One Week + One Day Post Op

[Guest guest]

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

[Guest guest]

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