After I woke up in recovery was the start of the very worst for me. From the minute I woke up at about 3:00 in the afternoon until about 1 am I was throwing up blood no matter how much anti - nausea medicine I was given. They gave me the meds in my IV, a couple shots in my legs, they basically tried everything and it wasn't working. By the time the night shift nurses came in they had decided to not even bother giving the drugs to me anymore but they continued to try different pain relievers to see if they were causing me the nausea. Finally we decided that I wasn't going to stop until my stomach was empty. I was completly drained from vomiting and dry heaving because I hadn't eaten anything since 8pm the night before surgery. One time they gave me apple juice but it only caused the next throw up to taste worse and be slightly acidic. After I stopped vomiting I finally got some good sleep and was hungry enough to eat some breakfast.
Breakfast was an adventure, I did not bring any baby silverware as I was not sure if I needed to use a syringe (as many people have stated) or what. They gave me a regular spoon which didn't quite fit but I made it work. The food was only somewhat edible and I had a couple of bites of most things as I was starving! I had an early snack of ensure before lunch then they made me stay to have lunch because they didn't want me to have to worry about it when I got home. The lunch was descent and then I got my prescription Percocet and my husband took me home.
At home the journey has been fairly easy. I have been able to go out and about since day 3. I had a couple dizzy spells here and there when I didn't eat enough with my meds or didn't eat enough period. I have only lost about 5 pounds which was kind of a bummer as I was hoping to loose more. The second week I had my first follow up and I was introduced to rubber bands for the first time in my braces life!
No later then an hour after my appointment I was having about the worst ear pain in my left ear and hurt so bad I was tempted to go to the hospital. I took the rubber bands out to eat dinner as instructed and the pain went away. That was when I discovered that the bands were causing the pain so I took more pain meds and went about my evening.
The worst part about the rubber bands is they cause me to clench my teeth. The surgeon isn't very concerned about this but it makes it hard for me to sleep because I am used to sleeping with my mouth open and relaxed. My breathing while sleeping has been so much better. Even after my nose surgery I still snored but have not snored since my jaw surgery.
I was given one more week off by my surgeon and am glad, I don't think I could handle the 12 hour shifts just yet and I will only have a couple of days of work to go through before I go on a much needed vacation to the U.S.
Well that has been my surgery recovery experience so far and I will conclude with two pictures I took today (10 days post op). The smile looks odd because I was trying not to show teeth, I don't like showing the rubber bands.
Good luck with the recovery!
