Day 2-July 10

Today I get to go home. I still have not seen my surgeon and it looks like I never will however I have been checked out by lots of residents. So much for the special treatment. This morning I am not in much pain at all, but have a slight resemblance to Jay Leno's sister. The swelling is so bad it almost reaches my eyes and it feels like my breathing is restricted around my neck. The doctor gave me some steroids which helped reduce the swelling and discomfort.

Breakfast consisted of melted sherbet, vanilla Ensure, a glass of non-dairy creamer, milk, juice (complete with corn syrup), coffee and watery Malt-O-Meal. The cereal was the only thing that consisted of a food group so I squirted that down, diluted with some non-dairy-trans-fat-creamer. When I had my kids I couldn't believe the crap they feed you in hospitals and being on a liquid diet I was even more amazed. Nothing with nutrition, no real food group...just junk.

Later that morning I went downstairs with my escort (who also had upper and lower jaw surgery) for my post-op Panorax. Afterwards I asked to view it and when the tech turned the screen around, I saw a long "stick like" thing glowing on the screen...next to my upper left molar. I asked the tech, "What the *&*& is that?" He replied,"I think its hardware." When I explained in my new muffled voice that I had lower jaw surgery and there shouldn't be any "hardware" up there he said, "You need to talk to your doctor." He and I both knew something was left behind after surgery.

When I arrived back upstairs I asked the nurse to see the doctor right away. When the resident finally arrived after lunch (no surgeon again), he said it looked like a piece of the SAW broke off and was left behind. He also said he consulted with my phantom surgeon and it would be OK if it stayed there...FOREVER. I muffled that this was completely unacceptable.

Later I demanded I be discharged when they told me I had to wait until 6 to eat again. I explained that people on liquid diets needed to eat more than 3 times a day and the crap they gave me didn't qualify as nutrition. She finally scrounged around for some pediatric Ensure (more horrific tasting than the regular kind) and I demanded to be sent home. There I could bond with my new friend, The Vita Mix.