Day 1 - Post Surgery

The morning after my surgery was rough.  My face gradually swelled, and I could begin to see the dreadful double chin..  It was the hardest day dealing with claustrophobia and not being able to open my mouth. I slept most of the day to avoid the pain.  I needed to travel from my home to my parents' home an hour and a half away.  I was scared that the drive would make me more nauseous so I waited until noon to make the move.  As expected, the drive was difficult.  If you are traveling far, I would suggest keeping some pillows and blankets in the car with lots of tissues.

I had not eaten anything since the surgery, only water occasionally.  When I got to my parents, I mainly kept sleeping.  The hydrocodone will make you drowsy so it will help you sleep through the pain.  You will wake up every now and then from the pain, to remind you to take more medicine.  I hated taking the medicine, so I would go 5-6 hours, rather than the recommended 4 hours.  Ice pack needs to be replaced every 6-8 hours or so and you will need someone to do that for you. It was always too cold for me to put it directly on my face so I would use a towel in between.  Because I am typically not a heavy liquid drinker, not be able to open my mouth made this worse.  I was super dehydrated so my lips began to get majorly chapped.  I suggest you find a good reliable chapstick. I also started to get stomach aches from the antibiotics and pain medicine.  When you sleep you will be drooling a lot so have a box of tissues and a trash bag by your side at all times.  I would lay a towel over your pillows just to make sure.  I would try to wash my mouth with water every few hours because I felt like throwing up and the mucus would build up in my mouth.

What does it feel like in the mouth?  Literally, all I feel is one big plastic thing between your teeth. Imagine having top and bottom retainers or mouth guards but it's glued shut. Since the stitches are on the outer side of the gum, you won't feel it with your tongue.  The first days I didn't even attempt to look at them because I was in so much pain.  I was pleasantly surprised I could even smile/open my mouth.  I am also very happy that I have sensation in all parts of my jaw.  I'm sore, but I don't have the tingly feeling a lot of other people may feel if they have some nerve damage.

It was an extremely difficult day and I was regretting getting the surgery a lot.

Take-Away:
1) Traveling/moving is difficult.
2) You will be extremely drowsy, dehydrated, and in pain.
3) Sleeping will be very difficult.