<Before Surgery>
Two-jaw and V-line Surgery
Surgery day (Wednesday)
I arrived at the clinic at 9.40am and met
Kayla, the translator. Although I came by myself to have the surgery, I didn’t
feel scared or alone, as Kayla is so lovely and there to support you all the
way. Shortly after arriving, I was then taken to my recovery room, so I could
store my belongings in the locker and shown to the bathroom where I could get
changed into the surgery clothes, wash off any moisturizer etc. It’s quite a
daunting going in for surgery, so it’s nice to know where you will be
recovering after the surgery; somewhere very clean, comfortable and with
everything you need in it.
I went to the consultation room where one
of the clinicians went through the consent forms, going through, in detail, all
of the risks and what to expect from the surgery. As I’d done a lot of
research, I already knew a lot about the risks of general anaesthesia and of
the surgery, but it was really helpful for the clinician and Kayla to go
through the forms with me before signing them, so I fully understood what was
going to be happening, knew the risks and expectations of surgery, before I
signed the forms.
Then I had a pre-surgery consultation with
Dr Kim, in which he went through the surgery outline again and asked if I had
any other questions before going in for surgery. Considering that it’s such a
big surgery, it was really reassuring for Dr Kim and all of the clinic staff to
be so supportive and make sure I felt completely at ease before going into
surgery.
I was then taken to rinse my mouth with a
disinfectant, and then to the surgical prep room for my GA with the anaesthesiologist.
It was nice to have Kayla’s support whilst I was going under my GA, it was also
reassuring that the anaesthesiologist also spoke some English to me whilst I
was having my cannula inserted into my artery and had the EKG pads attached to
monitor my vitals. I was really relaxed on the bed as the anaestiologist told
me to take deep breaths into the oxygen mask as he administered the
anaesthetic, before I knew it I was asleep.
<Take X-ray & CT Scan to make sure her bone surgery finish well>
Post-Op (Wednesday)/Day 1 (Thursday)
I woke up in my bed in my private recovery
room. I was really drowsy from the GA but I had to stay awake for a few hours
and also had to wait a few hours before I could drink some water. I’d been
expecting to have a really sore throat after reading other people’s experiences
online, but it wasn’t too sore, and my face wasn’t too ridiculously swollen.
Obviously because of the surgery your face will swell, but it was not as bad as
I was expecting it to be. When I came around, they had already placed an
icepack around my face to keep it cool. I had a tube in my nose to help to keep
my nasal airway clear from any blood/mucus. I was exhausted and really wanted
to sleep, but I had to stay awake and continue to fast until 10pm (6 hours
post-op). It was so difficult but I
somehow managed to stay awake. I didn’t feel nauseous or dizzy but I was really
tired. I felt quite short of breath because my nose was pretty blocked-up with
mucus/blood and swollen. Thankfully the nasal tube stayed in overnight and was
removed in the morning. It was really helpful having the tube in my nose as it
allowed me to breathe through my nose, so I could rest my throat/avoid getting
a dry mouth. It also made it more comfortable when the nurse suctioned the
mucus/blood from my nose. I don’t know how I would have coped without the
nurse, she was incredible! She’d come so quickly when I pressed the call button
to suction my nose, change my ice-pack or help me to try to drink water and
also came in periodically to check my blood pressure and IV-drip. In the
morning, my catheter and nose tube were removed. The nurse helped me to drink
some milk for breakfast and then helped me to go to my first de-swelling
treatment.
I was so grateful that the clinic was able
to adapt a nutrition schedule for me due to my soy allergy. It’s pretty
uncommon allergy to have in Korea as soy beans are a staple food and is added
most foods. The Newcare nutritional drinks normally provided contained soy, so
the clinic sourced fresh protein soups and milk for my liquid meals. I was also
really grateful that the clinic staff also bought some Pocari Sweat Ion water
which tasted nice and help to keep me hydrated.
In the afternoon, I had a check-up with the
doctor. He cleaned my mouth with disinfectant, checked my wounds and inserted
my wafer. I also had post-op X-ray scans taken.
Breathing was still pretty difficult but
manageable throughout the day, it got a bit harder in the evening but still was
bearable. I spent most of the day sleeping as I was still exhausted from the
GA/surgery and tried to drink more fluids to keep hydrated. At night I was able
to sleep a lot better than the previous night and didn’t need to call the nurse
every hour!
Post-Op Day 2 (Friday)
Felt much better this morning, although my
face was continuing to swell a bit more, breathing and swallowing was much
easier. Thankfully I didn’t suffer with a sore throat, swollen/chapped lips or
severe swelling as I’d anticipated – reading others’ experiences had made me
think it would be much worse that it was. I do think this was down to the skill
of the surgeon and anaesthetist during my surgery, and also excellent care from
the nurses who made sure I was as comfortable as possible.
I was discharged in the morning after
another de-swelling treatment. The clinic was absolutely amazing and had ordered
in soups to last me for the rest of the week (I could have ordered more had I
wanted to) and also ordered a small blender so that I could blend my own foods
and protein shakes that I had brought with me from the UK.
As I was staying really close to the
clinic, I decided to walk back to my accommodation (although the clinic did
offer to order a taxi for me). Surprisingly I felt ok. I was feeling a weaker
than normal and not being able to breath completely normally through my nose
was probably the most difficult thing to deal with. I felt as though I was
recovering from a bad cold, I didn’t feel horrendous though.
Post-Op Days 3 to 6 (Saturday to Tuesday)
I returned to the clinic for daily
de-swelling treatments (except on Sunday). After these treatments, I definitely
felt like something was happening, it felt like fluid was flowing through my
swollen face much better. I continued to use the ice-pack and compression
bandage 24/7 as the swelling continued to increase ever so slightly, peaking on
about Saturday afternoon/Sunday. After this, I was allowed to wear it less
frequently and stopped using the ice-packs, to help with the recover and allow
lymph drainage. I was the doctor again on Monday, who checked how my wounds
were getting on, and checked my bite. I was so pleased to hear that he was
happy with how I was doing. Every day my breathing got a bit better and by
Monday I definitely felt that I was over the worst of the swelling. Although I
did have one nose-bleed on Tuesday but I attribute that to coughing after I
choked on some water! So far I really happy with how my recovery is going!
Post-Op Day 7 (Wednesday)
I had my 1-week post-op check-up with Dr
Kim. He was happy with how my recovery was going and added 2 additional elastic
bands to keep my jaw in position. I was given spare bands to allow me to change
them daily, which to begin with was painful due to the swelling/tugging on the
stitches.
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