Day 18: KT tape & Eating

So my friend and fellow PT stopped by for a visit yesterday and did some KT-tape to assist the lymphatic drainage from my face. (The theory is that it helps decrease the swelling by improving drainage)

It was great to have a visitor and really helped with my ever increasing cabin fever. I have left the house for short excursions, but the last couple of days the pain has been worse so I haven't been able to do much without a hot or ice pack on hand.  

I have gotten more proficient with drinking from a cup and a little bit more with using a straw. I do still use the syringe for thicker soups since I can't pour them into my mouth easily. I am REALLY missing solid foods and am completely over all my liquid meals.  By the way there are way too many pizza commercials on TV, I think they are just trying to torture me!  

For some perspective, here is a pic of how far I can open my mouth. This is a Tylenol capsule for scale, so as you can see there is no fitting a spoon in there. And unfortunately for just the short time to take this picture both my masseter muscles painfully cramped up, so there's no tolerance for the repetition needed for actual eating yet. :(  

Day 15: A Straw!

Today I was able to successfully use a straw! It was easier with a mirror, but I was able to purse my lips enough to form a seal around the straw.  In the end, it isn't super convenient yet because as soon as I get the beverage into my mouth it abruptly runs into my teeth.  I do not have quite the motor control yet to hold my teeth apart (the slightly apart the rubber bands allow) and still form a seal around the straw, but its a step forward!  By the way, I am doing my facial exercises multiple times a day and they are getting progressively less painful.  The muscles are still stiff and reluctant to move, but it is getting a little better every day.

To further progress my return to real life, I went to the gym today. Don't worry, I just sat my butt down in a recumbent bike for 20 mins. AND felt exhausted afterwards! I always tell my post-op patients that muscle atrophy and aerobic deconditioning are normal following surgery and rest, but it is really difficult to accept when I'm on the other side. I am still a little shocked at the effort it took me to reach the 20 min mark...I was running several miles just 3 weeks ago!

Day 15. You can see my left cheekbone!

Below, I marked where I have numbness and sensation loss.  The yellow is coming back the quickest and feels like its just dulled sensation now.  The Orange is all pins and needles to the lightest touch. The Red is completely absent to light & firm pressure and hot/cold sensation, which is part of the reason why drinking from a cup is difficult!

Day 13: Part II- Follow-up appmt

Dr. M. instructed me to wait until Monday to return to work.  I have a little mixed feelings about it.  I feel like I must have messed up somewhere that my recovery is taking longer than I wanted it to.   But to be honest, I’m also a little relieved since my face is still swollen, my speech is so impaired, and I’m so tired all the time…  (He did seem surprised at how swollen I still am... he told me that I look like Cindy-Lou Who)

I also told him about the sharp muscle spasms. He wrote me a prescription for a non-narcotic pain medicine, decreased the resistance on my rubber bands (from 6 oz to 3 oz), and told me that if it is not better in a few days he’ll write me a prescription for a muscle relaxant.

Otherwise, he is still happy with my bite and how quickly the bruising is fading.  

Left profile shot; you can see a more defined jaw line!

He also told me that I can start chewing soft foods any time I want!  I think he meant this as a little joke since my teeth can only open mere millimeters apart and there is not a chance of anything non-liquid fitting between them.  But it is nice to know that I have his clearance as soon as I think its worth an attempt.  In the meantime I have some blended (to a lovely liquid consistency) chili con carne for dinner… you know your’re jealous!

Day 13: Part 1

I am anxious to get back to work and my “normal” life, but I've woken up the last couple of mornings feeling swollen and stiff and in pain.  My first thought this morning was that I could not imagine getting dressed and working 8-9 hours today. I went with Tom to Home Depot yesterday, walking around/standing for ~1.5 hrs and I was truly exhausted afterwards.  I see the Dr. M later today so I’m hopeful he has a better idea of what I can anticipate in terms of recovery, because these last few days I feel stagnated, but I can’t imagine pushing it any more than I am already.    My speech is still very nasally and mumble-ly and I’m curious how much of that is from the swelling & pain and how much will get better once I get the splint out of the roof of my mouth.  I also get significant muscle spasms along the left side of the mandible, they take my breath away when they come, but I still have the steady ache along both sides of my jaw line.  If I had a desk job, I could see trying return to work sooner, but between my stilted speech and my inability to smile I’m truly afraid I’m going to startle the kids I work with.  In fact, I cannot imagine evaluating a new patient and telling them that I will be taking care of them when I don’t look like I can take care of myself right now. L

On the positive side, I am getting better with a cup!  I can drink out of most cups with a smaller circumference with intense concentration.  I’m going to try sipping a soup from a cup today to see if I can throw out my syringes.  I can’t imagine eating from a syringe at work, so if I can get nutrition without a syringe I’ll feel one step closer to humanity!

Day 12. You can see how crooked my
nose looks from the swelling!

Day 11

I tried to do a real smile, but both
husband and sister told me I looked
scary!

On a positive note, I noticed that when I bite my teeth together BOTH the right AND left upper AND lower molars ALL Touch! ... At The Same Time!!! Isn't that amazing?  Imagine the kinds of foods a person could eat if their teeth actually fit together?  It certainly gives me something to look forward to after all the pain & swelling (finally) go away and the bones heal up!

Day 10: Almost a Smile

I decided not to let today get the best of me so I woke up, showered, put some mascara on, and did not put my hair in a ponytail.  Tom and I were going to try to see a movie (figured it would be a relaxed outing), but we missed the movie showing so we just walked around the bookstore a bit. I still tired more quickly than I hoped for, but it was nice to get outside of the house.

almost a smile!

It is so bizarre to have lost proprioception and sensation in my lips.  They feel like they are ice-cold all the time, when really it is just numbness.  I've been working on my face exercises and have found that if I slow down and focus on my lips I can enunciate a little better. And along with slightly improved speech, I was working in the mirror and found that I could almost smile.  The left side of my face is still rather swollen though which makes most of my facial expressions odd and...lumpy? Regardless of the proper adjective I'm afraid that I may still scare the kids at work...

Status Update:
Pain: 6/10 (trying to take as little narcotics as possible)
Nausea: gone!
Drooling: improving with muscle control
Eating: still just through syringes and with small sips from dixie cups
Fatigue: High
 

Day 9

Today was another rough one, I didn't see much progress and I just felt exhausted all day.  My jaw really, really aches. Just a constant, gnawing ache that isn't relieved with warmed up facecloths or cold ice packs. Looking down to work on my puzzle or read just increases the pressure in my face and makes it all the worse. Tom also seemed to have more trouble understanding me today, maybe I was mumbling more from the effort? But because of all this, I called work today and told them that I would not be ready to return at my exact 2 week date of this coming Tuesday, but that I will still shoot for the end of next week.  They knew this was a possibility, but I still feel like I let them down. I know it is silly in that I can't control how quickly I heal, but never the less I know that they will now need to scramble to cover my patient load and I hate inconveniencing others.

One bright spot in my day was my sweet husband who spent time with me and made me an amazing peanut butter ice cream milkshake (with some protein powder thrown in) for lots of calories!