HI,
I am having both sides done the same time in Newfoundland Canada intra-orally on Nov 6th which is a Wednesday, I am hoping to be back to work the following Monday or Tuesday. I work for a local radio station and have a desk job. Is it possible for me to go back this soon? And please, if you have any advice to make recovery go smoothly, please do share, it would be greatly appreciated.
Hope you are all doing well
Hugs
Dee
Ice/ every 3 hrs for the first 48 hrs and whatever pain meds they prescribe. Watch constipation, wedge pillow, and You might check out JUVEN to speed up healing. Best of luck!
Some members have gone back to work a week or 2 after surgery, if they do a desk job. However, intraoral can be a more painful op- your throat can be very sore, swallowing will likely be painful, as will eating. Thereās a higher chance of post-op infection too. And having both sides at once is a bigger operation than having one side done; not all doctors will do this because there can be quite a bit of swelling. So I would say that more than likely you wonāt feel up to working for several weeks! I had external, but couldnāt drive for 3 weeks as turning my head properly was too painful- donāt know if youāll need to drive too?
As for advice, get a wedge pillow- sleeping propped up will help with the swelling. Ice packs will help with that too. And having soft foods, ingredients for smoothies etc will be a good idea. Keep up with pain medication, even if you donāt feel that you need it at times, as itās harder to get pain under control once it gets too much. And something to help with constipation too- some medications can have that effect!
Thereās lots of info about what to expect after surgery in previous discussions- theyāre searchable. And in the Newbies Guide section too, thereās links, including a surgery shopping list you can look for .
Hope this helps!
I think it would be hard to get back that quickly, particularly if you have to do any talking. Talking is what I have monitor,
and soft foods. I have been able to eat soups such as Paneraās chicken noodle soup also sherbet helps. I just had my first external side though last week, and possibly could have gone back to work after a week.
Hi Dee1976,
I was back to work in the timeframe you describe, but I was apparently very lucky compared to others and I had one side external so cannot comment on your procedure. I did still look pretty funky at that point! Never needed more than ibuprofen and Tylenol, so I was lucky that pain meds didnāt limit my activities. I went to work briefly my 4th day post-op but only had stamina for a few hours. Next day was there for full day but was pretty pooped by end of day. Talking and smiling for long periods were the biggest barriers for me in the workplace, as well as less stamina toward the end of the day. Also, it took a very long time before I could comfortably carry even small amounts of weight or exercise. I was driving comfortably 3 days post-op. In my case, the relief of symptoms after surgery was so huge that I found the surgical recovery much easier to tolerate than my presurgical discomfort. That said, I am having second surgery soon and have blocked off my work schedule for a longer period this time because I now appreciate that this is a major surgery and I cannot necessarily count on such a quick recovery. I wish you the best with your procedure. Wish I could be more help about timelines, but I think we are all so different in terms of the specifics of the surgery and individual factors such our general health status and whether there are other conditions present that directly interfere with healing like diabetes or smoking or other illnesses.
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