14 Days Post-Op (Late)

So this is a day late, opsie.

IT'S BEEN TWO WEEKS SINCE SURGERY!!

I'm happy to be where I am now. I'm obviously still not 100%, but I have been feeling better and better every day now. Eating is also so much better and I am starting to gain back the weight that I lost.

The first few days of recovery completely sucked, but to be where I am now, I'm happy that I went through with the surgery.

I had my first orthodontist appointment since surgery yesterday. And not much went one.. my orthodontist just looked at the bite and asked how I was feeling. She told me to follow what my surgeon says about my elastics. And then in 4 weeks I will be seeing here again, and at that time I should be ready to get my surgical wire off and a regular wire put back in. I also got a new x-ray taken.

With all of this change going on, I've been thinking that I wanted more change. So today I went out and got my hair cut. And it is now short... I knew I wanted to go shorter- like shoulder length. But the hair dressed did it a bit shorter and did a lot of short layers. I can't decide if I like it or not. It's for sure a big change though. I also dyed it a bit more red.

Here's pictures from yesterday:

And here's a picture today- with my now very short hair:

Broken Bracket?

I have no idea why I had not noticed this before. But I just realized that I am missing two brackets on my braces- my top left molar, and my bottom right molar. Would they have fallen off during surgery? Or maybe my surgeon had to remove them? I guess that could make sense for when he took my wisdom teeth out, as the brackets would have been very close to the incision area. I just find it weird that he never mentioned anything to be about it. And I hope it isn't that much of an issue for my orthodontist. Because I don't think she'll even be able to put them back on for a while as I can hardly open my mouth wide enough to reach to my back molars.

12 Days Post-Op

I don't have much new things to say, but I thought I should do a short little post anyways.

It's now been 12 days since surgery, and I am starting to feel really good. My chin numbness is starting to go away, and my stitches aren't bothering me as much anymore. Almost all of my swelling is gone. My jaw itself isn't really in any pain, although it gets very sore after I eat. And I am able to eat so much better now. Two days in a row I have had a full normal dinner! I just have to make sure that I cut up whatever I eat into really small pieces so that I don't have to chew a lot. And I also need it to be in small pieces so that it can even fit into my mouth. I still can't open it very far due to the elastics and due to my jaw muscles being weak.

I'm still so happy to be eating normal food though! I've already gained back 3lbs.

On Wednesday I have an appointment with my orthodontist so that she can see how the surgery went. And I believe she will be taking new x-rays of my jaw and teeth as well. I will probably make a post after that appointment to let you all know what she says. And since it's Wednesday, it will also be my 2 weeks post-op post! I'll try to take some new pictures to upload as well then.

10 Days Post-Op

This is a late post from Thursday, but oh well. Better late then never.

On Thursday I had my follow-up appointment with my surgeon. It went pretty well. He just asked if I was eating okay, brushing a lot, etc. He told me that my swelling looks good (as in how far it's gone down) but according to him it will still go down further and that I should notice quiet a bit of a different between now and Monday. And he explained again to my Mom and I why he decided against surgery on my upper jaw. Basically he wanted to get the most "bang for your buck". If he were to move my upper jaw to fix the slight open bite that I have, he would have not been able to move my lower jaw as far forward as he did. And moving my lower jaw as far forward was what he was worried about the most. He was also afraid that if he did surgery on both of my jaws I would have a higher chance of a relapse. So just doing my lower jaw made complete sense. Although he did tell me that my orthodontist might yell at him for doing this. I guess he changed his plans without consulting with her.

The last thing he did before I left was change my elastics. And he showed me how to put them on myself and gave me a bag with a bunch of elastics. So now I need to change them every morning. And I am allowed to take the elastics out to eat and brush my teeth if I want to, which is so nice. I've just been taking them out to eat and it makes it so easier. I am actually able to eat somewhat normal food now.

It feels so weird not having them in though. It almost feels like my jaw is still being pulled together even when the elastics aren't on. And my teeth themselves are pretty sensitive right now from being pulled by the elastics.

But all in all, I am starting to feel so much better. I barely have any pain from my jaw itself (except when I'm trying to sleep I get sore from leaning my head back). My chin is still partially numb though, and it is starting to get a weird tingling feeling now too. And my stitches are still bothering me a bit, but not as much. Some of them are actually starting to come out already. Most of my bruising is gone. And a lot of my swelling has gone down- If a stranger saw me they wouldn't be able to tell at all. But I can still see a bit of swelling around my jaw bone and chin, and my face still feels like it's fat. Hopefully the rest of the swelling should be gone in a few days now though. I feel like I've been really lucky with that.

One thing I haven't been too lucky with is eating though. Now I am able to eat mostly normal food. But the first few days were horrible for me. I figured out that I lost about 9lbs in my 10 days since surgery. So now it is time to try to gain back that weight since eating has gotten way better.

Now time for some pictures.

7 Days Post-Op (Second Post)

I thought I would put up a new post with more stuff in it since I'm feeling a bit better tonight then I did earlier today.

My Grandma came over to have dinner with my boyfriend and I tonight as she's moving away on Saturday. And she brought pizza, which I was a bit iffy about. But I was told by my surgeon that I had no restrictions on chewing or what I ate.

I think I'm one of the few with no food restrictions- lucky me.

But I was almost scared of trying to eat something like that because I don't want to mess anything up by over-working my jaw. I attempted and managed to eat almost two pieces of pizza by cutting it up very small and by mainly chewing with my front teeth. It was very yummy. I noticed after eating that one of my stitches managed to fall out though. But there was no blood or anything, so I guess that it fell out of an area that was pretty healed already. And now my jaw is so sore. I have a heat pack on it hoping that it will help my muscles relax. And it's almost time that I can take more pain medicine in a little while which will help a bit as well. I'm done taking my T3s though. The first few days I was so afraid of feeling pain that I took them religiously every 4 hours even if I wasn't in pain that at moment. I went through 30 T3s in about 5 days... Which I know is not good for you. So now I am just taking some regular Extra Strength Tylenol when I feel pain.

I'm also happy to say that a lot of my swelling has gone done. There is still a bit left there (it feels like there's more then it looks), but I look mostly normal now. Except for the fact that my bruising got pretty bad a few days ago. My facial bruising is starting to face. But I have some major yellow bruising along the front of my neck and the top of my collar bone now. I hope it goes away soon. I also have a lo of numbness. The whole front of my chin underneath my bottom lip is numb. And my lips themselves are partially numb. My mouth looks weird right now and I can barely even partially smile because it just feels numb and stiff. The whole bottom of my face just feels and looks stiff. It's weird trying to get used to how I look right now.

7 Days Post-Op

So a week has gone by already. And I don't really have much to say..

I've been feeling okay I guess. I mean, I haven't had much actual pain. I do have a lot of irritation though. Whether it's from being stiff or swollen, or the stitches starting to sting and itch. And the numbness of my chin is really starting to bug me now as well. But the worst part it that I've just been feeling completely drained- emotionally and physically.

I am already so sick of just sitting at home with not much to do. I feel like a hermit, and like I need more human contact. But at the same time I feel like I'm constantly weak, like I wouldn't be able to go out and do anything. Even when I get a lot of sleep and try to eat a lot, and not do much of anything, I still feel that way.

I guess that's just how it is though?

I just hope that it doesn't last forever. I know it's only been a week, but a week of sitting at home feels like a long time.

3 Days Post-Op

I don't really have much to update on right now.

I'm still not having very much pain, but I kind of have this... stinging/tingling feeling where my stitches are below my bottom teeth? It's hard to describe. It doesn't really hurt, it is just very annoying and bothersome. Also, my stiffness and numbness is starting to get worse. I have been trying to use heat quite often to help with the stiffness, but it honestly doesn't feel like it has been doing anything. And I don't think my swelling has gone down at all yet. I feel like I'm going to be stuck like this for a while.

1 Day Post-Op

Hi everybody.

I made it through surgery. :)

I will try to write down all that I remember, which honestly isn't much.

I had to be at the hospital at 10:15am yesterday to be admitted. I was there a bit early but I was admitted right away and was sent into the surgery check in area. After waiting there a few minutes I was given my hospital gown and booties to change into. And was given a recliner chair to wait on in the pre-surgery room. They were all out of beds as it was a busy day. My nurse came around and she was really nice. She had to give me my IV, which was not fun. I don't know if it was nerves or the fact of not eating for like 14 hours, but I almost passed out when she put the IV into my hand. After reclining back for about 10 minutes I was completely fine though.

My surgery was supposed to be at 12:15pm, but I guess an emergency surgery before mine came up because I did not get in until about 3:30pm. My surgeon and his two assisstants came to talk to me while I was waiting, which was nice. My surgeon got me to open and close my mouth a few times, lift my tongue to the top of my mouth, push my bottom jaw forward, and etc. And I guess from seeing recent x-rays from my ortho and from seeing me then and there, he changed his plan of action. I was originally supposed to have surgery on both jaws plus wisdom teeth removal. But last minute he cut out the top jaw surgery, as he realized that I did not have an open bite and that with just doing the bottom jaw, it would give him more room to move it as far forward as possible. So I ended up just getting my bottom jaw and chin moved forward along with all four wisdom teeth removal.

When it was finally time for my surgery I got taken into the back hall and the nurse had to ask me all of the pre-op questions over again, and of course make sure that my identification was right. After that I was walked into the OR.

It wasn't as scary looking inside the OR as I was expecting, although it was so cold. I was asked to lay down on their table and they put two very warm blankets over my body. They then checked my blood pressure and oxygen levels as they attached me to a heart machine for monitoring. After that was done I was strapped into place on the table so that I wasn't able to move. I was actually pretty comfortable.

A few minutes later the anesthesiologist came to talk to me a little bit, and then she started right away. She put an oxygen mask over my face as they injected the anesthesia into my IV. I didn't know what to expect, but it kind of stung as it was going into the veins. And before I knew it, I was gone.

I believe the surgery took about 90 minutes total. I honestly had no recollection of time. I just remember that afterwards I was in the recovery room and they kept on saying my name over and over to try to wake me up as they had to take the oxygen tube out of my nose. I was still very out of it. And I later found out that it was because they gave me gravol through my IV to help with any nausea that I may have had when I woke up. I guess it had a bad effect on my body and kept me asleep for longer then they had wanted. After they finally woke me up enough to take out my breathing tube, I was taken into my room. Again, I don't remember any of this. I just remember that later on my Grandma, Mom and boyfriend came into my room to see me. And they had flowers and stuffed animals.

I don't remember having a lot of pain afterwards, but I was extremely nauseous all night after I was awake. I guess I had swallowed a lot of blood and the suction that they gave me did not work very well. So all throughout the night about every 30 minutes I was coughing up blood. That was the worst part of this all. Getting the blood out of my stomach helped me feel better, but at the same time the taste of it in my mouth made me even more sick.

I was on some sort of paint medication through my IV that I could push whenever I wanted. Which was very nice- I barely had any pain. And they also occasionally gave me anti-nausea medicine and antibiotics. All of these combined though just made me feel sicker. It was not a fun night. All of the nurses were very nice to me though trying to help me in any way that I can.

I remember only sleeping for about 2 hours on and off.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I had my own private room with a bathroom, which was so nice. I was expecting to have to share.

In the morning I didn't feel as sick so I tried to eat some jell-o and cream of wheat, as well as drink some ginger-ale. And all was well with this until about 30 minutes later, when I just coughed it all back up. My surgeon's assistants also came in to check how I was doing and they changed my elastics already. I guess right after surgery they put two elastics on either side of my teeth. But this morning they took those off and created a box at the front of my teeth with just one elastic. It makes my jaw feel tighter, but it actually isn't as bad as I was expecting. I am able to talk pretty normally, and I can open my mouth enough to get a small baby spoon in. After they left I was given one more round of anti-nausea and antibiotics, and then I was sent home at around 11:30am today.

Since I have been home I have been doing good. I am taking gravol for the nausea, T3's for the pain, and an antibiotics to help prevent an infection.

My antibiotic is pink liquid that I take with a syringe and it tastes like sweet strawberries. It is actually very good tasting.

I have been able to eat some jell-o, pudding, and a Boost meal replacement drink as well as drink a bunch of apple juice. And I am going to try to eat some cream of broccoli soup that my Mom brought over from her work for dinner.

My pain still hasn't been that bad at all. My jaw is starting to feel more sore, but that's expected. Especially when I have been talking quite a bit already. And my face is pretty swollen, but they told me that it is not as bad as it could have been. It's just my cheeks and lower jaw area. And I also have a bit of bruising along my lower cheeks/jaw. No eyes or chest bruising, which makes me happy. And my surgeon told me that today will be the worse of the swelling. After tonight it should just go down and start getting better. I was also given ice for the first 24 hours to help this. But now since those 24 hours are over, I am told me use heat only as it will help to get rid of any stiffness in my face. So far I think it has been working alright. It's annoying how quickly heat wears off though. I swear I'm going to have to reheat it about every 30 minutes. Which will get very annoying at night time.

But yea, if you haven't figure it out yet I am doing pretty well. It is going to be a tough recovery, but it wasn't as bad as I was making myself think. Hopefully all of yours turn out the same way if you are having the surgery done. :)

I also have a question for those who have gone through this... What happens with the stitches? I was never told anything from my surgeon or nurse. My stitches look like clear thin fishing line. Will this dissolve or fall out own there own? Or are these the type of stitches that will need to be taken out later?

Now here are some pictures...

Sorry for this horrible picture, but it somewhat shows my swelling. The headband with heat packs kind of hides some of it though.

Biting my teeth together. It feels like my bottom teeth are a bit too far forward, but I guess they will relax and shift a bit backwards later on?

How far I can open my mouth. Part of my lip isn't as strong right now, so I open my mouth crookedly.

What my square elastic looks like. You can also see a bit of my stitches below my bottom teeth.

15 Hours To Go

My boyfriend and I just got home from getting massages, and they were really nice. It relaxed me quite a bit. 

There is basically like 15 hours until I will be going into the OR.

I'm nervous but I'm not at the same time. I'm just a mess of mixed feelings right now. I wish that I had longer to prepare but I also wish that it could already be tomorrow right before. I just want it to be over with so that I can stop worrying about things, and just know how I am going to feel after.

I'm still in the process of packing my overnight bag since I'm still trying to figure out what I should bring. Is it worth it to bring a book or something to pass the time, or will I literally just be sleeping the whole time I'm in the hospital? Should I be lame and bring a stuffed animal with me? Should I be bringing any of my own food or drinks with me, or will that not be allowed?

Hmm.. I said that I was going to upload pictures of some of the things that I've bought specifically for this. I will probably need to get way more stuff later on, but this is at least a start. So here we go-

These are my cold foods- Icecream to use for milkshakes/smoothies, different kinds of pudding, yogurt tubes, hummus, Boost meal replacement drinks (variety pack with chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and mocha flavours), some frozen fruit to use in smoothies, and some sprite to help with any nausea.

These are my cupboard foods- Kraft Dinner, packaged scalloped potatoes, Sidekicks packaged noodles, instant oatmeal, soup (cream of broccoli and potato/leak, so they're just broth types), more pudding, some jello, and instant jello powder (I use this to flavour milkshakes. It is super delicious).

These are my random items- Facial wipes (I use these instead of having to wash my face. It just makes it so much easier), sensitive toothpaste (braces have made my teeth pretty sensitive, so I know they are only going to get worse), baby spoons to make eating easier, a baby toothbrush (it has a picture of Eeyore on it :D), Listerine Zero mouthwash, take-along kleenex packages, a mirror, and a whiteboard (just in case it's hard for me to talk at first).

On top of these items I also have a bunch of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots to cook up until they're soft enough to mush.

I hope these all help me. And hopefully I gave you guys some ideas if you're making a list of what to buy yourself.

I should really finish packing my bag now, and try to sleep in a little while (even though I know it won't be possible). I probably won't have time to post at all tomorrow before surgery, and of course after. So when I am home on Thursday I will let you all know how it went and how I am doing.

Thanks so much for all of the goodlucks!

One Day To Go

This is going to be one of two posts today.

So far today I don't feel super nervous, but I do just feel... different. I don't know how to put it. Like just knowing that today is the last day that I will look how I currently look. It's weird. I'm also starting to get a bit stressed about not being able to do much after the surgery. I feel the need to get so much done today at my apartment, because if I don't do it, that leaves my boyfriend to do it but he isn't the best when it comes to cleaning. I like need to do a full cleaning of the apartment and do a bunch of laundry so I am stocked up on clean clothes. I also still need to figure out what I need for my overnight bag, and pack that.

I am also doing a bunch of last minute shopping today for things that I may need, and for food that I will be able to eat. Once I am done all of my shopping I will take pictures of my stashes of stuff to show you guys for when I do my second post later today. Hopefully it will help some others get ideas of what might be helpful.

Since I know that my food is going to be very limited for a while, I am going to try to eat a bunch of yummy foods today that I won't be able to after surgery. I have a craving for fast food chicken fingers right now. So that will probably be my lunch. And maybe I'll buy myself some chips or a chocolate bar for a snack.

:P

Two Days To Go

So I am back from my pre-op assessment, and I did get a lot more information today which was nice.

So this is going to be a very long post going over all of that stuff.

The first thing they did was take my weight and height. I weigh less (I never weigh myself at home) and am shorter then I had thought- 126lbs and exactly 5'7.

I had to get blood drawn for some tests.

Which was horrible. I wasn't even looking at the needle when they were taking my blood but I got very light headed. And afterwards when I was up and walking I felt like I was going to be sick.

Then I met with the actual nurse. The first thing she did was take my blood pressure, which was good but a bit high because I'm starting to get nervous.

After that she just went over a bunch of information with me.

My surgery is scheduled for 12:15pm on Wednesday, July 10th. I need to be at the hospital at 10:15am to get admitted. I am not allowed to be wearing any nail polish, makeup or jewelry.
The jewelry part kind of sucks.. I've never had my nose piercing out for long periods of time so I'm really hoping that it won't close up.

I need to make sure that I have my overnight bag with me. I'm not really sure what to pack in it though? And the night before I can't eat or drink anything past midnight. Although the nurse said that having a glass of water in the morning is fine, as long as it is at least 3 hours beforehand.

Once I am admitted my surgeon and anesthesiologist are supposed to meet with me just to go over things. Then I guess it will be time for my surgery?

I will obviously be under anesthesia and I will have a breathing tube down my nose.

My surgeon has booked 3 hours in the OR, but it hopefully shouldn't take that full time. When it is done I will be in recovery for at least an hour to make sure that I am okay. And from there I will be moved to the room that I will be staying in overnight. I will be hooked up to IVs for pain medication and I am hoping anti-nausea as well.

The nurse said that asking about anti-nausea medicine is something I can do when I meet with the anesthesiologist.

For the first 24 hours I will have to have an ice-pack around my jaw to help with the swelling. And they will put elastics on the extra hooks on the braces to help keep my jaw in the position that they want. These elastics will be kept on for a few weeks and will need to be changed to re-adjust the position or if they become too loose/worn.

I have so much information now that it's almost too much to write, so I'm just going to do short form for the next part

- I will be started out on clear liquids- water and sprite/ginger ale shortly after. Then I can try other liquids, until I can work up to eating soft foods. No nuts, seeds or skins though as they can get stuck in the gums.

- I need to brush my teeth multiple times a day using a very soft bristled baby toothbrush and minimal toothpaste.

- For the first 24 hours I will have bleeding in my mouth.

That sounds so horrible. But the nurse said that I will have a suction thing to help get rid of it.

- After the initial 24 hours with icing my jaw, I'm supposed to use heat packs at home which will help to reduce tension in my jaw.

- Besides just the swelling, there is a good chance that I will also have bruising on my face. And it may even go down to a "V" shape on my chest/neck.

- It is suggested that I sleep sitting up for a few weeks to help reduce swelling.

- I'm supposedly not allowed to blow my nose for a few weeks as it can cause bleeding and trapped air causing an infection.

That just seems weird and so hard to control. How can you not blow your nose if you need to?

- It is supposedly common to lose anywhere from 7-15 lbs during the recovery.

- I will obviously be given a prescription for pain medication (probably T3's) as well as a prescription for an antibiotic just to make sure that I am healing well and don't get an infection.

Those are the basic more important bits of information that I was given.

I kind of knew to expect a lot of that from reading other's blogs that have gone through it. But actually reading it and hearing it myself makes it sound so scary.

I'm really hoping that most of these are just exaggerated to the extreme and that I won't experience it that much.


On another note- My boyfriend and I are going for massages tomorrow night. I'm so looking forward to it and am hoping that it will relax me for Wednesday.

Three Days To Go

Three days until the big day... Which means only two sleeps left.

On Friday I had my last ortho appointment beforehand and they added a bunch of small hooks onto the wires of my braces. I guess these will be used after surgery for elastics. They told me that having these hooks on might be painful and make my mouth sore, so they stockpiled me with a bunch of wax. But luckily, they have not bugged me once yet. *fingers crossed*

And I already have my ortho appointment for after surgery booked- They want to see me exactly two weeks after (July 24th) just to make sure everything looks good on their end and to take a few x-rays. I really hope that I am feeling okay that day. I didn't expect to be seeing them that soon after.

Tomorrow morning I have my pre-op assessment at the hospital. I'm hoping that I will get a bit more information about what to expect from that. Or even ideas on what I need to bring with me? I've never stayed in a hospital before, so I don't know what to expect for sleeping there overnight. I will probably make a post tomorrow after the appointment to say how it went.

Oh, I forgot to say... That with these extra hooks I feel like and look like a total metal mouth right now. I'm not used to it due to having ceramic braces.

One Week To Go

It's finally starting to sink in that my big surgery day is coming up really fast.

Only 6 more sleeps. And only 4 more days of work until I am off for my 3 weeks.

I am just now starting to get a bit nervous. Mainly just because I still don't know exactly what to expect. I'm hoping that when I have my pre-op assessment on the 8th that I will find out more info.

It's also starting to hit me that my boyfriend isn't allowed to take off any time from work for my surgery, which completely sucks. He won't even be able to come to the hospital the day of to hug me before I go in the OR or anything. :(