Re: SARA:

[Guest guest]

WAY TO GO SARA!!

I am so proud of you!! Sounds like a little scary experience with

that caterer. The worst part of all my other surgeries has always

been that darn caterer in the arm. It really bothers me and hurts

like heck. So it was about a 5.5 hour surgery, which is what they

are predicting for mine. You know it probably wouldn't of been bad

if you were stuck in a room with good looking men..(haha)

This week just seems to be dragging by...For some reason I keep

thinking about that letter that my first surgeon wrote me stating

that with my dental history this surgery was to complex for him to

handle and felt that I would end up with major complications after

the surgery. I know get it out of the head and keep my positive

thoughts..(haha)

Anyway, let me know how that bungee works on Mt. Everest..(haha) I

will write you a little later today. I am at work here thinking

about nothing but the surgery..(haha)

> Hi all, this is my first post post-op. Well I survived surgery amd

made

> it back home in record time! Surgery started at 1pm yesterday and

ended

> at 6:30pm and I was back home today by 2:30pm. Thank god because I

had

> to spend the whole night in the recovering unit as there were no

beds

> left in LIJ hospital. What's more they put me in the mens section

in

> the recovering unit which wouldn't have been so bad if the guy next

> door to me hadn't insisted on telling jokes all night, ones that I

did

> not find amusing:-( On the plus side it meant that I had a nurse

> checking in one me pretty much every hour which was reassuring.

>

> Surgery details: I had an upper leforte 1. My palet was dissected

into

> three pieces and expanded. I can feel a little cut in the middle of

my

> palet from where they cut it but it has already started healing

which

> is good news. They removed only my two upper bicuspids and not my

three

> wisdom teeth as my doctors claimed I would have been in major pain

> today. My upper jaw was moved up and they removed a piece of bone

above

> my gum line to allow for this. My lower jaw swung right into place

> perfectly. My mouth is now banded shut with only two VERY tight

elastic

> bands which actually feel like four bands because they are wrapped

> around my hooks in a box shape. I have a splint which by the looks

of

> it is not that big but boy does it feel clunky. Eating, or rather

> getting liquids in, as well as talking is proving a nightmare but I

am

> confident I will get there eventually.

>

> When I woke up post-surgery I still had the nasal gastric tube in

my

> nose. Let me tell all you pre-oppers this. This tube is your friend

> even if it looks grosse! I had a lot of blood in my stomach and

thanks

> to this tube I was able to get all the blood out of my stomach and

not

> vomit once. It also helped me breathe very well. Surprisingly when

I

> woke up I was breathing totally from my nose without struggling. A

> first for me as I am a mouth breather. When they removed the tube

it

> hurt a little but nothing major. Unfortunately my sinuses are very

sore

> right now. I am using ice packs to desensitize them and it seems to

be

> working. What else. Ah yes, the catherer. Well I had two. One in my

arm

> and one for down there, you know where. The 'toilet' catherer I was

> very thankful for because there is no way I would have been able to

get

> up to go to the bathroom until this morning. I was already asleep

when

> they put the catherer in so no embarassment there. When they took

out

> the catherer it took less than 3 seconds and didn't hurt at all. It

> also did not hurt after to go the the bathroom. Sorry about the

details.

>

> The catherer in my arm on the other hand hurt like hell.

Unfortunately

> this catherer is essential because this is where they administered

my

> IV. I know from previous operations that this catherer has always

hurt

> me at times but today it really hurt bad! Unfortunately it was the

> first time my mother left me on my own for 30 mins post-surgery.

She

> left me in the recovering unit under the supposed watchful eye of

the

> nurses. The problem was that suddenly the catherer and IV started

to

> really hurt. SO much so that I started crying. A first throughout

the

> whole surgery procedure. NO ONE NOTICED or they chose to ignore me

> which got me even more frustrated and I suspect worsened the pain

in my

> mind. I had to start waving my other arm and bang the side of the

bed

> with my wipe-board to get someones attention. Eventually a nurse

came

> over and said, " there's no reason it should be hurting you, " and

> promptly went back to her desk to gossip with her colleague. Such

was

> my first encounter with not being able to talk back clearly and

tell

> someone to shove it up you know where. Eventually my nurse showed

up

> and blocked the IV.

>

> That I have to say was my only bad surgery experience. I was up and

> walking as of this morning at 8am. I had my last morphine shot at

5am

> this morning. The next pain killer dose I took was this evening at

6pm

> once I was at home. This was tylenol and codene which put me nicely

to

> sleep. I've not in major pain. More than anything it's my sinuses

and

> my joints feel really stiff, as if they are being forced into their

new

> position which is exactly what's happening. As soon as I woke up

this

> mroning I remembered to do my breathing exercises and to cough as

much

> as possible. I had quite a bit of phlem built up in my lungs from

the

> anesthesia but nothing to worry about. I have to say, taking deep

> breaths and walking around the ward, as well as going to the

bathroom

> did a lot for me not just physically in terms of getting the

anethesia

> out of my system but also in terms of my mental state. I felt

better

> and positive about my recovery.

>

> Doctor Scwartz came in to see me this morning at 8am and removed my

> bandages that were wrapped around my head. He was amazed by how

little

> swelling I had. In fact, Dr Sachs who came in to see right before I

was

> discharged at 1:30pm and all the nurses kept on saying that I

looked

> amazing for someone who just had a leforte. I put it down to the

arnica

> pills I took on Sunday night and the MLD massage I had. I still

think I

> look swollen and I'm sure it will get worse over the next 48 hours

but

> at least I haven't bruised badly immediately. I'll post a post-op

24

> hour picture for all of you.

>

> The weirdest part has been getting used to the new me. First of all

I

> hav a chin, which is really weird. My lips are wider and my nose is

> also slightly wider. I'm still not sure I like what I see but I've

> decided not to make any final judgements for at least 3 weeks.

>

> Well, that's enough of my rambling for now. Throughout the whole

> procedure I kept on saying to myself, oh I need to tell the group

about

> this. It was a huge comfort. And I can honestly say now from the

other

> side that while not one of the most enjoyable activities I have

ever

> been through, the surgery is not that bad. The best part was

getting it

> over with. Now I'm going to go through the other posts to see how

> Shiloh and Jae did and to see how Jen and Becky are getting along

in

> preparing for their surgery.

>

> It's good to be back.

>

> Sara