3/14/2011 - SARPE surgery completed in surgeons office with general IV anesthesia. This picture was taken in the recovery room immediately following surgery.
After Surgery all I wanted to do was sleep. I was exhausted and nauseated from lack of sleep the night before (too nervous). I tried to get up and out of my bed in the recovery room several times. Each time I crawled back in, begging the nurse and my husband to just let me rest a little longer. They let me do this a couple times, then they gave me more Zoffran, and about an hour later I was able to use the restroom and head out the door.
I really don't remember much about this day. By the time we got home I was really drugged up and tired, so I zoned out in front of the TV and watched movies all afternoon. Some words of advice for the first day:
1) Let someone take care of you: you won't remember when to take pain medication and you will be too exhausted to get up and get new ice. Don't plan on doing anything!
2) ICE, ICE, and more ICE: make sure to ice every part of your face as you will see later. I wasn't so great about this the first day and I paid the price later with swelling. Ice is what keeps the swelling down. I used double freezer bags filled with Karo corn syrup (It doesn't freeze and molds to your face easily, just make sure to double bag so you prevent any leakage). The only down side was that it gets warm fairly fast, so have plenty of bags on hand in the freezer.
3) Nosebleeds are natural, use a decongestant: I freaked out when my nose would not stop bleeding, but the surgeon assured me that this is a natural process. After you have undergone this type of surgery the sinus area backs up with a lot of blood. To dry up the sinus area he suggested I use a nasal spray like Affrin or a decongestent. This helped tremendously. Swallowing blood for awhile is normal and part of the process.
4) Sleep, it won't be hard to do: Rest is good for the body and promotes healing.
5) Nausea is normal: I felt sick immediately after surgery, probably a combination of an empty stomach and lots of pain medication. When I told the nurse, she was able to up the amount of Zofran and had me drink some apple juice. Eventually the feeling of nausea calmed down. I would recommend having some type of healthy protein shake with you for after surgery. These shakes are a definite cure to nausea for me.
6) Your bite will feel "off": The first day I could not put my teeth together because I was so swollen. I sat around with my mouth open all day. When I tried to bite down I could only touch on one side. I was a little nervous and thought that maybe my upper jaw got tipped to one side. However, the surgeon and my husband explained to me that this is normal and that the swelling is what creates that "off" perception. Also, the surgeon will have turned the expander while it is in your mouth during surgery to make sure that the jaw will indeed expand; this process, will also move your upper jaw out of it's normal alignment, so your bite will not feel the same as it did before surgery.
7) I had a gap between my two front teeth: I wasn't expecting a gap. I knew this would come later, but I didn't realize it would be there immediately following surgery. This was a very sensitive area for me. When the air hit the gums between my two front teeth it felt very unnatural; not pain, but a definite sensitivity for me.
8) Sleep sitting up: It is important to stay upright when there is facial swelling. I propped every pillow I could behind me and around me to keep me upright. I even used an additional airplane neck pillow to sleep with at night to keep my head in one position. This helped tremendously.
I'm sure there is more that I could write, but unfortunately I am writing this 4 days post-op and most of my memory of that day is already gone. I don't even remember how I got home that day :). My strongest memories of that day were how good the ice felt on my face, my bowl of soup for dinner, and sleeping with my mouth open all night since I couldn't breathe through my nose. My best advice is to Ice constantly! They say 15min on then 5min off. I set a timer during the rest of my post-op days and this helped a lot, However, I'm sure if I would have done this starting day one I could have prevented some of my additional swelling. I sure hope this helps someone in the future.
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