Day three...

Today's the day that my swelling supposedly starts to turn around. I'm certainly ready for it to do so, considering the way I look right now. My previous record for swollen cheeks was when I had my wisdom teeth out. This dwarfs it, quite easily.

Morning update:

I slept considerably better last night, though my dreams were very weird, almost feverish and mostly unpleasant. I don't feel so much sick as off-kilter. Coughed a lot during sleep as well, but my nose feels clearer this morning--though it still hasn't stopped bleeding and likely won't for several days. No CPAP of course, though with my nose in the state that it's in I couldn't use it anyway. Just as well I don't seem to need it, at least not with my upper body propped at a 45-degree angle (let's hear it for adjustable beds!). Breakfast this morning consisted of 1/2 cup of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of vanilla-flavored Ensure (it's really not that bad!). That's about four syringe-fulls, followed by a customary rinse with salt water. According to my instructions, I can start toothbrushing on day five, so I imagine I'll get clearance at my appointment on Monday to do so.

Other observations: 

Cheeks are still very swollen; no visible reduction in size yet... but there must be something going down if I can talk easier now. At this rate, might even be able to manage some phone calls given a little more time.

There's very little pain today, I'm happy to say. I haven't used my hydrocodone since the first day home. My right ear feels very stopped up, though my left side does not. Nothing in it, just feel some pressure, like I'm in an airplane and can't clear it. No big deal on that one. I'm also having trouble regulating my body temperature; I go from too hot to too cold quite readily. That's partially a function of having enough fluids of me, something I perhaps didn't do as well as I could the day after leaving the hospital. You're supposed to have two pints (1 quart/four cups/32oz/~640ml) of fluid a day, which is hard to do through a syringe, particularly when you're having trouble swallowing or even holding it in your mouth, though that definitely got better yesterday.

Speaking of food... 

Finally settling into a routine and even starting to look forward to my mealtimes. My daily meals consist of one cup of beef or chicken broth, one cup of instant breakfast (those Ensure breakfast shakes aren't bad!), a cup of water, and a cup of something else, whatever I feel like. I'm trying to eat four times a day, a cup at a time. Mind you, all this has to go through 60ml syringes (we got them from the hospital), which only hold 1/4 cup of fluid at a time. So eating is a definite chore right now, even with an improved ability to swallow.  Here's my food stash:

That should be good for a while, anyway. For the record, I've lost ten pounds so far, though I'm sure a good portion of that is fluid loss.

Mark is leaving today...

I'm very sorry to see him go--he's been a godsend keeping me on track for medications and getting me stuff, as well as occasionally keeping me from screwing something up or going stir-crazy. But he's been here for over a week and needs to get back to work, so it's up to me now. We went out for a long drive yesterday just so I could get some air, and now he's got a long drive ahead of him--all the way back to Chicago. I'll have to visit him when I'm healed. In the meantime, a few other friends will be stopping by to check on me over the next few days. I don't need 24-hour care now, but do need some company if nothing else.