Day 9: Errands

Day 9 of Double Jaw Surgery

It's Saturday and I slept in until 9AM. The weather is gloomy and rainy out, very much unlike the days prior. I decided to be productive and do my weekly apartment cleaning by vacuuming, dusting, countertops, bathroom, etc. Funny how much less I'm cleaning the kitchen because I'm not cooking every day anymore! It felt great and I had my breakfast of Ensure right out of the bottle, no more syringing like I said. Then a friend invited me to come along and run errands. Sounds boring, but I welcome interaction and getting outside.

Head Feels Tight
Once I did get outside though, it was quite chilly and we drove around town to get various things done. It was a tad exhausting, only because of the coldness and being in the car in traffic. The cold really messed with my head and everything felt tight, I mean, I do have plates screwed into my jaw now, heh.

Nevertheless, it was nice to spend time with someone and we got myself 6 dozen more Ensures because I've been drinking 2 bottles per meal now to fill up. I also picked up a few different soups that could be reduced to be runnier and smoother to drink, while my jaw is still shut. Because of all the rubber bands, it's hard to pass liquid through that's too thick. I bought tomato soup, pumpkin bisque, and cheddar and broccoli soup. We'll see how it goes when I try to blend it even more... I'll keep ya posted!

Week 2 nutritional arsenal

Day -1 vs Day 9 Comparison!
In other news, I was really curious to see the difference between my old face and current face. After seeing just a swollen face the past 9 days, I almost forgot what I used to look like! So I decided to put my Before and After thus far side by side.. and the result? I loved it! It is so great to see the difference and it really solidifies the fact that I made the right decision. I cannot wait for the swelling to go down further and the rubber bands off. Progress! Progress!

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!

Day 7: No More Meds!

YAYYY!! I finished all my meds this morning! No more nasty, crushed steroid tablets and liquid antibiotics. The only thing left is my oral rinse 3x a day. I wonder how my body will react after today without the medication.

Day 7 of Double Jaw Surgery

Energetic and Calm
Each morning I'm feeling more energetic than the morning prior. I got up early again around 8AM, had my last dosage of meds, breakfast, and then watched a little TV.  After that I pretty much listened to music again for the majority of the day and continued blogging. I am now up to date. Today is actually today haha.

The weather has been gorgeous outside! I wish I could enjoy it and really walk outside for a long time or take my car out for a drive. I'm starting to miss driving because I love my car. I did open up my windows yesterday and today to let fresh air in. Remember, it's November - why is it 70-degrees outside?! I'm not complaining - it's just crazy! Tomorrow will be 78-degress!

Friendly Visit
My work bestie came by today for about 2 hours. It was awesome! Visits help me practice talking more and move my lips as well. After a while, the bottom half of my face gets stiff. You have to practice smiling, talking, smirking left and right - get some life back in those cheeks haha. It was great catching up. She was also surprised how well I looked considering double jaw surgery! I agree... Brandie was so sweet to bring me some apple cider that I can heat up and drink. Just a nice change of pace of liquids to drink.

Nutrition
I'm coming close to the end of my initial Ensure supply. I bought 4 6-packs, total of 24 bottles, and I have a day's worth left. Tomorrow is my 1-week post op appointment with my surgeon Dr. Baker where I'm expected to take half of my bands taken off. That should allow me to possibly gain a little more mobility in my jaw and maybe be able to make my own shakes that were originally too thick to pass through now. I'll see what the word is tomorrow.

Bruised
You can't really tell in photos - maybe because of my lighting and my phone - but I have some bruising down my neck and on my left cheek near the suture. The worst is on my arm where the IV was. It's actually worse than what the picture shows you. Brandie and I laughed - it's like a scene of Walking Dead. It doesn't hurt, it just looks wicked.

Awake
Today is the first day that I havn't felt the need to take a nap. I've been awake all day and it being almost 8PM now, I'm still not tired. I'm looking forward to a good night's rest again tonight as I get over the 1 week hump!

Yayyy!! It's been exactly 1 week since surgery. Time flew!

Day 6: Bored

I've had really great sleep the last few nights. I've slept all the way through a good 8 hours each night. There also has been no change in pain and discomfort.

Day 6 of Double Jaw Surgery

Swelling seems to stay around the same. I've been taking these photos in the AM.. I wonder if I took them later in the day if they would be different. Ehhhh.. I don't feel like changing it up lol. Gotta keep it consistent now.

Bored
I'm really tired of watching TV now. There's only so much mindless TV you can watch and be entertained before it gets too much and too noisy.  I've depleted and caught up to all my DVR'd shows like Walking Dead, The Affair, Homeland, Scandal, blackish, Fresh Off the Boat, and your usual list of reality TV shows. After finishing watching all my shows in the morning, I finally sat down to blog my last few days. I did a few day's worth yesterday and shared the link on Facebook so my friends can see what I've been up to. As I've disclaimered before, I wrote my posts after the actual day because I didn't really feel like writing or the attention span to do so.

It's been really nice recapping my days and listening to my precious Spotify. Just great background music as I reflect.

Irritations
On the bitter side, my teeth are starting to hurt. They are sensitive, almost like a cavity hurt or sweet tooth ache. Mostly my molars are bothered and sensitive. Probably because I have yet to brush my teeth properly and only been using the oral rinse.

My nose has also continued to bleed runny liquid all day! I did remove some mucous, which helped for a little, but then more runny nose issues ensued.

I did take a nap for 45 minutes in the evening and then rented Pay-Per-View of Southpaw. I love Jake Gyllenhaal. He's my celebrity man crush! It's a really great movie, with wonderful acting and intensity.

Day 5: Crazy Pores

Day 5 of Double Jaw Surgery

 
Woke up refreshed and more energetic today! My swelling seems to have gone down a tad. Did my usual morning routine of medication and breakfast. I am halfway through the steroid pills and cannot wait for it to be done with! Yuck!

Greasy Face and Landmine Pores
If you haven't noticed by now on yourself, my face got extremely greasy in the beginning. Since I've regularly cleansed my face, it's been better. I've noticed that looking in the mirror and when I gently rub facial cleanser into my face that my pores on my nose and the cheek area below my eyes are out of control. They are protruding and the gunk is pressing out, probably because of all the swelling. So after I got everything done in the morning, I took a walk to Target and bought myself a box of Biore Pore Strips. The pores on my nose have always been very visible and they've always had a combo of black and white heads on them that I had to extract every now and them. But now they were literally protruding out of my pores and it was a really bumpy landscape. Gross, I know.

When I returned home, I quickly re-cleansed my nose area, left it wet, and then placed the strip over my nose as instructed. After 10 minutes, I peeled the strip off carefully and the results were amazing and gross at the same time, hahaha! I have no pic of it, but basically all those nasty bumps were extracted and on the strip. My nose felt smoother and cleaner. Yay! I will probably do this again in a few days.

Pho Broth Delivery!
A friend of mine, who also happens to be a nurse at the hospital I was in, checked in on me and offered to bring me some pho broth. How could I decline this offer? She came by late morning and drove to several restaurants to see if they could just sell broth. She's so awesome! After finding a place that did, she came and dropped off 3 containers - 2 chicken and 1 beef pho broth. Thank you Jen!!! They were so tasty. Was it nutritional? Probably not very much and it had sodium, but the flavors were yummy. Again, anything to change it from the strawberry/vanilla/chocolate Ensure variety is a nice change.

I then took a nice midday nap. Today is the first day I put on my contacts again. I thought it was going to be uncomfortable but it was a nice change. No more pushing my glasses up and getting a headache from the bridge of my nose. I don't ever wear glasses, so this was the longest time I've wore them in a row - ever.

Runny Nose
My nose has been leaking fluid a lot today after I cleared the mucous the other day. I keep having to stuff tissues again into my nostrils. The post-op instructions did say that if it continues actively I should contact doc. It's not active, per se. Just small leakage every so OFTEN. Seeing the doc in 2 days anyway for my 1 week post-op appointment. I'll see what he says about it then.


Tingly
For the past couple days I've been getting tingly/prickly sensation around my gum line. I guess my nerves are waking up more and more. It's just a funny feeling. The sensation is also on my lips. My lips are definitely not as swollen anymore. 

Day 4: Fresh Air

Woke up pretty early this morning around 7AM. My mom is coming into town to visit and help with whatever I still need. I felt extra energetic today and was able to administer all my meds and meals myself. Was it exhausting? Hell yes! But I felt proud and continue to feel blessed how well I am recovering.

Day 4 of Double Jaw Surgery

I think today my swelling is worse than yesterday. Looking at these photos - it really doesn't look that bad still though!

Chatter Box
My mom came around noon and we talked a lot! It felt great to talk and move my lips. Everyone can understand me fine. My speech may be a bit muffled as can be expected, but for the most part, people can understand you.  I did a lot of talking and after a while, it got the best of me. I was wiped out and had to take a nap for an hour.

I can sort of smile now.

Venturing Outdoors
After waking up a bit more refreshed, we decided to take a walk around my neighborhood to get some fresh air and be a little active. Boy, oh boy - that was a nice change! It was beautiful out and I live in a mixed-use community where everything is super convenient. A Mixed-Use Community is basically a development that combines residential with commercial uses, making a much more pleasant living situation. My neighborhood is an up and coming development where everything is walkable, with a Target, movie theater, restaurants (none that I can enjoy now), clothing shops, specialty shops, etc. all surrounded by apartments and townhouses. Anyway, we walked down to one of the newly opened jewelry shops and redeemed my free voucher for a pair of custom made earrings I gifted my mom.

You select what type of jewelry, metal, stone, and color you want and they assemble it
right in front of you! Pretty cool.

We looped back home and I was tired again. It was really nice getting some fresh air and moving my legs a bit more than just around the apartment.

Discomfort
I didn't go to bed until 10PM today. After my mom left, I sat and watched TV for hours. All the talking from earlier caused my jaw and nose to feel extremely tight and the TV noise gave me ear fatique. I was just ready to shut everything off and pass out.

Day 3: Potato Head and Snot!

I heard Day 3 and 4 are the peak swelling periods for this procedure and based on how I look, they've got it right lol!

Day 3 of Double Jaw Surgery

Mrs. Potato Head suits me right now. Another blogger termed it as such as well. Although, looking at the above picture, it still doesn't look that swollen! Believe it or not, today I peaked I think.

Today isn't much different. Still blessed with no pain. My nose is becoming increasingly hard to breathe through. I sound like Darth Vador. Due to my blocked nostrils, I have to breathe through my nose, which is making my lips dry out a bit.

Snot Attach
I've been stuffing small bits of tissue paper/toiler paper/gauze at the ends of my nostrils to keep the runny mess from dripping out. I left one of the tissues in too long and when I tried to pull it out, it adhered to a dried up snot ball!! After looking up my nose, there was more where that came from and it was full of slime.  It wouldn't really come out by just pulling, so I took a toothpick and "attached" the snot to it and twisted it out so it would adhere to the wood. LMAO! It was pretty disgusting. It was a mixture of mucous and blood. The photo below isn't even all of it, it was just the beginning.

 I will say that after removing both huge snot balls from my nostrils, I could breathe so well again!! I didn't hear myself breathing in and out deep anymore. Such a relief!


Nutrition
Other than that, I drank more water today than the past couple days. Other than water, I've been drinking Ensure to keep up with my nutrition. I bought 4 varieties of Ensure:

• Ensure Plus - Milk Chocolate and Strawberry
• Ensure Active - Milk Chocolate and Vanilla

By this point, I've tasted each of the four. Here is how they rank:

1. Ensure Plus Milk Chocolate
2. Ensure Plus Strawberry
3. Ensure Active Milk Chocolate
4. Ensure Active Vanilla

The Actives don't taste good to me at all, especially the Vanilla. Both just seem chalky to me. I much prefer the Plus's and they are quite tasty. I have no problem with them at all as other bloggers have mentioned. I'm used to drinking protein shakes in general from working out, just never like this.

Eating is an exhausting process. Squirting the liquid out of the syringe into your mouth, swallowing in small quantities, and refilling it takes a lot of strength when you're not getting a lot of nutition in the first place.

HOMEMADE CHICKEN BROTH! My friend is so awesome! His mom made chicken broth from scratch with veggies and everything and then strained it to broth consistency. He brought over a container of delicious home made chicken broth. I'll enjoy having that for a few days in between meals.

Bowel Movement Started
I am more active around the house though. I can walk around fine, use the bathroom, etc. Speaking of which! I had my first bowel movement today. That was a good sign of things going back to normal. Though it wasn't a lot as you can imagine on an all-liquid diet - it was something.