In another week at my next post-op appointment, I'll be taught how to remove the rubber bands/reattach them myself, in order to clean my teeth and take medication more easily. But for now... they need to stay on full-time.
Before Dr. Jelic came in...
The lady at the front desk came to greet me, saying she was very impressed with me for being so spry so soon removed from surgery, driving myself to the appointment and coming strolling in looking perfectly healthy. Said I looked and acted quite good for this stage.
I think my reply was a little non-committal; I thanked her but was half-thinking she said that to everybody that had this surgery, noting that the fact that the surgery seemed to have *worked* did wonders for my morale and ability to endure it. And I mean it--as long as it worked, I can take all of this, and I'll do whatever I can to hasten my recovery.
Had a good talk...
... with Dr. Jelic as well. He says he's very pleased for the most part with my progress, noting that I've got way more sensation than most people have at this stage in my chin--something about how there's five stages of regaining sensation, and I'm already on #3 (light touches cause an outsized reaction). The swelling in my cheeks is still there of course, but I'm starting to see some receding. The left side of my nose and left ear is trying valiantly to clear and sometimes does briefly, while the right side remains clogged. It feels like I'm listening through a tunnel on that side; like I need to pop the ear but I can't. Hard to yawn properly when your jaw is essentially wired shut, but even if I could... he says the edema is responsible for that and until it subsides, the ear won't clear. Just have to be patient.
There was one thing he was a little concerned about--my coughing. He gave me a new (scheduled) prescription for an oral antibiotic. The ones I had before were intravenous; they wouldn't discharge me from the hospital until I'd had the entire bag. Post-operative pneumonia is a threat with procedures like these, though I don't think it's that with me. The coughing is productive for the most part, after all; it's just that the right side of my nose is still draining/bleeding. That's the side the big tubes went through, and he already said they found the passages constricted. Once again, have to let it heal itself and do what I can to help it, which in this case means daily doses with Afrin and hitting it with saline solution every hour or two.
As for sleep...
The biggest impediment I'm finding right now is the elevated position of the bed. I have to keep my head elevated for now and, since I have to tendency to roll to my side at night, that's a little uncomfortable to do/makes it hard to sleep. But... I *am* sleeping. And dreaming. Sans CPAP. And that's amazing for someone like me. I'm not actually certain how much quality sleep I'm getting--that will have to wait a couple months for a sleep study in order to quantify--but I've certainly woken up more tired than this before the surgery.
Occasionally I hear myself snoring, but there's a huge difference between that and my old apnea episodes. Even tried to nap this afternoon--unsuccessfully, because the one time I thought I might be able to nod off, I had to cough and woke myself back up.
The final subject of the day...
Is food. I'm getting very tired of the usual breakfast shakes and broths, so much so that I've dared to try actual soups and adding things like peanut butter to my chocolate Ensure--a suggestion from the one of Dr. Jelic's nurses, actually. Officially, I'm now past the liquid phase and can move to the puree phase of my diet, though Dr. Jelic warns me to avoid certain puree-able things like strawberries for the time being, because the seeds may get caught in the suture lines. The sutures should dissolve in another week, at which point it will be safe, but until then, eat nothing 'gritty' was the term he used. You can't have little hard particulate matter in your food.
That does not, however, preclude pureeing soups or a getting an orange smoothie from Dairy Queen. I did a can of Progresso Chicken Noodle soup today. Literally, just threw it into the blender on the smoothie setting for two minutes, and it was perfectly edible. Also enjoying my V-8--I'm not sure why, but I do have a bit of a tomato craving. I also have a couple glasses of Gatorade a day; something Dr. Jelic said was okay with the warning that the simple sugars it contains sometimes allow bacteria in the mouth to grow. That shouldn't be a problem as long as I'm religious about cleaning my mouth after meals, using the mouthwash and toothbrush I have.
For tonight...
I'm thinking of sauteeing some carrots and celery I've got left over in my fridge in butter and then pureeing them with just a little salt or sauce. I'm even half-thinking of trying to puree a PBJ sandwich in some cola and honey to see if that works before heading out to DQ to get my smoothie. Necessity may be the mother of invention, but so is sheer boredom with your culinary options.
The main thing I'd like to happen now is for my nose to clear. When it does, sleeping becomes easier, my ear starts to clear as well, and my recovery accelerates.
Onward!
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