After a couple of weeks, my surgeon told me to start massaging the incisions to keep the scar tissue from building up. Massaging would also be of help to the nerves and muscles. I had to force myself to rubbed deeply and made myself do it for 5 minutes at a time - I actually set a timer. The first week, I cried every time I did the massaging. I know I just sound like a big baby. The whole experience was more emotionally charged than I expected. Rubbing my face put me in contact with just how foreign my own face felt to me and was upsetting. As some of the surface nerves began to 'wake up,' it got easier.
Smile at three weeks.
The trouble with my eyes was simply from the dryness of the left eye. Because my eye wasn't blinking properly, it wasn't keeping the eye moist. That affected everything visually. I was surprised. I used drops to help with that. I had been using drops at night, but started using them during the day and it helped with the eye fatigue and reading and all.
The ear pain ended up being dried blood on the eardrum preventing it from contracting as it should. I used the drops that you use for ear wax to soften and remove it. My surgeon didn't want me to do any real vigorous rinsing with the bulb syringe, but I probably DID do a somewhat vigorous rinse to get that blood out. Things were MUCH better after.
Four weeks, smiling as big as I can.
I decided to try the acupuncture at the four week mark. There was a price cut if you paid ahead for 5 sessions, so I signed up for five.
My acupuncturist, Tyehao Lu, at Master Lu's in Salt Lake City.
My porcupine look. They used disposable needles. There was often a little sting when the needles were placed, but that would go away. My hand is like that to show that there is a needle in my hand at the base of my thumb. After all the needles were in place, I would be left to relax for 20-30 minutes. It was quiet, with new-age music playing.
There is also a needle in the very top of my head back toward the 'crown' of my head. After Tyehao removed the needles, he would rub my face. It was actually pretty relaxing. I went every 4-5 days.
AND, I felt it helped.
My smile at 5 weeks. It seemed to me like good progress in one week.
I also began having physical therapy around the 4 week mark. I was still having some trouble turning my head and I felt like there was pulling in my neck when I turned it. I figured scar tissue was building up. It wasn't. The physical therapists were really impressed by my incision, telling me how beautiful it was and letting me know that there was minimal scar tissue. The issue with my neck was an exaggeration of a problem I have had for a long time; namely, the tension build up in my neck, upper back and shoulder. Physical therapy was a BIG help to me.
Six week smile. Coming along.
The incision at six weeks.
This was my team at Hand and Ortho Rehabilitation, the best physical therapy clinic around:
My personal miracle worker,
Todd Schwartz, PT, DPT, OCS.
Denise Hagman, BS, LMT, PTA
As you can see by the letters, Denise is also a licensed massage therapist and as we got farther along in my treatment, she started doing some deep tissue massage that was breath-taking - literally - but so wonderful.
Lance, aide
Lance and Matt would set me up on heat and would supervise my exercises.
Matt, aide
At seven weeks, I dropped into my surgeon's office. They were all surprised and happy with my progress.
Dr. Motoki and his office assistant Bonnie. They were wonderful to me.
Ten weeks.
My ten week smile.
It has now been a year. I had my one year post-op with my surgeon who said everything looks great and I can just see my primary care physician each year to check for any recurrence. Looking back, I realize I was not at all prepared for how this surgery would affect me. I still have some areas of numbness; my earlobe will probably never 'come back.' I am aware pretty much all of the time that things feel different. I sometimes have a strange 'drawing' sensation through my cheek. My eye sometimes feels like it isn't closing right, but it is. I had to kind of retrain my self to be able to lie on my left side, since that side of my head feels different and would sometimes wake me up when I rolled over in the night. I am more used to it now. I still 'can't' use the phone on my left ear, simply because of how it feels. I'm thinking of doing some 'retraining' there, too.
Incisions at one year
Not smiling as big as I can. My face is crooked - to me. Most people would never know anything.
Maybe I was naive. I have never had major surgery before. I had a terrific surgeon and a great outcome. The truth is simply that you are never the same after something is cut away. But I am extremely thankful that everything has gone so well and my recovery has been so positive.
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