It all started this morning at 5:40am. I used to donate plasma before Oliver was born. Since we've been really tight with money since I quit my job, I decided to start donating again today to help make ends meet. My appointment was at 5:40am this morning. I donated it just fine, drove to Jan's work to pick up Oliver around 8:30am, and went home. I put on some TV for Oliver to watch while I took a shower. While in the shower I started getting lightheaded. This is common for me and usually goes away fairly quickly with steady breathing, closing my eyes, and steadying myself. Well, after doing this, next thing I know, I'm lying on the bathroom floor on top of the shower curtain which had been torn down by my fall... I had fainted for the first time in my life. Oliver came into the bathroom and said "Fall? Fall?" Blood was dripping off of me. I looked in the mirror and felt a chipped tooth, which is where I thought the blood was coming from. I called Jan at work and let him know I fainted, chipped a tooth, and was bleeding. He was coming right home. Meanwhile, I look in the mirror again and realized there is a gnarly gash under my chin that I knew right away would need stitches. It didn't even hurt. The only thing that hurt was the right side of my jaw. I called Jan to give him the update. I sat in the bathroom, too weak to even move, waiting for Jan. He helped me get dressed and we headed to an Urgent Care.
At the Urgent Care, they stitched me up, gave me pain killers (thank goodness for modern medicine!) and had me do an EKG. The EKG is required for anyone who faints to make sure it isn't a heart condition, even though we already knew it was from me donating plasma this morning. Let me just say that I NEVER had issues donating plasma or blood before. The EKG was normal, as expected. The X-ray machine at the clinic wasn't working to test for a jaw fracture, so they referred me to a dentist.
The dentist was able to take an X-ray of my jaw as well as help with my chipped tooth. Turns out, I did have a fractured jaw. This is the first broken bone I've ever had in my life... Not fun! It's on the right side at the tip, which is pretty much like it's hanging on a string. The dentist didn't want me to open my mouth too wide because of the fracture, so he only did a temporary fix to my tooth, since the nerve is exposed. Once my jaw is healed, I will have to go back for a root canal on the one tooth, and check for possible fractures in my other teeth. For the fracture in my jaw, he referred me to a facial and oral surgeon in SLC.
I was able to get an appointment with the surgeon at 3:30pm. I asked a friend from church, Susan, to watch Oliver for me while I had my in-house surgery. Susan has been sooo helpful watching Oliver for me multiple times over the passed few months, and I'm very blessed to be able to have her as a friend. Oliver loves going over there too, which is a huge plus! Meanwhile, Jan had to get a few things done at work, and I took care of the blood stained shower curtains and the dog. We then travelled to SLC for the appointment. It was very short waiting time, and he told me that I would need my jaw closed shut to allow it to heal. Actual surgery would be equal to or worse outcome, because it would affect my facial nerve that helps with pretty much all facial movements. We agreed having my jaw wired shut was the best option. Since we don't have health insurance, I opted for the cheapest anesthesia, which is local anesthetic. I'm pretty good with tolerating pain from things like needles. Pardon me, but it was absolute hell. I started crying and the doctor offered to let me have the laughing gas for free. It was AMAZING! I loved it. Then came the hour and a half of twisting yanking and screwing in the wires to the inside of my mouth, like braces, but on my gums. Then he put elastics on them to wire my jaw, so I cannot move them a millimeter. Imagine biting down on your teeth so hard and not being able to relieve it. That's what my teeth feel like now. It is constant pressure and pain on top of all my other pain. He took another X-ray to make sure that the jaw was set right, and it was. My diet will be liquids like soup, broth, juice, protein shakes and then I can upgrade to smoothies and other pureed "meals." I have to have my jaw wired shut for the next 6 weeks. I couldn't really talk at first because my lips and tongue were still sooo numb. He prescribed me a liquid narcotic (I can't take pills since my mouth is shut) and a mouth rinse, since I can't brush my teeth.
The liquid narcotic is SO hard to find. While we were calling multiple pharmacies to check their stock, we stopped by Costco to grab me foods that I will be able to eat for the next 6 weeks. Anyway, a few places had the drugs, but they didn't have enough for the prescription. Because it is a category 2 narcotic, if they filled it with the small amount of it they had in stock, they wouldn't' be able to fill the rest of it once it was in stock without another prescription. Most pharmacies that carried it didn't have enough to even last me a few days. The local anesthetic was wearing off, and I was in so much pain while we searched for a pharmacy that carried enough of it. Thankfully, we finally found some at the pharmacy in Harmon's. Since the anesthetic was starting to wear off, I was able to start talking so others could understand.
Through the whole thing, Jan was there for me. He was so amazing, and I know I couldn't have done it without him. He really helped me feel so much better about the situation, calmed me down, and let me know it was okay to cry and complain. I know that this is definitely one of the biggest reasons why I love him so much!
We finally got home around 7:45pm. I ate some soup with a syringe. I can't use a straw because I'm not allowed to and spoons aren't that helpful when you can't put them beyond your teeth. It took it about 30 minutes for the meds to start working. When I put Oliver to bed, he saw my stitches and said to me "Fall. Hurt. Mama, okay?" It really amazes me the words he really understands and can put together, and the fact that he linked my fall from early this morning with my scar and that he is learning to sympathize with others. So the whole reason I donated plasma was to earn money, and instead I created thousands of dollars of medical bills...
Anyway, I apologize for the awful writing and the grammatical errors, but it has been a long day. And I'm also on pain meds :) I just needed to vent about all the crap that has happened today. At least I'm on my way to healing!
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