I feel like I’ve tried just about everything that’s supposed to help with swelling. Even before surgery, I bought Cinek through the hospital during the consultation and kept taking it consistently, and I didn’t have the drain removed until the morning of the day after surgery. Since walking is supposed to help, every night I’ve been wearing a mask and a hat and secretly walking around the neighborhood for at least 30 minutes.
I’m living alone, so I usually set little missions for myself before heading out, like going to the convenience store to buy water or going to Bonjuk to pick up porridge. On the second day after surgery, my period started, which has made everything incredibly annoying. So I ended up frantically searching through this community, wondering whether all of this might be making the swelling even worse.
The swelling peaked on the third day, but the pain was much better than on the first and second days, and even then I was still surviving on juice alone. I carelessly ordered three healthy smoothies through a delivery app, only to despair at the fact that I couldn’t even drink smoothies, and ended up just drinking juice and milk.
From the fourth day, I could finally manage a spoonful-sized bite. After asking Bonjuk to blend the porridge completely smooth, almost like rice gruel, I went to Baskin-Robbins, bought a quart tub, and the moment I got home I ate ice cream for dessert with the porridge. I did think I’d made the right choice by picking an ice cream flavor without any chunks in it, and even though my lower lip and chin were numb at that moment and I spilled everything while eating, I was in a good mood. It had been a long time since I’d done a gargle so happily.
But then, along with the toothache that had been there since the second day, my lips started swelling like crazy, and the front of my chin became numb and painful. Still, I told myself it would only be for a little while, took my last Cinek and one packet of the prescribed medicine, and went to sleep.
And now on the fifth day, not long after waking up, the lip that had already been especially swollen today seems twice as swollen, like it’s right on the verge of bursting. I’m amazed that a person’s lips can swell this much, but the front of my chin keeps stinging and tingling, and I can’t help thinking it might be inflammation, so there are more than a few places that are worrying me. My right eyebrow still won’t lift either.
My face still seems far from normal, and at the same time I also feel like, wow, I really did have a major surgery.. Anyway, worried about my lips, I searched all over for posts about inflammation, and everyone’s suffering is so obvious even through the monitor.
My facial line itself was hardly uneven, but compared with my compact, pretty features, the empty space beside my eyes, in other words my facial width, was always a lifelong complex because it felt too wide and flat, so I went ahead with surgery. Even then, I spent a long time looking for a hospital that strongly promoted the safest surgical methods, and I chose mainly people who actively attended academic conferences and produced research results. Was that the problem? The reduced bone I can vaguely feel seems to be reduced by about 7 mm on each side, just as the hospital said. I’m not really sure what difference there is before and after.
And I used to love the sharp angles of my square jaw, but I had them all shaved down simply for the frontal effect. The same went for my chin. I still keep wondering what on earth I did, and I want to return to society as soon as possible, but even so I can’t help holding onto some hope for my face after the swelling goes down. Maybe I’ll finally be able to tie my hair up and go out. If I went through all this and it still looks the same, I feel like that would be the beginning of an even worse nightmare.
Anyway, right now I think the most urgent thing is to deal with the lips, which seem twice as swollen even compared with the second and third days, when the swelling was said to be the worst. Every day brings a new mission. My lips, chin, and the area around them, including my lower teeth and gums, are all so hard and painful.