Red Head with Deviated Septum & Rhinoplasty - Fort Benning, GA

My nose was broken during a brutal kidnapping while I was 8 months pregnant. They couldn't xray it because of the pregnancy. 12 years later my nose had shifted and the inside was collapsing. It was becoming difficult to breath through. My insurance covered the entire surgery, so I set it up right away. I knew it was going to hurt, I know I have the natural red head recessive generics (bleed more, hurt more, & hypersensitive to all medications), & my surgeon stressed that because my skin is so thin & translucent my surgery would be more difficult. I thought I was prepared nonetheless. I quickly realized that I was not. My recovery time was suggested to be 2 weeks. It's lasted longer. No one told me that my mouth would swell from the inside, the top of my mouth would be completely raw, my front gums & teeth would be in utter pain, & my top lip would not be functional. I had planned for soup, but standing caused nose bleeds & I was incapable of chewing for the entire 2 weeks. I quickly learned that smoothies, broth, & ice cream were key to survival. Took quite a few days to express this to anyone. This surgery was the single most drawn out painful thing I have ever experienced. I can now breath & my nose looks amazing. Honestly, I wouldn't do it twice, but I'm very glad that I did it. It's day 16 & I still am waiting for the swelling inside my mouth & nose to completely go away. The bruising finally faded out yesterday. My only regret, I would have liked to have been better informed beforehand the things I would require at home to be taken care of properly. Suggestions I can offer: Definitely plan ahead & be prepared, the couch is better to sleep on (easier to prop yourself up to sleep), & make sure you use your sinus rinse & ointments as prescribed. They're life savers! Also, I lost almost all memory of the first week post-op & some memory from pre-op.
P.s. I was able to take pain meds by counter acting them with Benadryl & Phenergan. The pain meds turned my insides into actual rocks & stool softener didn't work. ExLax only caused awful cramps that wouldn't let me sleep. (This might sound disgusting, but it's great to know.) The lube Wet & medical gloves helped me manually remove my "rocks" & Hemorrhoid cream relieved the pain caused by bloody cuts inside & out. Good luck!