The real jaw revision

Pain and pain medicine usually cause me to have a very short attention span. I end up not writing that much, or not wanting to write that much. Thus, this entry is pieced together from notes.

Yesterday, I woke up before my alarm went off. It was set for 5am. It's weird how that works sometimes. I usually get up sometime after 7am, but if I set my alarm earlier, many times I wake up right before my alarm is going to go off.

Anyway, I caught the taxi over to the hospital, took care of admission stuff, and they got the IV going after I told them of the bad times being stuck my last two surgeries. She was good, though, nailing the vein on the first try. After that, I just had to wait. The sun hadn't risen yet, so I stood at the window watching the glow slowly encompass the portion of San Francisco that my hospital room afforded. It's funny, of the handful of times I have seen the sun rise over the past few years, many times I was or had recently had surgery. I guess I'm usually just not up and outside that early. So, I guess it makes those rare occasions feel a little more special.

Trisha stopped by first to wish me well, then Dr. O came in to say hi. He asked me if there were any questions, but I didn't have any. He didn't think I did since this was so minor compared to what had already been done.

OK, I'm gonna be a tard. I picked two names that I thought would be the people that wheeled me around. Brian and Marcus. My first driver: Anna. Well, I though, that's kinda close to Brian...sorta like Brianna. I sat in the prep room for a few minutes, and since they didn't give me any Valium, I stayed awake. The nurses made sure I was warm and the anesthesiologist stopped by to confirm everything. My next driver: Mark. Woot. I hit one almost on the nail. I asked him if his middle name was Brian. He said it was Chester, but that only his mother knew it.

Because I was awake, I was able to scoot myself onto the operating table. I heard them mention that both of Dr. O's main men were in there with him. I guess they must be similar to Michael, Dr. Meltzer's operating assistant. They are often the people that none of us see since they don't go to the office nor do they perform rounds. My anesthesiologist had things hooked up without me even noticing, so the last thing I really remember was correcting Dr. O that it would be my right jaw instead of the left.

I woke up in recovery. It's actually a weird feeling waking up after being under anesthesia. My eyes are usually so heavy that I can't keep them open, and my body feels so limp. What's the first thing I do? I touch my jaw where they cut, knowing that the swelling will soon take over and I'll have no idea how things will look for another few months. What I felt seemed really really good. Gradually, I became alert enough to keep my eyes open, and the swelling started to begin. I was soon able to obtain a Percocet before they returned me to my initial room, and I put my rather comfortable clothes back on. Mira drove me back to the Cocoon house where I climbed into bed and slept. I think.

I stayed awake more than I thought, and I also had a small appetite. I think I ate some applesauce, pudding, and yogurt to go along with the antibiotics I started yesterday afternoon. I popped the Valium and Vicodin before bed and got about 5 hours of sleep before waking up again. I took another Vicodin and got a few more hours of sleep. From what I remember, the second night is the worst, though, because that's when the swelling is likely at it's peak. Fun stuff for tonight.

I had scrambled eggs this morning, and you know, I think I'm already tired of them after eating them only once. I had a pasta frozen dinner for lunch which went down fairly easy. I waited a few hours to be sure I was off the pain killers before driving home. Of course, once I made it home, it was time for another pain killer. They seem to knock me out for at least an hour.

Anyway, the swelling is there...I just have a few months to wait to see how things will look.