Steve

[Guest guest]

Steve,

You will do just fine on Friday! By the time I have my surgery on the

28th, I will have the advantage of getting advice from all my June

buddies....Then again, I may feel like an orphaned child because all

my June buddies are going to be on the other side while I am home

alone on this side...(haha)

Best of Luck to you and my thoughts will be with you all day on

Friday!

> > 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

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

>