2 Night Hospital Stay {DAYS 1+2}

NIGHT ONE- Wednesday, Jan. 4th

At 7:45 PM I arrived in my room. Thankfully, that night I had all range of motion back in my face. Dr. Piper did an excellent job, and I had no facial paralysis or excessive bleeding, and no inner ear, hearing, nerve, or bone damage from the surgery. My instructions were to AMBULATE + HYDRATE!

TIP- Make sure to bring a Magnadoole board to communicate. No one will be able to understand you when you try to speak. I chose this over a dry erase board, because there was no need to keep up with smelly pens or erasers.

I was eating (well, swallowing liquids)...

I was walking every 30 minutes...

And I was nauseous, dry heaving + throwing up...

• 9:00 PM 

My surgery pain was well controlled by the IV medications and morphine pump. However, I couldn't shake the nausea. The first time I threw up I was walking the hall. I was feeling so sick that we carried my little pink kidney-shaped pan with me on every walk. The first vomit was a lot of thick, foamy, dark red blood. Dr. Piper assured us this was normal. He ordered the nurses to continue alternating giving me anti-nausea meds (Zofran + Phenergan) until it subsided.
TIP- Make sure the nurses hook up the Vacuum Suction Tube (like they use at the dentist when cleaning your teeth). This greatly helps after you've thrown up or when you have lots of saliva to excrete.

• 11:30 PM 

I got to stop walking the halls for the night, but I was still dry heaving. I slept hard (in-between being woken up by the nurses).

DAY TWO- Thursday, Jan. 5th

• 6:00 AM- Good Morning Sunshine

First thing in the morning I was up and walking again. I continued taking the meds and syringing down Ensure and apple juice. My pain was under control, but my nausea was not.

• 7:00 AM 

I vomited blood again. However, this time it was less thick and foamy, and lighter in color. I continued following all of my orders to the best of my ability. Dr. Piper came to see me on his morning rounds. Usually, you would be discharged at this time, but he was concerned that I was still nauseous and vomiting. He said I needed to stay until we got it under control to be sure I wasn't dehydrated. Again he ordered the nurses to continue alternating the Zofran + Phenergan. They also switched my pain medicine from Morphine to Demerol.

• Mid Morning

I still wasn't getting better so my husband, Jay, starting researching the medications online to learn more. Jay read that Phenergan was a shot, not an IV drug. He went to Dr. Piper and told him that the nurses had never given me a shot. Unfortunately, the entire time I had just been getting the Zofran. No one ever gave me the Phenergan :(. You're on so many meds and nurses are always in and out. My family just assumed they were following the orders.

Needless to say, Dr. Piper was outraged and took care of the situation with the nurses. Everyone who took care of me from then on out was very caring and on top of things. Once I got the Phenergan shot, in my buttocks at 10:45 AM (ouch), I stopped dry heaving and throwing up. FINALLY, RELIEF!!!

• Afternoon

I was still very weak and feeling out of it. Dr. Piper is adamant about not allowing you to be in a lot of pain, so my surgery pain was totally manageable. I cannot remember everything, but I do remember that the sides of my head and ear incision sites hurt a bit, and I would have occasional sharp shooting pains in my inner ears. I had to be careful when getting up and down because my fat graft incision on my stomach was tender as well. My drainage tubes coming out of my neck hurt whenever I would walk. The drainage collection bag was heavy and pulled on the tubes, so I held the bag to my chest each time I walked, which took away the pain. Later in the afternoon, a very kind and gentle nurse, named Joyce, removed the tubes. Overall, my pain remained under a Level 5. For years I had been plagued with neck pain and headaches and for the first time in years I had neither (woohoo).

• Evening

Dr. Piper was still pushing hard for me to get in more fluids and calories. Ultimately, we decided that it would be best for me to spend an extra night in the hospital to monitor my fluid intake and ensure that I didn't throw up again. Anna Marie, my wonderful new night nurse, allowed me less interruptions in the night, and I slept well.

WHEN YOUR GREATEST FEAR COMES TRUE

My biggest worry about the surgery was throwing up with my mouth wired shut. Well, in the hospital and on the Saturday after, it happened more times than I would like to remember. Just so you know, it does all find a way out. Don't panic if it is coming out of your nose and you feel like you cannot breathe. It usually only lasts for a few seconds (and panic doesn't help the situation). Just try to take a deep breath in between gagging. Pulling your cheeks out to the sides with your fingers helps you get more air. And on a positive note, I always felt a million times better after I threw up. That was when I did some of my best walking!!!

My second fear was that the jarring and jerking motion of throwing up would hurt the joint or that my teeth would come out of my splint and get stuck. Well, have no fear. Not only was I tightly banded closed, but there was a steel wire woven through six tiny holes in the splint to keep it together for those first 5 days. Dr. Piper assured me that the action of throwing up would do no damage. He said the fat grafts were enclosed much like an elastic balloon and that they are tough. When they get temporarily poked, they give and then pop back into shape. No damage was done at all!

TIP- The moral of this story is not to worry about it. Throwing up is out of your control. If it happens, it happens. Just MAKE SURE you get the shot of Phenergan! And really, you're on so many medications those first few days that everything is kind of a blur anyway. So, have no fear, you won't ruin the joints or be scarred for life.