My Double Jaw Surgery: Day 4 After Surgery:

During the day I felt like the pain was less severe, but it creeped up as the evening went on and I finally had to add narcotics back into the mix. The one good thing about narcotics is that I end up having to take anti-nausea meds, which are notorious for making you drowsy. So taking the narcotic at night is usually the best option for me when I do need to take it.

The worst was over. The swelling has already come down quite a bit, and this was the most bruised I ever got. I never got full black eyes, but rather most of the bruising was confined to the outsides of my lower jaw, and my lips were pretty crusty at this point. We'll call it my zombie phase.

Food-wise, I actually had some soup for dinner. My husband made some squash and cauliflower soup which he blended with bone broth so that I could just drink it. Since I still couldn't move my lips enough to do spoons, I put the soup into a coffee cup, and drooled away as I drank it down.

My kids have been amazing throughout this process. They have been so sweet to me and so helpful. They have been very conscientious not to move quickly around my face and to make me little gifts. I had a tea party (the "tea" was actually bone broth for both of us) with my 2 year old and it was adorable. My 4 year old son even told me (emphatically) that I looked beautiful today. It warms my heart that he can look past outer appearances and truly believe that I am beautiful despite being so swollen that I can't smile or hardly talk.

I knew post-surgically that it would be difficult to talk, but I don't think I anticipated to what degree. Like most things, I'm sure it varies between individuals, but I barely spoke for the first four days after surgery. I could speak, but it was painful to do, and difficult to understand, so I would have to repeat myself a lot. Just easier to skip it. However, that's challenging with little ones, so I found myself clapping to get their attention, and then my husband would take over and explain anything that I needed to convey. I was definitely not able to speak on the phone at this point and outside communication was limited to texting and facebook. Sometimes I would even text my husband if I was having a hard time conveying my message.