9 Weeks Out

Hi all. It's been awhile since I posted. It's kind of nice to not be obsessing over my teeth so much. I told my husband that I don't want to talk about my teeth unless I bring it up. haha He said, "That's weird. That was all you wanted to talk about for the past year". Yep, he's tired of this too. We have been busy though. We went on vacation to visit family and I had my 47th birthday. Forty-seven and I still have braces on. Yuck.

It's been a year since I got my braces on. I remember the first thing I did after my braces were on was to ride the COG Railroad up to the top of Pikes Peak. I have already decided that will be the last thing I do to finish off my braces journey. That will be like a round trip up and back from the Peak. Symbolic in a way.

Things have been going really well. I still have some tingling in my chin, but the feeling is continuing to improve. I am eating quite a few things. It's still hard to get my teeth and tongue working together and my mouth opening wide enough. I still have to push food between my teeth to get it into my mouth.

I will see my surgeon this Wednesday. I haven't seen him since about 3 weeks after surgery. I am planning on asking him about my lips not coming together. I think they are closer together now, but still not perfect. I did notice my top lip was very thin for awhile and it's getting fuller now. That helps.

I was feeling my head the other day and I noticed I have a big dent from where they cut my bone graft. It's probably 1" x 4". I sure hope that fills in. It doesn't hurt though. I'm only wearing 2 rubber bands at night only. My smile is now looking a little more natural. I don't find myself covering my mouth when I smile like I did before surgery. That is so awesome. I just smile real big and show my teeth braces and all without being embarrassed. That in itself makes this surgery so worth it!

I hope everyone is doing well!

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.

3 Weeks Today

This last week went by so quickly. I am still feeling great - lots of energy and no pain. I saw both my orthodontist and my Oral Surgeon this week. Everything looked good to them. However, when I left I got to thinking that it seems like my lips aren't closed at rest. I started worrying and obsessing over this. Why didn't I think about it when I was at one of their offices? Stupid. Anyway, I went back to look at the pictures from right after surgery and I did notice my lips closed closer together then. It figures that my OS is out of town for a month. (He goes to 3rd world countries to do surgery on people in need.) So, I called my ortho and he got me in today. He told me to stop wearing the band in front. He thinks it may be pulling down my front segment. I had a 3-piece Lefort done. I'll see what that does. Also it could be that I still have swelling and a lot of metal in my mouth. Is there anyone else that noticed something like this?

My ortho also took pictures of me yesterday and he showed me my before and after side-by-side. It was amazing. I look so much better now. I'll try to get my hands on them and post comparison pictures later.

Eating is still hard. I am able to eat mashed potatoes, pudding, and scrambled eggs. It just takes me about an hour to eat. By the time I'm finished it's time to start again. I'm half way there though! Yea! Even now I think I can safely say I'm still glad I did it. I just want my lips to close together.

My husband is jealous by all the gifts, cards, flowers and meals I got right after surgery. He said, "I got a colonoscopy and no one got me a gift". What can I say, I have some great friends.

Here's a picture of me and my OS. I love that man. I have tall heels on that's why we are the same height.

Two Weeks Ago Today I was in Surgery

I can't believe it was 2 weeks ago that I went under the saw. I was so scared. Actually, today I can say I am glad I did it. I like my bite and that I can close my lips. I like that I can breath better too. The first week was really rough, but last week wasn't bad. I'm just getting tired of all this metal in my mouth and I miss eating bread and salad. I think if I could eat normal I would feel great.

I saw the OS yesterday and he took the staples out of my head. He said I looked great - no bruising and hardly any swelling. He thinks my bite is just about perfect. He said I need another 4-6 weeks of a liquid diet. I was prepared for 4 more weeks, but not 6. I'm not sure what he's thinking. He didn't change my band configuration, but I can remove them every day for about an hour. I still can't open my mouth enough to get much food in so I'm still on a liquid diet. When he looked in my mouth he found a stray rubber band. Isn't that embarrassing and gross? I guess I have so much stuff in there I didn't notice it.

I don't like my smile now, it looks stiff and my lips are tingly My eyes still look sunken because my face is swollen. I did put on makeup yesterday for the first time since surgery.

On more thing, I love my OS. He is a Board Certified Cosmetic Surgeon and General Surgeon, an MD and DDS. He's awesome.

Day 9 - A Good Day

I can say I am way, way better than even a couple of days ago. I have hardly any bruising and my swelling is going down. My feeling is coming back slowly. I have more feeling and less swelling on my left side. My lips are still very painful. They are chapped, sensitive and swollen. No kissing going on with me. I can't even pucker. I can drink from a cup if I look in a mirror to see what I'm doing.

On the good side, my mom and I went out-and-about today. It was really so nice to get out. I did get kinda tired and we stopped to get a smoothie and that was all I needed to go a few more hours. I did see one person I knew who said her sister had jaw surgery about 15 years ago. It's surprising to me to hear so many people have this done. We brought dinner home from Olive Garden and I blended the Zuppa Toscana soup and Shrimp Caprese for dinner and it was really good. That was probably the most I have eaten since the surgery.

I am replacing my bands every day which is so incredibly hard. They are so far back in my mouth and I'm so swollen still and my lips are sore it's hard to get them on. My husband, bless him, has helped me try to do it, but I think it's easier when I do it. Did you notice the name of the rubber bands? Bummer. That is appropriate.

I want to include lessons that I have learned as I go through this whole process. So here are my first lessons:

1. Mom's are a gift from God.

2. If there is something rough in your mouth your tongue can't leave it alone.