T-1 Day: Prep time!

I am one good night's sleep away from my jaw being cut and moved to its rightful place!! Truth be told, it still hasn't hit me that the day has come. I've been waiting so long for this to happen. Right now my mind is completely occupied with work and making sure my colleagues have everything they need to take over my work while I'm out on leave. I hardly had any time to prep anyone because I just returned from a staycation to attend all my pre-surgical appointments and deal with a car accident I was involved with a couple months ago.

The majority of today I visited some of my work locations to say goodbye to my teams with my old face (it sounds weird, but it's true), cleaned my entire apartment so it's clean for my family and myself when I return, and stocked/packed supplies.

Alas, the day is near and I've been perusing a ton of blogs to see what I need to do in prep for surgery and what to expect. I never read any of them in full, only bits and pieces. With all the blog resources and my surgeon's recommendations, I was able to gather a list of items to get for my overnight stay and home recovery. Both lists are originally from Rox's Jaw Surgery and edited a little bit for me. I'll return to this post to edit what was useful after surgery.

My Hospital Supplies:

• Loose fitting tee and PJ bottoms, thick socks, and underwear
• Breathe Right Nasal Strips (sensitive skin)
• Baby tooth brush
• Baby wipes to clean my face
• Sleep mask
• Small flashlight to help clean nose
• Aquaphor Lip Repair lip balm
• Post-its and pen for family to write me notes if they left
• Small pedestal mirror to use for syringing liquids
• Soft tissues
• Large ziplock bag to bring home used syringes
• Extension cord for my cell charger
• Thank You Cards for nurses
• Couple magazines if I get bored and my journal

EDIT POST-SURGERY: I had a completely different experience it seems than others.. I did not use ANY of these supplies during my one night stay! I was way too out of it to even bother putting on a sleep mask, let alone be coherent enough to write thank you cards to all the 6+ nurses who took care of me in shifts (and how was I supposed to remember their names???). That doesn't mean that I needed some of these items when I got home, like the nasal strips, flashlight, pedestal mirror and lip balm in particular. 

My Home Recovery Supplies:

• Heating pad for sore neck
• Children's Advil
• Ocean Nasal Spray
• Hydrogen Peroxide
• Alcohol-free mouthwash
• Ensure drinks (all flavors and different types, i.e. Plus, Active)
• Chicken broth
• Tomato Soup
• Gogurt
• Greek Yogurt
• Prune Juice for fiber
• Apple Juice
• Ginger Ale
• 3 oz. Dixie cups to relearn how to drink
• Pillow wedge (bought a long time ago at Bed, Bath & Beyond)
• Large bolster for under the knees for comfort (bought from Amazon a while ago too)

The pillow wedge on the bottom coupled with my curved pillow on top to elevate me even higher. The round bolster is especially helpful too! It takes the pressure off your lower back by placing it right under your knees. I got the idea from years long of massages I've had. You'll sleep really well!