Why does the idea of double surgery strike fear into the hearts of every single person I talk to? Oh yeah, because it struck fear in MY heart when I first heard about it. Whenever someone finds out about the surgery, the FIRST thing they mention is the pain. Either people are very misinformed or I am doing something wrong. I think the biggest myth about double jaw surgery is that it is painful. I have not been in pain. I have been uncomfortable. I have been swollen. I have been sore. The worst pain I have felt in the last 8 days was surgery day when they tried to have me eat for the first time. It felt like the worst case of strep throat that I have ever had. Other than that - not a lot of pain to speak of. I have mentioned before that it really just feels like a bad sinus infection.
On that note, my swelling is down with the exception of my right cheek. It is pretty swollen still. It feels like it would feel better if I could blow my nose, but all of the yuck comes out of the other side.
The one big frustration I have right now is eating. Eating might be the hardest thing about the recovery. I gave up on the Jillian Michaels Whey Protein Powder because it was disgusting. I couldn't find anything to add to take away the yuck taste. So, I took it back and went to get a meal replacement shake from a doctor in town. I have had the shakes before and I know that I can make them taste good. In fact - they aren't that bad on their own. Besides the protein powder situation, I am also struggling with the syringe and tube feedings. The doctors were not very informative about eating after the surgery. They basically said that I could whatever I want as long as I blend it. In the hospital, I used a thin yellow tube because I couldn't get the red one they gave me through my teeth. The doctors tried to cut the end off the red tube, but that kept getting caught in my cheeks, so I am left with yellow. Now I am a little more adventurous with my eating, but the tubes seem way too thin. I will have to make do until next week, when I go back to the doctor. We are going to have to fix this little problem so I stop spraying food all over myself, the kids, and the house.
The one thing I have noticed is that my energy is up. I went with the baby to Little Gym this morning. (My mom went too just in case....) Since he is little, it's a parent/child class. I was able to do everything but run during circle time. I also stayed out of the way when 10 little ones had hula hoops and again when they had the balls. I could see someone not looking and something hit me in the face. We did some shopping after lunch and then came home for the afternoon. That wears me out! On the bright side - I am sleeping better at night. On the down side - I am yawning during the day. Yawning hurts.
Challenges for today:
1. Parenting. While this is, in fact, a challenge EVERY DAY, it is more so when I can't really talk to them and if they don't comply, there is very little I can do. I have to defer to my parents more than I would like.
2. Eating. See above
3. Sinus pressure
Good things today:
1. I am able to smile a little more today, so the baby is smiling back at me.
Things I learned today:
1. People really pay attention to themselves. I am sitting in the middle of a restaurant, feeding myself soup with a syringe and a tube and nobody is outwardly staring.
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