Post Surgery, Third Update

[rowyn]

I'm doing fairly well, in terms of comfort and mental state. My mind has been fairly clear since recovering from the anesthesia yesterday, though at times the exhaustion has overwhelmed me.

I haven't slept that much today. Woke up around 7AM, tried to nap a few times between 10AM and 2PM but couldn't manage it. Finally napped from around 3 to 4:30, then woke to take my antibiotic.

Lut went out today to try to get his car inspected and the Babylon 5 DVD returned, and accomplished neither, poor dear. He'd had one of the DVDs in his computer and forgotten it was there. He came home for it, and to check on me, then decided he was too tired to go back out again. He did pick up some more cream of wheat and other groceries while he was out, though.

I've started on the anti-inflammatory and the various mouth rinses today. My full array of medicines is:

Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen tablets (painkillers): 1-2 every 4-6 hours. I've been taking two of these every 5-6 hours. I tried taking just one at 8PM; two is definitely better. If I'm still awake at midnight, I'll take two more then. I'll also call the surgeon's office in the morning about getting a refill on the prescription. I only have 7 of them left, and it looks like I'll want more.

Cephalexin (antibiotic): 1 every six hours. Been taking these at 10:30 and 4:30.

Methylprednisolone tablets (anti-inflammatory): These are laid out on their own unique daily schedule. Started them this morning; they taste incredibly foul. I planted my suppertime dose atop my cream of wheat and swallowed it all at once, and could still taste the tablet afterwards. The bedtime dose, which I took a half hour ago, I encased entirely in a spoonful of chocolate pudding, which I swallowed very quickly, and managed to avoid tasting it at all. Thank goodness. Blech.

Chlorhexidine Gluconate (mouthwash--anti-bacterial, I think): One dose before breakfast, one dose at bedtime. Tastes like typical mint mouthwash; unpleasant but not very bad.

Warm salt water (also an anti-bacterial measure) This is listed as "twice per day"; I did it around 11 and again around 7, sort of alternating it with the other mouthwash.

Icepacks: These quit at around noon tomorrow. After 48 hours, they're of no further use. I'm supposed to switch to warm damp towels four times daily if I still have swelling. As of right now, my face still looks like a box, so I'm not holding out much hope that this'll be all gone by tomorrow afternoon.

I could probably safely go to bed to sleep tonight. The bleeding inside my mouth has all but completely stopped, and that's the main reason for the semi-reclined position over lying down.

However, the recliner is more comfortable to sleep in if I'm going to sleep on my back; I find it virtually impossible to sleep on my back in a bed. If I lie down in bed, I'll want to sleep with my cheek against the pillow, which won't be very comfortable. I haven't really made up my mind about that.

My mouth is quite stiff. It's uncomfortable to open it more than a half-inch or so, and uncomfortable to bring my jaws together. And uncomfortable to sit here with the icepack against it, for that matter. 2 of the painkillers did a much better job.

kagetsume called earlier this evening, to see how I was doing (and because he'd volunteered to, half-jokingly, on Tuesday, and I'd taken him up on it.) Had a nice talk with him; found at that his job is treating him better lately, which is great to hear. Couldn't talk as long as I'd've liked ... talking's not that comfortable, either. I'm glad writing doesn't hurt, at least.

I should probably have done some work on Prophecy today, given that writing is, as I said, not painful. But, eh, I'm not worried about quota for this week. I've got enough things on my mind. I half-dreamed about how to start the "Tachtli" story, while I was trying to nap this afternoon, but haven't done any further work on it yet.

I find myself, all of the sudden, very sleepy. Think I'll put the keyboard down now and try to rest. Goodnight, Livejournal. Maybe it'll be more than four hours before you hear from me again, this time.

Comments

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

The healing isn't coming along too badly then! I wouldn't worry about working on Prophecy, you're doing well to be coherent, we don't expect you to be putting in a full workday of writing.

I've never been good at swallowing pills. Never, ever. Something about swallowing something whole that should be chewed up, my palate tells me.

[minor-architect.livejournal.com]

I've only recently become better about swallowing pills myself. I also had the "this really should be chewed up" problem, but a fair number of pills seemed to stick in my throat, too. Ouch. Not comfortable. :-P

I'm glad that you continue to improve, Rowyn! Sending get-well vibes your way...

[rowyn]

Thankfully, this is at least one problem I don't have. I swallow pills quite easily. even the anti-inflammatory ones -- I just gotta remember to wrap them in food so that no part of the pill ever touches my mouth or throat. Ugh, those things are vile

[rowyn]

I wouldn't need to put in a full workday of writing. Half an hour alone would be enough to make significant progress. But I'm not going to be too hard on myself about this.

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

Ho boy. Sounds like quite the ordeal. I wish you the very best on your recovery! And as for your Prophecy quotas ... for a plan like this, you really ought to give yourself some sort of exception clause for surgery. I mean, that's just not something that shouldn't be routine. =/

[rowyn]

You'd think I would give myself a break, wouldn't you? Well, we'll see. I did let myself out of writing anything on Wednesday or Thursday. But I only need a bit over 900 words to make quota for this week, so I could do it, if I really wanted to ....

[koogrr.livejournal.com]

Wow!

Was your case particularily complicated? I got only painkillers after my wisdom teeth were removed, anti-biotics and was told about to do the warm saline solution wash, and watch for dry socket. Definately no anti-inflamatorys or special mouthwash.

[rowyn]

I'm a lot older than the typical candidate for wisdom-teeth removal. If you have it done in your late teens, it's a lot easier on both the surgeon and the patient, from what I understand. (I don't know how old you were when you had it done.)

The surgeon did say that my case was more difficult than most, and that he expected the level of swelling I still have. (Which is still pretty ugly to look at, even two days later). I don't know if that affected the prescription decision or not. It could be a matter of what approach a particular physician favors. There's a lot of "art" left in the field of "medical science", because there are just so many variable at work in any given patient.

[boingdragon.livejournal.com]

Did they let you keep the teeth? I've still got mine in a little box somewhere, where voodoo priestesses can't find them! }:)

I go into the orthodontist this Wednesday to find out if my new canine tooth is moving or not after the old one was cut out earlier this month. I've got a little gold chain coming out of my gum in the empty spot that's anchored to it, so it can be hauled up into place.

It's the first bit of bling-bling I've ever had, and nobody can see it.

I just used Advil to handle the pain from the operation, but did get a prescription for Vicodin anyway.

[rowyn]

I'd wanted to ask them about keeping the teeth, in fact, but I did not. If my memory is correct, I overheard the surgeon telling his assistants that he was going to throw out the teeth, because they were in too many pieces to be worth keeping.

However, that was directly after the surgery, while I was still in an anesthetic-induced haze, so it wouldn't surprise me if my mind just made that part up.

[boingdragon.livejournal.com]

If they really had to chisel them out, then I suppose they would be broken up! No wonder recovery has been such a pain. My own old tooth had to be excavated as well, since the doctor said my bones were 'extra hard'. My wisdom teeth came out relatively early though, and I was knocked out for that operation (I think I was 16).