The other side

If you're reading this, it must mean I survived the surgery ... so far, anyway. My doctors discharged me yesterday and Mary drove me the two hours home. Spent last night sleeping in the La-Z-Boy. The sleep wasn't all that great, in part because breathing is a little hard right now (see below) and because the pain medicine gives me odd dreams. This is just day two, so I'm certain things will get better as the days progress. Well, maybe in a week.

I'll post more, including scary pictures, later. Right now, I have three short-term goals:

Rehydrate: Drinking and eating are both difficult. Everything about the inside of my mouth seems different and unfamiliar. Plus my lips are numb and I've got quite a bit of swelling. The oxycodone probably just makes it all the more interesting. Warm seltzer water seems to go down best. I drank about a quart this morning.

Eat: See goals one above. I've taken to wearing a towel over my chest like a bib and covering the table with newspaper. Essentially, I'm a baby again. Plus, everything I eat is soft, including some baby food.

I did pretty well this morning and put away some yogurt, half a jar of turkey baby food (very bland), some mango sauce (like apple sauce, but out of mangos -- thanks, Trader Joe's!), some vegetable juice and some prune juice (for other qualities as well).

Clear my sinuses: I think I'll sleep better if I can get my sinuses in better shape. The surgeons moved the top jaw forward 3 mm and that really messed things up up there. I'm sure I bled a lot during surgery. The doctor cleaned out my nose before I left yesterday, but my nose is still pretty stuffy. Plus, it still bleeds some if I bend down. So, I've been working at it here with Q-tips and warm salt water. It seems to sooth the sinus passages. Also, I need to pick up some liquid pseudoephedrine. The doctor prescribed it, but the hospital pharmacy didn't carry it. We'll try to get some today.

So, that's the plan. That and sleeping.