day 1 following my 2nd jaw surgery

So I underwent my second jaw surgery yesterday. I have to admit, this surgery was a good bit more painful than the first. I believe this is largely because there was no nerve damage, and so I could feel everything that I couldn't feel before.

My surgeon said that he didn't find much infection, but he did find a loose screw. He removed all of the plates and screws on my left side, but left the others in. We're not sure what was causing the severe swelling, although we are hopefully it will now go back down to normal. My orthodontist believes the swelling was due to the loose screw and the hardware on that side.

My face is so incredibly swollen right now, but only on one side. It looks grotesque. It feels softer than it was before though, so I am hopeful the lump is gone although it is hard to tell at this point.

I plan to take Monday off of work. My surgeon informed me that that would be the hardest day. I will probably go back Tuesday, although it's not going to be easy. It will also be embarassing because my face looks so strange right now.

The symptoms I'm experiencing are somewhat different this time. I have the same swelling that I had before, but I have more pain where the incisions are. He cut right through the old scar tissue, and now that I am not numb on the inside, I can feel it and it's very bothersome. I didn't experience any new numbness, and the residual numbness is continuing to improve. I can open my jaw wider than I could on the first day following my first surgery, although my mobility is much more limited than it was before surgery yesterday. I am restricted to a soft food diet for the first 48 hours, and then no meat or anything tough and crunchy for the first week. After that I can return to a normal diet. As you can probably imagine, I've taken quite a few steps back. I am hoping and praying that this time will be the final time. My biggest concern is my lump that I had. I want it to be gone for good, as I was very self conscious about it. Of course, not many people go into orthognathic surgery for purely cosmetic reasons, but it is a big perk and a huge plus. To face losing the cosmetic benefits because of a lump or abnormal swelling can be very discouraging. This second surgery has given me the opportunity to create more normalcy to my orthognathic recovery.