Went to the surgeon today. He says all is GREAT - wounds are healing very well, I'm keeping them really clean (I squirt warm salty water and savacol mouthwash around) and the x-ray looks great.
But I have a bulged disk on my left TMJ. And of course my bite wasn't lining up that well. So I am back to torture of a different sort: super tight bands. I have power chains so thick and tight that I am effectively wired shut for the next 8 days. Not only is this expected to improve my bite, but it will rest my poor sore joint. Apparently the disk will 'definitely' go back to normal.
I need it - last night was full of terrible pain. The drugs aren't strong enough for it. I did have a muscle relaxant that causes drowsiness, but didn't take it last night because it was giving me these bizarre jerky rigors which were pretty unpleasant. Apparently it's a rare side effect.
My mother drove me, and on the way home we stopped to buy a few things (I stayed in the car, cowering at my freakish appearance and the hideous pain in my jaw joint, which had got even worse). By the time we got home, some teeth on my left hand side were touching! Awesome. I felt terrible - really hot and nauseous with a terrible headache - but more positive, somehow. It is easier to endure things if you feel sure it will work out well in the end.
Then I tried to eat lunch... oh my goodness. I am going to be a bag of bones after 8 days. I even resorted to the foul Ensure plus.
My family had roast chicken and vegetables for dinner and for the first time since the surgery I felt HUNGRY. I pureed it all up and it was very disappointing.
The other thing is the medications - I have tablets because I could get them in with the looser bands - but now I can't and I have to grind them up and put them in water and swallow them. And the taste is unbelievably bad. Never have I had to ingest something so foul. I'm going to ask for liquids tomorrow.
I should add that this sore joint/off bite thing is 'more common than not', in the words of my surgeon. That's one thing I hadn't picked up on from all my research, so I was unprepared for it and it really knocked me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hey,
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that your midlines are going to be ok. I'm sorry to hear about the tighter bands. I hope this next week will go by quickly, so you can get back to open-mouth eating...Chin up! LOL!