! Re: Jan. 23 surgery

[Guest guest]

Hi !

Congrats on making it to the Other Side. I was right behind you with

surgery on 1/31. Doing fine over here after a rough start. I swear

the first week really is the worst. At some times it seems more

manageable than others. Like posted, it really does get better

each day, even if it's just a little bit.

Rest up and thanks for sharing your story. I didn't think it was too

long ... my posts are annoying marathons, but I remember how much I

enjoyed hearing all the details of other folks' journeys so I figure

folks will just read what they want. I appreciate hearing your

details.

Good luck and continued healing!

Irish!

> Hi, everyone -

> It's been just over two weeks since I've had my surgery

> (upper/lower/genio) and I thought I'd share my story with you all.

I

> know presurgery I really liked to hear other people's stories.

I'll

> try not to make this too long.

> My surgery was scheduled for 8:30 on Jan. 23. I got to the

hospital

> at 7:00 and everything was right on time - got into OR at 8:30.

The

> surgery was pretty long - I didn't get to recovery until 5:30 that

> evening. My surgeon was very pleased - said everything went

great.

> I didn't end up needing the unit of blood that I had donated ahead

of

> time.

> I was in the hospital from Thurs. until Sat. evening. The hospital

> in my town doesn't really have a great reputation as far as nursing

> care goes but I had terrific nurses the whole time, in particular

the

> night nurse. They did have me hooked up to an IV the whole time

for

> fluids and steroids. It was a little inconvenient because I had to

> go to the bathroom every 20 minutes that first night with all the

> fluids they were pumping in me. No catheter, though, so I was

> grateful for that.

> My husband stayed with me both nights. We had planned on him going

> home to sleep but he just couldn't leave me. It sure was nice to

> have him there, but he didn't get any sleep.

> I couldn't talk at all with the splint in my mouth and swelling.

> Overall, I didn't swell or bruise very much at all but it sure felt

> swollen on the inside.

> From Sat. until Mon. I was absolutely MISERABLE. The nurse had

given

> my husband instructions on how much painkiller to give me but she

> messed up and told him a lesser amount than what it should have

been

> (we found this out Mon. from my doctor). So I had A LOT of pain and

A

> LOT of nausea. Basically didn't eat or drink anything during that

> time. Plus I was trying to sleep in a recliner that we had

borrowed

> from my in-laws - not very comfortable at all for sleeping. So I

was

> VERY tired. Went to the dr. on Mon. - now I'm really not much of a

> complainer and have a pretty high pain tolerance but when we got to

> the dr's and started to talk to the nurse, I just bawled. That

sure

> got their attention! The dr. took out the splint and took most of

> the rubber bands off, gave me new (and better) pain medicine and

> hooked me up to an IV to pump me full of fluids and antinausea

> medicine. Plus they took all the extra layers of my lips that had

> started peeling off - made it look better. Boy, did I FEEL better!

> Then when we got home, my dad stopped by and brought me the best

gift

> ever - a bed wedge, this giant pillow thing that let me sleep in an

> actual bed!

> Since than every day's been a bit of improvement. Still have some

> swelling and difficulty talking. Still taking the painkiller -

trying

> to cut back on that, but there's quite a bit of discomfort at

times.

> I plan on going back to work for a few hrs at a time starting next

> Wed. - hopefully I'll be mostly taking just Ibuprofin at that

point.

> I can't tell what the final results will be but so far I'm ( and my

> surgeon) very happy. I know it will have been worth all of this.

> Sorry for this being so long and thanks for everyone's support

along

> the way. This site has been invaluble to me!

>

>