Double Jaw Surgery Recovery - Days 4-6

Day 4 Post Op - Sunday 20th

Sunday was a new day. I'd felt so awful and miserable on Saturday and spent most of it crying and feeling sorry for myself, but something changed on Sunday. I was new women! I started my day with an apricot flavour fortisip smoothie (was rather nice actually) and had my usual antibiotics. Then my friend Stacey came round and it was great to see her and to catch up. I was talking much better and feeling much better. I felt normal, like I did before my operation.

I think it's the small things that I could do before surgery, that i didn't even consider, that i miss the most and that frustrate me and had made me feel so un normal and miserable in the days previously. Things like this;

• licking my lips
• hugging someone (a proper bury your face in their shoulder or neck hug)
• kissing my man (i cant feel my bottom lip)
• laughing
• smiling
• sleeping on my stomach
• having a hot cup of coffee (i'm only able to syringe it in, warm and its not the same!)

But having Stacey round and talking about her holiday and what's been going on with our friends, just made me feel normal again, made me realise that all this struggle and annoyance and difference is only temporary and I can still do some things that I did before.

That evening while I was getting another fortisip smoothie down me I asked my man why i needed to eat during my recovery. (I know it sounds like a strange question but stay with me here!) My man is a scientist you see, so I wasn't asking him that question for the boyfriend "so you get better baby" response, I needed the science, the facts as to why, even though I was sick of syringing in liquid 5ml at a time over and over and over again, many times a day i had to keep it up, do it more even.

It really helped me to get over my reluctance to persevere through the boredom and frustration and to actually fill myself up! And the one thing he said that i didn't know was that your body needs fuel in order for you have a good nights sleep. Although you are resting and recharging, your body is still working to do that, so it needs fuel/food to do that. He explained it much better than i just did.


Day 5 Post Op Recovery - Monday 21st

I had a bit of a better nights sleep, I was still finding it hard to sleep on my back and parts of my face and my tongue have started to tingle more, which is a good thing but it catches me by surprise! Sometimes i think i have a spider on me or something!

In the morning i decided to take my chin bandage thing off, it was starting to look and smell a bit gross with all my food dribbles down it. It didn't hurt very much, i did it after having a hot shower so i got it quite wet. It did feel really weird when i was taking it off of the numb parts of my face and I had to ask my dad if i was touching skin or bandage but I got there in the end. In hindsight it would of been easier had i of removed it in front of a mirror rather than in front of the tv.

I saw my Ortho on Monday, he was really pleased with how I look. All he did was just pull my lips apart to have  a look at my teeth, that's it. It didn't hurt at all. I asked him if he knew what Mr Harrop had done with my chin, he was going to do something but he hadn't decided exactly what prior to my surgery. So we had a look at my xrays and i got to see all my new metal work! I love looking at xrays, they are so interesting.

It turns out that he had to re position one of my screws on my right hand lower jaw, I don't know why but that explains the extra swelling on that side of my face. You could also see a plate in my chin, but unfortunately Mr O'Neil didn't have my notes so he couldn't tell me exactly what he had done but he will look into it for me. Lastly he also asked me about numbness, so here is my numbness description.

On my Right Side;
Numb - From my under my eye, down to my nose, across the apple of my cheek.
Partially Numb - From my bottom lip, down my chin and under it.
Normal - My top lip. From my ear across to the apple of my cheek and along my jaw bone until my chin.

On my Left Side;
Numb - Bottom lip, chin and under it.
Partially Numb - Under my eye and towards my nose
Normal - Cheeks/face until chin and top lip

Mr O'Neil said that Mr Harrop had informed him that unfortunately on my left hand lower jaw, by my lip/chin there was a nerve that was attached to bone so he had to cut it to free it/move it. So there might be permanent damage there or it might heal. it's just something that I will have to keep and eye on and wait and see. I'm not too fussed about it, it was risk that i was informed about and one that I was willing to take. Nerves heal and it is way to early to tell yet, I get little flickers and tingles so time will tell on that one.

We arranged for him to see me on Friday 25th for my wafer to be removed, yipee! To celebrate Lee made me a chocolate meal replacement shake with nutella and peanut butter blended in it. It was beautiful!


Day 6 Post Op Recovery - Tuesday 22nd

I didn't sleep very well again and i am getting cranky and irritable. I have been powering through my tiredness and not napping during the day in an attempt for me to sleep better at night. No such luck yet though.

I did very little today, sorted some washing with my mum in the morning then we looked at some wall paper samples I'd got before my operation and was looking at colour schemes and ideas for decorating my house. My sister came over to see me which was nice, she said i looked good, much more swollen than when she last saw me in hospital. We decided that I look like the Nutty Proffesor. I had some lunch of potato and leek soup, strained of all the yummy bits though so it's just liquid. Then I slobbed about the house with my dad and watched some old films until Lee came home from work. My mouth seemed to be getting quite dry during the afternoon, like no amount of liquid could make it moist.

I had some tomato and roasted veg soup, again strained, but there was lots of tiny bits of tomato pulp in the soup that got stuck in the gaps in my teeth that i use to suck liquid through. It created quite a vacuum actually and took me ages to clear it by syringing in water then trying to swill it round and dribble/spit it out. I got there in the end, but by then i couldn't be bothered to finish my soup. I went to go to bed all annoyed and disheartened without eating much but Lee made me another chocolate and peanut butter shake and it made it all better!

Pain is still fairly minimal, i had quote bad sinus pain so i took some sudafed before bed, but that was it all day. Antibiotics are almost over thankfully, that stuff tastes horrible!

Here are some Day 6 pics, I'm much more swollen now I've taken my chin bandage off.