Day 1: Yay to Non-Shut Mouth

After much rest, I am finally back to updating this space again.

A little disclaimer: this post was written on 10/6/14. I will try as much as possible to recall whatever that has happened. 

I had my oxygen tube and urinary catheter removed in the morning. It feels weird to have this little thing inside you... it doesn't hurt and when it's gone, it's even more uncomfortable to have to walk to the washroom with so many drips on you.

Then I was pushed down to a clinic to visit one of my surgeon where he removed all the elastics in my mouth, cleaned my mouth and nostrils. He then added 2 elastics, one at each side to aid my jaws to my new bite... He also taught me how to drink through a syringe.... T_T sigh.

Took some xray, everything was alright - as planned.

Today, I felt that my tongue has no space to "roam" around as it could before my surgery. Because my lower jaw now is pushed back, it feels trapped. My nose also bled constantly whenever I sit/stand up.

Day 2 can be concluded with just sleeping and peeing and ice packing all day. Not forgetting the inevitable: swelling, numbness, discomfort, nose bleed, etc.

Day 0: Living Hell

After much rest, I am finally back to updating this space again.

A little disclaimer: this post was written on 10/6/14. I will try as much as possible to recall whatever that has happened. 

I remembered on the day of the surgery, my family came early in the morning. I guess around 6am+ I didn't really have much sleep that night. I used a lot of social media, cried a lot and also tried to sleep with all the moaning and shouting from other patients.... -_____-

So after nurses called me around 0640, I changed into my operation robe, brushed my teeth for the final time and went on to my bed to rest while waiting for the nurse to bring me over to the operating theater. You guessed it, there was a lot of sobbing on my way there and in the OT itself.

I was placed in this induction room alone whereby my friendly anesthetist inserted an IV tube in me. They were really cautious, I think there were around 6 person that asked me the exact following questions: "When was the last time you last ate and drank?" "Did you take any meds/drink anything this morning?" "Any drug allergies?" "Do you know why are you here for?"

Hmm.. So fast forward, the whole operating theater was not what I thought it would be. I guess I watched too many Hong Kong dramas.... hehehe. Anyway, there were a lot of doctors/nurses, if I am not wrong there were at least 10 people in the OT itself. I was then move to the operating table(?), IT WAS REALLY COLD. I only had a really thin piece of cloth over me. I remembered before I was knocked out, both my anesthetist was bickering with each other over which nostril should they insert the windpipe in and 2 of my surgeons were at this corner using their iPad and Phone....

The next thing I knew? A nurse woke me up asking whether I had red marks all over my chest area before the surgery. I was still sedated by the general anesthesia so I shook my head a little and was knocked out once again.

I was pushed out to a High Dependency Ward after my surgery. This is where all the nightmare begins. Holy crap, I would never want to experience this once again in my life. I woke up in tears, numbed all over my face and also blood all over my mouth. The thought of it now makes me sooooo sick, I had to constantly suck out the blood/saliva from my mouth with a suction tube that was provided, because I couldn't really swallow.

And guess what...... I puked blood SO MANY TIMES I LOST COUNT, I believe it was at least 10 times. Imagine having to puke with your mouth shut together with so many rubber bands after your jaw surgery..... *faints*

My "last" puke was a freaking combo of 4. I almost died. Literally. I puked all over me, my hair and the thing is, I feel so bad the nurses on duty that night had to clean me up so many times. I recalled crying and apologizing to them but they told me not to worry it's normal. This is insane.

I was counting down the whole night, I couldn't sleep properly at all. There were just too many tubes all over me and the bloody irritating blood pressure thingy automatically takes my blood pressure every hour. It's so frigging tight that it woke me up every time I try to fall asleep...

Overall:
Everything gets better after the first night. There was a lot of pain, numbness and you'll feel extremely uncomfortable because you wouldn't be able to express what you wna say.... You'll also not be able to breathe properly even with the oxygen tube because there are just way too much mucous and phlegm in your nose/throat. Choking on your saliva also seemed inevitable.

Bag #2 Down!

Officially cleared my autologous blood donation.. So all I have to do now is.... wait.

I'm now a week's time away from my surgery. I don't feel very nervous or anything YET because I know I'll sleep through everything. So when I'm awake everything will be over. The only thing that is bothering me is that I have to put a windpipe down my nose so it'll aid my breathing when I'm under general anesthesia. I'm just afraid of the removal part since I'll be awake then. Hmm.. 

There's nothing much for me to update for this donation as it is exactly the same as the previous week. The only difference is that the nurse accidentally broke the needle because she was busy chatting with other nurses. So I guess that's the reason why I bled a lil' more as compared to last week.

Not related to my orthognathic journey in anyway;
but I feel extra emotional lately.. So emotional that after the blood donation I walked all the way from outram (SGH) to Bugis. Tearing. I don't know why but I tend to cry a lot easier but most of the time I try to not do it in public. Even the simplest thing is capable of making me tear.. Don't know what has gotten into me. Hope it's the surgery that is making me this way. 

First Bag of Blood..... Cleared.

Hello my fellow jaw patients/earthlings.

I just spent my whole morning in Singapore General Hospital. To summarize, needles, needles and more needles. T_T

On my right arm: I've drawn 2 small tubes of blood for some testing which I am unsure of what they wna test. After which, I went for a Chest Xray. I couldn't figure the link between chest and jaw surgery though, oh well. Just do it.
On my Left arm: Local Anastasia, 4 tubes of blood for some testing as well and a bag of blood.

Xray Gown: Makes me look like a maternity lady

 I then went to donate blood for myself in case anything bad crops up during surgery. *touch wood* I had a local anesthesia before the nurses went on with a huge ass needle. Yes, I am afraid of needles, can you imagine I am actually going under a knife in about 2 weeks. Oh my god.

*Ouch* 'em needles..... T_T

My blood was pretty thick due to the fact that I haven't been drinking enough water. So the nurses had to move the needles around to find the perfect "position" so the blood could flow out at a much faster pace. Not much pain, but just a little discomfort as I could feel the needle in me when she was pushing it up/down/left/right to find the perfect spot.

Opposite my bed was another jaw patient. I was so happy to see her, her surgery is next Wednesday. Exactly a week before mine. I wanted to exchange contact details so we could be recovery buddies but I couldn't move much. Oh well. If anyone of you out there is having your surgery soon, do contact me ok! I'd love to know you.

The nurses there were really nice and funny. They gave me several mini-heart attacks. Omgee. So the Nurse who was attending to me, let's call her Nurse A was shouting, ok not shouting but talking loudly across the room to Nurse B and said something like "Where is the vein that you examined, I couldn't find it". Ok mini heart attack here. The needle is huge, if anything goes wrong, I'll be in great pain. I told Nurse A "Are you sure you can't find it? Should you tightened the strap so you can find it?" "haha I'm just joking around with Nurse B, don't worry" said Nurse A. Hahahah, I heaved a sigh of relieve. I wouldn't want her to "trail and error" her way as I've tried it which a much smaller needle and I can say it's no fun. At all.

After she managed to find my vein, she then said to Nurse C, the one attending to the jaw patient opposite my bed, "I can finish everything faster than you". My eyes literally went from o.o to O.O and I immediately told her there's no hurry in this and she could take her time. "I was just joking around, talking rubbish. Don't panic" says Nurse A.  hahahaha. I'm really timid I know but I don't want unnecessary pain y'know?

My bag of blood: sorry I had to blur most of the information. Nurse B said it's all confidential. I don't wna risk. 

After Nurse A removed the needles and cleaned me up she asked when I would I like to come back for the other bag of blood. My jaw literally dropped. All along I thought I was going to do this only once but it seems like I'm going back next week to repeat the whole process. Minus the Xray. *frowns*

How I feel after everything is over. Left & Right arm poked.

On a side note, my left arm feels swollen and I can feel a slight pain/numb. It almost feels like a muscle ache after you've exercised. However, it's 100% bearable. Just hope it'll heal in time for round 2 on next Thursday.