Hi guys! My apologies for the delay in response, recovery and all that stuff really hit home with me again LOL.
It all went well, in fact the Dr. came out and did a clench to my parents and my girlfriend basically saying the bite is PERFECT. So yay to that!
The hospital this time around was much more relaxing. I'm not knocking on the other one at all but this one was much more up-beat with large windows, lighter colours, more open spaces, and technology that allowed my parents and GF to follow where I was throughout the hospital on a big screen (I.E Pre-Op Admission, OR, Recovery, Ward #). So that was great piece of mind for them to know things were actually moving.
Like last time, I DID wake up from anesthetic before I was supposed to. They call it "emergence" (sp?) and since it happened the last time around this time they were prepared they said haha (they strapped my arms down to the bed). Everyone was really nice, pre-op nurses, nurses in the OR, etc. They even played the radio for me while I waited for the Dr. to come in.
Recovery was a bit rough, I threw up a bit of blood and I had a mini panic attack as I forgot that my mouth was closed with elastics and that I literally couldn`t feel anything below my top lip LOL. After a little bit of that I was pretty calm, fading in and out of sleepiness as the anesthetic wore off. The nurses really nice in there too, saying all positive things and helping me get back to reality.
A different approach in this hospital vs. the last hospital was the way they managed oxygen flow and blood; I don't know if it because the last surgery only had my top jaw and this one had two but for this one they had a contraption going into my nose. In my right nostril, I had a tube feeding oxygen to me, and in my left nostril, it seemed the tube was sucking out any blood that was lingering around inside of me that generally would have went into my stomach for me to throw up. The blood tube though seemed to actually be working in reverse and putting blood BACK into me, thankfully the nurse finally realized my panics weren't crying wolf and noticed the flow herself. She changed the pressure of the device, the tube, and put the container down to the floor (I suppose it works with gravity).
The next morning the nurse shift changed happened and the nurse on shift decided I didn't need to tubes any more as my oxygen readings were 97% in my blood and any drainage was very minimal. The oxygen tube was no more than 1.5CM/.6in long, no biggie... but the drainage tube, be prepared! It seemed like it was 13/14CM or 5 to 5.5in! I was told it goes down into the throat and thus needed to be that long to catch any drainage of blood.
That day in the hospital was pretty relaxing; I had some visitors and the Dr. came by to check up on me. I have to say I couldn't feel any better with the Dr. I've chosen, he really cares for his patients. He noticed due to either the elastics and or my unintended jaw-clenching at night I shifted the mid line a bit but he says it's no big deal and happens all the time. On Wednesday (now today), I'll be going into his office to get the bands adjusted.
I had some tape on the lower bottom part of my jaw up until last night I believe until I couldn't take it any longer and took it off myself. I called the Dr. before to make sure this was okay of course. The reason why I wanted it off was because kept my bottom jaw really pushed in, making a bit difficult for me to breathe, and added a big strain on my neck (especially when sleeping!) Trying to lock your neck downward in let’s say a 10* angle and then add tension on your jaw when you want to look up wasn't fun, and was the ocean for massive neck pain and headaches even the prescribed morphine couldn't deal with for that long.
Showering on the 4th day was GREAT. It felt SOOO good. I definitely recommend you shower as soon as you can; it makes you feel in an overall better mood.
I haven't eating anything solid since last Thursday and surprisingly my appetite isn't coming back any time soon, which is good in a way, because my dad's is always there haha! He made a yummy smelling sandwich that I sort of shrugged off like nothing. I like that; I hope I can keep that up. I entered into the surgery weighing 214.5 on the 17th and I am now 199.8 on the 22nd. Pro tip for anyone who wants to lose weight fast, get jaw surgery! In regards to what I can eat, well not much - I will find out more today when I get back from the Dr.s' but as of the first day is was only clear liquids with no bits of anything inside, which, essentially limited myself to these healthy choices: Soda, Water (okay so that's healthy), broth galore, and see-thru juices. Surprisingly, I'm still not hungry per-se, but I am getting heart-burn here and there now, especially when I burp. After meeting with the Dr. today, I believe I'll be approved for things like Boost and Ensure and only dairy like things so I can coat my stomach with something more substantial and get back some nutrition in my body. I have to say though; I love the head start on the losing weight bit!
My swelling seemed to hang off in the distance until these past few days where it came on pretty hard, which sort of makes sense as most say swelling maxes around 72 hours. No black eyes yet like the last one haha, but you never know!
Numbness is there like no tomorrow all along the bottom of my face, but last night for like three seconds I felt a tiny tickle under my lip so that's exciting! As far as I remember, it will take almost a month to get most of it back, and up to a year to see if it all will come back.
I hope this was a good update, I'll be adding more as time and experiences go on! Probably as soon as this evening after the Dr's visit.
Congrats to ramirzmu8 for pulling through and doing this all over again, you are a TROOPER! Hopefully you're out of the hospital now and in the comforts of your own home, and yes, you bring up a great tip - BLISTEX FOR LIPS! Wooww, I'm surprised how dry and cracked mine are. In fact, I have a few canker sores in there too so I'm sort of happy they're numb as anything right now lol
