Monday, September 17, 2007

Post- op appointment

So today was my first post-op appointment. It went very well. The doctors seem very, very pleased with the results, and are hopeful that this will be it. They cleaned up my neck scar and got all the old adhesive off, then the doctor tried removing some of the stiches on my neck which hurt, so they decided they werent quite ready to be taken off. I do have to go back Thursday for that which shoud be fun.

The constipation is from the Vicodin, so they told me to stop taking it and try taking extra strength Tylenol at the highest dose possible for a couple of days and see if that is enough to manage my pain. I am skeptical of that since the Vicodin and Motrin hasnt been enough but I would like to get off the 'hard core' pain meds if at all possible. They did say that they could give me a prescription for Tylenol with Codeiene (Tylenol 3) if I need something harder. For the constipation they said try Metamucil and another dose of laxatives today. I really hope that lets up because at this point it has been more painful than even my hips. I did sleep a little better last night, the apnea is from the swelling and they said it shouldn't last more than a couple more nights, as the swelling in my face should start to go down soon, though it will be a couple of good months before it is down completely. So far I have only noticed the insides of my mouth arent as swollen, but the outside looks the same to me. My hips are looking the same, but my walking has really improved. I was able to walk all over today, though now I am paying for it with some dull pain in my hips from all the pressure I put on them but the dcotors were very impressed with the fact that I was so up and about already when they had estimated such a long period of time of recovery in that aspect.

So.....if this graft takes (basically in 6-9 months we will know for sure) then I will have to have another smaller surgery where they will take fat and tissue from my hip or butt (ha ha) and go inside my mouth and make a series of cuts on the inside where my lip has sunken in to release all the scar tissue that is in there that is pulling my lip inwards. Then they will fill that area in with my own tissues and sew it back up so my lip will be back out where it belongs and not sunken in. Then after that heals they will proceed on to implants. I am very much hoping that this all works as planned because I just dont think I can do all of this over again! So that is the news thus far. Again, thank you so much for the good thoughts everyone.

Here is what my face looks like today (one of them is from last night), as well as my neck scar after a few stitches were removed. My hips are looking pretty much the same.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You look better already! To me it looks like the swelling has gone down slightly, but more importantly, you have that beautiful glow back in your eyes. It's so good to hear that the doctors think things are going well and that hopefully the stitches will be ready to come out on Thursday. I'll continue to keep you in my thoughts. Huge hugs Tina!

Anonymous said...

I am loving seeing your smile!!!

Anonymous said...

Tina, you look great in that pic with Aron. I am soooo happy to see that smile :)

Mikel