Thursday, October 30, 2008

One Week Post Surgery TODAY




To the left is DAY 2 in the hospital, above that is DAY 4 and in black DAY 5.
I've emerged momentarily. Little surprised at how emotional I feel. I think it has a lot more to do with the last year of my fight and a lifetime of anticipation. Recovery is tough! Yesterday I did too much talking and today I'm paying for it. I feel like all the swelling from the sides of my face moved forward into my nose and lips - like they might actually pop. Its a very odd feeling. I'm still numb from below my eyes down. I have two black eyes and bruising (yellowing) all over my chest from the breathing tube I had for what seemed like forever, even after surgery! I ended up staying an extra night in the hospital and getting a blood transfusion. But the surgeon did say it was one of the "best" he's done ... whatever that means, but glad to hear. It took less than 3 hours. Oddly he also said that he found that I had a facial fracture on my right cheek that hadn't healed properly. My dad doesn't know of a time when my face got broken. So the doctor somehow used bone from somewhere else and put it on the cheek (how amazing is that?!) Can't wait to actually be able to see the results. I had my first post op orthodontist appointment today and he moved the two bands to go from the bottom back molar to the 4th from the upper midline. That's it - 2 bands only and I can take them out whenever I want. Also ... my eyelashes are falling out ... is this normal?!

5 comments:

holski said...

Lookin' good girlfriend! Nice shiners! =)

I hope you are doing well. The depression is very normal I think. After my first surgery, my depression was quite severe and lasted months really. =( This time, I had the more "typical" bout of depression. On day 6 or 7, I had a breakdown and just cried (bawled) for hours. The next day when I woke up, I felt much better and I've been doing well ever since.

Take care, put your feet up and just relax as much as you can. You'll be back to real life way too soon. =)

Katherine said...

hi MSM -
Thanks for the thoughtful remarks on my blog. I appreciate your prayers...I never expected braces to lead me down this spiritual journey, YKWIM?

Your pictures look fantastic! I was surprised to see how little your face has swelled...just imagine once the residual swelling does go down. Yippee! Also, I don't think your nose has changed that much either.

The note about your cheek fracture WAS interesting. Is that part of the surgey what lead to the black eyes? That your doctor only needed 3 hours is really cool, too.

Million Dollar $mile said...

Thanks Katherine! I have no idea why I got 2 black eyes. The worse one is my left eye and the cheek fracture was on the right side so that doesn't really correlate ...
Funny you say you don't think I swelled! I feel like a balloon! I do wish my eyes would heal - that part is pretty hard to hide with makeup even. And, I TOTALLY went through a spiritual battle (and victory) with this too - I feel ya!

cookieyum said...

Stress can cause eyelashes to fall out, and your body has been stressed, I think surgery is very hard on the body. Hope you heal quickly.
Mo-Mo

Rachel said...

Geez, I haven't checked in on your in awhile. I didn't know you were getting surgery so fast! I can't believe that he fixed your cheek bone! Sounds like you have an awesome doc. Good luck with the healing. I still swear by the heating pad "sock" for the swelling once you get home and lots of glutamine. Happy healing!