By Monday morning (day 5) I had
almost run out of pain medication. I started to panic. Although the pain was
incessant, the codeine and Paracetamol did help to take the edge off slightly. Mum
asked a friend to come around and sit with me, while she went to the accident
and emergency department to pick me up some much needed pain relief. Aashbir is
such a wonderful friend and I have known her since I was three. Her and her
family have helped me a lot through the course of my 4 years treatment. It is
true what they say… when things get tough, you find out who your true friends are.
They have always been there for me and I could never thank them enough for what
they have done for me and my family through our 21 years of friendship.
Aash came to sit with me in the
bedroom and we watched the Incredibles on TV. She made me laugh so much. When I
smiled or laughed it really hurt my face but I could not help it. When I smiled
I could feel the stitches pulling inside my mouth and was really worried it
might rip open and bleed. But thankfully it did not. My boyfriend was around
the corner at his parents’ house (a 2 minute drive away), but was too busy
sorting himself out to look after me for a couple of hours.
Mum had called the local hospital
and one of the doctors was going to give me some dissolvable codeine with
Paracetamol (also titled co-codamol). This meant that I would need less
syringes for medication and I would not have the nasty taste of pure codeine in
my mouth. Mum took with her, my discharge letter to the hospital. They then gave
her some more medication to get us through until Thursday. That way we could
make a doctor’s appointment and get some more if we needed it.
I had not slept for more than 15
minutes a day since Thursday when I had had my operation. But I was optimistic that
within a few days the pain levels would start to decrease and I would be able
to get some sleep. When I first got home from hospital it was really difficult
to get comfortable. My neck, shoulders and back were in a lot of pain and my head
felt really heavy. I could not hold it up. Mum tried to sit me on the sofa with
some pillows but that was uncomfortable. Then I tried lying down in bed but that
put too much pressure on my face. Each time I had to get up I had to have
someone to hold my neck and head as I was unable to lift it up myself. I have
been told that this is very rare but again this is something that is not
discussed in the possible risks of the operation. Eventually, I was semi comfortable siting up with
6 pillows behind me. I also asked my boyfriend to buy me a v shaped pillow from
Argos to help me to sit up in bed. I was constantly using small bags of frozen
peas to reduce the swelling and ease the pain. Mum would put the frozen peas
into pillowcases and tie them around the back of my head and place them down
the side of my face. The nurses told me to do this for the first few days. I
carried on using the ice packs for the swelling for several months after the
surgery. Normally just before I would go to bed I would use an ice pack for 10
minutes and then fall to sleep with a heat pack around my lower jaw and neck.
Once my bones were fixed enough I really enjoyed being able to use the heat
packs.
At this point in recovery, I was
unable to move much, was very dizzy, had to have help lifting anything and
needed assistance with bathing and going to the toilet. I was taking pain
relief every 4 hours and was taking antibiotics 2x a day. The antibiotic I had,
they do not recommend in liquid form as it is so vile tasting. The smell of the
medication was so strong it was seeping out of my skin, alongside the
anaesthetic smell. I remember heaving and being close to tears on a few
occasions with the taste of the antibiotics. I would rush mum to syringe as
much water into my mouth after having my meds. Because I had little feeling in
my face and lips it was easier for mum to syringe my water, juice and
medication into my mouth quickly. I would wrap an old towel around my top half
like a bib and have a large plastic bowl on my lap to catch any drips or
liquid. We found the best place to do it was sitting on top of a closed toilet
lid. Then we could wash out the syringes as we needed them. I preferred really
cold water to drink with my medication as it was more refreshing and it seemed
to make the taste go away more quickly. This continued for a few months as my
recovery was slow and quite lengthy.
Still keeping up with the heat packs one year on to ease facial pain
Available now
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Lots of love always,
Steffie
x.x.x
Months!! That's scary
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