Appointment with OS about Infection

Hi all. I've been very busy lately because of a new midlife crisis purchase. Instead of a really nice Audi R8 I decided to get a Whoodle. What's a Whoodle you ask? Don't worry, I had never heard of it before either. You know how they come up with all these weird sounding dog breeds. A Whoodle is a mix between a Wheaten Terrier and a Poodle. She looks like a Labradoodle. She's super cute, friendly and soft. She's taking up a lot of my time lately. Her name is Sophie.

Ok, on to ortho stuff. Thank you guys for asking about how my appointment went. I really appreciate it. Anyway, I saw the surgeon on Wednesday and he took a look at my teeth and said we "hit a home run". I'm not sure, but I think he's complimenting himself. My lips are getting closer together too as the swelling goes down. He told me that women should have between 2 and 4mm lip incompetence. I guess that's ok then.

As for the infection, he thinks it will probably come back and if it does he would take the screws out. He said that once bacteria get in there it's hard for your body to fight it off and you just have to remove the screws and plates. He would do it in his surgical suite in his office. He would just put me to sleep with an IV and cut along the same original surgical incision. The last screw is hard to get out without putting a little hole in my cheek. Well, that doesn't sound too bad. He was going to wait and see if the infection does indeed come back. I forgot to ask how long that might take. That's all for now. Off to bed.

Infection?

Hi all. I have been a bad blogger. I haven't posted anything for weeks now. School has started for my kids and with that comes all the business of planning, driving and studying. My last post I think I mentioned that my left side was somewhat swollen. Well, within the last couple of days it has really swelled up. It is starting to hurt and look funny. I called my OS and he put me on antibiotics and wants to see me next Wednesday. I wonder if he's going to say we need to remove the screws. I guess I will find out. What's funny is that my lips close better now with the "infection". Weird. I don't think things are quite right yet.

Here are some pictures. It probably is hard to see the swelling, but it's on the left side of the picture. It is reversed, so it looks like my right side.

3 Months

It's been about 3 months and I am feeling great. The feeling in my chin is almost 100% back. I still have a tiny bit of tingling when I touch it, but not much. The feeling in my palate and gums is coming back, just slowly.

At about 2 months I went through a period where I thought I looked really funny and fake. I felt like the doctor hadn't taken enough out of my upper gum and that he hadn't pulled my upper teeth back far enough. That was the first time in my recovery where I felt depressed. I felt like I had made a big mistake by not making it clear exactly what I wanted. I thought I might have to do the surgery again to get it "perfect".

Well, I think I have turned the corner on that. I finally had to compare my old pictures with my new ones and after that I remembered there was a hugh difference. I guess I couldn't remember exactly what I looked like. Weird, huh? I like the amount of gum that shows when I smile. I like my new chin. My lips do look better than they did. My smile is wider. (See, I have to remind myself.) Also, my swelling has gone down a little bit more so my lips almost touch. It's still not perfect, but better. I still have what looks to me like chipmunk cheeks. I'm hoping the swelling goes down on that. The surgeon did notice that and said sometimes the bone grows back thicker than before and they can shave that down. I don't think so! He wouldn't make that decision until after a year out. My left side is more swollen than my right side and sometimes it hurts when I push on it. Yea, I know...don't push on it.

I hope you all are doing well at whatever stage you're in. It really is all worth it!