Day 5! ITS ME!!!

I'm back! I always get so frustrated when people don't post and here I was doing the same thing! My energy is still very low but I am doing much better that when I left the hospital on Sunday. I didn't walk around much until yesterday and I still get very tired after going up or down stairs. My swelling peaked yesterday but has not gone down, just moved around mostly. I havent been in much pain, mostly discomfort from the stitches.  My mom has been helping me with everything, and doing mostly everything for me. We are in the middle of a "hot" week in the PNW, meaning that it gets to a SCORCHING 78 degrees out ;) I don know if its because I was born and raised here or if its because of the surgery, but I am especially sensitive to the heat and have to keep icing my neck and head to stay cool! In regards to food, I have been eating fruit "crushers", they are little squeezable packs of fruit, Boost, mashed potatoes, mashed grilled eggplant, Yogurt with banana, beans, and odwalla juices!

Heres a picture for today:

This is from yesterday, day 4. I'm rockin the pensive look!

Swelling is pretty much the same today.

Day 2 after surgery.

I did it! I am finally home after two very long days at the hospital. The surgery went great, it took less time than expected; only 3 1/2 hours.  I am still very puffy but feeling a little better. I have to say that the first night after surgery was not fun at all, but the nurses were very nice and helped a lot.

Now, I'd like to introduce you all to my mommy! Since I am still not well enough to be at the computer for too long, she's going to write on my behalf.

Some good news before I go, right before surgery, Dr. Gauger told me that I might not have to be banded shut, but I would be splinted, but guess what? No splint or bands! yayyyy!
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Letter from Mama:

I want to start by saying how proud I am of my daughter. Her surgery was at Children's Hospital so while we were waiting to be admitted, we saw many little kids in the waiting area. There was a little boy who was also going to go into surgery. He started kicking and screaming at the top of his lungs, "I don't want to! I don't want to anymore!" Atenas looked over at me and said: "That's exactly how I'm feeling right now but I'm holding it in. He's my spokesperson."

sometimes Atenas has a little bit of energy to reply to messages and check Facebook, but only for a couple of minutes, I think for the next couple of days mom and sister will continue to be 'personal assistants'

We spent two nights at the hospital and were surrounded by many wonderful nurses. Although it was great to have a lot of help, that meant we had very little sleep.

Now that she's done with the surgery and in her own room, everything is going much better. Being able to recover in her own home is going to help her a lot. Atenas and I took a long nap and she's feeling much more rested.

Sister found the perfect gift at the gift shop of the hospital!. Atenas' nick name is "hermit crab" because sometimes she is crabby and sometimes shy. Also because sister in Spanish is "hermana" so it kind of goes with hermit :-)  Atenas calls her sister Shish kabob (started as 'shistah')

I think the worst part is over but I also want to make sure Atenas takes it slow. Her big sister has been amazing as well, helping a lot and keeping her sister company.

I am not "cyber person" but when Atenas found that a lot of people write blogs about the surgery, I agreed that she should write her own blog for a couple of reasons, but the main reason is because we learned a lot  from reading about other people's experience. The suggested items to purchase have helped a lot (and it also gave some of our friends ideas to shop for gifts for Atenas -thank you!).

 I am a visual learner and I need to see pictures. Looking at other peoples pictures before and after surgery helped me a lot to know what to expect. Also the best tip a friend gave me was to "be prepared when you see your child after surgery, she is going to look very puffy and have bruises". I also shared that with friends and family who wanted to come to the hospital to see Atenas. Our visitors were very nice and sensitive and only stayed for a few minutes. I appreciated their visit a lot and Atenas was very happy to see them but I also know she was tired and wanted to rest as much as possible.

Food: be ready with multiple choices, some things taste very different after surgery.

Atenas and daddy

Atenas has been drinking a protein shake, a little juice, a lot of water and for dinner her dad made her roasted eggplant (her favorite) and blend it. She liked it but I don't think she was ready for that today, we will try again tomorrow, for now we will stick with apple sauce.

Items: have plenty of wash clothes and syringes. Atenas bought baby spoons but she is not ready for those either.

Pain management: Very important to stay in schedule with pain meds.

Thanks to our friends and family for all of their support. It feels very good to know that you are thinking of us and we appreciate your calls, messages and presents!


So proud of my baby!

Countdown: Surgery Day!

Today is the big day! I have to be at the hospital in 3 and a half hours, and my surgery is probably at 11 or 12. I had a great last day of food yesterday, lunch at Cheesecake Factory and dinner at Mazatlan. The  owner even made my favorite potato tacos that aren't on the menu :) I will update again after surgery!

Countdown: TWENTY SEVEN HOURS!

Dun dun dun dunnnn. The final countdown has begun. I am really nervous and excited! A lot less than I was for my preop though for some reason. It has been a great week so far. I am coaching a soccer team and we had our first practice Monday, then we went to go pick up my mom's friend and her family from the airport! hopefully the rest of the week will go just as smoothly :) Tomorrow I am having my "final dinner" at my favorite mexican restaurant with friends and family, then SURGERY DAY!

Wish me luck!

Dinner on Tuesday

Soccer practice today!

Lunch with dear friends at Cheesecake Factory on day before surgery

Dinner with family and friends visiting from Mexico

my last Starbucks before surgery, check out the spelling of my name!

Countdown: 5 days! Its on Friday!

The surgery is on Friday! I can officially say that now, yay! I pretty much have everything I need that isn't food related. I'm probably going food shopping today or tomorrow.

Even with my super obsessive research and being prepared for everything the surgeon told me, I was still caught off guard by one thing. I have to get a bone graft taken from my hip, eeek! And for some reason I am more worried about that than anything else. I already wont be able to communicate very much, but having a sore hip is just making it worst.

My surgeon also told me that I may or may not need a splint to hold my bite in place, it just depends on how the thinks my bite would hold up. I personally do want to the splint because my jaw tends to click at night and sort of fall to the side (gross I know, sorry!), and I'm really scared that will happen after surgery and I will wake up crooked!

Going to my pre anesthesia appointment made me feel a lot better about the surgery because now I know exactly where we have to go, where the OR is, and pretty much how the whole day will go. On Friday morning we are having a meeting with the surgeon so he can explain to us exactly what he will be doing. I will definitely have to stay one night, but my mom thinks its a good idea to stay two nights because we have a longish drive home and she doesn't want me to get nauseous. Oh! I just remembered that the surgeon also told us that after surgery they have a nutritionist come in to make sure that I am eating enough when I get home, and she will give us some tips on what to eat! And some other people will also come by but I dont remember what they will do. I think one person is going to come to talk to us about making a schedule for when to take my medication and antibiotics. Really helpful because after I got my wisdom teeth taken out I was sleeping alot so I wasnt staying on any sort of schedule and I ended up having a really long recovery time.

Yay, only FIVE more days!!!!



I can't wait until my achy jaw goes away!

Countdown: 6 days! and a walk through memory lane :)

My family was going through old photo albums the other day and I found this picture from when I was 10! this is post phase 1 treatment with top braces on only my first four teeth. Although my teeth did touch, it was because my bottoms were growing towards the tops. As my bottom jaw kept growing, by bottom teeth    stayed slanted back, so when I got braces on my bottom teeth last year, my teeth were made to face upright therefore making my underbite seem more noticeable. Also, is the top middle picture I have a slight cant to the left, but now I have a slight cant to the right. hmmm.

Countdown: 7 days!

When I first got to my pre-op appointment, I played with the little kids toys! Oh, the joys of surgery at Children's Hospital! 

Mini Piano!

Then I got some SUPER attractive pictures taken.

x-rays

Molds for splint

My amazing team! Jessica did all my x-rays, pictures and molds. Dr. Egbert is my surgeon, and the other guy is the resident.

Then I went to the pre anesthesia clinic at the main hospital for a short vist with an RN, and we were on our way home! Long, productive day :)