The First Three Days

So i'm finally going to try and blog a bit about the surgery. I'm still in quite a bit of pain but am laying off on taking more meds until I get something on here!

Below are some pictures from surgery. I'm sorry they are not better but it was the best I could do. I had both sides done but it is kind of hard to tell because of the swelling and the fact I was taking the pictures myself. I really couldn't tell what I was doing!

The surgery was scheduled to start around 1pm but didn't begin until around 2ish (I think). Total the surgery was around 4 hours and 20 minutes, give or take. It was expected to take about 3 hours but we knew going in it could be longer.

Everything went as well as could be for the surgery. My doctor said the disks were in decent shape and they were able to reattach them on both sides. The stitches look amazing so I know everything will look great once I heal. I'm so grateful I have such a skilled surgeon with an excellent team he trusts.

When I awoke from surgery, the first thing I remember is a lot of pain. It felt like hot knives being driven through my face. I cannot remember another surgery where I felt this way. Thankfully the nurse was on hand with dilaudid and continued to pump it into my system. They were not supposed to give me high doses at a time due to the fact I was still coming out of anesthesia. However, because the pain was not able to be controlled she eventually called the anesthesiologist who gave consent for a higher dose. Once that hit I was fine. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to keep my sats up without oxygen so I stayed on it throughout the night. In the morning I was able to come off though. This was good because it was beginning to look like another night in the hospital may be on the table!

Day One

The night in the hospital was pretty rough. I wasn't able to sleep hardly at all. My pain would go down for a short period of time, allowing me to pass out, only to be woken up again by a full bladder, pain, or a nurse. I just couldn't get comfortable with the air pumps on my legs, tubes, ice packs leaking, and of course the pain. I was grateful when morning arrived!

Day Two

A side view (I was a bit drugged and couldn't get the other side!)

Day two started out with finally getting the oxygen off and we moved on to oral pain meds. I was worried about the switch because the night was so awful, but thankfully everything worked out fine. I realized once the morning shift came in I hadn't eaten since Wednesday night (about 40 hours). Suddenly I was starving!

The nurses told me I had to order food on my own and they had a room service menu. I am on a pureed diet so I knew my options would be limited. I called the number and, barely able to speak, did my best to get my info across. The lady on the other end said I needed my nurse to still put the orders in. So, I called back to the nurses station and they said they'd look into it. I didn't get a call back which I learned throughout the night usually meant nothing was done. I fell asleep for a little bit then was awoken by getting my blood pressure and such taken.

Thankfully, I was then able to order some food and opted for applesauce and yogurt. I was able to eat the applesauce but could barely get a couple spoonfuls of yogurt. My stomach was just not ready.

The rest of the morning went smooth and by 12:30 I was discharged. I had to go to my doctors office before heading home so my friend and I journeyed there. Unfortunately his office was packed due to my surgery pushing appointments back and his in office surgeries that morning.

About twenty minutes into the wait, I started feeling funny. I went up to the receptionist and asked her if I would be waiting a while. She said probably and I all of a sudden felt extremely weird and asked her if there was anywhere I could lie down. I started shaking and crying uncontrollably, which was both embarassing and felt out of the blue.

She took me to the back and they figured my blood sugar dropped from not eating. I was also in pain, hadn't slept, and had just been discharged, so all of that topped on each other through my body into a whirlwind. I had some juice and about 40 minutes later calmed down. I think it freaked us all out!

My post op appointment went well after that. He did find that even with the plugs they put in your ears I got a lot of blood down my ear canal, especially on the left side. My hearing is very minimal at the moment due to the insane swelling. I can't really hear at all out of the left and just a bit on the right. Also, I have paralysis of the forehead all the way to my eyebrows and a bit on the sides of my eyes. This should be temporary, only about 1% of cases is it not. The reason for this is all 5 major facial nerves run along your jaw line. It is to be expected you'll come out with some kind of temporary paralysis. It just makes me feel like I had botox!

Outside of chipmunk cheeks and those other issues, I am doing fine. The pain is for the most part able to be controlled. The drive home that day was a bit rough, but made better by a really liquidy vanilla milkshake from Chick-fil-A (liquidy by request and eaten with a spoon). It was still a very long three hour drive home, but I made it better than I could have imagined.

Day Three

As you can see by the pictures, my smile is a bit crooked. The swelling is much greater on the left than the right. Also, today I have developed bruising under my eyes. Surprisingly you can't really see this in the picture but it is very noticeable in person. Actually, everything looks calmer in pictures! :)

Today I woke up and every muscle and bone hurt in my body. It feels like i've been through a triathalon. If I didn't know better, I would have thought I spent the last week doing a thousand sit ups a day! Thankfully, meds help with this but it is very, very hard to get comfortable.

I have found today I am much hungrier than the last two days. I think my body is calling out for some happy calories and protein to build me back up again. Already i've lost 5 pounds, probably due to all the fluid i've lost. My diet is consisting of applesauce, baby food, and pure liquid soups. Oh yeah, and I had a popsicle tonight, which was the perfect end to the evening!

I've been using my therabite since last night. My doctor had me set it at 20mm and, while it hurts, i'm doing very well on it. I was scared to have such a high setting already, but i'm able to work it perfectly. Before surgery, my average opening was around 15mm, though on good days I could get to 23 ish. Normal minimum opening is 35-40, which is our goal. So far this is a great start.

My ears are also getting better in terms of the blood (I know, gross topic) and the stitches are very clean thanks to my friend helping with that. I still can't see them so it is hard to clean myself.

The big problem is i'm having trouble seeing a bit due to the swelling around my eyes. My left eye feels a bit droopy but this evening i've had some little tremors in it. I think this is a good sign that some of the nerve function is coming back. I just don't feel like I can shut tightly and the left eye waters a lot. I look forward to the swelling going down. I hate the feeling of my ear being swollen shut and not being able to work the eyes well.

So, that is about all I can handle posting for now. I'm doing well, just sore, tired, dizzy, and loopy. I have a ways to go before I will be back to full functioning but it is a good start. Thank you again for all the prayers. I hope by my journaling someone else will benefit. I know how desperately I wanted a blog that detailed this kind of information before my surgery. If there are any questions out there, please don't hesitate to ask!