It's over

Aimee's surgery lasted almost exactly three hours.  Afterward, the surgeon stayed with her for about thirty minutes to make sure all was well.  He had nothing but praises for how she was and how her body was reacting to the surgery.  One worry about the surgery was the possibility of having a transfusion due to blood loss.  This type of surgery is extremely invasive to facial tissue and can cause massive bleeding.  True to form, Aim refused to be a normal patient.  There was very little bleeding which aided the surgery immensely.  All told:

- her lower jaw was cut away on both sides towards the back
- her upper jaw, the same
- her upper jaw was cut into three pieces and spread apart in the rear to widen her bite
- her septum had corrective surgery to widen passages
- a piece of cadaver bone was implanted in her chin to extend it properly
- pieces of her septum we removed and implanted in her upper jaws to fill in the voids created by the replacement of her jaws

That's just a summary of what happened.  The details would take much, much more space.   Back to the day's events... Aimee was supposed to be in the recovery room for 2 to 3 hours.  After one hour, I was allowed to go see her in recovery for about 5 minutes. 

Usually, no one is allowed in recovery, but in this case, the nurses had a feeling that she could be there a little longer than planned.  Not due to any medical condition she had, but medical conditions others had.  Apparently, there weren't any rooms in ICU available just yet.  My first impression of Aimee was Wow.  There wasn't much swelling, she was in great spirits, joking, making faces.  It was a quick five minute visit.  An hour later, I was able to visit for another five minutes.  Another hour later, another five.  Another hour later, another five.  Another hour later, another five.  How many hours is that?  Seems that our reservation for the deluxe suite had been misplaced and we were waiting for an opening.  Her frustration and discomfort were growing by the minute having to lay in an open room with a dozen or more other patients in varying degrees of discomfort themselves.  It was bright, noisy and anything but restful.  At 7:40pm, a room on the 4th floor ICU opened up and Aimee was moved to peace and quiet.  Indeed, silence is golden.  The nursing staff we met that night were wonderful.  Every question answered, every request filled to make her as comfortable as possible.  Had to leave a little after 10 that night.  Day one was a turning point in her life.  A new, healthier, happier person will emerge from this ordeal.  But as of today, Aimee's comment at seeing pictures of her was "ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww".  Day one ended with the operation's effects settling in.  Swelling, pressure, pain, difficulty breathing, nausea.

Look Ma, no hands!

Hmmmm, starting to look like John Madden

And the truth comes out !!!