February 2010 Buddies

Message

#61 Post by **Audra** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 11:52 am

Glad to hear you made it to the other side Traintraxx. Things will get better day by day! Hang in there.

#62 Post by **cheekysara** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 2:21 am

Good luck to BB will be thinking about you. I go into hospital today and I should have the op tomorrow. I am soo nervous, so do not know what to expecxt. But I am sure it will be fine.

#63 Post by **chicago29** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:48 am

Traintraxx

Congrats on your surgery!! Yes, you're going to be uncomfortable for a few days. I don't think it is possible to "prepare" enough. You just have to experience it and learn to deal with it. All things considered it sounds like you're doing GREAT. Hang in there and I wish you a continued successful recovery.

Best Regards
Chicago29

#64 Post by **traintraxx** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:49 am

Thanks to everyone for all your kind wishes. Each day does get a little better.

Just wanted to send good luck to bb and cheekysara.... you will be with me soon, on the other side!

#65 Post by **Davide** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 3:14 pm

Congratulations to Traintraxx for your surgery. I hope for you that the discomfort becomes more tolerable, and that you will start enjoying the results of your surgery.

Davide

#66 Post by **Audra** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 3:18 pm

Good luck to bb and cheekysara tomorrow!

#67 Post by **Davide** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 3:23 pm

I join everybody else in wishing bb and cheekysara a successful surgery and a speedy and uneventful recovery. My thoughts are with you.

Davide

#68 Post by bb » Sat Feb 27, 2010 2:54 pm

Thanks for the well wishes- it actually motivated me to get off my but and come and type something.
I hope you're doing good cheeky!

#69 Post by **maloccluser** » Sat Feb 27, 2010 2:57 pm

congrats to those who just finished up surgery.

i went in on tuesday for upper and lower and now am on the road to recovery. i'm still extremely swollen as i expected. i'm interested to see how my face has changed after the swelling goes down. just a waiting game at this point.

the pain hasn't been too bad. i stayed in the hospital tues and wed nights and was on a morphine drip while i was there. you can hit the button every 10 minutes to get 1ml of morphine, and it definitely helped. now that i'm out of the hospital, i've been taking hydrocodone, which works, but not quite as well as the iv morphine. i have to take something pretty much every 4 hours or my face starts feeling like it's burning.

eating hasn't been too difficult and four days post surgery i haven't lost any weight. i'm trying to look at eating as a mission... even if i'm not hungry, i try to get something down at least three times a day. i'm not wired shut, fortunately, so i've been using syringes and a turkey baster to cram liquids down my mouth. bought some cream of chicken soup and then liquefied some roasted chicken in with a blender. delicious.

my lips are all torn apart. i've been using the lip salve the hospital gave me, but i'm not sure how much that has helped. i don't want to pick any of the dead skin off my lips because i'm completely numb there and i don't want to hurt myself.

anyway, i really hope the swelling starts going down soon.

if anyone has any questions, let me know.

#70 Post by **Davide** » Sat Feb 27, 2010 3:14 pm

Congratulation to bb for making it to the other side. I hope everything went well, and that your recovery has't been bumpy so far. Whenever you feel like let us know a little more detail about your surgery and recovery.

Davide

#71 Post by **Audra** » Sat Feb 27, 2010 6:48 pm

Welcome back bb and maloccluser.

bb - let us know more when you feel up to it.

Maloccluser - I can't help but feel envious that you are adequately medicated. MY OS says he only gives toradol and tylenol 3 elixer (liquid) even in the hospital. Well, he says I can have morphine if I absolutely need it, but typically it's just the tylenol 3 and that's what I'll be sent home with too. I'm a bit nervous about that as I know I have a low pain threshold so we'll see how that goes. Power of the mine maybe? I donno, we'll see. Glad to hear you are doing OK - except for your lips - that doesn't sound like fun.

#72 Post by **maloccluser** » Sat Feb 27, 2010 8:36 pm

hey audra.

yeah, the lip thing is definitely no fun. i can't lick my lips and that combined with the really heavy swelling in the lower face area are making them feel really disgusting, tight, and sore.

as for the medication, yeah, the nurses in the hospital said if i'm feeling pain at all hit the morphine button. today i've actually been probably in the worst amount of pain since the surgery. again... just really tight, sore, and numb, all accompanied by a burning/tingling sensation. the hydrocodone has been all right, but today it almost feels like i'd built up a tolerance... the usual 20ml wasn't cutting it. i've felt really weak all day today and a little light-headed when i stand up and move around.

i'm going to try some ice packs to see if i can get the swelling to go down.

i'll keep you posted on my progress. good luck everyone.

#73 Post by bb » Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:25 am

I had a coffee and a scrambled egg this morning. It was so nice to have something non-sweet! I used my child-med syringe for the eggs and just kind of dribbled the coffee in.
I had my percocet this morning then breakfast and felt great. But I am pooped now.

I had a hard time sleeping last night because my nose was stuffy - I tried some saline spray but didn't help. I didn't want to take anymore prescrip. spray because it says overuse may lead to more congestion. UGH. Do not want another night like that.

Not sure if my jaw will stay- feels pretty forced.
I thought the OS would cut a piece off the middle of the jaw bone and then reconnct but I guess he shaved down the ends. Anyone successfully had this done?

#74 Post by **maloccluser** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 11:07 am

woke up this morning and my mouth was completely dry... apparently i've been breathing through my mouth when i sleep. i cleaned it out with a syringe and some water and then had some apple sauce and my amoxicillin.

yesterday i felt extremely weak... almost like i couldn't get up out of a chair. i think my dad, who has been staying with me and helping me recover, carried something up here. my throat is a little sore (a different kind of sore than what the intubation tube caused). i'm hoping the antibotics will kill anything before it gets a foothold.

i'm still all swollen and tight and tingling and burning. it almost seems as if i've had a face transplant. due to the swelling, i don't _look_ like myself at all... the whole lower part of my face is all puffed up. due to the numbness, i don't _feel_ like myself at all. i really hope some of these things start to go away.

somehow i had it in my mind that this recovery would be easy, despite all the stories here... but it's actually been a pretty trying experience.

#75 Post by **traintraxx** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 11:27 am

Hey BB

So glad to hear your cross over went well! Wow, eggs already? I'm impressed!

Just wanted to chime in on the congestion thing... I was having the same problem and my OS told me to take Sudafed because the spray might not make it all the way back there and it doesn't do anything for the congestion inside the sinuses.

A word of caution: I'm small and took the recommended dose and didn't sleep for 36 hours... I've been taking half the recommended does and doing just fine.

Hope that helps!!