Re: Re: One Week + One Day Post Op

December 16, 2004

Hi ,

Can you give some tips on cleaning the mouth,

specially the teeth? I spend the whole day drinking

and cleaning, but it's hard to keep the back clean,

that is really uncomfortable.

Take Care,

Dani

--- datlamb wrote:

>

> I am really glad you're OK.

>

> I survived too! Saw the OS and OD today and they are

> happy. Message

> from both being the more you do, the better you'll

> be. Unlike you,

> i'm wired which makes things pretty difficult diet

> wise. My mainstay

> is clam chowder liquified and strained and diluted

> with chicken broth.

>

> I have been lucky with swelling and sensation. OS

> said 2 months ahead

> of the norm for upper/lower/genio. But I did look

> vvvvv bad in

> hospital! 3 sets of successive visitors walked past

> me.

>

> Exhausted noew. Gonna continue with iron supplement

> thouh that makes

> me nauseous. Got A grades on hygiene today which was

> my main concern,

>

> Take care and keep on writing

>

> >

> > Okay, so I'm finally back to report on my surgery

> December 8. I had

> lower + paranasal

> > implants (tiny implants near the curve of your

> nostrils) and an

> injection of Restylane in my

> > upper lip, courtesy my surgeon.

> >

> > I had absolutely no anxiety about the surgery. I

> mean, it was

> weird. I was totally relaxed at

> > the hospital, joking with the nurses. It may have

> had something to

> do with the nausea

> > patch my doctor gave me the day before. I

> explained to her that I'm

> a " thrower-upper. " I

> > vomit very easily and thought I probably would

> after waking up from

> surgery, so she gave

> > me a patch to put behind my ear. It made me a

> little spacy, thus

> the lack of anxiety pre-

> > op.

> >

> > The last thing I remember before being knocked out

> was telling my

> surgeon that it was

> > still raining. Then, I hear voices telling me

> they're moving me to

> the gurney. I feel wet

> > around my eyes and say " Why am I crying? " The

> anesthesiologist

> says, " It's normal " and

> > then I hear my surgeon say " You did great. " In

> the recovery room I

> start shaking

> > uncontrollably. I'm freezing. I hear a nurse say

> " Wow, she's really

> shaking. Give her some

> > Demerol. " I start to warm up a bit but I'm still

> cold. I ask,

> through tightly banded teeth, if I

> > can have another blanket. I'm amazed that the

> nurse can understand

> me. I realize then

> > that my lower teeth are behind my upper teeth for

> the first time in

> my life.

> >

> > I get warmed up and am moved to another recovery

> room. I change

> back into my own

> > clothes (a nurse helps me) and in an hour I'm

> wheeled down to the

> patient pick up area.

> > My boyfriend squeals, " you still look like

> yourself! " He was really

> worried that I would look

> > completely different.

> >

> > That night is pretty much a blur. I have a bit of

> a chocolate

> protein shake and some

> > chicken broth but I have no appetite. I remember

> getting the zip-n-

> squeeze bags and

> > thinking, " What, these little bags aren't big

> enough. " I'm lucky if

> I can get down 1/4 of the

> > bags over the next three days.

> >

> > One big gaff -- I'm sent home without pain

> medication! This sounds

> worse that it was as I

> > didn't have much pain. But I did need sleep and

> without the

> knockout medicine I didn't get

> > any.

> >

> > The next two days are rough. I start to gag on the

> antibiotic they

> give me -- clindimyacin

> > (not sure of spelling, I've blocked it out of

> mind). Then I start

> to vomit. The patch wasn't

> > enough. I wasn't able to keep anything down, not

> food or medicine

> for two days. Really

> > awful. Oh, and my face is about the size of a

> zeppelin at this

> point. My doctor switches me

> > over to penecillin and I slowly start to come back

> to life. I'm

> able to eat a little and keep it

> > down and this helps immensely. Saturday night I

> take a walk around

> the block and start to

> > feel a little human. Of course, I am walking in

> the dark so nobody

> can see my swelling and

> > bruises.

> >

> > On Sunday things start to pick up. The more I eat

> and drink the

> better I feel. The funny

> > thing is, all of the healthy stuff I picked up

> pre-surgery doesn't

> appeal to me. Protein

> > spirulina shakes? Um, no. On Sunday I get a

> craving for Chef

> Boyardee mini-ravioli. My

> > boyfriend liquifies them with some chicken broth

> and I am in heaven.

> >

> > Things have been getting better with each day.

> Swelling peaked on

> Saturday for me (day 3

> > post-op). I'm still have these terrible bruises

> beside my mouth. It

> really looks like I got

> > beat up! I still sleep a lot during the day and I

> don't get more

> than 4 or 5 hours at night. I

> > took my first daylight walk yesterday in the

> sunshine. It felt

> wonderful. Of course, I

> > collapsed into bed when I got home.

> >

> > So on the whole -- it's been much harder than I

> thought it would

> be. And I only got lower

> > and some implants! Maybe I'm just a wimp. I must

> say, my jaw

> doesn't bother me a bit. It's

> > my mid-face area where I got the implants and my

> upper lip is like

> a hockey puck from the

> > injection. Vanity!

> >

> > Maddie

>

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December 16, 2004