Recovery Day Seven

Everything I've read and everyone I've talked to say that the recovery is a good 7 - 14 days.  And while I knew I was on Day 7, I was just hoping to see some improvement by that time.  Instead I felt like we were going backwards.  After the 5:45 a.m. episode (listed on Day 6 recovery), he slept fitfully for two hours.  Moaning in his sleep, twitching regularly until he finally woke up around 8:00 a.m.  Again crying in pain. It seemed like his jaw hurt because he'd barely open his mouth.  Got some ibuprofen in him and attempted some food since I'd loaded up his system all night with medication not supposed to be taken on an empty stomach.  Rice pudding is his favorite so tried that first.  One bite and he spit that out too.  (Side note: there will be some serious sheet washing today).  Finally got some applesauce in him but he refused everything else.  Laid around and watched cartoons for about an hour when suddenly he popped up and asked for a maple bar.

From that point forward, he was like a new kid. Asked for chicken nuggets for lunch, giggled regularly and even wanted to play in the pool for the first time in a week.  After playing in the pool for over an hour, it was clear we had turned the corner.  Still had energy to fight with his sister, was singing and dancing and in general good spirits.  I can't tell you how nice it was to see him returning to some sense of normal.  Given all this, we decided to back off the every three hour schedule of giving meds through the night and just respond to pain as it happened.

Recovery Day Six

This day started out by far the roughest.  And as much as everyone warned us, it honestly caught me off guard. After the 3:15 a.m. pain episode, he woke up again at 6:30 a.m. crying pretty hard again that he was in extreme pain.  Gave him some ibuprofen and watched him writhe around in pain again.  After 10 minutes of trying to comfort him, I finally decided to go a little early on the oxycodone and got a dose ready.  While I was in the bathroom, he fell back asleep and slept peacefully until about 8:30 a.m., again waking in pain and crying.  Gave him that dose of oxycodone and 10 minutes later he was talking and asking for food.  So glad the stronger pain meds bring relief for him.  Enough relief that by 10 am he was asking for a maple bar.  Funny kid.

He spent most of the day relatively pain free.  We kept up on our every three hour routine but nothing stronger was needed.  Since it was our 13th wedding anniversary, my parents were gracious enough to take both kids (we also have a 10 year old) for the evening so we could go out to dinner.  With the exception of being a little quieter than normal, he did well. So, when we went to bed, I was hopeful for a more peaceful night than before.  Unfortunately, he woke up at 12:30 a.m. crying in pain.  Gave him some ibuprofen and oxycodone and 10 minutes later he was back to sleep.  When 3:30 came around, he was sleeping so peacefully that I didn't want to wake him up.  Big mistake.  By 5:45 he was up again, crying hard, and in so much pain, he wouldn't even swallow the Tylenol so it came all back out all over our bed. So, back to oxycodone, which seemed to bring some relief.