Nov 30th - Dec 8th, 2023

Dec 8

Thursday November 30th - Friday December 8th `

Medical updates:

My lips have returned to nearly normal size and the swelling has increased in my cheeks, even up very close to my right eye. Swelling seems to have plateaued on Thursday 12/7 and started to decrease slightly on 12/8. I’ve been taking daily photos and posting them here.
I’m continuing to keep my nose moisturized with saline nasal spray and also using a decongestant saline spray to help with congestion. I’ve had several occasions blood starts dripping out of nose and continues on and off for hours or even days; I was told to expect this so it isn’t worrisome, but is a deterrent from being out in public because I can’t feel that it is happening.
I’ve also started having a weird thing happen where when I’m swish prescription mouthwash or salt water to clean my mouth out, liquid comes out of nose. This is happening in both nostrils and not every time, but regular enough to cause concern (see below for what the surgeon had to say).

Pain control: I’m still in quite a bit of pain and keeping Ibuprofen and Tylenol on board as much as possible, and continuing to take my oxycodone prescription. I’ve been able to space out the oxy more and more and hope to feel comfortable enough to go off completely in the coming days. I’m able to go throughout the night without it and sleep very well, though after getting up and moving around I notice more pain/discomfort, so am taking it some throughout the day. One of my providers shared a helpful perspective about pain medication, that they can help keep your body in parasympathetic mode and if you push yourself to go off before you’re really ready, you could find yourself in sympathetic (fight or flight) mode which can increase inflammation and even delay healing. This was helpful for me to hear, no need to go off completely until I am ready.
12/6 surgeon follow-up: he was extremely pleased and surprised by how well I am doing… “better than expected,” he said. My upper palate is “golden.” We need to continue close monitoring of healing and progress, particularly on the left side where I lost a tooth in the accident but as of right now, everything is looking good. Here are the answers to some of my specific questions and next steps:

Liquid coming out of nose concern: Drainage is good, the sinus connection is likely due to the bicuspid on the left side that he was worried about. This is a tooth that likely won’t make it but is there as a placeholder. If at any point I feel like I’m getting a sinus infection, he needs to know immediately because that would be disastrous. It is unlikely for the “hole” between my tooth and sinus to heal on it’s own as long as the problematic tooth is still there. When the time comes, he can easily remove that tooth and figure out a solution. Time will tell
Is my face fragile/when can I resume sports? My face is not fragile, per se, but if I were to fall and hit something or catch an elbow or who knows what, it could put a dent in my face. So, 2 months for more risky activity like skiing and volleyball to give my face time to heal.
How many plates do I now have? 5. We will do x-rays in 3-4 weeks and then he will show us all of the plates and screws.
Biggest concern is left side and we have to baby it, we’re not out of the woods and need to watch carefully, but so far the tissue looks great.
Next steps: I'll see him weekly to closely monitor healing and progress. He will likely remove the splint on my upper jaw in 3-4 weeks, then same day I will need to see my orthodontist to add a single top wire to my braces and tight rubberbands connecting top/bottom jaws, which I will have for a number of weeks.

Eye: swelling from jaw surgery seems to have exacerbated my vision challenges, so I am struggling quite a bit especially starting in the afternoon before sunset through the end of the night. It is hard to find a place in the house or a way to have the lights comfortably so I’m not getting a lot of halos and visual interference. Blah! I have a 2nd opinion oculoplastic surgeon appointment next week and am not sure whether to go if I am still pretty swollen or push it back.
Next steps:

Oral Surgeon Weekly: 12/13, 12/19, 12/27, 1/2
Orthodontist: 12/13 for a quick check, then same day oral surgeon removes splint (tbd), then every 4 weeks for 6+ months
2nd opinion Oculoplastic surgeon: 12/12 (depending on swelling)
Arm follow up: 12/22
Oculoplastic surgeon: 1/22

General updates and happenings:

Generally, I have been resting and healing well, with wonderful company in mom and Patrick <3. We’ve had a couple of food deliveries from friends which is super sweet and helpful! Mom left on 12/7 so Friday was my first sola day at home while Patrick was at work. It was so yummy to have my mom here and I’m lucky she has the flexibility (and support) to be away from home for 2 weeks!
I’m paying good attention to my body and what she needs, which mostly involves leaning into rest, recovery, and snuggling up at home. I know my energy is precious and needs to all go to healing right now. It is also an emotional time with holiday season plus being back in the hospital for surgery and having lots of memories come up - letting the grief waves flow through as they need to.
I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed and trying not to overdo it. It’s hard to balance! I’ve had several things come up right at the same time as surgery and just taking it one step/day at a time without doing too much (reminder to self: most things can wait if I ask for what I need!):

Social Security finally contacted me 11/20 and left a voicemail, I was able to get ahold of someone on 12/4 and was told basically that they needed more information from me in order to even process my disability application. So ridiculous! I submitted my application in very early Feb, spoke to a few people on the phone over the last months and had been told my application was already in review. Luckily I have my medical provider information very well organized and it was relatively quick for me to re-format it to submit to them. I emailed it to the person I spoke to on the phone on 12/7, haven’t yet heard back from her so may have to follow up by phone again. She told me she would process my info within a day of receiving it, then it would take another 3-6 months to hear if I am approved.

Insurance: I’m finally starting to hear back about dental-related insurance appeals. The communication and even a check that I’ve received aren’t (at first look) matching what we submitted so I need to set aside some time to make sense of it and figure out who to ask for help.
- Background: My dental plan hasn’t covered hardly any of my dental-related care (orthodontist, root canal and bleaching of front tooth, gingivectomy and inlay) and I’m out $10k for the care I’ve received. We submitted for this care to be submitted to my medical plan as accident-related, because it should be covered this was per my BCBSNM plan handbook. Dental offices don’t submit to medical plans, so my patient advocate helped me submit.
Lawsuit: The legal process moving forward with more info needed from me and Patrick as well as many meetings getting set up. We are lucky to have such a wonderful legal team to help us through this. Some of the information we are being asked for by the other side feels so invasive!

Dec 9th - 20th, 2023