Good night's rest

So, after a solid 11 hours of sleep and some 'heavier' than usual medications, I'm feeling way better. Swelling seems down a little bit, pain is manageable, and I'm in a far better mood. I've graduated from drinking shakes to eating ice cream with a spoon, and am going to try Jello for dinner. It's really amazing what only being able to open your mouth a little bit can limit your diet to. Even if I were allowed to chew (I'm not), I don't know how much food I could actually eat.

It's really true that your fluid and liquid intake has a direct effect on your recovery. Yesterday I'm pretty sure I was dehydrated, and felt like shit. Today I'm putting back the drinks, and feel way better. Ok, ok... Lesson learned

Who's been hanging off my front teeth?

Guh. Feels like there's a 100lb weight tied onto my front teeth. *awesome*

Uninvited feelings

Though most of my chin is numb, my nerves are clearly having some fun with me. I have 3 spots with sensation, each about 5mm in diameter. Unfortunately, they're all false sensations. A spot on my lip is spicy, middle chin is itchy, and lower chin is wet. Yes, wet. So I'm constantly wiping my chin, thinking I've lost control of my drooling.

It's going to be an interesting few months waiting for sensation to come back. I wonder what other sensations I'll get.

Aug 24 - Peak swelling?

So, peak swelling was supposed to be sometime yesterday, but I think it's leading into today. My lower jaw (still totally numb) seems less swollen, but my cheeks are freaking huge. It's really almost indescribable. Probably hard to tell from these photos, but it looks like I'm shoving chipmunks themselves up there.

Or, a more modern analogy would be that I make the stay-puff marshmallow man look manorexic.

How to create a high-caloric milkshake

1/2 Pint Haagen Daas vanilla ice cream (250 cal/serving. ~1.5-2 servings, 400 cal)

1 Activa vanilla yogurt (100 calories)

1/4 cup Heavy whipping cream (250 calories)

1 tablespoon Nestle Quik (50 calories)

1 tablespoon Hershey's syrup (50 calories)

1/4 cup Whole milk to thin it out (50)

4 strawberries (10 calories)

---

Sum: Right around 1000 calories in about 20 ounces.

Blend & drink, twice a day

Yum

McDonald's ain't got nothing on me

Aug 23

Ok, here's the swelling. It kind of works it's way back and forth across my face... sometimes looks worse on the right, sometimes on the left. Bad headaches today, but I finally figured out how to hit my caloric goal for the day pretty easily. More on that soon.

Aug 22

Swelling starting increase again. Pain is getting a little worse, mostly in my forehead and temples. LOTs of pressure. Now taking Advil plus Tylenol. I'm also greasy as hell (in my face) - though I think some of it is just swelling fluid seeping out of my system. Sick.

/Edit: Looking at these pictures, it's actually not all that bad. Still, I'm not at peak swelling yet.

Second day - nighttime

Swelling is really starting to kick in. My entire bottom lip and chin is numb, which makes for some interesting times drinking fluids.

About to go home

It's now 24 hours post-op, and I'm about to be discharged. I am SO ready for a shower. That second picture is a giant piece of medical-grade duct tape they had across my chest for some reason. Definitely, positively, the most painful part of the entire procedure was ripping that sucker off.

Day of surgery

~9:15pm the day of the surgery (about 12 hours post-op). Starting to swell up quite a bit. Not a lot of pain, but swallowing is really hard. My throat hurts a lot, and there's a giant retainer against my upper jaw on the inside of my teeth that is really getting in the way of my tongue. Jaw itself is stiff. The port in my neck is draining fluid from my jaw.

I'm already bored sitting in the hospital. TV sucks, and they wake you up every few hours for vitals. The staff is really nice though - Methodist hospital is one of the best hospitals I've ever been to.

Night before surgery

Night before surgery. Feeling pretty good. Not too nervous, but the whole thing really hasn't set in yet.