Day 13

Today was another good day (as you can imagine). I drank a Boost for breakfast because I had to use one of my three hours to talk at the animal shelter. Since I'm getting my energy back, but can't quite go back to work yet, I decided to get some foster kittens. I've been fostering for a long time. All three of my cats were fosters that we decided to keep. I've probably had over 50 kittens altogether. I really have no idea. But anyway, I'll post some pictures of the two little guys later. Still trying to think of good names!

As for my meals today, I finished some leftover potato soup for lunch, and then I had my FAVORITE thing ever, potato pancakes for dinner! My family is Polish and my parents' recipe is awesome. I'm not sure if potato pancakes are considered to be as soft as scrambled eggs, but I had no problem mashing the pieces up with my tongue, which I assume is the point of the soft foods (no chewing). It's still tough to eat because I can only open my mouth about an inch, not even. I also have to look in a mirror while I'm eating because I have to be very careful. Also my bottom lip is still numb and I would definitely make a mess if I didn't watch what I was doing!

So I can feel my left cheek and bottom eyelids! That means the only numb spots I have left are my whole chin, my bottom lip, my right cheek (right next to my nose), and the right corner of my top lip. But with feeling comes pain. That's not to say the pain is bad or any worse than it's been, but I can definitely feel soreness in my bottom jaw. Also, the tension from the rubber bands that are holding my jaws shut is making my teeth sore. Overall I'd say the discomfort level is about a 3. Which is pretty amazing considering everything they did to my face! 

I feel the need to point out how much ice cream and milkshakes I haven't eaten. I really thought that I'd have like, a milkshake a day! But I wasn't really able to get any milkshake through my teeth during the first period of my recovery, not to mention the last thing I wanted was anything milk-based with all the protein shakes I was drinking. I know they don't actually contain milk but my stomach would beg to differ. And even the past two days, people have brought me ice cream and milkshakes but once I'm done my meal I don't have any time or room in my stomach to eat them! When you only have three brief chances to eat in a day, you are much more particular about what you eat in that small time slot!

Well, that's about all for today, here are my pictures!

DAY TWELVE!!!!!

Today was the big day! The day I've been desperately waiting for, well, twelve days! I had my second post op appointment today and I got to open my mouth for the first time since surgery! If you've ever seen Hocus Pocus, I felt like Billy the zombie when he cut the stitches that were holding his mouth shut and he coughed out dust and leaves! It was the craziest feeling. The best part was feeling my new airway. Obviously, it's been great breathing through my nose, but it was absolutely amazing breathing through my mouth! Every breath felt so easy and full and wonderful. As you can imagine, it's pretty tough to open my mouth because my jaw was just operated on and then sat shut for almost two weeks. It was kinda scary trying to open my jaw because it feels really unsteady. I still have a lot of healing to do, but I'm so happy with my progress.

At this point, my swelling has gone down a lot, but there's definitely still a good deal of it. Some swelling can remain for up to about 6 months, so I may not really see the finished product for a while, but honestly, I'm already really happy with the way I look. My gums aren't showing all the time, my nose isn't droopy, and I have a jawline! Did I mention I CAN BREATHE!?

Oh, the BEST part of today....I GOT TO EAT REAL FOOD! I've never been so excited for anything in my life. I'm now allowed to take my rubber bands off and take my splint out for one hour, three times a day for the next nine days to eat. My parents and my fiancé and I went out to Houlihan's right after my appointment so I could have potato soup. It was awesome. I had to pour out all the soup onto a plate and mash up all the potatoes and I was only able to finish half of the little bowl of soup, but it was such a relief. The hardest part of not being able to eat is knowing that you're not allowed to eat. As much as you want to, you physically aren't allowed to put a piece of food past your teeth. It's really great for seeing how much self control you have though! :P

The other interesting thing about my experience today was actually being able to talk! Let me tell you how fun it's been playing Charades with everyone for the past twelve days.... It's pretty funny at times, but now that I need to communicate things other than "pain medicine," "ice pack," and "water," it's starting to get really frustrating. I have too many things to say to keep writing them on my little white board. But anyway, my voice sounds pretty weird. Obviously my face is still swollen and things are still adjusting and settling. I have a little bit of a lisp at the moment but honestly it sounds cute. I reminded myself of my older brother when he was pre-pubescent and had a spreader in the roof of his mouth. Quite funny. :)

Here's my day twelve pictures and a video from the restaurant! It's a little hard to understand me, but gimme a break, I haven't talked in twelve days! :)

I'm finally starting to feel like myself. I'm getting my strength, energy, and morale back after a very trying twelve days. I'm excited to see where I go from here! :)

Day 6 through Day 11

So apparently I'm not quite as good at this blogging thing as I thought I'd be! Honestly, I've had absolutely zero energy and haven't been doing much of anything. I didn't even want to watch TV the first few days because I was so physically and emotionally exhausted. Showering was the biggest accomplishment of each day for the most part. Regardless, every day gets better.

Saturday (Day 9) was my first real outing since surgery. I went to my friend's son's 2nd birthday. I was only there for an hour and I was exhausted. Monday (Day 11) my fiancé took me to see a movie.

Here are some pictures from days 6-11:

Day 6:

 Day 7:

 Day 8:

 Day 9:

Day 10: Forgot to take pictures (oops)

Day 11:

Day 5- First Post-Op Appointment

So Tuesday I had my first post-op appointment. Unfortunately, Dr. Lanzi was out of town so we had to drive a half hour to see his partner, Dr. Burke. It was a long day, but I made sure to get lots of nutrition in me so I was strong enough for the trip.

At the appointment, I got my chin strap removed, as well as the two little stitches. The stitches in my mouth are all dissolvable I believe...

I also got X-rays. (Unfortunately, I don't have pre-op ones to compare at the moment)

I have like 5 plates and 22 screws or something like that.

Day 4

This is the day I finally hit rock bottom. I hadn't been "eating" enough and it finally caught up to me. After napping for a few hours in the afternoon, I got up to go to the bathroom and we all thought my next stop was going to be the Emergency Room. While I was in the bathroom I started feeling really sick, and so my mom and Corey sat me down in the kitchen where I tried to pull myself together. My mom rubbed a cold washcloth across my face and body to try to cool me down. I knew I needed to lie down so I tried to get the living room, but I fainted on the way and they had to sit me down at the computer desk. When I FINALLY got back to my chair, I was able to lie back and proceeded to drink as much Boost as I could handle. I started feeling better from there, and we made sure I started getting as much nutrients as possible, even if I didn't want them. I actually don't have much of an appetite at all surprisingly. But I'm learning how to eat for nutrition, not for taste.

Day 3

Sunday funday. Not.

The days were just dragging by and I was trying desperately to sleep as best I could,

BUT. THE. CONGESTION.

Congestion is by far the worst part of the whole recovery. I cannot breathe through my mouth at all, which mind you, is how I've been breathing primarily for the past nineteen years. So the nose is all I got. They opened my nose up with surgery so that I can breathe better, but it's been so stuffy that all of my energy has been focused on trying to breathe. The one thing I can do that provides immediate relief in use Afrin nasal spray. It unswells the blood vessels in your nose that are causing congestion. Unfortunately, you're only allowed to use it every 10-12 hours. So when that wears off, some of the other things you can try are:

• taking a steamy shower
• using a vaporizer/humidifier
• saline nasal spray (every 20 minutes)
• trying to gently blow out some of the mucus (you're not really supposed to blow your nose for about 2 weeks)

It's also really frustrating not being able to spit out the mucus in my throat. You can't really "hock" properly when you're mouth is all banded shut, so you just have to swallow it. 

As you can see I have this fun chin strap thing on, whose purpose is to help reattach the muscles in my chin that were disconnected from the bone for the genioplasty. I also have two little stitches on the underside of either side of my lower jaw, where they had to make two tiny incisions to stick a little screw driver in there.

Day 2- Going Home

Day two, it was time to go home. I got to take another stroll around the hallways in the morning. Sue had changed my into my clothes the day before. So all they really had to do was take out my IV. Like I said, I was pretty out of it for the first few days, so I don't remember too much about that morning. They pushed me to the car in a wheel chair and we were on our way home.

It was time for me to inhabit the recliner where I've lived for the whole first week following surgery. It was also time for BOOST. All. the. time.
Nutrients are super important because you aren't eating anything and are no longer hooked up to fluids, so you can go downhill really fast.
I can only eat through a syringe, 2oz at a time. I stick the little beveled edge of the tube back into my cheek and slurp in the goodness. Its very dehumanizing and messy, but it's all ya get at this point.
Aside from Boost, I drink apple juice, water, and chicken broth.

My brother visited with my nephew Saturday night which really helped me take my mind off things for a little bit.