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!
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