ENT surgery recovery day 1

Today was kinda crappy. I knew the 1st 24 hours of recovery would be so I'm not super surprised. This recovery has been different than my previous surgeries which is weird.

My nose has been steadily dripping blood all day. This is normal and extremely gross. One nostril is all but done, the other one is still going strong. I've had to breathe out of my mouth which is so foreign to me. Since all my previous surgeries have had to do with my jaw and mouth, I've been forced to mostly breathe through my nose.

I've spent most of day 1 of recovery either sleeping or watching snippets of TV. My eyes have been a little sensitive. They've been watering constantly. I can't wear my glasses for long amounts of time either because the bridge of my nose is swollen.

Took a shower this afternoon and it felt really good. I have marks on my arm from the blood pressure cuff at the hospital.  And the arm where my IV was is good, no bruising yet.

I plan on trying to go for a walk tomorrow with Don and the puppy.

I had scrambled eggs this morning and they were fantastic! Thanks don for making them and taking care of me!

Last surgery is done!

My last surgery is done! Everything went well and I got sent home around 3pm. I probably would have gotten sent home earlier but my blood pressure was super high. After getting some extra meds and waiting for it to come down, I was finally able to be sent home. The blood pressure thing happened the last two times so I'm not sure if it's a result from the anesthesia.
I have an appointment next week to have my blood pressure rechecked at my primary care office anyway and they seemed happy with that information.

My nose is swollen and sore but it looks good. My throat is constantly dry and sore due to having to breathe out of my mouth.  My nose is still dripping but that's normal.

Was able to drink from a straw and eat a peanut butter sandwich. Looking forward to scrambled eggs tomorrow.

Deviated septum surgery is tomorrow!

Well, tomorrow's my big day... again. Deviated septum surgery is tomorrow and I actually feel okay about it. My last surgery, well, I was definitely freaked out and way more stressed. This time around, I'm completely cool. Tomorrow's surgery is way less complicated than the last one so I'm not worried at all.

For those wondering, my surgery is tomorrow April 28th at 9:30am at Mass Eye & Ear. I've only ever remembered going to MGH so this will be different for me. The procedure is a day procedure so I'll get to go home the same day. The surgery itself should take about an hour, maybe less. I'm usually a hard person to wake up after general anesthesia so it may take a few hours before I come to. If I'm lucky and the surgery starts on time and I have no issues waking up, I may get home around 2pm or 3pm. If I'm unlucky, maybe closer to 4pm or 5pm.

I'll be out of work for about 10 days so expect me to be watching tv, doing stuff on the interwebs and sleeping. This will be the 2nd time that I won't be able to sleep lying down for a little while. It took me about 2 weeks after my last surgery before I could sleep lying flat again. Not sure how long it'll take me this time around but I can't imagine it being longer than a week.

I'm really looking forward to being able to eat food normally this time around. These past 3 surgeries required a modified diet of some kind so I'm thankful that I don't need to eat pudding or use a syringe this time. I'm also looking forward to popsicles for some strange reason.

My upper teeth may be numb again (le sigh) so not sure how successful I'll be at eating but we'll see. I've also been told I might have some bruising and/or swelling around my nose. I didn't bruise much at all after my last jaw surgery so hopefully it'll be the same this time too.

I'm terrible at trying to explain what's happening to me tomorrow. If you are curious and don't know what a deviated septum is or what the process is to fix on, check out this link here: http://www.healthline.com/health/septoplasty#Overview1

I've read a couple of articles and blogs about septoplasty. One article said to avoid driving for 6 months. I drove 3 weeks after my jaw advancement surgery, I'm pretty sure not driving for 6 months after this surgery is a bit of overkill. Sometimes you just have to laugh cause it's obviously ridiculous.

I'll try to post something when I come home tomorrow but it may have to wait until Friday. For now, wish me good luck!

I'm ready to floss like a normal person! 30 days until debanding!

It's only been a few days since my last update instead of a month, haha! Trying to get better at this.

Today is one of my favorite days, marathon monday! I usually work on this day because it's such a fun day to work. The hospital has a pretty low census due to the road restrictions (my work is along the marathon route) so it's usually a pretty chill day. They always have a bbq and there are lots of areas to sit and watch the runners. Unfortunately, I have the day off so I'm here sitting on my couch watching the marathon coverage on tv. Today is going to be a beautiful day so good luck to all the runners out there!

My appointment on Friday went well. I had scrubs on because I had to go to work after my appointment and Dr. Klein was so surprised. She said she knew I worked at the hospital but had never seen me wear scrubs before! The appointment was super quick, they didn't even switch out my wire, just changed out my A-chains. My next and last braces appointment is probably going to be long. Debanding, photos, models and retainers all can take some time. We talked a bit about what happens after my braces come off. I'll be seen after 6 months and then after that I'll be seen yearly on my surgical anniversary. If I have issues with my retainers, I can go any time to have them looked at but for the most part, I'll be on my own. She also mentioned seeing a prosthodontist and potentially about getting veneers. I nodded and listened but honestly, I'm just ready to get on with my life. I know my teeth are important but I just need a few months where I'm not hemorrhaging money on my teeth. I don't think it'll destroy my teeth if I wait on veneers for awhile.

I just want to bask in the glory of being able to floss my teeth like a normal person!

Something that slightly annoyed me is how many people commented on how I need to get my teeth cleaned. Dr Klein asked if I had already made an appointment for a teeth cleaning. I told her I was waiting until after my braces came off and she said that was perfect. But every single technician made a comment about how I should "think about" getting my teeth cleaned within the next couple weeks. Why would I get my teeth cleaned if my braces are coming off in less than 4 weeks? I'm sure if I spoke to my dental hygienist she would recommend that I wait so that way she can do the most thorough cleaning she could. If I got a cleaning now, all it would do would cost me more money since I'd have to go back after my braces were off and get another cleaning anyway. Ugh, it just irritated me because I felt like I was repeating myself constantly.

I'm about 10 days out from my next surgery and I'm actually ok. I haven't been sleeping well recently and I think it's due to my deviated septum and the uptick in environmental allergies going on. I've been waking up in the middle of the night because I can't really breathe. I'm a stomach sleeper so I usually find myself waking up on the side with the deviated septum. I'm looking forward to getting that fixed and being able to get a better night's sleep.

Not sure if I'll have time to post again before my surgery but I'll have some free time once I get out of surgery... again, hahaha.

Home stretch! Almost there!

So guys, I'm sorry. I'm such a slacker and a bit of a liar. After my last post, I promised to update everyone with my orthodontist visit (which was a month ago, btw). I'm the worst. But seriously, I've just been super busy. My hubby and I went on a road trip together (From Massachusetts to Florida and back) and we had a blast. Then, when I came back, I immediately went into crazy work mode since my hospital transitioned to a new patient care/electric record system. I had a lot of overtime last week and this week is just as much, if not more. At this point I'm so overtired that I can't sleep (the thought of this conundrum makes me laugh hysterically) so I thought I'd finally get to updating everyone with all the things that have happened recently.

My last orthodontist appointment was good. I can't remember much about it cause it was so long ago. I do remember one thing though, Dr. Klein told me that it's time for my braces to come off!!!!!!!! I know this day has been coming for a long time and I'm super excited but it definitely feels surreal. She originally told me that I could take them off at my next appointment but I told her that I didn't feel comfortable taking them off before my final surgery. My next (and hopefully this time, final) surgery is officially Thursday April 28th at Mass Eye & Ear in Boston.

Since this surgery is dealing with my nasal cavity and my nose, I'll be forced to have a tube down my throat when I go in for this surgery. This is not a big deal until you factor in that you can't have anything loose in your mouth when they do this. When I get my braces off, I'll still need to wear a retainer 24/7. Since retainers are not permanent, they can potentially get dislodged during surgery and cause a patient to asphyxiate. That's not good which is why they don't allow it.

Dr. Klein was not comfortable with me not being able to wear my retainer for upwards of 4+ hours weeks after getting my braces taken off. I've worked too hard and invested too much time and money into my smile to compromise it now. So after a quick discussion, we ultimately decided that waiting a few extra weeks with braces was worth it.

Friday, May 20th is my debanding day and I can't wait!

My next appointment is tomorrow. It is also my last appointment before the braces come off! WHAA?! This is so crazy, I can't wrap my head around the concept.

I'm so exhausted from work these past couple weeks that I make no promises regarding an update for tomorrow. I may get to one on saturday so look for something (maybe) then!