Today was follow-up check-up day and to my surprise Dr. C2 was on vacation. Drats!!! I asked his team a few times before we made today's appointment if he will be there to meet us, they all confirmed he will, including his assistant whom I talked to the other day. This is the second time this happened to us.
I saw two residents instead. Resident 1 saw me first and immediately said the pathology results are not in yet. I said that's fine I came here for a follow-up and wanted to see Dr. C2. That's when he told me the surgeon is on vacation. Grrr! Resident 1 checked the palate and thought I had an infection (the white stuff) so he consulted Resident 2.
Resident 2 looked at the palate and did not agree that it was infection. The white stuff was actually a tissue growth and the palate seems to be healing as expected. Then I bombarded her with questions about the aches and pains I've been having. They are not sure what causes the headaches. However, they explained that the mouth/throat hurts because the nerves surrounding the palate were traumatized. It will take a while before the pain completely goes away. The pain from swallowing is caused by some sort of tear in the throat. Their recommendation was to gargle with warm water and baking soda 2-3x a day to relieve the pain. They suggested that I take extra time off work if the aches and pains persists. We'll see how it goes.
The million dollar question I've been meaning to ask was if I could go back to eating solid food. They said I could, without the mouth guard, as long as I make sure the palate will not be compromised and also to ensure that it will be cleaned and sterile after I eat to avoid infection. Hmmmm, it sounds complicated. In other words, they highly recommend that I stick to the liquid diet and continue using the blender for another week. Darn it!
Resident 2 also checked the other stent (mouth guard) for eating. The reason why it keeps coming off when I tried to use it last night was it didn't fit right. Crap. Now I'm stuck with using only one stent and have to be careful with it coz it breaks easily. On the other hand, Resident 1 cleaned the palate with salt water and also washed the two stents. He prescribed a mouth wash that will help treat the palate to avoid infection.
Anyway, I was really happy when they gave me the thumbs up to brush my teeth with toothpaste. Such a simple thing but believe me I was thrilled. The first thing I did as soon as we got home? Brushed my teeth like I never did before. It felt so good!!!
What's next? We're scheduled to see Dr. C2 next week, this time to get the pathology results if it is ready. I'm hoping that it will be good news, keeping my fingers crossed. And like always that will be another chance to provide you with an oral update. :)
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