One Can Dream

This could be me in 6 short months...

5 Weeks Since Surgery

Wow, the weeks are just flying by. Tomorrow marks 5 weeks since surgery. I'm still feeling great. I don't have any pain. I am, however, very tired of the surgical hooks, skeletal hooks and the rubber bands. My teeth always look dirty. Probably because of all the metal reflecting off my teeth. If one of those spring storms hit, I head inside real fast. I'm sure I'm a lightning rod.

I've lost 12lbs so far and holding. I eat a chocolate shake every night. I know that's coming to an end as soon as I get my clearance to eat real food. I better slow down now so that I don't gain too much weight. I actually would like to stay the weight I am now and not gain back the 12lbs. I don't know if that will happen.

I emailed a couple of pictures of my open lips to my OS. I heard back from the nurse who forwarded the pictures to him. He's in Thailand or something like that. I can't wait to hear back from him. I'm probably just worrying myself for no reason, but I just want to make sure. I also see my orthodontist tomorrow and maybe he can reassure me that things are ok.

The times I was most self-conscious of my jaw were at the grocery story(odd), driving, and sleeping. I would always try to posture my jaw so that it didn't look that bad. I haven't totally gotten over that yet because I still imagine my jaw being the way it used to be. So here is a picture showing why I felt that way. Oh, I hate my old profile. I really didn't want to post it. Yuck. But the good news is my new profile.

4 Weeks Since Surgery

I love the warm, lazy days of summer. I have been taking the kids to the pool and enjoying the beautiful weather. This is a picture of me and a friend of mine from elementary school. We've known each other for 40 years. Ahhhhh.

Now on to my jaw...

I can't believe it was a month ago that I had jaw surgery. I am so glad to have that behind me. Things are progressing as usual. My OS is still out of town, so I won't see him until July. I will see my orthodontist on June 10 to check my bite. I'm now only wearing 4 rubber bands. They are on my molars and I can get them in-and-out in about 30 seconds. That's way better than a week after surgery when it would take me about an hour to put 5 of them in. That was so painful with all the swelling.

I am getting daring with my food. Yep, I've tried microwavable Quiche Lorraine, Bread Bowls from Panera Bread, and anything I can put in my VitaMix. That blender is awesome. Today I did Pineapple Juice and my kids loved it. It's nice that my healing is during the summer when I can get all kinds of fresh produce.

I still can't feel my gums. It's weird to run my fingers across my gums and not feel a thing. I also can't tell if I have food stuck in my braces and as a matter of fact I can't tell where food is in my mouth when I'm eating. I push food around in my mouth until it goes one of two ways, down or out of my mouth. I still bite my lower lip on the right when I chew. I'm still numb on my chin; it feels like rubber when I touch it.

My lips still don't touch at rest. It worries me, but the nurse thinks it may be swelling and all the metal in my mouth that's stopping it. When I sleep my lips come together no problem, or so I'm told, but not when I'm awake. I don't understand that. My orthodontist did scare me a little the last time I saw him when he said, "don't worry, as you age your upper lip drops 1mm for every decade". Great, so I may have my lips touch by the time I'm 70. Well, it is definitely better than before.