I'm alive.
For those who haven't read my journal in a while, I had facial surgery at Kaiser Oakland, my jaw has been wired shut for a week (4 days to go), and I lost 10 pounds in 5 days by accident.
So, the short version is that the surgery went as well as it could have gone, and that I'm far too easily freaked out by IVs [yes, I nearly passed out], and that my jaws are wired together until July 28 (10 days). Not bad, considering that before the aforementioned bone plates were introduced, the average wiring time was 2-6 weeks!
Let's just say that the worst part of my hospital was getting stuck with two elderly gentlemen, one of whom was up all night verbally abusing the nurses and trying his best to remove the tubing and monitors, despite his recent back surgery.
The swelling was pretty bad at first-it looked like I had gained about 100 pounds-but it's gone down immensely over the past 48 hours. Pictures behind the cut, or you can also see the complete comparison.
In order: 12 hours before the surgery, 48 hours after the surgery, and yesterday. I wasn't trying to do anything special with my neck or mouth in that first picture; it looks like I actually changed that much!
Other than getting a really nasty bruise, and being in a fair bit of pain while recovering, I seem to have escaped unscathed. My face is still quite numb (mostly in a streak from my right eye down to the tip of my chin), and may be that way for the next couple of months, but that seems to be the worst of it.
The trouble now is eating:
It takes forever to prepare food, and it's equally time-consuming and frustrating to eat it. My body is used to a lot of carbohydrates and a lot of calories, and despite my best efforts (including a calorie diary) I'm still taking in about 1700 calories a day, short of the 2700 my surgeon recommends. This would explain the loss of 10 pounds in 5 days, though consuming about 1000 calories across the day of the surgery (Thursday) and the day after (Friday) didn't help much. Yes, she told me that my body needs the energy, and no, I didn't try to lose weight: I just can't eat that much!
I just have to keep putting up with creamy soups (clam chowder, corn chowder, cream of broccoli, tomato bisque, cream of wheat, smoothies, and such) until Monday, when-miracle of miracles!-I can eat somewhat-solid food again. And yes,
tsuyoto, I know I don't have it as bad as you did. =P
I just look forward to seeing Ari, who is returning from her Vegas vacation literally right now. Maybe tomorrow we can do some photography.
p.s.> And I even created a new usericon...these are the models taken in February 2006, just before I got my braces on.
So, the short version is that the surgery went as well as it could have gone, and that I'm far too easily freaked out by IVs [yes, I nearly passed out], and that my jaws are wired together until July 28 (10 days). Not bad, considering that before the aforementioned bone plates were introduced, the average wiring time was 2-6 weeks!
Let's just say that the worst part of my hospital was getting stuck with two elderly gentlemen, one of whom was up all night verbally abusing the nurses and trying his best to remove the tubing and monitors, despite his recent back surgery.
The swelling was pretty bad at first-it looked like I had gained about 100 pounds-but it's gone down immensely over the past 48 hours. Pictures behind the cut, or you can also see the complete comparison.
In order: 12 hours before the surgery, 48 hours after the surgery, and yesterday. I wasn't trying to do anything special with my neck or mouth in that first picture; it looks like I actually changed that much!
Other than getting a really nasty bruise, and being in a fair bit of pain while recovering, I seem to have escaped unscathed. My face is still quite numb (mostly in a streak from my right eye down to the tip of my chin), and may be that way for the next couple of months, but that seems to be the worst of it.
The trouble now is eating:
It takes forever to prepare food, and it's equally time-consuming and frustrating to eat it. My body is used to a lot of carbohydrates and a lot of calories, and despite my best efforts (including a calorie diary) I'm still taking in about 1700 calories a day, short of the 2700 my surgeon recommends. This would explain the loss of 10 pounds in 5 days, though consuming about 1000 calories across the day of the surgery (Thursday) and the day after (Friday) didn't help much. Yes, she told me that my body needs the energy, and no, I didn't try to lose weight: I just can't eat that much!
I just have to keep putting up with creamy soups (clam chowder, corn chowder, cream of broccoli, tomato bisque, cream of wheat, smoothies, and such) until Monday, when-miracle of miracles!-I can eat somewhat-solid food again. And yes,
tsuyoto, I know I don't have it as bad as you did. =P
I just look forward to seeing Ari, who is returning from her Vegas vacation literally right now. Maybe tomorrow we can do some photography.
p.s.> And I even created a new usericon...these are the models taken in February 2006, just before I got my braces on.