Dear Mom;
Woo! I wanted to make sure yesterday was REALLY over before telling you about it.
Not the best day I have had, to say the least.
Things were going along pretty well up until then. Hadn't really gotten much "quality sleep" because of my nasal challenges. That is, the deviation on the right side was fixed and is still healing, and the left side kept being stuffy because the breathing tube went down that side, so breathing out of my mouth dried out my mouth so bad and I couldn't sleep.
Pain has been managed pretty well, but it's definately there.
So, after the "Non-Eventful" doctor appointment, I figured things would just continue to progress slowly (i.e. "Status Quo").
Went to bed Monday night, and really started sleeping well for the first time. There's some progress!
Okay, so my alarm startles me awake at 1 a.m. (as not to miss my pain meds and antibiotics) and the startling makes my chin hurt. Hmm. Not as "dead" as I thought it was. Even though the Genioglossus pretty much nummed everything out, I'm feeling *something*, so I guess that was good. I also noticed that the rubber bands, used to "re-rubber band" my "Arch bars" were WAY TIGHTER, and because my bite isn't evened out yet, the place where (only) 2 of my teeth touched, was quite sore as well.
By the way, when you wrote back and referred to them as "ouch bars", I decided that term had to stick.... Thanks, Ma!
Anyway, took the meds, went to the bathroom and set the alarm for 4 more hours out, and was back in dreamland before I knew it. By the way, oxycodone works great for pain, but ever since I've been taking it, my usually "fun and interesting dreams", have been....well. STUPID
...but I digress. Fast-forward to 5 hours later. The alarm goes off. I get up and walk to the kitchen, take my liquid pain meds, and wash it down with a couple gulps of water. Then, I start walking to the bathroom, and suddenly OUT OF NOWHERE, I feel blood literally GUSHING down my front teeth (from the inside insision - above my top teeth, not from my nose). This was not a trickle which really startled and worried me..
In the bathroom, it was like a scene from a gory movie. Blood, blood and more blood. Blood tastes gross, and it coagulates rather quickly. It's consistency reminded me of blackberry Jello...only warmer...and grosser.
I finally rushed to the bedroom and told Paul that I was bleeding really badly.
Poor him. Waking up to his boyfie all panicked and covered in blood.....
We got some ice out, leaned my head back and applied pressure, which started to slow
down the bleeding fairly quickly. Realizing this was a legit emergency, we called Dr KL's office and left a message, plus I sent him an e-mail asking him to call me as soon as he could (It was 5:30am at that time).
Luckily, the bleeding finally stopped, I rinsed out my mouth really well with saline stuff, and layed back down on the bed. Soon there after, Dr KL called. His advice was pretty much what I had already done (ice with pressure), that I *might* have broken a stitch, and said I should come in to see him later that day and to call him on his cell next time there's an emergency like this. I didn't have that number, but I do now!!
At about 1 in the afternoon, I called Dr KL's office and explained to Daisy that I wanted to make an appointment to see the doc. She said she would call me right back. So, in the meantime, I walked over to the washing machine, and leaned over to take stuff out and BAM! I felt the pressure "break", and the blood started GUSHING again. This time, a little worse. So, more pressure, ice and it eventually stopped. This time, I handled it, and Paul just kind of stood there in horror.
Dr. KL called back RIGHT THEN, and I told him it just happened again.
So, I scheduled the appointment to go down there later that afternoon.
Okay, so let me say as a sidenote. I could be a better patient. BUT I AM TRYING!!! One of my big goals was not to be over-needy and to start doing stuff for myself as soon as I could, so it wasn't too overwhelming for my caregiver (P.Smitty). Well, it turns out I've been frustrating him (i.e. p*ss*ng him off) because when I get bored I'll wash the few dishes in the sink, or throw in a load of laundry, instead of resting. I'd love to sleep, but I just can't...and I get bored!!...and he doesn't see that as being a good patient. So, I went from one extreme (needy) to another (too self-sufficient).
I say this because I really don't see these bleeding-out episodes as being caused by the fact that I am a bad patient. Sure, bending over to get laundry out of the washer provoked the second episode, but I honestly can't think of why it happened the first time. It just did.
We got there before the good doc, so Daisy had a look. I told her how tight the rubber bands on the "ouch bars" were, and she said that might be part of the cause but it was too tough to really tell. Daisy decided that since it was hurting too much, she sould wait for the doc to get there, which he finally did.
First, he cleaned out the coagulated blood stuff from the rubberbands, removed the wax from in front of the "ouch bars", and then he took the ruber bands off. After looking around he could not tell where the bleeding was coming from. (huh????) I told him exactly where that was, but he said the icing and pressure must've stopped it up enough to not be able to tell now.
Then, he put on rubber bands that weren't as stiff, took out a few little boogs in my nose, and replaced the wax in just one little part on the bottom jaw.
So, then he said that if I start bleeding like that again, he will want to admit me to the hospital and go in to see why it's happening, because he hasn't seen that happen before. So, I've decided that I dont want to go back to the hospital, so I am on EXTREME "I'M NOT GOING BACK TO THE HOSPITAL" ALERT. Meaning. I'm not going to much of anything for now. Well, at least I'm really going to try.
Paul had had enough blood and guts for a day, so after we got home, and we got some meds and a protein shake in me, he left for Starbucks and promised to swing by The Cove to get me mashed potatoes and white gravy. I made sure to make the potatos really runny, but I still focused mostly on the gravy!
This was definately the toughest day so far.....so now, they can only get better, right??
Dudette'. I do NOT want to go back to the hospital.
I'll keep you posted. ...but so far, so good!
with love;
Pinski
P.S. ..and I thought *I* had problems! Check out what Premium Unleaded costs at the Chevron station across the street from our apartment. Oy!! I'm glad we have a really little car!
