Day 22 Update from the Surgeon..... Not a great report!!!

The surgeon said that under my front teeth, where the bone was ground down, he put in harvested bone... I didn't know that I had bone from someone else.... but anyway I have a possible infection there where my bone and the harvested bone is fusing together. He put me on an antibiotic for it. Now I know why I am still having so much pain there.

Also, one of my front teeth is discolored and may need a root canal. He said this probably happened due to my palate being split and the nerves being moved around. He said I must wear this splint for two more weeks then he will get me in with my dentist asap to look at the tooth.

I am frustrated, concerned and a little sad about it.

This is by far the hardest thing I have every gone through. If I hadn't had my dentist, orthodontist, and three surgeons agree that I needed this, I would probably be mad at myself for doing it.

I am going back to work tomorrow. I did pretty good on Tuesday. : )

Sorry for the "not so good" update, but I know I will make it through. Blessings to you all.

Day 18 Better Pictures

Its now day 18. Things are going better. My swelling is now just in my lower face. I still look and speak funny. I still drool when I eat, and sometimes just for no reason. Kids still stare at me trying to figure it out. It is cute and doesn't bother me at all. I am sleeping better and not waking up so miserable. Thank goodness! The upper part of my lip still has pain, but it is manageable. My right upper jaw aches some but not too bad. I am just now to the point where I can say "I am glad I had the surgery". It has been a hard road. I weigh 123 pounds now. Liquid Diet... the way to loose weight. lol

I am going to try to work some next week. I have a finance report that is past due, so maybe I can hide out and work on it. We will see how that goes.

Many thanks to my friends and family reading this blog that sent gifts, cards and flowers. They are just great. I am blessed with friends near and far and I so appreciate it.

Day 12

Hello everyone. Just a note to let you know I am doing much better. I had my best meal today. I went to my mother-in-laws today for lunch. She had lots of foods but I had potatoes with gravy blended with milk and then strawberry ice cream with apple and cherry pie filling blended together. It was great. The best meal I have had so far. Maybe this blender diet is not so bad, although I would love a big cheeseburger. : ) I go to the surgeon tomorrow. Hopefully everything is going well. My only complaint now is my face... it still feels like I have walked through a fire. It is very sensitive to touch. I hope this does not last too much longer. I have been holding ice packs to it, it does help. Any tips to help???? Blessings to you all.

Day 10

Well here we are again. I am doing much better today. Maybe, just maybe we are going to make it. : )

Last night I had a hard time with the bands so my jaws hurt a lot when I went to bed, so crying with ice packs I went. It was a long night. It seems nights and early mornings when I wake up are the absolute worst times for me. It's hard to rest at night and in the morning I am completely dried out. My mouth, nose and eyes are parched. It is just miserable. I have a vapor moisturizer, but I now have a spray bottle for tonight. I thought if I spray my face when I wake up, maybe it will help. We will see.

Now to the good news...... I ate the most food at one meal today! How fun! My husband said it's like having a child and seeing all the "first". lol Okay, so I took a baked potato and mixed butter, cheese, salt, pepper, and milk with it. I blended it up and put in the the syringe. It was too thick so I added more milk, blended again and it worked! It was the first time I have felt satisfied on this liquid diet. Yay!!!!! I hope you are all doing well!!!!! Blessings : )

Viewer Discretion Advised--- Pictures Ahead

The first picture is me with my daughter about a week before surgery. Next is part of the problem. Then our precious bear and turtle we had fun making. (see day 8) Then the scary pictures... me out of surgery, day two and three, my friend Cookie cleaning me up, which I so appreciate. Next, day 6 and 7 then on to yesterday. Day 4 and 5 are too bad to post. I was just to sick to take pictures. I think I went from looking like a monkey to a turtle. lol We will see what's next.

Day 8 A Better Day

Wow, momto5minnies, 6 weeks is here for you. That is great. I am glad you told me about the tooth sensations. I haven't thought about that. I did better with the brushing this morning...thank goodness. : ) Funny at age 41 I am learning to brush my teeth. lol

I did go to the surgeon this morning. He took out the tubes out of my nose and it hurt so bad I sat there and cried. He didn't let up for a second. My daughter said they were very long. He took out some stitches and I thought it was over, but no... he then pushed my lower right jaw toward the center and I almost came off the chair. It really hurt. By then he changed the direction of the bands and it was over. I was so happy, but went straight to my ice pack.

When we left his office my husband who loves the Bass Pro Shop wanted to go to the mall. My daughter was hungry so we ended up at the Olive Garden. I ordered the soup and tried to eat with a spoon but it didn't work, so my husband went to the truck and got my syringe out. Yes, I sat in the Olive Garden and ate soup broth through a syringe. We were in a booth so I don't think many people noticed.

We then went to the mall. It helped me a lot to get out of the house. This was my first day out. My daughter and I left my husband in the Bass Pro Shop and we walked the mall. Well kind of walked the mall. We walked, then sat for awhile and then did it again. I do think it build up my energy. We did go into the Build A Bear Workshop. I made a beautiful pink bear with pink flowers on it. My daughter who is into the arts made a turtle, named it Lancelot and put a Romeo outfit on it. lol We did have fun. I would have to say, this has been my best day yet. I hope to see many more. : )

Day 7

Today has been better. I had nausea one time today and took Phenadoz 25mg for it. It made me sleep and then I felt bad after that. I told my daughter I am only taking that med or any other only if I am dying. Sometimes I think the meds make it worst. I was able to take a bath and wash my hair in the tub. I have been too weak for this before today. I have drank fresh juice from 4 apples and 1 carrot today. That did stay down. Tonight my husband helped me clean my teeth. That was gross and it hurt. I could not get all the gunk out of the "plastic thing", I hope it is not rotting my teeth. It was hard to get the bands back on. Also, I drank from a cup today. That helped me get more in.

I am not looking forward to tomorrow. I think I told you all earlier, but I also had sinus surgery and tomorrow is the day I go and have the bandages taking off and the tubes taking out of my nose. The doctor said it was a very painful thing and he cannot use pain blockers there, so he gave me Diazepam Solution 5MG to take 30 minutes before I get to his office. (my surgeons office is 1 1/2 hours from my home).

The doctor did say the anesthesia was still coming out of my body and that may be part of the nausea. I will be glad when it does come out.

I am feeling better about pictures, so maybe soon. : )

Thanks again for all your kind words and help you have offered. I do take it to heart.

Day Five & Six

Day five is a blur. I tried to eat on the evening of day four and by morning of day five I was throwing up everything, including stomach acids. It hurt really bad. I thought I was going to die, and almost wished I would. It was terrible. My mother-in-law, who is also a nurse, came over and helped me. She used phenadoz 25mg that the doctor prescribed to stop the nausea and vomiting. It worked but I was so weak and dizzy. I am still having a lot of draining.

Today is day six. I have been weak and dizzy still but managed to keep some Jello down. I have been drinking Smart water and Gatorade. I have not been vomiting today. Hopefully that is over. I have not had a lot of pain medicine today, but my head and upper jaw is hurting. I appreciate you all. I will post again tomorrow.

Day Four

It has been another day now. I am still swollen and feel bad. I have been using the ice packs and taking the pain meds. I am not brave enough to put pictures yet. They are pretty bad. When I feel better, maybe I will. I want a good after before I show the "terrible". lol

Here are the surgery details...I left my house at 6:00am and arrived at the hospital at 7:45am. The surgery started at 10:00 am. It lasted 8 hours and then 2 hours in recovery. I went to sleep before they took me to the OR. I woke up in my room but only for a few minutes. I slept the first night. Besides throwing up so much blood and it running from my nose, I think I did alright. The surgeon gave my family details on why it went so long.

He stated he moved both jaws forward, and widen the bone under my nose to help me breath better. He had to file the bone under my nose (which he didn't know he was going to have to do) so my teeth would sit right and he filed my upper teeth. He also had to widening my upper and lower jaw and when he brought them forward it made my nose smaller. He said if this had been done 10 years ago, it would have been a 16 hour surgery. He told them I was quite a challenge.

That is all I know for now. Thank you guys for all the support. "So happy for you V"

Day Three

I am home now. We went through the Chic-fli-A drive thru and got some chicken soup. (broth only) It was really good. I did sleep okay last night. My right jaw is still hurting a little. I have taken a ton of pain medicine. Not looking forward to it wearing off. Thanks to all you guys for the support. It was great when I could not talk or anything to see your post. I really appreciate it. I'll let you know tomorrow how day 4 is going, and I will be keeping up with you all daily. By the way, how are you doing V? I will check you blog. Blessings to all.

Day Two

Today is my second day post surgery. I am still in the hospital, probably going home in the morning. I am in a good amount of pain. They have bee alternating Morphine and Loratab.

I seems the doctor ran in the more problems than expected, so my surgery went from 4 t0 5 hours to 8 hours. He had to shave some of my bone down in upper jaw and file some of my teeth. I will be talking to him more tomorrow, so I will get details on what he had to do.

I got sick twice last night and threw up about a pint of blood. It was not fun, but I felt better afterwards.

I have a good bit of swelling but it is going down. I have had draining from my nose that is blood mixed. I have been on oxygen sense surgery and wrapped in ice.

Sorry this has not been a fun post. I hope you are all doing well.

The Big Day

On my way to the hospital!!! Oh' my goodness... I am a little nervous, but doing well. : )

The day before the surgery...

Hello again,

Tomorrow is my last day of eating solid foods for awhile. I have to work tomorrow, so the office staff is going out for a big lunch. I am looking forward to it. We have lots of fun at my office.

I just went out for pizza and a movie with my family. It was fun. It seems I have an ongoing list of pre-surgery things to do, so I will be busy getting it all done. I did finish the algebra finals. Made an "A". : ) Glad it is over, till fall semester anyway.

I had my pre-op visit with the hospital this week. They did paper work, took blood and did an ECG. It was pretty simple. My daughter went with me so we went to the Olive Garden and to the mall afterwards. We had a good day.

I will post again after the surgery, otherwise I will keep up with you all. Good luck "V" and Aimee. I know you both will do great!!!

Blessings!!!!

Vitamins

I have been taking several vitamins to get ready for this surgery, along with exercise and eating right. When I went to the surgeon for pre op they wanted me to stop all vitamins until after surgery except for what they gave me because I am one week away.

The vitamin they gave me is: VitaMedica

It has:

500mg Bromelian and 500mg Quercetin. This I am to start taking 3 days before my surgery.

2 capsules 3 times a day for (7-10 days) This is for bruising and swelling.

Arnica Montana 30x. This I am to take following the surgery until the bruising and swelling subsides (7-14 days) 3 tablets 3 times a day.

Hope this helps you all. : )

Pre Op with the Surgeon

Before I began... I want to thank you all for the wonderful commits on my post. You are the best! I am so glad I have you to walk with me through this. : ) Okay, I went to the surgeon yesterday for the pre op with him. They did two impressions on the upper and lower, measurements, gave me a book on blended diets, talked about facial changes, answered my questions, and gave me vitamins to take starting three days before surgery. My surgery is now only six days away. I have algebra finals today and tomorrow. I think I have bought everything I need to have on hand so the shopping is over... until I remember something else, haha. I am about ready... I think. I have to go to the hospital on Friday for pre op with them. I will post again after that appointment.