Day 8: First Post-Op Appointment

This is the first night that I didn't sleep very well. I woke up twice and tossed and turned my lower body (since that's all I can do haha). I ended up waking up at 7AM, took a bath, had breakfast, and blow-dried my hair.

Day 8 of Double Jaw Surgery

It's the small things of putting on contacts, drying my hair, and putting on some eyeliner (for the first time since surgery) to feel more put together. My swelling is definitely less than the past days.

1-Week Post-Op Appointment
My other work bestie, Sabrina, came over this morning and graciously took me to my doc appointment. I'm still not confident to drive around, especially in Northern VA traffic! Today is such a gorgeous day at 78-degrees in November. Crazy! Dr. Baker has a NoVA office that's much closer to me than Georgetown University Hospital. We got there in about 20 minutes and as Sabrina waited downstairs, I entered the office excited to see everyone.

When I opened the door, I waved enthusiastically and the 2 receptionists smiled and waved back happy to see me. They asked how I was doing, already knowing by my joyous attitude, I told them that I'm fantastic! I recapped that I've felt no pain since the night of surgery and feel really great. They both express their wonder at how remarkably I'm healing with minimal swelling at this point and be so easily understood when I speak.  One of them jokes about how I should talk to all their patients. One of the assistants walks me back into the examining room and I update her that I'm out of all my meds and how I've been healing.

Then Dr. Baker came in and examined the inside of my mouth. After he looked, he said that although we talked about removing some of the rubber bands at Week 1, we're going to leave them in. The reason is that he had the Splint, fit the Splint and then took it out because the right side was open and it looked like something the orthodontist could probably close, but it would have been a lot more braces for me in the end. So he took the Splint out because the other 2 plates looked perfect, and brought down the plates more and closed it better. Basically, there's no Splint and it would have normally held all my teeth in alignment and because there's none, he'll keep me rubber-banded together a little bit longer and that will serve as my Splint. He assured me that I really look good for having gone through such a surgery and that my surgery went really well.

He checked to see which parts of my face I could feel and I told him that I could feel everything except for my upper left lip and part of cheek. Normally patients are numb under both sides of the lip/chin, but he said when he did the lower splits, he didn't even see the nerves because they were completely within the bone. I might be effected a little, but not a lot.

He also said that I can gently brush my teeth and I should go to regular mouthwash vs the oral rinse. The assistant was called back into the room to remove my stitches on my lower cheeks from the lower jaw surgery. Within less than 10 minutes, she cleaned up the old glue of the old strips off my skin, took out the stitches and placed new strips on to prevent infection. I keep them on until they fall off themselves.

Clipping the stitch and removing it. Just a little tug. No pain.

Stitch out!

Afterwards, I made my appointment for the following Friday for my 2-week post op. Sabrina took me back to my neighborhood and I asked her to drop me off at Target to get some more Ensure.

I did forget to ask Dr. Baker about my nose leaking fluid every so often.. I called the office back and asked one of the ladies about it. She assured me it is normal and it is better to let it drain out and keep pulling out the big buggers if they build up. That's good to hear - I had a feeling it was normal, but I still wanted to make sure.

Beautiful, Hot Day
I got myself 2 dozen Ensure bottles for now and then sat outside for a little bit to enjoy the breeze and weather. I people watched and just relished in the sun for a few moments.

Kind-hearted Neighbors
As I walked back home, I decided to stop by my favorite Thai restaurant downstairs and greeted the owner, Tammy. I've spoken to her several times and make sure I say hi to her every time I do see her when I go. We hugged and I updated her on my surgery. I asked if she had any soups she thought I could eat that aren't spicy. She went to the kitchen and brought me container of wonton soup, sans wonton.  I was about to pull out my wallet and I had every intention to pay for it, even if it's just broth haha, but she stopped me and said this would be no charge and to enjoy it. I was so thankful! I continue to be blessed and it was really sweet for her to help me! Thank you again Tammy! I can't wait to eat their real food again.

My gifted wonton broth from the best Thai place!

My last real meal there the week prior to surgery.... yummmm!

I headed back home, downed 2 Ensures and some of the wonton soup. Yes, I was hungry. Watched a little TV and just relaxed a little bit after being outside and walking around so much.

Enjoying the Outdoors
One look out my window, I knew I had to get back out there and enjoy it before it starts getting cold again the following week. I packed up my laptop, phone, bluetooth headset, book, tissues (for my runny nose), and my 60mL syringe for water and headed outside. I planted myself outside of my favorite neighborhood coffee shop and blogged the goings of my day today. :)

Yes, I had a little tissue stuck up my nose because it was starting to run again. No shame. Gotta do watchu gotta do lol.  It was only in for a few minutes and it behaved the rest of the 2 hours.


Drinking Out of a Cup
I'm not sure what I'll do the rest of the night. It's a Friday night. A gorgeous, warm night. I'll finish my laundry - I really only just washed my sheets and towels since that was all that really needed to be done.  I relaxed a bit on the couch again, had some leftover pho broth and then tried drinking out of a Dixie cup. I heard others trying this much earlier.. I just didn't think about it. I started out by filling a Dixie cup with water and then slowly placed it on my lips to drink. Result? No problem! So after I finished that small cup, I immediately drank out of my master cup that I've been using to fill my water syringe and had no issues either! I'll be drinking my water out of a cup from now on. :)
See video below.

Brushing Teeth and Regular Mouthwash

After my doc said I can brush my teeth and use regular mouthwash, it's exactly what I did tonight. I used a baby toothbrush because it's smaller and softer with regular paste. It was a little awkward to brush because the bristles only hit the rubber bands and not really the teeth. I tipped the brush a little to try to get the teeth and gumline and then swished my mouth out with water. I followed up with a swig of Crest Pro-Health Alcohol-Free Mouthwash and that was fine. I'll continue to brush my teeth at least twice a day and mouthwash after each meal.

Phew!! This was a long post but I got a lot done today!