Day 5
It’s been a rough night and morning. I thought I was doing better yesterday, but last night was a little hard. I thought perhaps my swelling had peaked. All the sites say swelling peaks normally at 36-48 hours, and it’d already been 48 hours. I went on to bed around 9 and woke up a couple of hours later, happy that I managed to mostly sleep through that long. I immediately noticed that my upper facial swelling was up and I felt like crap.
DH said he couldn’t tell a difference but I could tell that it was worse. I ended up calling him down after about an hour (he’s sleeping upstairs). You just reach the point where you can’t think of what else to do. It’s the middle of the night and my pain meds aren’t due for several more hours. I don’t think I should be icing so much now but it does relieve some of the pain and heat. And my ice is gone anyway. I’m researching websites on my cell phone with tired eyes that have a hard time focusing because of the pressure around them. Well my sweetie sits with me while I fuss about things in with my grunty animations. He helps me remember that I have saline sprays that I have hardly used that could help. He brings me ice and lets me tell him all my symptoms. He sets his alarm for 3am so I can take my pain meds as soon as they are due. My jaws are throbbing where they’re cut, and the swelling is throbbing as well. Once I take them, the nausea flares up again and then I have to take nausea medication, which he heats up for me so my stomach can handle it. It dawns on me that the emotional support from my husband is worth as much or more as any of the medical support. Sitting alone with my pain in the dark is nowhere the same as sitting with with someone you love in the light. I’m pretty blessed.
So I do manage to sleep off and on for four hours after that, longest yet. I’m so proud of myself, but when I get up exhaustion and nausea hit me. When I’m asked what I want for breakfast I say flippant things like pancakes or eggs & bacon, because I do want real food. Somehow everything we have that I can eat, makes my tummy twist up at the thought of it. I force down, over the course of 45-60 minutes, about 1 cup of yogurt smoothie, 2 bites of a fruit concoction, and about three drinks of hot tea. It’s not really enough calories but I feel like I’ve run a marathon just getting that in me. I exert the willpower knowing I need the nutrients to get better. I will have to face this every meal, 6 meals a day for several more weeks. The thought of it exhausts me.
So anyway now I’ve had my pain meds again, and I’m doing better. The wonders of medicine. But I know it will wear off before my next dose is due. They make me sleepy, but I know that if I sit up some, and walk around some, and take a shower, I will feel better too.
Okay, enough complaining for the day. I’ve been trying to express on my pad of paper how I feel. I’m not sure I quite get at it, but maybe “my face feels like it’s melted on” or “my head is going to explode” gets at it. 🙂
Here’s my daily bad pictures. Maybe they don’t look as bad as it feels.
Getting over an underbite 
You look great! I know it doesn’t feel like it now, but a lot of that swelling will go away. I know exactly how you feel with the nausea, I actually had to go to the ER because I threw up on Day 5 due to all the narcotics. Luckily I was able to get completely off them by Day 8, and just using Ibuprofen helped tremendously. Getting any kind of food on your stomach also helps. Don’t worry, it DOES get better from here, I promise!
Thanks. I did throw up my meds tonight. Well call the doctor in the morning. Surely something can help. I barely ate today.
It all sounds a bit scary. Hope you’re feeling a lot better soon. You certainly look pretty good.
Thanks, I think I am in the worst of it, in this first week after surgery. I cried this afternoon (bad idea) because I couldn’t eat and felt so yucky.
Stay strong, soldier! You look great.
Thanks!