First Post-Op appointment today

It involved a lot of tooth/nose cleaning and some x-rays. He also put the rubber bands on for the first time since I was having trouble breathing through my mouth before this. I still am. Just have to be patient. I'm also told that I have less numbness and more sensation than normal after this surgery. Talk about mixed blessings... I felt most of my nose being scoped out. It really needed it though. Starting tonight, I use the prescription mouthwash. Not allowed to brush my teeth until day 5.

Sleep is problematic. The X-ray shows there's a hell of a lot more open space in the back of my throat now, but I'm extremely congested and my soft palate is badly swollen. What feels like is happening is that I'm breathing through my mouth as I fall asleep, but my body immediately tries to switch over to nasal breathing as soon as I do so--after all, nasal breathing was all I did for years through the CPAP machine, so that's how my nighttime breathing is now programmed. Since the nose is badly stopped up, I hit a wall and wake up with a snort again. So I now have a breathing path, yet I can't get my body to use it. Lovely.

Dr. Jelic also says that for people that have had sleep apnea for a while, there's tendency to not allow yourself to fall into a deep sleep as something of a survival mechanism to try to avoid situations where it's harder to wake up to breathe. So I'm probably getting some of that as well.

So basically... even with my airways opened up, it's apparently not going to be instant for me. Swelling needs to go down, nose needs to clear, and in some ways I have to relearn to sleep. Can't come soon enough, but in the meantime... I'll be sleeping in an upright position. Patience, Matt. It's only day two.

As for things generally... today hasn't been that bad a day. Some pain, certainly. Swollen? All to hell. But I'm figuring out how to swallow, and was able to down more food today. Even managed to pop one of my RA pills, though that will be more difficult now that the rubber bands are in. Had the appt this morning (next one on Monday), and was able to take a walk this afternoon.

I do have pictures of myself from the immediate aftermath of surgery, courtesy of Mark, but I'm going to wait to post them until I have other pictures showing the swelling receding.