I came home yesterday around 4pm which was great. Didn't get stuck in rush hour this time around. Got home yesterday and just kept hydrated and took some pain meds. My face is pretty jacked and very swollen. Was told that yesterday and today would be the worst of the swelling and they weren't kidding. I may post a picture later tonight. My jaw doesn't really bother me so much but my lips and nose bother me the most. The nose is very swollen and a little hard to breathe out of. They have me on a lot of meds. 2 different nasal sprays, pseudofed, 2 different pain medication, and the chlorhexidine mouthwash (my favorite... NOT).
Yesterday was pretty ok. Not sure why but I was just SO HOT in my room. Not sure if they kept it warm on purpose but I didn't sleep with any blankets which is very bizarre for me. My overnight nurse was awesome. She was attentive but not overly so. After she realized I was sorta kinda good, she left me to push some fluids on my own. I did have a catheter and was hooked up to IV fluids. I had to get 3 different IVs though. 1st one didn't take, and the 2nd one I had was good until I woke up and it was really bothering me. My nurse overnight called for my IV to be changed and it was such a difference. So I'm sure my arms are going to be all bruised and stuff. My left hand is very sore from the 2nd IV.
My parents came and visited me but I honestly don't remember much of the visit. I couldn't really talk since I was tightly banded shut. Thank goodness for my dry erase board. If you are having jaw surgery like mine, bring a dry erase board with you to the hospital. The dry erase board was a life saver. It allowed me to communicate with my nurse (who again, was awesome) and family. I wasn't my nurse's only patient so if I needed something, a PCA would come to help me. PCA's are essentially nurse's assistants but they often help every single nurse on the unit. They sometimes aren't as familiar with a specific patient since they help out with all patients on the unit. When I first arrived at my room, a PCA offered to put my bed down to a fully lying down position. She had a hard time understanding what I wanted because I couldn't talk. Not knowing what procedure I even had, she probably didn't realize that lying down flat would cause major swelling in my face. I declined and used the dry erase board after that.
Catheter was fine, I was sorta nervous about that since I've never had one before but it was actually ok. After that was taken out, I got up a little more and became a bit more mobile. I did have these things on my legs for blood circulation and man, I hated them! I was already so hot and they just made it worse. My nurse took them off part way through the night and I was much more comfortable.
When I woke up the next day, I looked and realized I had a pretty awesome view! I was on the 14th Floor in the Ellison building. I guess, most oral surgery patients go to that floor if they have space up there. Apparently, Don told me that I had a nice view but I was still very groggy and don't remember it much at all.
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| My view from Ellison Room # 1438 |
I did have a roommate but she was not an oral surgery patient. From the sounds of it, I think she had a double mastectomy procedure probably due to breast cancer, I couldn't really talk so I didn't get to know her at all. She was very quiet and by the time I got back from my tests and x-rays on Tuesday, she had already been discharged. The floor I was on was a plastic surgery floor so not everyone was an oral surgery patient (hence my roommate having breast surgery). I was in bed B so I got the window view which was nice.
At 10am, I had to go and get some final x-rays done. My teeth were banded together with these SUPER tight elastics. I wasn't wired shut, but it was almost the same. Couldn't move my teeth or jaws at all for the first 24 hours. At that appointment, they removed those super tight bands and replaced them with slightly larger ones. The nurse replacing them was a complete idiot and took forever to replace the bands. She was showing me how to replace the bands should they break and she had no idea what she was doing at all. After awhile, my pain meds started to wear off and it became painful. She finally just took some clamps and replaced them.
Once I was back in my room, I told my nurse what happened and she felt really bad. She told me that she'd give me a dose of pain meds a little early. After that, I relaxed in my chair near the window. Soon after, the nutritionist came to visit me and give me some advice on how to eat once I was discharged. After she left, my nurse and doctor came and spoke to me about beginning my discharge. I was off IV meds, could go the bathroom alone and was able to push fluids by myself. Since I could do all those things, I was allowed to go home. Before I left, my nurse told us we could take anything we wanted home since everything left in the room would be thrown away. She gave us extra syringes and even offered us free Ensure. Don't be afraid to ask for extra stuff cause once you go home, it'll probably be difficult to obtain stuff like syringes. And when you need them, you'll really need them. The free ensure was really nice since it allowed me to try various flavors without having to spend a lot of money on flavors I may not even like.
Don came by the hospital visit me around noon yesterday. It took him a long time because someone drove out of one of the MGH garages and crashed through another garage brick wall. The street was blocked off due to them trying to extract the car and person inside. But it took don almost 40 minutes to get to MGH from the exit at Storrow Drive (which normally takes 2 minutes). Since I was able to do some key things by myself, I ended up getting discharged around 2:30pm.
Since coming home, I've mostly pushed fluids and slept. I woke up last night to catch the end of the Royals v. Mets game 1 of the world series which was surprising. The mets lost in the 14th inning so poor don was not happy this morning. But it's only the first game, there will be plenty of other opportunities for them to win.
My nose keeps tingling, feels like water is dripping down it so I think the feeling will start to come back to that soon. Ok, I'm starting to get hungry and tired again so time to eat and sleep some more. Will have Don help me post some photos later tonight.
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