Day 2 saw some more swelling and pressure. Definitely more swollen than day 1! Breathing was still okay. Pain was mostly due to this constant pressure feeling. I don't know how else to describe this pressure other than to say it feels like someone is trying to inflate my head the same way they would inflate a flat basketball. Sometimes, I swear I can feel the pressure actively making my face bigger, but when I look in the mirror it's never as bad I actually FEEL it to be. I slept through the night just fine with the exception of waking up once due to the pressure feeling again.
Day 3 I really expected to wake up to a balloon for a head, but I gotta say, I think the swelling was worse on day 2. Let me take this moment to apologize to you guys because I actually don't have a day 3 photo. Somehow, I completely forgot to take a pic of myself on day 3. But, I'll post a pic from today (day 4) instead.
I got A LOT of tingling and itchiness all over of my face on day 3 too. Which was really frustrating because I wanted to so badly to scratch my face or do something to help alleviate all the tingling, but I obviously couldn't. At this point, I could still feel 100% of my face, so I'm wondering if all the tingling and itchiness was a result of some of the swelling subsiding? Another reason I thought the swelling was going down was because the straps of my jaw bra were able to get further around my head than before. Even my chin bandages seemed to be "crinkling" up because the tape wasn't holding as much of my face back.
In order to help with the tingling/itchy feeling though, I decided to gently rub some Arnica cream on my face to see if it might help, and I found that after about 10 minutes, a lot of the itchiness/tingling went away. Arnica is a very gentle natural remedy for swelling, and lots of athletes use arnica cream on sore muscles and bruises. I also made sure to stay vigilant with the icing as it also seemed to help some of the tingling.
On the evening of Day 3, I overdid it with fluids again, and puked, AGAIN. Only this time, it was really hard not to panic. I went to bed feeling nauseous, and worried that I might've had too much tea, too much water, and too much of other liquids too. I fell asleep, but woke up about an hour later gagging, and desperately trying to reach my puke bin so that I wouldn't make a mess of the bed. Luckily my mom and sister both woke up when they heard me and were able to reach me just in the nick of time to save the bed. I was so scared by the suddenness of this vomiting spell, as it didn't seem to to want to end. The more I puked, the more I panicked, and the more I wanted to desperately to open my mouth. After it was over, my jaws were in so much pain. This was definitely the most pain I had felt up to that point. I immediately took some pain meds, and a steamy shower to help relax me. I rinsed my mouth the best I could with my alcohol free mouthwash, and was able to go back to sleep without any further problems. My take-away? Easy on the liquids. Take breaks inbetween the different liquids you're consuming, so as not to upset your stomach.
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| Day 2 |
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| Day 4 |
Judging from these pictures, I think it's fair to say that I may have peaked in swelling on day 2. Even I was a little surprised by how much better I look today--- Day 4. The morning of day 4 was kinda rough though. The puking from the night before really took a lot out of me, so I stayed in bed most of the morning. I also had my sister go to Bed Bath & Beyond to pick up a "bed buddy" for my face. The bed buddy is like a sinus/eye mask that you can heat or cool and apply to your face. On day 4 the tingling and itchy feeling was even stronger than on day 3, and the only thing that I could think of that might help was ice, so I froze the bed buddy up and then slapped it over my eyes/sinuses (along with my jaw bra) and slept until noon. I woke up feeling much better, and then took the picture above. I also went for a longer walk (about 20 minutes), and was able to get around the house without needing much help from mom or sis. I'm still feeling okay. I haven't had much pain, just more of that pressure feeling, and this annoying tingling/itchy feeling. My jaws, however, are starting to get pretty achy from being banded shut. I really really really want to open my mouth, but I'm trying to not think about it (because it really does start to hurt if I focus on the frustration of not being able to open my mouth). I have my first post-op appointment on Friday, day 7. I know she'll loosen the bands, and I'm hoping that will bring some relief--- I'm starting to feel trapped by my own mouth!
Alright, blogger friends, I hope the updates are helpful. As always, please feel free to ask me any questions you might have about this jaw surgery and the recovery. I'm looking forward to getting past this first week, as everyone says it's the toughest. I guess I agree. I'd be absolutely miserable if it's any worse than what I've felt so far, so I'm hopeful I'm almost through with the worst of it.
Until next time, friends!
Hey Adrienne,
ReplyDeleteYou are looking great! Swelling is much less on day 4 than day 2!
I do have a couple questions for you if you're feeling up to answering them,
1) How do you be sick with your mouth shut, not choke, not panic and breathe?
I am so so so scared about this, I'm convinced I'm going to choke on my own vomit, have a panic attack or end up having my bands cut in some dramatic panic ridden vomit scene.
2)Do you feel hungry? I imagine that eating only liquid stuff just makes your stomach feel all sloshy and never full?
3)Do you wear contact lenses normally or glasses? I wear contacts and didn't even consider the weight of glasses on your face post surgery (so big thanks for documenting that!) and just wondered if you could go back to contacts straight after or not?
Lastly, how are you coping with that trapped feeling? I sometimes feel like that with my braces, sometimes it happens when I get in the shower and take off my jewellery and/or glasses and then I always feel like I should take off my braces too but then I cant and I feel all trapped, and claustrophobic, it's weird!
Anyway, you are looking great! Hope I haven't bombarded you with questions and I hope your tingly face goes away soon! xxx
Hi Adrienne :) great posts, so detailed. It sounds like you are being given loads of TLC from your family which is lovely. The difference between days 2 and 4 is massive, it's a shame that you had such a rough time with the vomiting.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed that you have so much feeling in your face. Perhaps it's your healthy pre-op lifestyle paying off? I'm really impressed and happy for you. You're doing great and look fab xx
Yay! Thank you for the kind words, Corrinne. I'm amazed too! Truly, I am! Along with having feeling everywhere, I'm also amazed that I can breathe through my nose with virtually no problem. I can only hope that it's all the precautions I took pre-surgery. My family certainly seems to think so. The first thing my brother said to me when he saw me in the hospital, was "Whoa, sis, I think your crazy diet and prep really worked!" I'm excited to see the Doc on Friday to see what she thinks too.
DeleteHi Natasha! Thanks so much for the words of encouragement. Great questions! I'm happy to answer as best I can. :)
ReplyDelete1) The best way to handle this, is to EXPECT to throw up. If you expect it, you'll panic much less when it happens. You can't really choke because you don't have food in your stomach to throw up (that's why they ask you to stop eating/drinking ANYTHING 12 hours before surgery). So, when you do vomit, it's 100% liquids (for me it was blood in my stomach, and the water I practically chugged down immediately after waking up). When I felt it come, I simply bowed my head over my "puke bin" and let it come. The fluids find their way around the gaps in your mouth, and come out fairly easily. I coughed as best I could with my mouth shut to encourage as much of it out of me as possible. It's uncomfortable, but I promise you won't feel like you're choking if you just REMEMBER that it's normal, and that it's only liquid, so there's no danger you'll choke on particles of food. Fortunately, for me breathing has not been a problem since surgery. I know a lot of other patients experience stuffy noses and whatnot, but I simply have not had this problem. I had a bloody nose that first night in the hospital (mostly one nostril at a time), but I could still breathe through my nose just fine. But really, the most important thing is to just expect it, so that when it comes, you don't panic, and remember to stay calm and let it come. The only time I panicked was when I woke up at home in the middle of the night to puke, and that was because it seemed to take forever to stop coming. However, when I panicked, I also got the urge to cry, and THIS is what made me stop panicking. The urge to cry starts in your sinuses, and I felt a sharp pain work it's way through my face when I wanted to cry, so I immediately, told myself that I MUST NOT cry because it would only cause me pain on top of the discomfort of vomiting. Somehow, this worked, and I forced the tears back. My sinuses relaxed again, I finished vomiting, and then immediately took the pain killers to relax my jaws---- the surprise of the vomiting spell, I think, made me tense them up (maybe even clench?), so I was pretty sore afterwards.
2)Actually, I haven't felt much hunger. I drink at least 3 protein "meal replacement" drinks a day (I mix a vegan powder with almond milk and a banana in my vitamix). And inbetween those, I drink quite a bit of juice, tea, veggie broths, and even some "smooth soups" that I blend in the vitamix to be sure they're as "smooth" as possible. My stomach really only growls when I smell "real" food that my mom or sister may be eating (they've actually been really sweet not to eat or cook in my presence because they feel bad). The sloshiness you speak of really only happens to me when I take in too many different kinds of fluids too fast--- then I get that nauseous feeling. But now I take my time inbetween drinks, and I haven't felt hungry or nauseous. You might consider getting some anti-nausea pills from your doctor. I didn't and probably should have-- I hear they work great.
3) I wear both contacts and glasses. But almost always my contacts normally. You can't have them in during surgery. Doc said I could put them back in after 2 days, but I realized I ran out! So, I've been using my glasses. Waiting on my new order of contacts to arrive.
ReplyDelete4) Well, the trapped feeling is what it is, I guess. I think the more my swelling goes down, the more I am able to "feel" the pressure of the bands holding my mouth together. Again, the best way around this, I think, is to expect this feeling-- this will help you not to panic. Also, wearing my jaw bra almost constantly somehow also helps to soothe the feeling of your mouth being banded shut. I won't lie, and say it's easy. It's definitely frustrating, but I try to cope with it by keeping up with ice, and zoning out with movie or TV--- I try REALLY hard not focus on the feeling. If I do think about it too much, I get that claustrophobic feeling you're talking about, but it doesn't help to feel that way, so it's best to just force your mind onto something else.
Today is day 5, and the tingling feeling seems to have gotten a bit better. I took some pain meds the minute I woke up because the tingling and pressure felt kind've intense first thing this morning, and I'm feeling okay for now. I'll post more pics later today. xoxo!