Pre-Op Appointment…and a Christmas Song

Yesterday afternoon I had my final pre-op appointment with Dr. D’Addario. They took all my vitals, did a brief physical, took X-rays, and made the final set of molds in order to make my surgical splint. He also answered all of my questions about surgery–and let me tell you, I had a bunch of them! Being the slightly-type A personality I am, I’d written down a whole page of questions, single-spaced. I also used my phone’s voice recorder to record the appointment so I would be sure to get all of the information straight.

For those of you facing jaw surgery, I’m attaching my list of questions in case it will help you prepare. Feel free to add your questions in the comments to this post for others, too!

Surgery questions

For those of you just keeping tabs on me 🙂 here’s the run down:

1. My surgeon is still very optimistic. He said he’s never in his career cut a nerve and caused permanent nerve damage. (There is always a chance I’ll experience permanent numbness in part of my lips/cheeks/gums, but he’s optimistic I won’t have severe or debilitating numbness.)

2. The surgery will be about an hour, maybe a little longer. I’ll be completely under (of course), and will  have to stay in the hospital until I’m feeling well enough to eat (well, drink), drink (um, yeah), use the restroom, and walk. If all goes well, I shouldn’t have to stay the night in the hospital. (Since my surgery is at 3 pm, however, there’s a good chance I’ll be there pretty late.)

3. He thinks I’m pretty well prepared for recovery and didn’t really have much to add as far as preparation advice. (Did I mention the type-A thing?) He’s optimistic I’ll be feeling pretty good (good being a relative term, I imagine) in about a week. His exact words were: “You’re older, so you’re more motivated.” … Yeah. Thanks.

So, all in all, I feel about as ready as I can get. I thought of a few more questions to ask tonight, so I’ll follow up with Dr. D’Addario’s office this week. All I need to do now is fill my prescriptions, have my pre-op phone consultation with the hospital and get the surgical hook brackets on my braces. (That last one…yeah, not excited.) I just have a few more items on my list to get in prep for recovery, and I’m pretty much there!

Crazy.

So, along with my list of questions, I’m adding two a recording of my dad, husband and I from this evening. I’m singing a song my dad wrote, “Hold Him Close,” and my dad is on the piano, my husband on the guitar. It’s a very rough recording taken on my hubby’s iPhone, but I thought I’d include it for you since this will be the last song I’ll sing in public before surgery. (I’m singing it in our church Christmas program.) Enjoy!

  Hold Him Close

Big Day = Two Weeks from Today!