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: