Day Five Post-op

I'm back at work today.  It's funny that everyone asks how I am while staring at my nose.  Despite what I told them before hand they all say "Well it doesn't LOOK any different!" (Good since I didn't have a nose job!) or "Oh, you don't have any bruising!" (Right, because I didn't have that kind of surgery.). 

I took an oxycodone to sleep last night but it didn't kick in right away so I was up for a couple of hours.  When I slept, I slept well but I had to get up every few hours to drink and rinse my mouth.  The mouth breathing is really drying out my mouth and throat.  I had some post nasal drip last night too.  Today I'm back on regular Tylenol.  There's some discomfort but no real pain.  My front teeth are still feeling funny.  Numb? Sore? I don't quite know.  There are little twangs of pain in my left nostril; I only feel them when I am trying to swipe up some of the leakage.  Yea, I'm still bleeding a little bit and still have a runny nose.  There is a little ache further up (probably my septum) but again, only if i touch my nose.  I'm completely aware of the splint in my left nostril.  The right side is still completely congested shut so I can't really feel the splint there.

My sense of smell and taste are coming back slowly.  I can sometimes smell things.  I sense that I'm really smelling them through the back of my mouth since my nose is so stopped up.  Sometimes I can actually tell what I'm smelling; sometimes I'm just aware that there is a smell there.  Last  night I walked past a chicken place and smelled the cooking chicken.  This morning I smelled cigarette smoke on my way to work.  I used some Purell and I know it was scented but I couldn't tell you what it smelled like.  I had my first cup of coffee this morning since before the surgery.  I could only taste the fat in the milk.  Same thing for the half cup I had later at the office.  For lunch I had a chicken-curry-coconut-mango-raisin sandwich.  I only tasted the curry.  I imagine my taste/smell will come back as the congestion goes away.