I am just a little over 4 weeks post-op, and I wanted to share some of my most difficult experiences with this community since I think it's important for people to learn about all of the many challenges you may face going into surgery.
Prior to surgery, I did a TON of research, read a lot online, etc. Overall, the surgery went very well (knock on wood), and my surgeon (Dr. Gunson) seems pleased with the overall result so far. Nonetheless, despite all of the reading you will do, I have found that my experience was not quite like how I imagined with some things being non-issues and other things being problems I had never heard about.
The Good:
- The first week, although it was exhausting and required a lot of support from my parents and husband who helped me non-stop, was not really painful at all. It was uncomfortable -- especially at first when my lips were so swollen shut it was like pulling apart suction cups when I opened my lips at all. And my mouth felt just really crowded on the inside. But I hardly used pain medicine, and I would just describe the feeling as discomfort more than anything.
- The swelling seemed to really start to go down after the second week, although I am still hoping for more progress with the swelling to go down.
- Although I still am low on energy (probably due to still being on a blended diet), I was able to resume work (from home -- on a computer) after two weeks and feel relatively normal at this point, other than still some discomfort with my mouth.
- The doctor seems happy with my results so far, which gives me hope that once all the swelling goes down, I will look really fantastic (my jawline does look amazing already, but the front of my face just looks puffy and not like myself).
The Not-So-Good:
- I faced some unique challenges, particularly during the first week. While I was fortunate to not experience any severe facial pain, my second night home I experienced extreme pain by my upper right rib. I at first tried to play it off because I didn't want my family to worry, but the pain became so sharp and severe I could no longer hide it. After discussing with them, I realized it was all of the ginger ale I had causing extreme gas (although I didn't feel any pain in my abdomen). I don't drink much soda normally and I had a lot at the hospital and at home to prevent nausea, but instead it caused an extreme gas pain. I kept trying to walk around to pass gas (I'm fortunate to have a husband that does not care about these things), but eventually the pain got so bad that I felt like I was going to black out and had to sit down. Once I sat down, I vomited a tiny bit -- not due to nausea, but due to the pain hurting so much. After that, the pain seemed to fade, and I kept walking around. Once I woke up in the morning, the pain was completely gone. While this is probably something most people will not experience, do be careful in consuming a lot of carbonated beverages -- once I drank them in moderation, I was fine.
- At the hospital, the nurse informed us to not just use Blistex all over my lips, but also around some reddened areas around my lips and even near my nostril -- they basically told us to slather on the Blistex. My parents, trying to follow all of the rules to the letter, did just that. And with each day, there was more redness and irritation for them to put Blistex on until I had to go to Dr. Gunson for my first check up, and I had blisters all around my mouth. Not realizing that this was not supposed to happen, we thought nothing of it, but Dr. Gunson and his assistant were instantly concerned. After taking me off Blistex completely (and not having me use any lip ointments beyond my lips) and giving me some anti-thrush medications, it has cleared up. But it was very uncomfortable and really unsightly (my husband didn't seem to mind my swelling or anything else, but he really got grossed out by my scabbed mouth) -- so if you have to use Blistex, just make sure it isn't used beyond your lips.
- The liquid diet for the first week didn't bother me much at all. For some reason, I just wasn't really hungry. My family felt really bad eating around me, but I didn't care because I just had no appetite. My drinks were just fine in holding me over (granted, I've never been a big eater, so that probably helped). But then the first week passed, and I started to get hungry. But at the same time, the many flavors in my mouth started to really bother me and make me nauseated. I wanted to gag whenever I tasted (which was pretty often) the leftover flavors of Ensure and Muscle Milk from the past week. Rinsing my mouth with saltwater and peroxide didn't help all that much. I avoided drinking the shakes because they made me gag, but then I became so hungry I had a dream all about food. It was a pretty miserable few days until I finally got the OK to brush my teeth and have blended foods.
- My pain med of choice was Tramadol. I took it the first week without incident -- but with an anti-nausea patch on the whole time. I forgot about that anti-nausea patch when Dr. Gunson asked me to take some pain meds before my 3-week appointment since he had to do an adjustment on some of the grafting material. I had the pleasure of vomiting my entire 5-hour train ride home from Santa Barbara to San Diego. On the bright side, I made it to the bathroom every time and learned my lesson about taking Tramadol without anti-nausea meds.
- One of the most disappointing things about my post-surgery recovery is that it feels like there has always been some kind of issue to deal with: hunger, exhaustion, vomiting on trains, etc. This last week, I would think I'd be closer to feeling more normal, but instead I started to get an ear ache and then pain when swallowing. I got diagnosed with strep throat, and I had to get a penicillin shot -- which was extra painful thanks to having no body fat right now following my forced diet. I'm feeling much better than I did the other day, but I still don't feel 100%. Beyond that, I continue to have some pain/burning sensation on my tongue, probably due to the thrush. I just keep hoping to feel more normal, but I don't think that will happen at least until I can eat food again, and most likely not until I get these dang braces off.
I share these experiences not to bore or scare anyone, but to just share some challenges I faced so others can be aware of them. I think all of my issues were pretty unique and I had not read about anyone facing any of these, but if it at least helps people feel less alone that are also facing one of these issues, then I'm glad to have helped. But most of all, just realize that you probably won't face any of these same issues and you may not even face some of the issues often cited in jaw surgery blogs, but you will face your own unique challenges. Know that you are not alone and as I constantly remind myself, 2 months (which is when I can eat again) is a small blip on the radar of life. We will all get past this and hopefully get to enjoy our new bites and smiles in the years to come.
