Hey guys! I'm sorry for dropping off the planet for so long! Life just started to really pick up and between school, work, and traveling I have had next to no free time. Honestly, jaw surgery just became less and less of an issue that was constantly on my mind, but that's good news! :) I'm now at about 5 months post-op and I thought I would give a good update about how I'm doing at this point since I haven't updated since the first weeks after surgery (sorry about that!)
So, first of all I'd like to say that I absolutely can't believe that it has been 148 days since surgery! 5 months ago I couldn't even imagine being this far past surgery. At this point I feel like I'm almost back to normal. Surgery is definitely not something that is constantly on my mind anymore. Really, I only think about it when I eat and even then it's not much. I still can't eat absolutely that I want, but I am pretty close. The only exceptions are things that require a lot of chewing like crunchy fruits or vegetables, tough meats like steak, and hard or chewy candies. I also still have a bit of an issue with the range of motion of my jaw. I still can't open as widely as I could before. So, I have to keep that in mind when I try to eat burgers and sandwiches. Usually it doesn't create much of an issue though, because I can just squish them a little and it's fine. I can also tell that my range of motion is still getting better all the time so that isn't something that worries me really. I have noticed that I have some jaw pain that I didn't have before surgery. If I talk to much, yawn too widely, or accidentally knock my jaw in some way then I have some pain but it's not severe. It's just a dull ache. As far as numbness goes I have almost none remaining. The only spots that are still numb are parts of my gums like my upper gums (which are only partially numb) and the area directly behind my front upper teeth where the splint was (here I can feel pressure but it's still pretty numb). I was really worried that the numbness behind my upper front teeth was going to cause my to have some kind of permanent lisp, but it had turned out that my speech has adapted around the numbness. I still feel like I sound a little weird when I say some words, but my friends have told me that it is extremely slight and less than the lisp that I had before surgery. So I'm good with that :) I continue to have skin problems, which had been my biggest annoyance in this whole process, but it had really cleared up A LOT. So, I think I'll get my old skin back eventually. I only still notice it because I used to have such nice skin so the little bit of acne and dryness that I still have going on makes me really self-conscious. So overall, I know I'm still not completely healed but my recovery doesn't impact my daily life much at all. I just have to be a little careful about my food choices. Eating isn't as easy as it was before surgery, but it's getting easier the more I get used to my new bite. I think most people don't realize that you kind of have to re-learn how to eat with your new mouth, because the old way doesn't work when everything is lined up the way it should be. So, I'm still a pretty slow eater but I'm getting better and I'm getting close to not having to think about it when I eat.
I'm also feeling better about my new look than I was at 7 weeks post-op. Pretty much all of my swelling is gone, and I definitely think the surgery gave me an improvement over how I looked before. It's just still weird seeing pictures of myself, and being surprised again at how I look. It's just an adjustment. The only think that bugs me is that my braces seem to be more noticeable now. I'm not sure if this is just in my head or what, but I hardly noticed them before surgery and now they are all I can see almost, haha. The good news in this area is that the braces are set to come off in about a month!! I absolutely can't wait for that day to get here :)
Anyway, that's my update. In the next couple of days I'm going to post updated progress pictures so everyone can get one last look before the final product when the braces come off :) I'm also going to post some pictures of the scars on the outside of my jaw to give everyone an idea of how well they're healing. I know with the Inverted L the outside scars are a big worry. I know they were for me going into this surgery. I've been pleasantly surprised that they don't bother me much. They aren't visible at all with my hair down, and I've never had anyone notice them when I wear my hair up. I'm a pretty slow healer so I feel like they still look pretty bad, but I've been assured that they will heal to the point that they just look like a normal wrinkle in my neck at some point. If anyone has any questions or needs help finding information about this surgery feel free to let me know!
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Day 51
So, Monday was 7 weeks post-op. I'm at the point where I'm only updating this blog weekly because there isn't a ton of change going on. However, there is still change. It's just slow.
So, here is my list of things that are still annoying me:
1. Skin- Shocking, right? Since that has been my main complaint since week 2. It is just so incredibly sensitive to everything, and it dries out so quickly. The good news here is that I can tell that it is getting better. The areas that were broken out are no longer technically broken out. Meaning it doesn't look like acne really anymore. There are just some red dots where acne had been, but it is clearly in the healing process. I'm trying to just be patient with that. I know from having acne when I was younger that when I had a bad breakout it took a while to fully heal even after I had gotten it under control. So, I'm trying to just pamper my skin every day to help with the healing. I've stopped using any kind of abrasive wash or acne medicine on my face because this seems to irritate things more than it helps. I was my face with baby moisturizing soap instead of regular soap or face wash. I bought a special facial moisturizer that has a tiny bit of acne medicine in it. I'm still using the prescription Dr. L originally gave me, because the cream the dermatologist gave me actually made things WAY worse. ( I woke up the day after I first used it, and my face had new break outs everywhere, was crazy oily, and insanely red. It took days to get that back under control.) However, I'm using smaller amounts of the prescription Dr. L gave me, because using a ton of it seemed to make things worse too. Everything I put on my skin I do in moderation now, because I learned the hard way that using too much medicine is just counter-productive. I'm hoping that very soon things with my skin will clear up. The steroids the dermatologist gave me seem to have helped a little, because over the past few days every time I wake up in the morning I can tell my skin has improved some. So, I'm crossing my fingers that I will look more like me and less like a 12 year old with acne soon :P
2. My lips STILL don't meet at rest. However, it is getting easier to force them together. I would say at this point it only takes as much effort as it did before surgery (My lips have never met at rest because my overbite was so bad that my lips just didn't naturally cover them). This is something that has seemed to be improving this week though. I can tell by looking in the mirror that I still need to heal some in this area though, because forcing my lips to meet looks a little weird. This isn't a huge annoyance and I've read other blogs enough to know how much time it can take to get your lips to finally touch at rest. So, I'm just waiting it out. The only reason it bugs me is because I can't smile with my lips closed, and sometimes I still have food fall out of my mouth when I'm eating just because my lips don't come together to keep food in, haha. I'm sure other people just think I'm rude for always eating with my mouth open these days.
3. Still not thrilled with my new look, but I think I'm getting closer. My face still looks kind of tight to me in pictures..so I'm thinking there is still a little swelling going on. However, I was in a wedding on Friday night and there are actually some pictures of myself that I like! I haven't taken a picture of myself that I liked in at least 6-8 months since the braces made my overjet so much worse. I still think I looked kind of weird because my face was all red and broken out from the cream the dermo. gave me, but overall there were some pictures where I thought, "Hm, I actually don't look half bad" :) I'm counting this as definite progress.
So, overall I don't have a lot to complain about. I'm definitely not focusing on surgery the way I was a few weeks ago. I can go to restaurants and eat almost anything I want (within reason). I don't feel embarrassed or self-conscious in public. I do still have the tiniest bit of a lisp hanging around, but I think I am the only one who notices and it will go completely away eventually when I regain feeling of the gums behind my front teeth. So, at 7 weeks post-op life is almost back to normal. I still think about jaw surgery every day, but it is no longer my main focus and I'm looking forward to the day when I can say I'm completely happy with the results. I'm sure it's just around the corner.
Here are some regular pictures from the wedding that I was in on Friday. That would have been day 46. Try to ignore how red my face is :P I'll post real before and after pictures when I get back to my Mom's.
So, here is my list of things that are still annoying me:
1. Skin- Shocking, right? Since that has been my main complaint since week 2. It is just so incredibly sensitive to everything, and it dries out so quickly. The good news here is that I can tell that it is getting better. The areas that were broken out are no longer technically broken out. Meaning it doesn't look like acne really anymore. There are just some red dots where acne had been, but it is clearly in the healing process. I'm trying to just be patient with that. I know from having acne when I was younger that when I had a bad breakout it took a while to fully heal even after I had gotten it under control. So, I'm trying to just pamper my skin every day to help with the healing. I've stopped using any kind of abrasive wash or acne medicine on my face because this seems to irritate things more than it helps. I was my face with baby moisturizing soap instead of regular soap or face wash. I bought a special facial moisturizer that has a tiny bit of acne medicine in it. I'm still using the prescription Dr. L originally gave me, because the cream the dermatologist gave me actually made things WAY worse. ( I woke up the day after I first used it, and my face had new break outs everywhere, was crazy oily, and insanely red. It took days to get that back under control.) However, I'm using smaller amounts of the prescription Dr. L gave me, because using a ton of it seemed to make things worse too. Everything I put on my skin I do in moderation now, because I learned the hard way that using too much medicine is just counter-productive. I'm hoping that very soon things with my skin will clear up. The steroids the dermatologist gave me seem to have helped a little, because over the past few days every time I wake up in the morning I can tell my skin has improved some. So, I'm crossing my fingers that I will look more like me and less like a 12 year old with acne soon :P
2. My lips STILL don't meet at rest. However, it is getting easier to force them together. I would say at this point it only takes as much effort as it did before surgery (My lips have never met at rest because my overbite was so bad that my lips just didn't naturally cover them). This is something that has seemed to be improving this week though. I can tell by looking in the mirror that I still need to heal some in this area though, because forcing my lips to meet looks a little weird. This isn't a huge annoyance and I've read other blogs enough to know how much time it can take to get your lips to finally touch at rest. So, I'm just waiting it out. The only reason it bugs me is because I can't smile with my lips closed, and sometimes I still have food fall out of my mouth when I'm eating just because my lips don't come together to keep food in, haha. I'm sure other people just think I'm rude for always eating with my mouth open these days.
3. Still not thrilled with my new look, but I think I'm getting closer. My face still looks kind of tight to me in pictures..so I'm thinking there is still a little swelling going on. However, I was in a wedding on Friday night and there are actually some pictures of myself that I like! I haven't taken a picture of myself that I liked in at least 6-8 months since the braces made my overjet so much worse. I still think I looked kind of weird because my face was all red and broken out from the cream the dermo. gave me, but overall there were some pictures where I thought, "Hm, I actually don't look half bad" :) I'm counting this as definite progress.
So, overall I don't have a lot to complain about. I'm definitely not focusing on surgery the way I was a few weeks ago. I can go to restaurants and eat almost anything I want (within reason). I don't feel embarrassed or self-conscious in public. I do still have the tiniest bit of a lisp hanging around, but I think I am the only one who notices and it will go completely away eventually when I regain feeling of the gums behind my front teeth. So, at 7 weeks post-op life is almost back to normal. I still think about jaw surgery every day, but it is no longer my main focus and I'm looking forward to the day when I can say I'm completely happy with the results. I'm sure it's just around the corner.
Here are some regular pictures from the wedding that I was in on Friday. That would have been day 46. Try to ignore how red my face is :P I'll post real before and after pictures when I get back to my Mom's.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Day 44
Finally saw a dermatologist today to try to figure out what is going on with my skin. My surgeon had said that it looked like rosacea, but luckily my dermatologist disagreed. Dr. B (dermatologist) said that he thinks it is probably an allergic reaction to something from surgery..like anything they used on my face when prepping me or some of the medicine they gave me after. He thinks it has hung around this long, because it keeps getting re-irritated..the allergic reaction added with the swelling, extra oil, and general stress of surgery caused my skin to be hyper-sensitive and the allergic reaction couldn't heal. All of that makes sense, so I'm really hoping he's right. Anyway, he gave me a steroid pack that I'm supposed to take for 6 days along with some topical steroid cream to put directly on the bad areas of my face. He said that if he's right it should clear up pretty quickly. So, I'm really praying he's right! I'm so sick of my face being broken out, red, and splotchy. Plus it itches and burns every time I go outside for any amount of time. Very annoying. So, here's hoping my dermatologist knows what he is talking about.
In other news I have my second orthodontist appointment tomorrow. I'm thinking he's going to do some actual adjusting tomorrow. So, I'm kind of worried that I'm going to be in pain tomorrow :/ No pain, no gain I guess.
I had a pretty weird experience today. I haven't been getting out a lot since surgery except for when I have to. For the most part I've only seen family and close friends, but today when I was waiting for the elevator to see my dermatologist I saw a girl I had several classes with in college. So, we saw each other several times a week for a few semesters. Anyway, I saw her and immediately waved and started talking to her. Only, after a minute I realized that she was looking at me weird as if she didn't know who I was. It took her a few minutes before finally she said, "Oh! It's you! You look like a completely different person!" Obviously, she didn't know I had jaw surgery. So, I explained it to her, but it was just so weird for me. She is the first person I have had react that way, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I definitely didn't set out to look like a different person, and that isn't exactly a compliment. So, I really don't know how to take it. I'm sure this isn't going to be the last time I have an experience like this. I'm just wondering how to cope with it. I'm not in a place where I like the way I look. So it was just kind of jarring. I wish I knew other people who had gone through this, because no one around me really understands what it feels like. I think I'll feel better about these kinds of things once I feel more comfortable with the new look. Like everything else, it'll just take a while I guess.
In other news I have my second orthodontist appointment tomorrow. I'm thinking he's going to do some actual adjusting tomorrow. So, I'm kind of worried that I'm going to be in pain tomorrow :/ No pain, no gain I guess.
I had a pretty weird experience today. I haven't been getting out a lot since surgery except for when I have to. For the most part I've only seen family and close friends, but today when I was waiting for the elevator to see my dermatologist I saw a girl I had several classes with in college. So, we saw each other several times a week for a few semesters. Anyway, I saw her and immediately waved and started talking to her. Only, after a minute I realized that she was looking at me weird as if she didn't know who I was. It took her a few minutes before finally she said, "Oh! It's you! You look like a completely different person!" Obviously, she didn't know I had jaw surgery. So, I explained it to her, but it was just so weird for me. She is the first person I have had react that way, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I definitely didn't set out to look like a different person, and that isn't exactly a compliment. So, I really don't know how to take it. I'm sure this isn't going to be the last time I have an experience like this. I'm just wondering how to cope with it. I'm not in a place where I like the way I look. So it was just kind of jarring. I wish I knew other people who had gone through this, because no one around me really understands what it feels like. I think I'll feel better about these kinds of things once I feel more comfortable with the new look. Like everything else, it'll just take a while I guess.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Day 41: 6 Weeks
So, today is exactly 6 weeks post-op. That sounds crazy, but I guess time can't do anything but pass. Every day I'm able to eat a little more normally, although I'm still trying to be careful until I hit 8 weeks because that is what Dr. L wanted me to do. As far as chewing goes, I'm not having any problems. I don't think I could do anything chewy..but so far everything I've tried I've been able to eat fine. The only issue is that my range of motion is still limited. I can only open about as wide as one knuckle. I think this is slowly getting better, but I'm not pushing it. I know that my jaws are still healing so I'm not really worried about it right now.
Here are my big annoyances at this point (sorry all I do is complain on here, but this is the only place I can really vent, lol):
1. My face is still broken out with acne or rosacea or whatever this is. A few days ago my face got so irritated that it turned bright red as if I had a really bad sunburn. I looked like a clown :P I think this was a result of the medicine I've been putting on my face to try to get rid of the break outs. My skin got really itchy and irritated and then it started to peel. Very attractive. Thankfully, that only lasted a few days, and now my face is mostly back to its normal color. It is no longer peeling, and it doesn't feel as dry. However, it is STILL broken out. So, I scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist for Wednesday. I'm really hoping he gives me something more effective so I can finally get this stuff cleared up.
2. The area behind my front teeth that had been covered by the splint is still completely numb, and a little swollen. At least, I hope its still a little swollen, because I still have a lisp and I'm praying this is temporary. I'm trying not to get too worked up about it. I think my speech is getting better. I'm just terrified of ending up with a permanent lisp. I havent heard of this happening to anyone else. So, I'm hoping that I'm just worrying about nothing. I would think that my surgeon and orthodontist would have warned me that I could end up with a lisp. If it's still there by the time feeling comes back to this area then I'll get worried, but right now I'm really trying to not think about it.
3. I don't like my current face shape. There is one spot on the left side of my face right along my jaw line that sticks out like that one spot is still swollen. It looks really wierd. I'm hoping this is just residual swelling, and will even out soon. However, even without that I still feel like my face looks wierd. My smile looks off and my face just looks soo wide. I don't think I can really describe how I feel it looks, but it's not great :/ I know most people still feel wierd about their new look at this point so I'm just holding out for that happy place. I know 6 weeks is still too early to try to judge my "final" outcome.
Now, with all that said clearly my biggest issue is my lack of patience. All of these issues are (hopefully) temporary. So, I just have to wait it out. I'm trying to just focus on life and school and friends and put these things out of my head. It's just really hard when all I've been thinking about for the past 6 weeks is recovery progress. Sigh. Have I mentioned what a long process this is?
Anyway, I have an appointment with my orthodontist this week too. In fact, it's on Valentines Day..so Happy Valentines Day to me :) haha. I know it is probably going to be a painful adjustment, but I'm actually kind of looking forward to it because it means that progress is being made. I'm so ready to have the minor crookedness left over (and partially caused by) surgery to be fixed so I can get these things off my teeth :) I'll be at home for almost a week so while I'm there I'll take some pictures of both my face and my teeth to show how successful surgery was, because despite all my complaining surgery really was very successful. I really like the way my teeth look now. I'm just not sure about the rest yet, haha.
Here are my big annoyances at this point (sorry all I do is complain on here, but this is the only place I can really vent, lol):
1. My face is still broken out with acne or rosacea or whatever this is. A few days ago my face got so irritated that it turned bright red as if I had a really bad sunburn. I looked like a clown :P I think this was a result of the medicine I've been putting on my face to try to get rid of the break outs. My skin got really itchy and irritated and then it started to peel. Very attractive. Thankfully, that only lasted a few days, and now my face is mostly back to its normal color. It is no longer peeling, and it doesn't feel as dry. However, it is STILL broken out. So, I scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist for Wednesday. I'm really hoping he gives me something more effective so I can finally get this stuff cleared up.
2. The area behind my front teeth that had been covered by the splint is still completely numb, and a little swollen. At least, I hope its still a little swollen, because I still have a lisp and I'm praying this is temporary. I'm trying not to get too worked up about it. I think my speech is getting better. I'm just terrified of ending up with a permanent lisp. I havent heard of this happening to anyone else. So, I'm hoping that I'm just worrying about nothing. I would think that my surgeon and orthodontist would have warned me that I could end up with a lisp. If it's still there by the time feeling comes back to this area then I'll get worried, but right now I'm really trying to not think about it.
3. I don't like my current face shape. There is one spot on the left side of my face right along my jaw line that sticks out like that one spot is still swollen. It looks really wierd. I'm hoping this is just residual swelling, and will even out soon. However, even without that I still feel like my face looks wierd. My smile looks off and my face just looks soo wide. I don't think I can really describe how I feel it looks, but it's not great :/ I know most people still feel wierd about their new look at this point so I'm just holding out for that happy place. I know 6 weeks is still too early to try to judge my "final" outcome.
Now, with all that said clearly my biggest issue is my lack of patience. All of these issues are (hopefully) temporary. So, I just have to wait it out. I'm trying to just focus on life and school and friends and put these things out of my head. It's just really hard when all I've been thinking about for the past 6 weeks is recovery progress. Sigh. Have I mentioned what a long process this is?
Anyway, I have an appointment with my orthodontist this week too. In fact, it's on Valentines Day..so Happy Valentines Day to me :) haha. I know it is probably going to be a painful adjustment, but I'm actually kind of looking forward to it because it means that progress is being made. I'm so ready to have the minor crookedness left over (and partially caused by) surgery to be fixed so I can get these things off my teeth :) I'll be at home for almost a week so while I'm there I'll take some pictures of both my face and my teeth to show how successful surgery was, because despite all my complaining surgery really was very successful. I really like the way my teeth look now. I'm just not sure about the rest yet, haha.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Day 36
I haven't been able to update much since the splint came out, because I was getting ready to head back to school/work. Back in December at the end of last semester I packed up a good portion of my apartment and belongings to take home with me to Alabama, because I knew I would be there for possibly 2 months. So, getting all that stuff back together took a significant amount of time. I was kind of dreading getting back to my regular life, because it still felt like I was spending a huge portion of every day just maintaining myself. My skin is still all crazy and awful looking and rash-y and in the morning I still wake up with noticeable (at least to me) swelling. I hadn't gotten used to getting out in public at all, let alone going back to work and classes every day of the week. Plus, my energy level still runs low really quickly. So, yeah, I was nervous. However, I am happy to report that I'm really glad I went ahead and came back. It's so nice to have other things to focus on besides jaw surgery. It's actually really nice being busy again. When I look in a mirror I still get really self-conscious because of it looking so broken out but I'm trying not to stress about it because it reality it is going to be broken out whether I hide at my house or I get out and start interacting with the world again. I'm also hoping that getting out and about will help me continue to get better faster. When I'm hiding at home I have the tendency to just bum around, which doesn't help anything at all. I just feel so much better being back and productive again.
Everyone here has been pretty nice about the surgery, although I didn't tell a ton of people here. I've only been in the graduate program here for one semester so I don't know many people. I only told a couple of friends from class, my professors, and my employer. No one has pointed out that I look different, although I have noticed people kind of double taking when they first see me. I think they just don't want to be rude by saying I look different, since I didn't warn anyone that there would be a change in my appearance. I have gotten several "you look good"'s though, and thats nice. I feels weird communicating with people who don't know about the surgery though. I still look and sound funny when I talk, because my lips don't meet without me forcing them and my lips look weird trying to come together to form words. I also still have a little bit of a lisp on some words because the swelling from where the splint was hasn't fully gone down/healed yet. I'm sure I notice it more than anyone else though.
It's crazy that it has been 5 weeks since surgery already. Actually, now I'm getting closer to 6 weeks. Crazy! I really expected to be doing better by this point, but I think I just didn't realize how big of a deal this surgery was going to be. I honestly thought that the minute the splint came off I could go back to talking and eating exactly how I used to. My advice for anyone about to go through this: just realize that you are going to go through a very long very tedious recovery. It is a VERY gradual process. It will takes months for me to get back to eating like I used to. I basically have to re-learn how to eat with my new mouth. Biting is particularly difficult, because my top teeth can't really feel anything, and this is the first time in my life that my teeth are actually able to truly bite. Since, I have spent most of my life compensating for my open/over bite while trying to bite into things it's hard for me to try to bite normally now. Of course, I can't practice it much yet, because most things that require biting won't fit in my mouth (it will only open about as wide as my index finger) or I'm not allowed to have it because it's not soft, and I'm still on soft food for another 2.5 weeks for sure.
Sigh. SO yes. It is a very long process..but the good news is that I can tell that it's getting better. Every day I feel a little more human. So, I'm on my way. I'm still not at a point where I'm happy with the results, but I'm hoping my skin clearing up (because I believe it will soon..I hope) will help that along with the swelling completely going away (which will also happen soon..I hope). I am getting there. It will just take time I'm sure. Everyone seems to think they look freaky at this point in the process. I'm just excited to be completely past this. I keep telling myself that when this semester is over it'll be summer, and I can relax..chill out..eat whatever I want..and...GET MY BRACES OFF! :) That should happen around 6 months after surgery..which is when they say everything is healed and your face has stopped changing so it is the face you will have for life :P So, I'm withholding judgement until I get my braces off.
Everyone here has been pretty nice about the surgery, although I didn't tell a ton of people here. I've only been in the graduate program here for one semester so I don't know many people. I only told a couple of friends from class, my professors, and my employer. No one has pointed out that I look different, although I have noticed people kind of double taking when they first see me. I think they just don't want to be rude by saying I look different, since I didn't warn anyone that there would be a change in my appearance. I have gotten several "you look good"'s though, and thats nice. I feels weird communicating with people who don't know about the surgery though. I still look and sound funny when I talk, because my lips don't meet without me forcing them and my lips look weird trying to come together to form words. I also still have a little bit of a lisp on some words because the swelling from where the splint was hasn't fully gone down/healed yet. I'm sure I notice it more than anyone else though.
It's crazy that it has been 5 weeks since surgery already. Actually, now I'm getting closer to 6 weeks. Crazy! I really expected to be doing better by this point, but I think I just didn't realize how big of a deal this surgery was going to be. I honestly thought that the minute the splint came off I could go back to talking and eating exactly how I used to. My advice for anyone about to go through this: just realize that you are going to go through a very long very tedious recovery. It is a VERY gradual process. It will takes months for me to get back to eating like I used to. I basically have to re-learn how to eat with my new mouth. Biting is particularly difficult, because my top teeth can't really feel anything, and this is the first time in my life that my teeth are actually able to truly bite. Since, I have spent most of my life compensating for my open/over bite while trying to bite into things it's hard for me to try to bite normally now. Of course, I can't practice it much yet, because most things that require biting won't fit in my mouth (it will only open about as wide as my index finger) or I'm not allowed to have it because it's not soft, and I'm still on soft food for another 2.5 weeks for sure.
Sigh. SO yes. It is a very long process..but the good news is that I can tell that it's getting better. Every day I feel a little more human. So, I'm on my way. I'm still not at a point where I'm happy with the results, but I'm hoping my skin clearing up (because I believe it will soon..I hope) will help that along with the swelling completely going away (which will also happen soon..I hope). I am getting there. It will just take time I'm sure. Everyone seems to think they look freaky at this point in the process. I'm just excited to be completely past this. I keep telling myself that when this semester is over it'll be summer, and I can relax..chill out..eat whatever I want..and...GET MY BRACES OFF! :) That should happen around 6 months after surgery..which is when they say everything is healed and your face has stopped changing so it is the face you will have for life :P So, I'm withholding judgement until I get my braces off.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Day 30: Goodbye Splint!
Getting the splint out today was an interesting experience. I was pretty worried that it was going to be painful, because I had been warned by the guy who made this appt. that getting the splint out early could mean extra tenderness. It wasn't bad at all though. Of course, it's never fun seeing someone coming at your mouth with wire cutters, but I think my year in braces toughened me up enough to handle it. Aside from some discomfort from holding my mouth open as wide as I could for an extended period there wasn't any real pain. The whole process only took about 10 minutes. I will say this though: it was extremely gross. Even though my surgeon said I had done an extremely good job keeping everything clean the splint still smelled really bad when it was coming off. There was also leftover stitches that had fallen out but couldn't dissolve while inside the splint, and a fair amount of blood. I'm sorry for being so graphic about it, but I feel like it's good to be warned before hand. Luckily, my blog reading helped me here because I had been tipped off to bring a toothbrush and mouthwash. My surgeon offered to supply these things, but it was convenient that I had it with me. I spent a good 5-10 minutes brushing, re-brushing, and rinsing with mouthwash before I stopped having blood and other gross stuff come out of my mouth. Extremely unpleasant. However, it was pretty great to finally see my new smile. Its actually pretty wierd having my teeth come together the way they should. I feel so much better about my new face though now that the splint is out. I'm still swollen, and my lips still don't come together at rest but it's much better than it was. I don't look so stiff and I don't have to repeat myself 3 times for anyone to understand me. The only annoying thing about the splint removal is that my gums right behind my front teeth where the splint really covered is pretty swollen and irritated. It doesn't really hurt..it's just tender and feels kind of gross. Dr. L said it would go back to normal within a few days though.
After getting the splint out I had an appointment with my ortho, Dr. K. Apparently, it was really important that I see him right after getting the splint out, because without the splint my upper jaw was a little unstable because I didn't have a continuous wire running through my brackets on top. So, there was nothing holding the 3 segments together. I was pretty worried about seeing my ortho. because I'm usually pretty sore after a visit with him, and that is when I'm not recovering from surgery :P Luckily, he didn't do much aside from replace my wires. He also gave me a new band configuration. It's more troublesome than the one I've been doing since surgery. It's like this box formed with one band that goes around 8 teeth on the top and bottom of each side. It doesn't hurt..it's just a lot harder to take on and off. I'm sure I'll get used to it soon though. So, no worries.
I am feeling a little sore now. Probably just from people messing with my mouth all day. So, I'm back to taking Ibuprofen. Oh, but I forgot the best part of today. This evening after all the appointments and my splint was off and I got my surgeon's approval (I'm still on a soft food diet for another 4 weeks) I was able to go to Red Lobster! This is a pretty big deal for me because for the last 4 weeks of recovery they have been showing this awesome commercial for this shrimp deal they have going on. Every day..several times a day..this commercial would come on and I would just dream of the day that I could have some of that wonderful looking shrimp. Well..today was finally the day. I got a huge plate of hand breaded shrimp (which is actually very soft for anyone who has made it to soft foods) and some shrimp linguine alfredo..I also had a few of those awesome butter and garlic rolls, a baked potato, and a piece of key-lime pie. I'm such a fat kid, but it was soo wonderful :)
After getting the splint out I had an appointment with my ortho, Dr. K. Apparently, it was really important that I see him right after getting the splint out, because without the splint my upper jaw was a little unstable because I didn't have a continuous wire running through my brackets on top. So, there was nothing holding the 3 segments together. I was pretty worried about seeing my ortho. because I'm usually pretty sore after a visit with him, and that is when I'm not recovering from surgery :P Luckily, he didn't do much aside from replace my wires. He also gave me a new band configuration. It's more troublesome than the one I've been doing since surgery. It's like this box formed with one band that goes around 8 teeth on the top and bottom of each side. It doesn't hurt..it's just a lot harder to take on and off. I'm sure I'll get used to it soon though. So, no worries.
I am feeling a little sore now. Probably just from people messing with my mouth all day. So, I'm back to taking Ibuprofen. Oh, but I forgot the best part of today. This evening after all the appointments and my splint was off and I got my surgeon's approval (I'm still on a soft food diet for another 4 weeks) I was able to go to Red Lobster! This is a pretty big deal for me because for the last 4 weeks of recovery they have been showing this awesome commercial for this shrimp deal they have going on. Every day..several times a day..this commercial would come on and I would just dream of the day that I could have some of that wonderful looking shrimp. Well..today was finally the day. I got a huge plate of hand breaded shrimp (which is actually very soft for anyone who has made it to soft foods) and some shrimp linguine alfredo..I also had a few of those awesome butter and garlic rolls, a baked potato, and a piece of key-lime pie. I'm such a fat kid, but it was soo wonderful :)
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Day 29: 4 weeks post op!
Wow. I can't believe I'm already at 4 weeks. I feel great to be this far along, but I still feel like I have a long way to go. Have I mentioned how insane this recovery is? I thought I would be practically all healed up by 4 weeks. Don't get me wrong, I can tell I've made a ton of progress. I just didn't realize all the small things that this surgery would effect, or how much those small things would bother me. Like how my lips still don't touch at rest. I knew this would probably happen, and could last for a while but I didn't realize how much it would irritate me. My sinuses really bug me too. Every time I try to get out of the house the cold weather drives them insane. My nose gets all runny, I get a lot of sinus pressure, and I end up with a pretty bad sinus headache. Extremely annoying. These things are just inconveniences though. I know I've gotten off a lot easier with this recovery than a lot of people. I'm just not good with patience, and I am beyond ready to feel completely back to normal. This recovery is just a huge test of my patience, but every day I get closer.
I'm crazy excited for tomorrow. I have an appointment with my surgeon at 10 to get this silly splint out of my mouth. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. It was one of the things I would dreading the most about recovery, but it's surprising what you can get used to. Even a huge piece of plastic wired to your top teeth gets normal with time. For anyone who is reading this that is pre-op, don't spend too much time stressing over the splint. It's annoying, and it will make you talk funny but it is just inconvenient and you'll be surprised by how little it bothers you..especially in the first week. The splint was the last thing on my mind for the first week or so. It will be great to get it out though. I'm hoping I'll be able eat better with it out. I know I'll be able to eat with a regular spoon, and that alone will be great. It's funny how much not being able to eat with a regular spoon can effect your diet. I bought all this soup before surgery because I knew I would be on a soft food diet, but I can't eat any of them because I can't eat off a regular spoon. I'm hoping that Dr. L approves me to start to expand my diet a little though. I've been inpatient in this area too. I haven't been super limited with my eating, but I'm still very aware of what I can't have and I want it so much more just because I know I can't have it :P
I'm going to post before/afters pictures after I get the splint out. I still have some swelling going on that goes up and down, but I'm hoping by now the difference between me now and me before surgery is pretty obvious.
I'm crazy excited for tomorrow. I have an appointment with my surgeon at 10 to get this silly splint out of my mouth. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. It was one of the things I would dreading the most about recovery, but it's surprising what you can get used to. Even a huge piece of plastic wired to your top teeth gets normal with time. For anyone who is reading this that is pre-op, don't spend too much time stressing over the splint. It's annoying, and it will make you talk funny but it is just inconvenient and you'll be surprised by how little it bothers you..especially in the first week. The splint was the last thing on my mind for the first week or so. It will be great to get it out though. I'm hoping I'll be able eat better with it out. I know I'll be able to eat with a regular spoon, and that alone will be great. It's funny how much not being able to eat with a regular spoon can effect your diet. I bought all this soup before surgery because I knew I would be on a soft food diet, but I can't eat any of them because I can't eat off a regular spoon. I'm hoping that Dr. L approves me to start to expand my diet a little though. I've been inpatient in this area too. I haven't been super limited with my eating, but I'm still very aware of what I can't have and I want it so much more just because I know I can't have it :P
I'm going to post before/afters pictures after I get the splint out. I still have some swelling going on that goes up and down, but I'm hoping by now the difference between me now and me before surgery is pretty obvious.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Day 24
3 weeks! It's been over 3 weeks since surgery. I accidentally didn't post anything on Monday, which was officially 3 weeks. It just completely slipped my mind. My brother just joined the military, and he's leaving for basic training on Monday. So, I've been spending most of my free time hanging out with him. Aside from that I've become such a hermit lately. Every time I try to go out I wind up cutting it short and going home early. My face is just completely annoying lately. When I go out the cold and wind just really irritate my skin. It gets all red and itchy and gross. The medicine that Dr. L gave me has helped some, but I still have tons of break outs all over my face. I'm so ready for them to clear up. They are by far my biggest annoyance right now.
I went out to eat today for the first time since surgery. My mom really wanted to take my brother out so I went even though I was pretty nervous about it. Its not just that I wasn't sure what I could find to eat (I've been able to improvise pretty well so far)..it was more that my eating isn't super attractive these days. That doesn't bother me at home. I just keep a towel with me and as long as I can get the food down without hurting my jaw, I'm good. In public though no one knows that I just had jaw surgery and that is why my speech sounds wierd and food occasionally falls out of my mouth. I decided that hanging out with my brother was more important than my vanity though..so I decided to just have a sense of humor about my situation, and if I make a mess then it is what it is. It turned out that it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. We decided to go to a bbq place so I could get some kind of pulled meat. My mom explained my situation to the waitress and she was happy to ask the cook to cut up my chicken really fine so that I could eat it. I also had some mac and cheese and a baked potato. It was sooo good! It was all also really easy to eat. It was so nice to be able to sit in a restaurant and eat semi-normally. I didn't stress about how silly I probably looked eating. I just enjoyed the good food and time with my family. It was nice :)
I've got less than a week now until this splint comes out. At first I was worried about them taking the splint out early, but now I'm so glad because every day this thing annoys me more. I'm also wanting to talk to Dr. L about possibly doing facial exercises to get some of this stiffness/tightness out of my face. More than anything I'm hoping he approves me to expand my diet a little more. I feel ready to start eating more normally. I'm getting pretty tired of pasta. I'm actually making a mental list of all the foods I want to eat once I'm allowed to eat normally again.
Anyway..I'm going to try to post pictures again soon. I've been taking them every few days, but I haven't been posting because my internet is awful. I'm going to try to upload all of them in the next few days though!
I went out to eat today for the first time since surgery. My mom really wanted to take my brother out so I went even though I was pretty nervous about it. Its not just that I wasn't sure what I could find to eat (I've been able to improvise pretty well so far)..it was more that my eating isn't super attractive these days. That doesn't bother me at home. I just keep a towel with me and as long as I can get the food down without hurting my jaw, I'm good. In public though no one knows that I just had jaw surgery and that is why my speech sounds wierd and food occasionally falls out of my mouth. I decided that hanging out with my brother was more important than my vanity though..so I decided to just have a sense of humor about my situation, and if I make a mess then it is what it is. It turned out that it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. We decided to go to a bbq place so I could get some kind of pulled meat. My mom explained my situation to the waitress and she was happy to ask the cook to cut up my chicken really fine so that I could eat it. I also had some mac and cheese and a baked potato. It was sooo good! It was all also really easy to eat. It was so nice to be able to sit in a restaurant and eat semi-normally. I didn't stress about how silly I probably looked eating. I just enjoyed the good food and time with my family. It was nice :)
I've got less than a week now until this splint comes out. At first I was worried about them taking the splint out early, but now I'm so glad because every day this thing annoys me more. I'm also wanting to talk to Dr. L about possibly doing facial exercises to get some of this stiffness/tightness out of my face. More than anything I'm hoping he approves me to expand my diet a little more. I feel ready to start eating more normally. I'm getting pretty tired of pasta. I'm actually making a mental list of all the foods I want to eat once I'm allowed to eat normally again.
Anyway..I'm going to try to post pictures again soon. I've been taking them every few days, but I haven't been posting because my internet is awful. I'm going to try to upload all of them in the next few days though!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Day 20
I haven't had much change in the last few days. Eating continues to get easier. My face is still all rashy/broken out, but I think it's getting better since I started to use the gel that Dr. L prescribed. I'm really hoping that my skin clears up in the next few days, because I'm going back to church on Sunday and I don't want my face to still look all gross by then. I've also been having more jaw pain over the last couple of days. I don't know if thats because I've been talking more and if its just because the numbness is wearing off. It's not awful pain..it's just annoying when I'm trying to talk. I haven't felt much change numbness wise. I keep getting jolts in my chin and it's crazy sensitive to touch, but it still feels just as tingly as it's been feeling. I have most of the feeling back in the right side of my face except for right under my eye, but that is hardly noticeable. On the left side I'm still tingly right under my eye, in my cheek, and in the left side of my chin. Swelling doesn't seem to have improved much either. I'm still swollen along my jaw line, in my cheeks, and in the area right above me upper lip. I think I might still have a little swelling in my chin too, but I'm not sure since I'm not even used to having a chin :P I'm not sure how big it's supposed to be naturally.
I got some awesome news the other day. I had been waiting to hear back from Dr. L's office about an appointment to get the splint out, and I was able to talk them into letting me get it off closer to 4 weeks after surgery rather than 5. The only other option was waiting until 6 and a half weeks after surgery, and that just sounded too awful. So, I'm seeing Dr. L at 10 am on the 30 to get the splint off and then I see Dr. K (ortho.) at 2 to change out my wire. Yay!! I absolutely did not expect to get my splint out any sooner than 5 weeks so I am soo happy to be getting it off early. This means that I won't have to go back to school/work wearing this awful splint that makes my speech incomprehensible. I'll also be able to start using a regular spoon again :) Since surgery I've been having to use a baby spoon and turn it upside down and lick whatever I'm eating off it. Very annoying. This means that all the soup I bought I can't even eat.
Anyway, today was pretty good. I'm slowly getting back into a regular routine of being able to get up, get ready, and get some stuff done. Class just started back so I'm going to be focusing on getting homework done over the next few days. I don't want to fall behind, and it'll be nice to have something else to focus on rather than obsessing over surgery stuff all the time. I can't wait to get to the point that I don't think about surgery anymore. I get closer every day :)
I got some awesome news the other day. I had been waiting to hear back from Dr. L's office about an appointment to get the splint out, and I was able to talk them into letting me get it off closer to 4 weeks after surgery rather than 5. The only other option was waiting until 6 and a half weeks after surgery, and that just sounded too awful. So, I'm seeing Dr. L at 10 am on the 30 to get the splint off and then I see Dr. K (ortho.) at 2 to change out my wire. Yay!! I absolutely did not expect to get my splint out any sooner than 5 weeks so I am soo happy to be getting it off early. This means that I won't have to go back to school/work wearing this awful splint that makes my speech incomprehensible. I'll also be able to start using a regular spoon again :) Since surgery I've been having to use a baby spoon and turn it upside down and lick whatever I'm eating off it. Very annoying. This means that all the soup I bought I can't even eat.
Anyway, today was pretty good. I'm slowly getting back into a regular routine of being able to get up, get ready, and get some stuff done. Class just started back so I'm going to be focusing on getting homework done over the next few days. I don't want to fall behind, and it'll be nice to have something else to focus on rather than obsessing over surgery stuff all the time. I can't wait to get to the point that I don't think about surgery anymore. I get closer every day :)
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Day 16: First Post-Op Appt.
So, today I took a trip to Birmingham to see Dr. L (my surgeon) for the first time since surgery. I was interesting to put myself together and get back out in the world a little bit. I'm still really not comfortable going out with my face being so huge still. Everything went well though. The first thing they did was take x-rays of my new jaw and bite. That was great, because before surgery my x-ray looked like one of those neanderthal skulls. My top jaw jutted forward so far and it was narrow..it just looked awful. I'm going to try to get copies of the x-rays so I can post them on here. Anyway, my new x-ray looks amazing. My bite looks so perfect, and it was so awesome to hear the resident guy say the word perfect so many times while he was talked about my x-ray. I'm so used to people being shocked by how bad my x-ray looks..so it was really a new experience for me. It also made me more optimistic about what my results will be like once all of this swelling finally goes down. It was kind of crazy to see all the hardware in my face though. The resident started to point out all of it, but then gave up and was just like "basically, it's everywhere", haha. It looks like I have bicycle chains in my jaw. Very cool..and weird.
I got a chance during my appt. with Dr. L to ask about my diet. I was worried I was on the verge of going overboard with the adventuring. Fortunately, all the foods I've eaten so far have been completely fine. The only thing that was questionable was the pizza, and after I explained to him how I had eaten it (in tiny bites and only really really soft/cheesy bits) he said it was fine. Of course, that does mean that I don't need to adventure any further than I already have, but I feel like there are enough foods that I'm allowed to have right now that I can survive a few more weeks on it. I just really didn't want to go back to basically a pure liquid diet like I was at first. I like smoothies, but I don't think I could survive the next 3 weeks on only smoothies :P
I also asked Dr. L about my skin issues, and I was right..it's not just regular acne. He thinks that it looks like rosacea. Luckily, its not anything permanent its just a reaction to my skin being so irritated and swollen for so long. He wrote me a prescription for some special cream that he said should clear it up. I'm really hoping it works quickly, because currently my face just looks really gross, and I can't cover it up because I definitely don't want to irritate my skin even more than it already is. I'm trying to not worry about it too much. It's just one of those things I'm going to have to deal with for a little while. It's all part of the recovery process.
Dr. L gave me permission to go back to sleeping normally instead of elevated, but I think I'm going to stick with it a little while longer, because I know that it is supposed to help decrease swelling and I definitely don't want my swelling to go back up at all. The best news that he gave me is that I'm definitely getting the splint out in 3 weeks. My mom had me worried that it might be 4, because she thought Dr. L had said it might be 6 weeks, but he promised me today that it was only 3 so yay! I am so ready for this thing to be out of my mouth. I'm really trying to be patient..it's just crazy annoying. Plus, I can't really see my bite with the splint on, and I'm anxious to see my new smile :)
In other news, we're actually expecting snow tomorrow! :) This rarely happens in Alabama, so I'm pretty excited about it. I'm hoping I can get out and play in it a little even if it's only slush :)
I got a chance during my appt. with Dr. L to ask about my diet. I was worried I was on the verge of going overboard with the adventuring. Fortunately, all the foods I've eaten so far have been completely fine. The only thing that was questionable was the pizza, and after I explained to him how I had eaten it (in tiny bites and only really really soft/cheesy bits) he said it was fine. Of course, that does mean that I don't need to adventure any further than I already have, but I feel like there are enough foods that I'm allowed to have right now that I can survive a few more weeks on it. I just really didn't want to go back to basically a pure liquid diet like I was at first. I like smoothies, but I don't think I could survive the next 3 weeks on only smoothies :P
I also asked Dr. L about my skin issues, and I was right..it's not just regular acne. He thinks that it looks like rosacea. Luckily, its not anything permanent its just a reaction to my skin being so irritated and swollen for so long. He wrote me a prescription for some special cream that he said should clear it up. I'm really hoping it works quickly, because currently my face just looks really gross, and I can't cover it up because I definitely don't want to irritate my skin even more than it already is. I'm trying to not worry about it too much. It's just one of those things I'm going to have to deal with for a little while. It's all part of the recovery process.
Dr. L gave me permission to go back to sleeping normally instead of elevated, but I think I'm going to stick with it a little while longer, because I know that it is supposed to help decrease swelling and I definitely don't want my swelling to go back up at all. The best news that he gave me is that I'm definitely getting the splint out in 3 weeks. My mom had me worried that it might be 4, because she thought Dr. L had said it might be 6 weeks, but he promised me today that it was only 3 so yay! I am so ready for this thing to be out of my mouth. I'm really trying to be patient..it's just crazy annoying. Plus, I can't really see my bite with the splint on, and I'm anxious to see my new smile :)
In other news, we're actually expecting snow tomorrow! :) This rarely happens in Alabama, so I'm pretty excited about it. I'm hoping I can get out and play in it a little even if it's only slush :)
Monday, January 14, 2013
Day 14
2 weeks post op!! It feels great to have finally hit a small milestone in this journey. One week was something, but since I could still barely see straight at that point I wasn't too concerned with what day it was. I kind of can't believe that it has been 14 days that I've been dealing with trying to recover from this surgery. 14 days just sounds like such a long time to me, and really I'm still in the beginning.
So, I'm going to start with the good. I have made a good amount of progress, I think. My eating is still pretty limited, but I feel like I'm able to eat a lot more than most people who are 2 weeks post op from double jaw surgery. Of course, I don't know that I'm actually supposed to be being as adventurous as I have been with my eating, but I just can't stand yogurt all the time :P And now that I know I'm able to chew it's almost impossible for me to go backwards. I'm going to talk to Dr. L about it on Wednesday to make sure I'm not overdoing it. I'm dying to try some kind of meat..I'm missing it sooo much..but I don't want to venture that far without talking to Dr. L first.
I had another complication pop up today. My face is breaking out like crazy, but it doesn't look like acne. It's just tons of red dots all over my face..like I have some kind of crazy rash. I had read about other people having problems with break outs, but this is pretty over the top for me. My skin has never acted like this before, and it kind of freaks me out to see it this way. I guess this is just another thing I'm going to have to deal with, and wait for it to go away. Seems like my skin is just as annoyed about staying swollen for 2 weeks as I am, Ha. That's the other thing that still really bothers me. It feels like the swelling hasn't gotten any better at all for days. I'm beyond ready for it to go down, but I guess it will in its own time. Now, I'm just counting down the days until I get this stupid splint off..only 3 weeks & then it's back to life, school, and work. WooHoo :P At least I'll be able to eat normally again. All of these food commercials are killing me. I want a salad..I want peanuts..I want carrots and apples and steak and a big juicy hamburger that I can bite into. Sigh. Yeah. 3 more weeks.
So, I'm going to start with the good. I have made a good amount of progress, I think. My eating is still pretty limited, but I feel like I'm able to eat a lot more than most people who are 2 weeks post op from double jaw surgery. Of course, I don't know that I'm actually supposed to be being as adventurous as I have been with my eating, but I just can't stand yogurt all the time :P And now that I know I'm able to chew it's almost impossible for me to go backwards. I'm going to talk to Dr. L about it on Wednesday to make sure I'm not overdoing it. I'm dying to try some kind of meat..I'm missing it sooo much..but I don't want to venture that far without talking to Dr. L first.
I had another complication pop up today. My face is breaking out like crazy, but it doesn't look like acne. It's just tons of red dots all over my face..like I have some kind of crazy rash. I had read about other people having problems with break outs, but this is pretty over the top for me. My skin has never acted like this before, and it kind of freaks me out to see it this way. I guess this is just another thing I'm going to have to deal with, and wait for it to go away. Seems like my skin is just as annoyed about staying swollen for 2 weeks as I am, Ha. That's the other thing that still really bothers me. It feels like the swelling hasn't gotten any better at all for days. I'm beyond ready for it to go down, but I guess it will in its own time. Now, I'm just counting down the days until I get this stupid splint off..only 3 weeks & then it's back to life, school, and work. WooHoo :P At least I'll be able to eat normally again. All of these food commercials are killing me. I want a salad..I want peanuts..I want carrots and apples and steak and a big juicy hamburger that I can bite into. Sigh. Yeah. 3 more weeks.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Day 13
So, today was still not awesome. For some reason I've been dealing with a headache for the past couple of days that just won't go away. It feels kind of like a sinus headache, but I'm not congested at all. There is just pressure in my cheeks next to my nose. I don't know if that area was worked on during surgery, but it's been really bugging me. I didn't sleep well at all last night. I didn't fall asleep until around 3 am and then I just kept waking up. So, again, I've been tired all day.
My mom decided to invite my aunt and her family over today so that they could get some cleaning done at the shop/storage building next to my house. I was kind of upset about it, because I've been avoiding seeing people since I still look awful and I haven't been feeling up to entertaining people, but it did force me to get up and moving and showered earlier than I would have otherwise. So, it was probably for the best. I can't avoid people forever. It was also nice because my aunt was babysitting my Godson, and I haven't gotten to see him since Christmas. I was a little worried before surgery about how he would react to my new look, but he didn't even notice. He spent a good bit of time checking out my booboos and instructing me to take my medicine, haha. It was really cute. He's totally going to be a doctor when he grows up. Total genius. So, he really perked up my mood :) I love that kid.
After he got bored with me he went back with my aunt, and I decided to nurse my headache for a while. I had intended to do some reading, but a few chapters in I just felt exhausted So I wound up taking an extra long nap. So, yeah..very unproductive day. I'm hoping tomorrow things start to get better again. I'm planning on doing some stuff around the house and maybe experimenting with cooking a little tomorrow. I'm hoping getting more active will help me start to feel better. I'm so ready to start getting my energy level back up.
No pictures again today because of all the bumming around and I just basically forgot. I'll definitely get some up for tomorrow though since it's a landmark :) It makes me really happy to realize I've gotten then far, and every day is progress.
My mom decided to invite my aunt and her family over today so that they could get some cleaning done at the shop/storage building next to my house. I was kind of upset about it, because I've been avoiding seeing people since I still look awful and I haven't been feeling up to entertaining people, but it did force me to get up and moving and showered earlier than I would have otherwise. So, it was probably for the best. I can't avoid people forever. It was also nice because my aunt was babysitting my Godson, and I haven't gotten to see him since Christmas. I was a little worried before surgery about how he would react to my new look, but he didn't even notice. He spent a good bit of time checking out my booboos and instructing me to take my medicine, haha. It was really cute. He's totally going to be a doctor when he grows up. Total genius. So, he really perked up my mood :) I love that kid.
After he got bored with me he went back with my aunt, and I decided to nurse my headache for a while. I had intended to do some reading, but a few chapters in I just felt exhausted So I wound up taking an extra long nap. So, yeah..very unproductive day. I'm hoping tomorrow things start to get better again. I'm planning on doing some stuff around the house and maybe experimenting with cooking a little tomorrow. I'm hoping getting more active will help me start to feel better. I'm so ready to start getting my energy level back up.
No pictures again today because of all the bumming around and I just basically forgot. I'll definitely get some up for tomorrow though since it's a landmark :) It makes me really happy to realize I've gotten then far, and every day is progress.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Day 12
Today was less than great. I was kind of surprised..because I've really been feeling pretty good throughout this whole process. I think I might have over extended myself yesterday though with venturing out so much. I keep having to remind myself that I'm recovering, and I can't expect my body to be willing to do everything that it did before surgery. I just don't have the energy, and I get tired so much easier. After all the running around yesterday I went to bed early because I was just exhausted, and then I didn't really wake up until almost noon today. I haven't slept like that since right after surgery. So, I think my body was trying to tell me something. All day I've been kind of tired, and just generally not feeling awesome. My teeth have been really sore the last couple of days where the bands are, and that was really bugging me today. I've also had a headache that I just haven't been able to shake.
I didn't do any more adventuring today food wise. I just didn't have much of an appetite, and when I did get hungry I just kind of wanted comfort food. So it was back to mashed potatoes and mac n' cheese for me. Although, I did notice that eating was easier today than it was a week ago when I first tired mac n' cheese. So, that was nice. I almost didn't have to concentrate on eating while I was doing it and that was pretty refreshing.
I think I'm going to try to chill out for the next few days. I think I've been pushing myself too hard to start feeling back to normal, and that just isn't going to happen for a few weeks. I think that is one of the issues with this surgery. Most people don't know anything about jaw surgery, and so most of my friends and family don't recognize that I'm still recovering. I just don't really feel up to socializing or seeing people aside from my mom and brother. It just takes so much energy just to talk because of the massive splint in my mouth, and if I spend too much time talking my jaw get sore really quickly. Then the jaw pain leads to a headache, and its just not fun. So, I've been putting off seeing extended family or most of my friends. It's just getting to be hard on me because the cabin fever is definitely starting to set in. I've been reading other jaw surgery blogs by people who have had a much harder recovery than me, and I don't know how they did it. I mean, just the inconveniences and annoyances that I've been facing are starting to wear on me at only 2 weeks.
No pictures today. I know I originally planned on taking daily pictures, but I just really wasn't feeling up to it today, and I don't think the swelling has gone down any. I'll definitely take some tomorrow, and work on getting all the ones I've taken so far posted. Fingers crossed that I can get them all up by tomorrow night.
I didn't do any more adventuring today food wise. I just didn't have much of an appetite, and when I did get hungry I just kind of wanted comfort food. So it was back to mashed potatoes and mac n' cheese for me. Although, I did notice that eating was easier today than it was a week ago when I first tired mac n' cheese. So, that was nice. I almost didn't have to concentrate on eating while I was doing it and that was pretty refreshing.
I think I'm going to try to chill out for the next few days. I think I've been pushing myself too hard to start feeling back to normal, and that just isn't going to happen for a few weeks. I think that is one of the issues with this surgery. Most people don't know anything about jaw surgery, and so most of my friends and family don't recognize that I'm still recovering. I just don't really feel up to socializing or seeing people aside from my mom and brother. It just takes so much energy just to talk because of the massive splint in my mouth, and if I spend too much time talking my jaw get sore really quickly. Then the jaw pain leads to a headache, and its just not fun. So, I've been putting off seeing extended family or most of my friends. It's just getting to be hard on me because the cabin fever is definitely starting to set in. I've been reading other jaw surgery blogs by people who have had a much harder recovery than me, and I don't know how they did it. I mean, just the inconveniences and annoyances that I've been facing are starting to wear on me at only 2 weeks.
No pictures today. I know I originally planned on taking daily pictures, but I just really wasn't feeling up to it today, and I don't think the swelling has gone down any. I'll definitely take some tomorrow, and work on getting all the ones I've taken so far posted. Fingers crossed that I can get them all up by tomorrow night.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Day 11
Today was a pretty good day. I've been getting really tired of just staying at the house since surgery. Usually in my free time I'm constantly out and about. So, I decided to go to a movie with my brother this afternoon. It was a bit more stressful than I was expecting, but I'm glad I did it. It was good to get out of the house. Of course, I was still too self-conscious to do any more than see the movie. My face is still huge, and it's starting to bother me that my lips don't touch. I'm really looking forward to that getting better.
I got adventurous with my eating again today. After the hamburger yesterday I started to get excited about branching out a little. I haven't been able to really get full any time I've eaten since surgery, and I've just been majorly missing real solid food. So, I decided to try some pizza tonight (just plain cheese), and it was another success :) In fact, it was much easier to eat than most things I've been eating lately. I didn't make a mess at all..I just tore it into little pieces, and I was able to get almost 2 slices down! It tasted fantastic, and it was soo mice to eat semi-normally again. Being able to eat things like that are making these 5 weeks with the splint on seem a little more bearable.
Overall, my recovery so far has been a lot easier than I was expecting. I'm not feeling insanely deprived from food anymore, and I feel like I'm starting to feel more normal every day. The only thing that I'm really worried about at this point are my results. I mean, my profile is definitely better..but right now my face still looks so square, and I don't have any definition in my jaw at all. I'm really hoping that I still have a significant amount of swelling and that these things will get better. It's only day 11..so I think I'm getting worried pre-maturely since I know it takes a couple months for the swelling to fully go down, and it's not even 2 weeks yet.
I got adventurous with my eating again today. After the hamburger yesterday I started to get excited about branching out a little. I haven't been able to really get full any time I've eaten since surgery, and I've just been majorly missing real solid food. So, I decided to try some pizza tonight (just plain cheese), and it was another success :) In fact, it was much easier to eat than most things I've been eating lately. I didn't make a mess at all..I just tore it into little pieces, and I was able to get almost 2 slices down! It tasted fantastic, and it was soo mice to eat semi-normally again. Being able to eat things like that are making these 5 weeks with the splint on seem a little more bearable.
Overall, my recovery so far has been a lot easier than I was expecting. I'm not feeling insanely deprived from food anymore, and I feel like I'm starting to feel more normal every day. The only thing that I'm really worried about at this point are my results. I mean, my profile is definitely better..but right now my face still looks so square, and I don't have any definition in my jaw at all. I'm really hoping that I still have a significant amount of swelling and that these things will get better. It's only day 11..so I think I'm getting worried pre-maturely since I know it takes a couple months for the swelling to fully go down, and it's not even 2 weeks yet.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Day 10
I had a hamburger today! Sort of. It was pretty mushy and I ate it with a fork..but it was still unbelievably fantastic. My energy level was also up from yesterday...I cooked the hamburgers :) I also blow dried my hair for the first time since surgery. So, it's been a pretty good day.
After taking today's pictures I looked through the other pictures I've taken over the past days since surgery, and I noticed something interesting. In all my other pictures my eyes look droopy..like I'm still drugged. I didn't realize that until I looked at my eyes in today's pictures and I look much more aware. Its crazy to me how long to drugs from surgery stay in your system. I had no idea going into this. I hope that today's extra awareness means that the drugs are finally leaving my system.
After taking today's pictures I looked through the other pictures I've taken over the past days since surgery, and I noticed something interesting. In all my other pictures my eyes look droopy..like I'm still drugged. I didn't realize that until I looked at my eyes in today's pictures and I look much more aware. Its crazy to me how long to drugs from surgery stay in your system. I had no idea going into this. I hope that today's extra awareness means that the drugs are finally leaving my system.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Day 8
I think today has been my easiest day so far. The first week was incredibly hard, and I'm really hoping that I don't go backward from here because I've really been feeling pretty good all day today. Yesterday my pain picked up some. I was pretty surprised because I've hardly even been taking Ibuprofen since the day after I got home from the hospital. I'm thinking it has something to do with the numbness going away and the stitches dissolving. So, today I've stepped up the Ibuprofen. I've been taking 800 mg every 6 hours. My teeth are still pretty sore, but I think I'm just going to have to deal with that, because I'm definitely not going back to the oxycodone that they sent me home from the hospital with. That stuff just makes me way too nauseous.
I've stepped up my eating today too. I can't remember how much talking I've done about my diet so far, but I haven't been much like most people I've read about. I started out on syringes, because that is what my Dr. recommended, but honestly eating stuff through them really grossed me out. They made everything taste bad. That might have just been in my head, but I just couldn't do it. So, I started trying drinking from a cup and now thats pretty easy. I've also been able to start using a baby spoon..and today even a fork! Being able to eat semi-regularly like that has been pretty great. I know most people aren't able to use those things for weeks. Anyway, as far as actual food goes it has been a lot of trial and error about what I can eat. Mashed potatoes have been really easy. I've also liked ice cream, pudding, yogurt, and cranberry sauce :). Yesterday I had a really great strawberry banana smoothie that I think I am going to put on the permanent menu for breakfast. I mixed some protein powder into it so I think it's something really great to keep trying. Today I've really stepped up my eating. I had a smoothie, part of a cheese omelet ( I was super jazzed about this because I didn't think I would be able to eat it and it turned out to be easy!), some mac n cheese, and some mashed potatos. That is the most I have eaten in one day since the surgery. Of course, I should mention how much time it took to eat all of that. Its pretty ridiculous how much work goes into eating easy things, but it was worth it to feel full for the first time since surgery.
I think numbness is a little better today. Right now I'm only numb a little under my left eye, on the left side of my nose, directly under my nose above my lip, the right side of the roof of my mouth, and in my chin. I'm hoping that the numbness continues to get better every day. It's wierd trying to wash my face every day when I can't feel big sections of it. It has been great being able to completely feel my lips. This was something that I wasn't expecting when I woke up. I think this has been different for me because I had the inverted L instead of the BSSO. It's nice to be able to notice a benefit to going that route since I still have the big cuts on the sides of my face to deal with. Although, I think they're starting to heal. They are pretty much closed now so in the next couple of days I'm going to start using Mederma on them instead of the antibiotic cream I've been using.
The swelling has gone down a little more today although I'm still incredibly swollen. I've gotten to wear I don't want to scream every time I look in the mirror :P I think it's causing my lips to look really weird. As you can see in my pictures it looks like I'm trying to make my lips touch..like I'm pushing my top lip down to try to make it touch my bottom lip..but I'm actually not. That is just the way my lip lays. I really hate that it looks that way, and I'm praying that it is some wierd effect of the swelling. Only time will tell I guess.
I've stepped up my eating today too. I can't remember how much talking I've done about my diet so far, but I haven't been much like most people I've read about. I started out on syringes, because that is what my Dr. recommended, but honestly eating stuff through them really grossed me out. They made everything taste bad. That might have just been in my head, but I just couldn't do it. So, I started trying drinking from a cup and now thats pretty easy. I've also been able to start using a baby spoon..and today even a fork! Being able to eat semi-regularly like that has been pretty great. I know most people aren't able to use those things for weeks. Anyway, as far as actual food goes it has been a lot of trial and error about what I can eat. Mashed potatoes have been really easy. I've also liked ice cream, pudding, yogurt, and cranberry sauce :). Yesterday I had a really great strawberry banana smoothie that I think I am going to put on the permanent menu for breakfast. I mixed some protein powder into it so I think it's something really great to keep trying. Today I've really stepped up my eating. I had a smoothie, part of a cheese omelet ( I was super jazzed about this because I didn't think I would be able to eat it and it turned out to be easy!), some mac n cheese, and some mashed potatos. That is the most I have eaten in one day since the surgery. Of course, I should mention how much time it took to eat all of that. Its pretty ridiculous how much work goes into eating easy things, but it was worth it to feel full for the first time since surgery.
I think numbness is a little better today. Right now I'm only numb a little under my left eye, on the left side of my nose, directly under my nose above my lip, the right side of the roof of my mouth, and in my chin. I'm hoping that the numbness continues to get better every day. It's wierd trying to wash my face every day when I can't feel big sections of it. It has been great being able to completely feel my lips. This was something that I wasn't expecting when I woke up. I think this has been different for me because I had the inverted L instead of the BSSO. It's nice to be able to notice a benefit to going that route since I still have the big cuts on the sides of my face to deal with. Although, I think they're starting to heal. They are pretty much closed now so in the next couple of days I'm going to start using Mederma on them instead of the antibiotic cream I've been using.
The swelling has gone down a little more today although I'm still incredibly swollen. I've gotten to wear I don't want to scream every time I look in the mirror :P I think it's causing my lips to look really weird. As you can see in my pictures it looks like I'm trying to make my lips touch..like I'm pushing my top lip down to try to make it touch my bottom lip..but I'm actually not. That is just the way my lip lays. I really hate that it looks that way, and I'm praying that it is some wierd effect of the swelling. Only time will tell I guess.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Day 6
So, I haven't updated again since I was in the hospital because I've been feeling pretty unbelievably awful. I don't even remember posting my day 0 & 1 post in the hospital. I've been pretty loopy and sleeping alot until yesterday when things finally started to turn around. I haven't really had any pain, and the liquid medicine that the hospital sent me home with made me crazy nauseous. So, I stopped taking it after I had been home about a day. Since then I've learned how to take pills and switched to regular ibuprofen as needed. My biggest issue has definitely been nausea, and I'm not really sure what is causing it. I think it has something to do with not being able to eat much at all. My stomach is now reacting badly to food in general. I'm trying to eat more everyday, but it takes a ridiculous amount of time to get anything down. The good news on the food front though is that I'm not having to use syringes. After using them in the hospital and the first day home I was already sick of them. I mean to the point that they made me gag. So, I decided to attempt drinking from a cup, and after a few tries it became pretty easy. After that, I tried using a baby spoon and it was a success :) So I think I'm ahead of the curve in that area. Of course, I'm pretty lucky because I only have 2 bands in my mouth.
Numbness hasn't gotten a lot better yet. I'm still pretty numb in my chin, right under my eyes, and my nose (I wan't actually expecting to be numb there, but it's almost completely numb), but I've gotten almost all the feeling back in my cheeks. So I think there has still be progress. My biggest annoyance through at this point is my splint. I feel like if it wasn't in then I would feel pretty much normal. I feel like I have one of those football player mouth-guards in my mouth all the time, so you can imagine that my speech is pretty comical. Although, I've been able to communicate well enough with everyone without needing a whiteboard or anything like I've read a lot of people have. I just feel silly with it in. I can't get my lips to touch ( but that is also because of the swelling). It's also my biggest opponent when eating, because it covers the bottoms and back of all of my front teeth so I can't feel much. I think with practice though it will get easier.
Overall, I think I've gotten off pretty lucky. The swelling has been pretty awful (I swear I look like Frankenstein :P) but I can tell that it is starting to slowly come down. I haven't had hardly any pain. My range of motion in my mouth is pretty good. When I take my rubber bands off (which I only get to do occasionally, they're supposed to be in 24/7) I can open plenty wide enough for a fork or regular spoon. I can almost brush normally now, and my numbness hasn't been as bad as many other people's has been. So, despite my current annoyance with the splint and the weakness I feel pretty lucky with the overall ease of my recovery so far. This is day 6 so tomorrow will be one week, and from what I've read that is supposed to be the hardest. Now that it is basically over I look forward to nothing but improvement from here. I'm not going to to lie..the first week is pretty beyond awful. There were a couple of days that I thought I was going to die, but now that I've survived that part I feel like I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm getting more excited to see myself sans-swelling, and my new bite. I'm not yet at the point where I'm happy I did this. The next 4 weeks are really going to test my patience, but it is nice to know that I've gotten through the worst of it.
Here are my day 6 pictures. Sorry I look so awful in all of these. It has taken all of my energy just to shower before these pictures. I just want to update everyone on my swelling.
Numbness hasn't gotten a lot better yet. I'm still pretty numb in my chin, right under my eyes, and my nose (I wan't actually expecting to be numb there, but it's almost completely numb), but I've gotten almost all the feeling back in my cheeks. So I think there has still be progress. My biggest annoyance through at this point is my splint. I feel like if it wasn't in then I would feel pretty much normal. I feel like I have one of those football player mouth-guards in my mouth all the time, so you can imagine that my speech is pretty comical. Although, I've been able to communicate well enough with everyone without needing a whiteboard or anything like I've read a lot of people have. I just feel silly with it in. I can't get my lips to touch ( but that is also because of the swelling). It's also my biggest opponent when eating, because it covers the bottoms and back of all of my front teeth so I can't feel much. I think with practice though it will get easier.
Overall, I think I've gotten off pretty lucky. The swelling has been pretty awful (I swear I look like Frankenstein :P) but I can tell that it is starting to slowly come down. I haven't had hardly any pain. My range of motion in my mouth is pretty good. When I take my rubber bands off (which I only get to do occasionally, they're supposed to be in 24/7) I can open plenty wide enough for a fork or regular spoon. I can almost brush normally now, and my numbness hasn't been as bad as many other people's has been. So, despite my current annoyance with the splint and the weakness I feel pretty lucky with the overall ease of my recovery so far. This is day 6 so tomorrow will be one week, and from what I've read that is supposed to be the hardest. Now that it is basically over I look forward to nothing but improvement from here. I'm not going to to lie..the first week is pretty beyond awful. There were a couple of days that I thought I was going to die, but now that I've survived that part I feel like I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm getting more excited to see myself sans-swelling, and my new bite. I'm not yet at the point where I'm happy I did this. The next 4 weeks are really going to test my patience, but it is nice to know that I've gotten through the worst of it.
Here are my day 6 pictures. Sorry I look so awful in all of these. It has taken all of my energy just to shower before these pictures. I just want to update everyone on my swelling.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Day 0 & 1
Hey everyone! I have to say that yesterday was on the craziest/scariest days of my life. Surgery was a little after 7 in the morning, and took way longer than Dr. L originally thought it would (8 hours instead of 6..whoa!) The last thing I remember is sitting in the pre-op prep areas where I guess they gave me some kind of relaxer, because the next thing I knew I was being helped into a new bed in my room. I don't remember the recovery area at all. How crazy, right?
The first thing I was told when I woke up was that during surgery they decided to take bone from my hip instead of my head. So, I've been having a little but of a hard time getting around. They attached this baloon thing to the incision site that is constantly pumping pain meds in my hip though..so it just sore. I haven't had a ton of pain in general. The biggest issues I've had is nausea. I spent most of last night throwing up blood. I haven't had that problem much today, but I can barely swallow anything so even liquids have been a challenge. I'm hoping that starts to get better. I'm really hoping that I get to go home tomorrow. Dr. L says that everything went well, but the swelling is awful. I can barely talk at all...and it doesn't take much to make my jaw sore.
Honestly, I won't sugarcoat it..last night was hell. It's definitely going to be a rough 5 weeks. I hate not being able to talk well. I'm hoping that its the swelling that is the main issue there and not the huge splint that is in my mouth. As far as numbness goes, I'm only completely numb on my chin..the rest of my face is only slightly numb and tingly..so that sounds like a good sign. Overall..I'm just exhausted. I slept most of today. ..but I'm feeling a little better now. I'm just trying not to overdo it, and I'm really really hoping that eating gets easier, or I'm going to starve :P
Sorry this post has been kind of loopy..I'm still pretty out of it..but I wanted to get my day 1 pictures posted.
The first thing I was told when I woke up was that during surgery they decided to take bone from my hip instead of my head. So, I've been having a little but of a hard time getting around. They attached this baloon thing to the incision site that is constantly pumping pain meds in my hip though..so it just sore. I haven't had a ton of pain in general. The biggest issues I've had is nausea. I spent most of last night throwing up blood. I haven't had that problem much today, but I can barely swallow anything so even liquids have been a challenge. I'm hoping that starts to get better. I'm really hoping that I get to go home tomorrow. Dr. L says that everything went well, but the swelling is awful. I can barely talk at all...and it doesn't take much to make my jaw sore.
Honestly, I won't sugarcoat it..last night was hell. It's definitely going to be a rough 5 weeks. I hate not being able to talk well. I'm hoping that its the swelling that is the main issue there and not the huge splint that is in my mouth. As far as numbness goes, I'm only completely numb on my chin..the rest of my face is only slightly numb and tingly..so that sounds like a good sign. Overall..I'm just exhausted. I slept most of today. ..but I'm feeling a little better now. I'm just trying not to overdo it, and I'm really really hoping that eating gets easier, or I'm going to starve :P
Sorry this post has been kind of loopy..I'm still pretty out of it..but I wanted to get my day 1 pictures posted.
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