Sunday, April 28, 2013

Life at seven weeks post surgery.

Hey everyone! Tomorrow marks seven weeks post-op for me, which means I only have one more week of a restricted diet and then I'll be let loose! Granted that I can already eat most things, but according to my surgeon I will be able to eat raw veggies and steak from that day on. It has been easier to chew lately. I have three more weeks with my splint. My next orthodontist appointment is on May 14th, at what time I'm expecting to leave my appointment with elastics to help close the space between my back teeth.

As far as pain goes, I've been getting a sharp pain every once in while whenever I yawn a certain way or if I'm talking and I accidentally move my jaw to the side. I'm not going to lie, it does hurt pretty bad when it happens. That's about the only problem I've been having at this point in my recover and I'm hoping it doesn't last for very much longer, I don't like feeling pain.

As far as numbness and swelling go, my bottom lip on the left side is still pretty numb and so is the part of my chin that is below it. I still have swelling in my cheeks, I don't know when that will go down completely. I guess I'll have to wait another month or so to see where my swelling is at. On Friday I had to attend an agency training and ran into people I that haven't seen me in awhile and most of them said that they can see the swelling. I don't know if it's because I see my face everyday, but I don't really notice it. I can see the swelling more when I look at my profile, but I don't make it a habit of staring at my profile...who has time for that?

Here are some 'candid' pictures a parent took of me and her child, of course I had to crop the child out, but I wanted to share them with everyone. Oh and please don't pay too much attention to the grass that is in my hair. What can I say, just another day at work. :)








Loving my new profile.


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Jaw Surgery Problems

I've had a couple things that I've been dealing with relating to my recovery that I wanted to address. One thing that I noticed today is that now that I'm "chewing" more, I've also been accidentally chewing my lip (numb part) which has resulted in a blister. Now that I'm attempting to chew I found it very odd. I think part of the reason is because my back teeth don't meet correctly yet.

Another issue that I haven't really address is my weight loss since surgery. As of a couple weeks ago I had lost almost 10 pounds, but I haven't weighed myself since then. (Side note: use the scale at the gym, but feel guilty for going in just to use the scale. :D) At first I didn't notice the weight loss, I mean, five pounds is nothing really. But now my weight loss is to the point that people notice and have been bringing it up. I mean come on, what can I do about it now? I still can't eat whatever I want, it's not like I put myself on a diet to loss the weight, it's just part of the process.

I've been petite my whole life, but thankfully after puberty my lower body became a little more curvacious. Bottom line: I miss my butt, it was my best assest and I want it back!! Plus, I don't like seeing my bones, eww gross. I'm already planning on eating anything and everything once I'm cleared. I do want to do it gain my weight back in a health way, I just hope I don't loss anymore. I'm planning on weighing myself again soon and I'll let you guys know what the verdict is. 

Getting a blister from biting my lip when I'm suppose to be chewing.


Looking more boney these days.

I wanna eat this!!

Five Weeks!

On Friday I had my first real appointment with my orthodontist post surgery and it went ok. My mouth was definitely pulled more than I would have liked it to be, but the final product was me free of my surgical wires and that's all that I wanted. I guess I should meant that when I saw my surgeon last Wednesday he kinda wasn't all for that and said he'll just send a letter to my orthodontist. I have noticed that my splint has been harder to take off on one side, can probably blame that on the new wire. I'm just going to make sure not wear my splint more religiously to make sure nothing bad happens. I have five more weeks to wear my splint. On May 6th I'll be able to eat whatever and on May 20th I will be splint free!!!!

No more surgical hooks!!!

Bite from Right Side
Bite from Left Side

Bite from the front
Current Opening

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

4 week post op appointment

This morning was my four week post op appointment. The appointment week pretty well. Didn't wait more than a couple minutes and I was in and out in about twenty minutes. My surgeon said that I looked great and so did my bite which surprised me. He explained to me that for my particular case to make it so that my teeth met properly in the front the back teeth won't right after surgery. He was like, that's what the braces are for after surgery. He actually said the bite was actually where he wanted it to be which is reassuring. He is releasing me back to my orthodontist and will send him a note letting him know when he thought was a good time to take off my surgical wire, won't be this Friday that's for sure. When I told him that I had an appointment on Friday with my orthodontist, he's like, I want to make sure everything is good with your arch.

One thing I did make sure to ask him was how much movement did he do to my jaw and I have the answer. He moved my lower jaw forward 10mm, top jaw up 2mm and widened my upper jaw 4mm. Because he widened my upper jaw I have a splint and he told me that I will need to wear it for 10 weeks total, 6 more weeks to go. Thank goodness my splint is not the typical splint people have because I would die if I had to wear that for 10 weeks. Luckily mine is removable so I can clean it and people actually don't see it. The only unfortunate thing about my splint is that it gives me a lisp like any other retainer, guess I'm practicing for when I get my braces off and have to wear a real retainer. I do have to admit that I haven't been wearing it like I'm suppose to lately. I normally take it out before I eat and have been forgetting to put it back in.

I also asked he about my diet and he said he still wants me on a soft food diet for another month. After I'll be able to get everything including raw veggies and steak, at least that's what he said, we will see if I actually can chew that in a month. We were talking about chewing and he said that I'm going to have to basically learn how to chew all over again. To aid me in that task he wants me to chew more soft foods like pasta and such. It feels really weird to chew I have to admit. I find myself concentrating when I'm chewing and that causes me to have a funny expression. Yesterday when I went to iHop for breakfast I noticed a women watching me eat. I didn't let it bother me or anything, I just kept ripping small pieces of my pancake with my hands and popping them in my mouth.

I'm also at the point in my recovery where I have to start doing jaw exercises. He measured how far I can open my mouth, which is 17mm, and he says the average person can open their mouths about 40 something mm. I have awhile to go. He instructed me to do my exercises five times a day and to hold the stretch for twenty seconds. He said that this will also help with reducing the remaining swelling I have in my cheeks.

The last thing I wanted to mention was the pain I've been having pain on the left side of my jaw around where the he broken the bone and it travels up to my ear. Not fun. He had prescribed me an anti-inflammatory and it helped, but then I stopped taking it. The pain started coming back and I've had to start taking them again. I don't know if it's suppose to go away on its own or what. I told him about it, but he didn't seem concerned about it, just told me to keep taking the medicine. I also mentioned to him that I hear a cracking sound sometimes when I bite down on the same side, but he didn't say that was unusual or anything. I have noticed that since I started taking my medicine again I haven't heard it.

Until next time.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Week Four Video

I have my four week post op appointment on Wednesday and an appointment with my orthodontist on Friday. Will update again then.


Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Week Three Post Op Videos

Forgot to post these on Monday.


How's that bite?

Finally a real post (a short one, but still) and not a video after surgery! I just sitting and thinking about my surgery and if it has been worth it only three weeks in and it's definitely not a no, but I haven't had my aha moment yet. I think the main reason why is because I'm hungry for REAL food and right now the jaw surgery is holding me back! Lol. I know that this will be correct is a few weeks, but I'm ready to feel like my old self again and proper nutrition is part of it. I do like my side profile though. :)

Another problem I have is that my teeth don't meet like they are suppose to. None of my back teeth meet at the moment, gaps on either side, which is kind of ironic because prior to surgery those were the only teeth that did meet. Just wanted to share. I have my one month post op appointment next Wednesday and I'll see what my surgeon says. I know I'll be put in elastics to help correct the problem and I'm hoping it's a tolerable experience. A part of me wonders if my surgeon moved my lower jaw forward one mm too much and that's why I can't bite down correctly....I'll ask. :)

Until next time fellow bloggers.