UPDATE! 1 Week Post-Op

@linzybinzy120 Day 2 out of surgery with the one & only Dr. Larry Wolford□□□□✨ #tmjdisorder #tmj #chronicpain #pain #relief #surgery #journey #eaglesyndrome #cure #surgeon #hospital #recovery #goals ♬ Inspiring and uplifting elegant corporate music - TimTaj

I want to start with a shoutout to my parents. My Mom slept on a hospital couch in my room for 3 nights, 100% taking over as my night nurse. She consistently attended to my every need and had to watch some pretty gnarly and upsetting events. Extra shoutout to my Mom for coming up with the crushed ice filled medical gloves and going and filling and tying those more times than I can even keep track of. And shoutout to my Dad who drove back and forth daily bringing me everything I needed. He brushed my hair and helped us on our walks. I like to think I'm a pretty independent person, but I truly don't know how I could have done this without them.

Overall, the pain in recovery is not much worse than I experienced daily before surgery. However, congestion of fluids stuck in my swollen face has been extremely rough for me. I have had pretty bad spells of vertigo and nausea and the anemia from blood loss during surgery has been overwhelming.

​Days 1-3 in the hospital were honestly not too bad. I was getting down my fluids, taking walks, brushing my teeth and barely using my pain killers.

The last two nights were pretty horrible though. I did not sleep once in the hospital because I was given antibiotics and vital checks pretty frequently through the nights and on the last night I couldn't stop spitting up and dripping fluids.

Coming back to the Airbnb we're renting for the next month was very exciting but my swelling only continued to get worse. The first night back at Airbnb was extremely uncomfortable and I had to wake up in the middle of the night to take a bunch of pills through my swollen throat. After being in and out of sleep all night I got myself up and outside for a walk. With my Dad walking my dog and my Mom walking me, we took a walk to Starbucks in the morning and a walk to the dog park in the afternoon. Still dealing with vertigo and nausea but definitely feel better moving.

Not being able to eat is absolute torture. I have another 4 weeks before my doctor removes the bands on my braces preventing me from eating anything but liquids and then another FOUR MONTHS until I can eat anything harder than pasta. I honestly think that is the hardest part of all.

​Going into Day 7 post-surgery, I believe my battle is heading uphill. Check back for more updates!