Recovery: Day 1

I woke up expecting a little more bruising and swelling today, and I was correct.  The skin around my eyes is so swollen and puffy I can actually see it.  The black eye has gotten worse and has spread to the left eye a little.  But on the plus side, I still have not been in any pain!  Here are pictures from this morning, after removing the gauze from under my nose.  Those are the strings from the packing hanging out.


****BEWARE!  These pictures are gross looking.  They look like the mugshots of someone who was in a bar fight and there are bloody strings hanging out of my nose.  Proceed at your own risk!****

Note:  My nose is not crooked, but they stuck the splint on there a little crooked.  Also, it's hard to tell in the pictures, but in real life one nostril looks bigger than the other.  That is just from swelling though, since Dr. Haas did not cut or do anything to my nostrils.

After taking these pictures, my mom pulled those strings and removed the packing for me.  I waited for my pain pill to kick in before removing the packing, but still, it hurt!  The inside of my nose was on fire for about 5-10 minutes afterward, but it's fine now.  With the packing gone, I can breathe through my nose, but it feels weird so I don't.  The hard thing about having the packing out is that I still have the drainage going on, and my natural response is to sniff, instead of just letting it drain out into the gauze I have taped under my nose.  My post-op instructions say "no sniffing" so I'm trying to not do it, but it's automatic sometimes.

I am still at my parents' house, so I took a whirlpool bath today in their newly renovated bathroom, and it felt heavenly.  I did have a wave of nausea hit me as I was getting out of the tub, and I had to lay on the bathroom floor for a few minutes before I could get up and go down the hall to my old room.  I sat in a chair in my old room for few minutes and talked to Phillip on the phone, and then I felt better.  Thank God.  I am still terrified I'm going to have to use one of those Phenergan suppositories.

I also carefully brushed my teeth today and used one of those Neutrogena facial wipes on my face.  I can't get my splint wet so I am going to wait until I go home to wash my hair because I have a hand-held shower head there.  Overall, I'm feeling great, and I still give my pain level a 1 out of 10.  I hope everything continues this smoothly!