Day 2-4

Here's a cleaner picture

           So Day 2, well the hospital kept me in overnight on Day 1. Apparently I had good suction skills, because the night nurse told me I should be a nurse. So I woke up in the hospital, took my first steps with the help of the nurse. The hospital people brought a tray for breakfast, chicken broth, apple sauce, jello, and water. I won't lie, I tried to drink, but it was extremely hard. I barely got anything down, and I made quite a mess. It's like your mind knows what to do, but your mouth wont respond. So even if you get the food in your mouth, your mouth is so numb that it falls out without you noticing. This is because a new jaw, means learning how to use it again. So it's extremely stressful. Because of your throat being swollen, it can be hard to breathe, I know I had a few panic attacks. My boyfriend came to visit, and soon after I was released. I had to be wheel-chaired out, because the walking made my disconnected jaw bounce. We drove home, and sat on the couch. And honestly the next few days will be pretty repetitive. Mostly sleeping and trying to drink chicken broth. Drinking powdered meds in grapefruit juice (just a heads up, do NOT use grapefruit juice, I don't know why, but mixing grapefruit juice with meds makes you throw up). Check the internet its true, I found this out a day or two ago.

         On Saturday I was still pretty soar. I'm handing out a warning: its pretty hard to arrange your pillows to sleep comfortably. So I suggest you go to your local Walmart and buy one of these pillows, it's currently my saviour, not just for sleeping, but sitting against or sleeping on your side (Ill post a picture later). It can take around an hour to eat or get things down your throat for the first few days, it can be exhausting, but just keep thinking "day 5"!



         On Day 4 (Sunday), I felt pretty out of it. I had thrown up the Saturday night thanks to grapefruit juice, and my stomach was feeling uneasy. Once I was able to eat again I had a banana peanut butter milk shake, for protein (very good). Despite being day 4, I was already desperately wanting real food. Your jaw is still going to want to move back, so there will be pressure. For dinner I had my neighbors miso squash ginger soup :) My boyfriend came to visit for a little, initially it was hard to find out when he should come, because when I did have energy it was short-lived. So we just napped together.

For the most part, over the 2 days, I would take my meds (which were gross, extremely).  So the day you learn how to swallow, swallow the pills whole instead of mashing them, it's much easier. Id sleep for around 4 hours, and wake up and the process would repeat. Each day it gets much easier, I could do a little bit more. But of course the lack of food just makes you exhausted, but it gets better. You just have to make it to Day 5. The first 4 days are long and annoying, but once you get through it your energy will start to return a little. Luckily my moms friends (who happen to be our neighbors), are great cooks and brought all sorts of soup over. Also a good idea for the first few days. If you can get an empty ketchup bottle or icing decorator bottle. The, what would you call them, spouts? were a good size to fit through your teeth. My mom put shakes in that bottle and than would just squeeze it into my mouth. It made everything easier. I think that's all I can say about those days, majority of it was sleeping.