Thursday 2 May 2013

1 week post op!!! Yahoo

Hi fellow Bloggers!!!!

What a journey it's been this week alone. I've cried, laughed,bleed, fought, and finally succumbed my situation.

I can definitely say, there is no way of 100% preparing for this surgery. Everything you think you know, or you think you can handle changes the moment your in recovery.

The first 3 days...

The first day was more like a blur in time, I remember people coming and going, nurses checking me often, and kept
Asking "do you need more morphine" why yes please ;) trust me, take all the drugs they give you, no need to suffer through all that.

When I finally came to my senses it was late in the nite, early morning. I honestly felt like I was going to die! I couldn't breath through my nose, my mouth was wired shut, my swelling was soo tight on my cheeks I could barley get air through my teeth.

And to top it off, my mouth was as dry as a dessert. Luckily my wife left me my white board. So I paged the night shift ICU nurse. I explained to her I was thirsty, and I needed water. She denied me water and said she would have to asked the doctor.
I then asked her to rig up some tubes/straws she could rig up between my cheeks so I could breath (I seen this on YouTube) and she denied me that. This nurse was brutal! I honestly thought I was going to die!! So she jacked me up on morphine and Ativan instead :-S

Finally the next morning came, I was alive!!! It was a Miracle. I was then introduced to my day Nurse Lisa. What an angel!! She thought my idea of the straws was a great idea and hooked me up right away. She also provided me all the water I could handle.
And apple juice!!! My overall care experience from those next 2 days where very pleasant!

Day 4 coming home...

So it's day 4 and I get to go home, I figured I would be thrilled to be able to come home and sleep in my own bed. Boy I was wrong!! I missed out on all the hospital perks like instant pain relief, humidified air mask (these are so good) mouth sucker. So non the less thing got a little tougher, but we have made due.

Liquid diet sucks, but I am enjoying the fresh smoothies. I definitely recommend you try and mix Boost or Ensure into any of your meals. You need all the vitamins you can get to encourage a quick recovery.

Day 5 and 6 where by far the worst for pain for me, but with a steady supply of solid pain meds and lots of ice and sleep got better.

As I write this, I'm slowly falling asleep!! Lol it's hard to keep a solid energy level just on liquids alone. But overall today was a great turning point for me. My swelling has gone down a lot, the pain is now just a mild throb. I shaved for the first time and could kinda see my new face below all this swelling and it made me happy.

Anyways nap time and I will leave you with my 1 week smile

Take care
Eric

2 comments:

  1. I hated the liquid diet. Luckily I was given the ok to swallow soft foods. How's your diet going now? (I'm 13 days post op)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Camilla,

      Thanks for stopping by my blog, and congrats on making it to day 13 post OP. It is definitely a deflating process, but its key to stay positive through this recovery process.

      I'm not going to Lie, Liquid diet SUCKS!!! and so does being wired shut. I'm going to be 4 weeks post op as of tomorrow, I have found some great Puree recipe's online by doing a search on "Double Jaw Surgery Recipe's" I have found I enjoy my smoothies mixed with my Boost or Ensure. Some of my favs are: Chocolate Boost mixed with Banana and peanut butter yummy!!

      Or Vanilla Boost mixed with Coconut milk,banana,and pinapples topped with vanilla ice cream.

      Or the Classic strawberries and Banana with a vanilla Boost.

      I kind of gave up on the Puree foods as nothing really tasted how it should!!! I mean I even put a burger in the blender! (Don't ask I was desperate :P)

      But in the end, you make due, and just try and get all the vitamins in as you can, and drink lots of water to make a speedy recovery.

      Wish you all the best, keep in touch.

      Eric

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