thinking about it. I keep forgetting it's coming up. I guess it doesn't feel real or maybe it feels like it already happened because I was just out for surgery 6 weeks ago. Also, there are a lot of things going on at work and I've been really busy and I don't want to leave work right now. There's never a good time to take 3 weeks off work I guess. I still have all my stuff from last time. I have a couple pairs of button down PJ's, a hand mirror, a small flashlight, Vaseline, face wipes, a jaw bra that I bought online. It came with pockets for the cold/hot packs. I used it the whole week I after my TMJ surgery.

I also bought a HoMedics Swedish Massage Pillow with a heat button because after my TMJ surgery I had bed sores. I think that's about it. I learned after the TMJ situation that I didn't really like any of the food I'd gotten for myself. The applesauce and eggs were good but I hated almost all the soups except pacific tomato. So, I'll just stick to that and the juices with collagen powder and whey protein shakes.