Quick update

Alrighty everyone, here’s the story on life this week!

My extraction on Monday went well over all, the only complication was that my tooth did not want to come out. So it took a lot more effort and time on her part and uncomfortable positions on my part to make it happen. Aside from the Novocain injections and my jaw struggling with staying open, my pain was minimal throughout and that evening after. That was my first time getting Novocain since all this began and it was the weirdest pain I have ever had. Because it was on the side where my tumor was, it went through my skin flap and through the tissue that has the most nerve damage. The small needle felt like it went through the bottom of my chin, down my neck and out the back of my head depending on which direction she went. Not fun. I could also hear the sounds of my tooth being separated from my jaw bone, which is actually awesome and unexpected because of how much jaw bone loss I had from radiation. The fact that the bone held onto the one problem tooth I had for dear life means that there is a lot of hope for the rest of my teeth to stay stable and healthy for as long as I can keep them that way. She was also very happy with my blood flow in the tooth socket so I guess all those hyperbaric treatments were worth it! I was sent home with a list of instructions for the next few days, no food or water that night except with meds, Pain meds every 4 hours, ice ice ice, soft food only for a few days, and my least favorite, no brushing or rinsing my mouth for the first 24 hours.

Tuesday I was pretty bruised and sore, but stayed on top of my meds and wasn’t too interested in food. Thankfully mom brought me some soups and things at lunch to try and that helped. Wednesday I woke up a bit worse, probably because I slept through the night and didn’t take any meds in the night, both good and bad! So it took a while in the morning to get going, bring the pain down, and finally eat some. Owen and I ventured out to the store later that night and trying to find foods I could eat and was interested in proved so difficult. It was a deja vu moment back to when I was just starting to eat again. I remember wandering around stores and all the food I wanted looked so desirable but there were piles of reasons why I couldn’t have them yet. Back then it felt like there was no end in sight so at least this time around is much more temporary!

Thursday and Friday I woke up in a bit less pain, but more swollen which worries me a bit just because it’s on the same side where I had lymphedema from radiation, so it make take a little more time and effort on my part to make sure it goes back down, another part of my past I’m not too eager to return to. On the upside, I was able to resume my hyperbaric treatment on Thursday! I will have ten total treatments to promote healing and hopefully be finished up by the end of the month. I will also follow up with my periodontist on the 25th to make sure everything is healing okay.

Owen and I were able to celebrate five years together on Thursday with some ice cream and feelings of excitement for a wedding less than 4 months away!!

Please keep all your fingers crossed for quicker healing and no complications!

Devin

Sent from my iPhone