Weeks 1-2 Post-OP

Okay, I have been a little MIA since getting home from the hospital, but I haven't been feeling too bad. My first couple of days home I was in some pain and utilized the hydrocodone I was prescribed when I left the hospital, but by day 3 or 4 the pain subsided and I have been maintaining on Ibuprofen since then. Week 1 was fairly boring. I slept a lot. I ate very little. I took my meds and cared for my incisions. I felt a little like a zombie, because I had so many cuts and my head felt so huge. However, by the 1 week mark I felt well enough to socialize with some family and eat some semi-real food!

The mac n cheese had to be majorly over-cooked so I could just let it melt in my mouth, but the calories got me feeling almost human again! Unfortunately, the next day I hit a complication. While my left neck incision seemed to be healing well my right incision began to swell and bleed. It was pretty gross and a little painful. Over the past weekend I took Ibuprofen, iced my incision, and used lots of polysporin. By yesterday the incision was still draining but the swelling had gone down and the discharge was mostly clear instead of bloody.

Today I had my 2 week post-op appointment with Dr. L. I talked to him about the issue with my right neck incision. He examined it and said it doesn't appear infected (WHEW!), and believes that my saliva gland is draining through the open incision for some reason. This is a pretty rare complication, but it isn't very serious. He prescribed some medication to dry up my saliva in hopes that will help my incision to fully heal. So far, it appears to be working because I haven't had any draining this afternoon.

Now that I am 2 weeks post-op I get to start using my Therabyte to exercise my jaw. I'm supposed to use it 6 times a day and do 10 reps each time. I didn't have this tool last time so I am really hoping that it helps. I am also continuing to experience numbness in my chin and lower lip and I can't raise my eyebrows. For now, we're just going to keep an eye on it and hope for improvement. I have another follow-up in about 5 weeks. If there isn't improvement at that point we'll have to look at options.

For now I have the green light to begin experimenting with real food. Dr. L said that my joints and stable and eating shouldn't hurt anything. So, here's hoping!

This is me at 2 weeks post-op:

Surgery Day!

SO, it's surgery day! I'm going to give you a brief play to play, because I'm posting after the fact.

I arrived at the hospital at roughly 5:00am to be admitted and do all the pre-surgery stuff.

All set with my ugly yellow hospital socks, tubes, and wires. Unlike last time, I was familiar with the routine and didn't need any anti-anxiety meds before surgery. They gave me the run down, and I tried my best to reiterate how sick I got last time. Surgery ended up lasting longer than expected (8 hours instead of the projected 6), because they had quite a bit of difficulty removing the hardware from my previous surgery.

So, after a day of surgery I woke up in recovery just wanting to die. I was in pain and extremely nauseated. Throwing up after jaw surgery is THE WORST. Apparently, I was in recovery for a few hours because I had difficulty waking up and I was so sick. When I finally got to my room I was joined my my mom and boyfriend, given more effective medication to help with pain and nausea, and I promptly passed out.

Day 1 post-op ended up not being nearly as bad as last time. They kept my pain and nausea under control and I was actually able to eat some in the hospital! Although I looked rough I didn't feel too bad.

As you can see, I was pretty swollen. They made incisions on either side of my neck and along my ears into my hairline just a bit. I was in the hospital for just a day. Since I did well with my pain and eating they went ahead and let me go home the next night after surgery. The worst part was definitely waking from surgery, but pain and nausea were kept at bay by medication and I felt much more aware and interactive than I had last time at this point. I am currently on a pureed food diet, but I do not have a splint or wire keeping my mouth closed. So, I feel relatively normal all things considered. I am hopeful for a smoother recovery than I had with my last jaw surgery!