Last Surgery is Done!

Hello everyone!

Well now that I'm awake, I'd like to update you all on what my surgery was! Basically, I got a rhinoseptoplasty and some other crap that has to do with the turbulences in my nose to help me breathe better! 

And unfortunately. . . here's what I look like. . .

My doctor (who has been with me since day one) did my very last surgery for me and what she did was take some of the cartilage from my left ear to help shape my nose and then she helped a ton with the breathing for my nose. 

So here's an actual. . .update on what's happened since yesterday: 

I woke up super early because I needed to get to the hospital by like 5:30-ish to start my pre-op stuff and sign some consents. As usual, I had to get an IV and like usual, I've been told that my veins are very hard to see, but my nurse was very sweet and tried her hardest to make sure she only needed to prick me once and thank god she did. I changed into the typical hospital gown and then they gave me some compression stockings and those "stylish" socks that had grips on them so I wouldn't fall. Then she put these things on my legs for the circulation. 

Anyway, my anesthesiologist came in and put some sleepy stuff in my IV which was. . . nice I guess. He was very dry, which was rather weird and boring. I didn't like him too much, but I guess that's okay. He did what he needed to. 

To clear things up, this surgery was for me both as an aesthetic surgery and for a functional surgery. I've never really been able to breathe through my nose that well, and this is what this surgery did for me. As soon as I woke up, I could actually tell that I could breathe through my nose a lot better, but other now. . . I really can't. 

Anyway, they gave me several types of pain medication including valium, Percocet, and celebrex. And then I also have my antibiotic medicine which is Keflex. 

So yeah. The surgery was about three hours and forty five minutes long. My surgeon has known me since my very first surgery when I was only a couple months old. She was understudying during my first cleft lip and palate repair so she's known me for quite a while. 

So the surgery, she said, went really well and that there might still be a bit of an unevenness on the left side of my nose which is understandable. Anyway she said that is probably one of the best surgeries she thinks she's done. . . and who knows if she says that to everyone, but I do trust her and she's always been very supportive of me and just has done a very good job in the past. 

So the pain wasn't that bad when I woke up and neither is it right now, however I woke up last night at 12:30AM last night and I was in a lot of pain and I had a ton of blood all over my face and it took a while for me to feel better, after taking more medicine but you get the idea. 

And that's basically it! I will be getting out my splints next Friday at some point. My doctor has said that the swelling should go down completely in about a year and half--that should be about the time that I should be able to actually see the full results of the surgery. 

My nose is super stuffy right now and I'm overall, very groggy, but you get the idea hopefully. I'm not in too much pain, but my nose is swollen and my ear (where they got the cartilage for my nose for shaping) is a bruised. I've also been taking naps all day long because of all the medication so that's been kind of nice. Unfortunately, my mouth is super dry all the time because I have to breath through it and I have a patch on my arm that makes me have dry mouth as well. . .so that's not very nice either.

I've gotten a lot of support and love over Facebook from a lot of the friends that I went to high school with (as I graduated in May) and I'm also getting some support from my future roommate and some of my friends from church! So I definitely feel like I'm being well taken care of and everything!

Now, let's get on with the scale:

Pain: 3/10
Dizziness: 2/10
Sleepiness: 7/10
Swelling: I'm definitely swollen, but I really can't tell how swollen because of all the gauze, splints, and tape,
Breathing/Congested: I'm very congested and my mouth is super dry. I'm supposed to only be breathing through my mouth anyway, so that's really frustrating.

And that's about it! I'm really glad that this surgery is done with and now all I have to do is wait for it all to heal just be patent! 

My jaw surgery was by far a lot worse than this when it comes to this one, but partly it's mic just because I'm able to eat normal foods and such. I think if any of you are worried about getting any more surgery after your maxillary jaw surgery, then I honestly wouldn't worry about it being any worse than that one!

I love you guys, as a lot of you have given me a lot of support! (: