Day 15: Jumping for Joy!

As of yesterday I've officially passed the two week mark! And to mark this grand occasion I went to the orthodontists...woo... However, this actually turned out to be a great appointment and I am  set to get my braces off this Fall! I was so excited, after starting with orthodontics a decade ago (that makes me feel rather old), I am definitely ready to be finished.

Aside from that spectacular news, I feel mostly healed as well, even though this isn't the case. My bones still need to finish fusing, but the only "complications" I'm really having anymore are a little bit of residual swelling, postnasal drip, and exhaustion. The postnasal drip is the biggest downer. It is normal after upper jaw surgery to have the stated drip, but in my case I have been dealing with fits of severe coughing because the postnasal drip has aggravated my ever so asthmatic airways. It is slowly getting better though with loads of cough syrup, albuterol, and water, so I am hoping it will dissipate within the next few days.

So far, week three is shaping up to be much better than either week on or two. The best advice I can give to anyone else reading this to prepare for their own surgery is to sleep and stay busy when you aren't resting; it's vital to not dying of boredom. Keep your activities low key though and mind your doctors orders. Personally, I passed time with the magazines, word games, and movies that people kindly dropped off. Reading was generally out of the question though due to the swelling and coughing (I don't like being interrupted every half page). Oh, and I made myself a new hat...in summer...

Also, ask questions, make comments, or have dance parties in the comments boxes if you so choose, I will gladly reply(:

Day 13: Heavenly Potatoes, the Week One Catch Up

Due to the laziness I have acquired the past 18 years, and the desire I do not have to write an essay about "hell week", this shall be another one of my magical bullet posts. So, I hope this not only satisfies everyone's curiosities, but also makes room for more fun things you could be doing this summer. Here we go.

Day One: Hospital Holiday:
Pros:

• I get to sleep as much as I want.
• My bed is rather comfy.
• HOT BLANKETS(:
• Nurse Tina alerted people that I cannot talk! 
• Morphine button.

Cons:

• There is a gnarly tube up my nose to suck up fluids.
• Said tube is sucking up nearly 55cc's of blood and snot.
• When I press my call button to be disconnected from my IV and nose tube to pee, the nurses say "What do you need?" over intercom... I cannot talk. Oh the irony.
• I have to wear weird pulsating boots to keep my circulation going.

Day Two: Homeward Bound:

Pros:

• I get to go home!
• I can wear my own clothes again, no more bootylicious hospital gown.
• My IV/ snot tube/ boots are taken off.
• I got to take a shower.
• We missed most of the potholes on the way back.
• I got food! Kind of...

Cons:

• We had to sit in a car for two hours.
• I had to be awake so my head wouldn't hit the windshield.
• Still feeling pretty icky.
• I can't blow my nose, and there is quite a bit of snot.

Days Three- Five: Oh, the Humanity!

Pros:

• ....
• ......
• .........

Cons:

• You cannot blow your nose, which is way worse than it sounds.
• I had issues reaching even 1200 calories on a liquid diet.
• I threw up due to post nasal drip.
• Jaw spasms started.
• I was stuck sleeping upright in a chair.
• My swelling peaked, it was all the way to my eyes.
• Overall, I felt pretty cruddy.
• Had intestinal issues, couldn't use the bathroom.
• Most Ensure-type products are disgusting.
• Pain.

Days Six-Seven: Things are Looking Up:

Pros:

• I started to feel much better.
• My calorie intake was up.
• Down to oxycodone only in the mornings.
• On day seven I got to switch out my bands which entailed:
• Brushing my teeth.
• Eating a twice baked potato. (Heaven, difficult to eat, but heaven)
• Graduating to a no-chew diet instead of purely liquid.
• My energy is back up a bit.

Cons:

• Still feeling week sometimes.
• Sleeping is difficult, making my insomnia worsen.
• No-chew diets still aren't a party.
• Jaw spasms continue on.

Despite all of this, once the first week is over things get much easier. I even got to mash up cupcakes and eat them yesterday! The only thing that is really still bothering me is a cough that has come up due to that dreaded post-nasal drip. However, this is normal, it's just aggravated to due my asthma. Random fact: I can feel one of the screws in my face! It's really trippy.

New post Wednesday!

Day 10: Human Contact

I lied again, and I apologize. This is not the super massive post that I promised; however, that will come eventually. I was lucky enough to see some of my friends today and I just couldn't bear to leave mumbling inappropriate jokes and playing pool with them to blog. So, this is about solely the current week.

As you can probably tell from my billiards bonanza, I am feeling much better that I was when you all last heard from me on Day 1. I'm still not 100% myself, especially in my facial region, but my energy is back up. Earlier this week, Tuesday if you want to get technical, I had a visit with my surgeon for my one week update. All is going well and on track, the only thing I was chastised for a bit was my diet which I was slacking on. Although, I'm up in calories and protein intake now. The other major part of my appointment was quite a perk, I got my huge clunky bands off and they were demoted to much more manageable five elastics that I can take off for two hours a day. I also get to brush my teeth now instead of just rinse: it's heavenly. Seriously, never go a week without brushing if you don't desire to deal with scaggy breath and mouth goo. Not fun. Aside from that I'm finally off of my rather unpalatable antibiotic and down to oxycodone once in the morning for pain.

Jaw surgery has been a blessing in disguise. My bite is so much better and I'm healing much faster than I ever expected. I have a visit with my ortho on Wednesday, and I'm hoping he'll say I can get my braces off around September. Wishful thinking, yes, but it's worth a shot.