Melissa and I have been home for a week now. During that time I have cleaned our bedroom, reorganized the hallway closet, finished unpacking our trip paraphernalia (not putting it away, mind you... just unpacked it. Most of it now sits in a basket waiting to be put away), and been of occasional use to the guys at work (I had to check in and make myself useful so they wouldn't forget about me).
I have reduced my pain management issues to something that can easily be controlled at the drop of a pill. My body feels good from my lower jaw to my toes. I am going to need to start exercising to some extent soon or I am going to lose this litlle pot belly I have been working so hard to maintain. It might turn into a full blown GUT. From my upper jaw, UP, however, things are still a bit dicey.
The swelling has gone down considerably on both sides of my head. My temple areas still have pads of swelling on both sides that increase when I sleep and decrease during the day. Ice packs still help the burning pain along my incision and the throbbing from the swelling. But there are fairly wide areas on both sides of my head that are numb. The borders of these numb areas are surrounded by an edge of tissues that tingles like a foot waking up from sleep. This leaves the center of my forehead, from the bridge of my nose to my incision line at the crown of my head, feeling normal, except when I put pressure on it. Then I can feel what I can only assume are bones popping in and out of place. So I try not to put pressure on it. EVER!
Here's one thing that may be nothing at all and totally unrelated, but I feel the need to mention it anyway. I have a dull, bruisy kind of pain when I push on my face just above the flare in my left nostril. The pain doesn't appear to be IN my left nostril, but behind it somewhere, like back in the sinus. It almost feels as if I have a sinus infection, but it remains localized and has not gotten better or worse in the last few days. And I have been on a LOT of antibiotics recently. I will monitor it and check with my PCP if it becomes an issue.
My jaw is still restricted in how much it can open. I can put a spoon with soup in there, but I cannot fit a ham sandwich in there without squishing it flat. When I try to do stretching exercises, it causes some EXTREME uncomfortableness on my left side jaw muscles. It almost feels like there will be a structural failure back there. So I try to do only gentle exercises. How is the dentist going to get in there if I can't restore my big mouth?
My left eye, which had the roof of its home removed and remodeled, does not feel normal. While there is still some swelling there and I can assume this accounts for some of it, the eyelid still does not open all the way, giving that side a "droopy" appearance. The lower lid always feels as if there is some kind of grit stuck in there on the outer edge, under the eyeball. When I wake up in the morning, it is fairly uncomfortable and a film has built up over the eye so I cannot see anything but blur. After I rinse it out with Visine Tears, the blurriness goes away and the ache disappears, but I can't help but wonder if it is not drying out at night. I may have to go see an eye doctor to monitor this issue.
I think that is my major list of complaints to date. Overall, not too shabby for the surgery I had. I still have to send my surgeons a Thank You card for preserving my eyesight, my innate good looks, my sense of smell and for giving me a scar that I can show off (seriously, though, even THAT is going away).
My next few posts are going to concern themselves with insurance cost and coverage. Not all of the claims are in, so it is a work very much still in progress.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
for the eye dryness, see if your doctor will prescribe lacrilube or akwa tears. it is a gel eye lubricant that you can put in overnight (we use it in people's eyes while they're asleep in surgery). i'm assuming it is a prescribed medication, although you might call your local pharmacy and see if they stock it. also, if the grittiness continues, you may need to see an eye doctor to make sure you don't have a corneal abrasion. if not, you are at a high risk of getting one if your eye is drying out at night thus the need for using an eye lubricant at night.
ReplyDeletelove,
your favorite local nurse :)
Hey, Cheryl. Thanks for following up. They gave me something at the hospital for my eye because right after surgery the eyelid would not close all the way. I didn't use it 'cause they said it was a gel and would have to be "washed out" each morning. Sounded like a big mess. Let me go take a look....
ReplyDeleteYeah, it looks like the generic form of lacrilube. It is Lanolin/Mineral Oil/Petrolatum. The tube (which is about the size of a tube of super glue) says "Artificial Tears Ointment". It wants me to apply about a 1/4 inch of ointment to the inside of the lower eyelid.
That means I actually have to put something in my eye. IN MY EYE! Oh, yeah? You and what army?!?! I can barely tolerate my EYE being in my eye, much less some wierd petroleum jelly and my own FINGER!
Hmmm.... I think somebody has some issues. Maybe I'll take a Valium before I apply it.
you don't have to stick your finger in your eye. you probably could have melissa do it for you. just squeeze it near your eye from the inside (by your nose) to the outside (by your ear). make sure you don't touch the tip to anything because you can contaminate it with bacteria. you don't have to put it directly on your eye. you can put it inside your lower eyelid. it makes it a little bit easier to put in if your doing it by yourself.
ReplyDeletei know what you mean about putting that stuff in your eye. when i had pink eye last year i had to put antibiotic gel in both eyes three -- yes, three! -- times a day for 7 days! you will get used to it, i promise. you shouldn't have to rinse out your eye too much. just blinking will get rid of most of it. you can use saline eye drops to get rid of what's left. actually, we don't rinse out the eyes of surgery patients post operatively, they just blink it away.
hope this helps! good luck! :)