3 Weeks!

It has been a whole 22 days since surgery! I have to say this past week has gone by a lot faster than the previous two when I was wired shut. I've been out and about much more this week - I'm feeling more like my old self and only having to pop the occasional advil or tylenol here and there.

Last Friday (the 2nd) I had my appointment with my surgeon where he clipped my wires off. It went pretty well, however, I did almost faint. I'm not exactly sure why. I wasn't nervous or scared. I didn't have any pain either. My doctor explained that this can happen and in fact a patient he had seen earlier actually did faint. It's the feeling of the release I think - the wires were my jaw's security blanket and when they were removed, my jaw felt "loose". Luckily that feeling lasted only a few minutes and now I'm completely used to my two little rubber bands which I remove only at meal times.

On the 8th, I had my first post-op appointment with my orthodontist who just gently prodded and took a look at things. There's not much that can be done until my splint comes out (at the 6 week mark). Speaking of this splint, it is quite annoying. Food gets stuck in there every time I eat and it now looks just plain nasty. It's the one thing keeping me away from a completely clean mouth and clear speech. Well, at least I've only got 3 more weeks to go. Anyways, pictures and x-rays were taken and everyone in the office oohed and ahhed at my post-op appearance. My surgeon should be proud.

Even though I can only open wide enough to barely fit a (baby) spoon in, it still feels so much more liberating. No more bland foods! My first foods I devoured after my appointment were mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese. It was so nice to finally feel satiated again. I'm quite grateful that I can now have foods like hummus, ice cream, applesauce, rice, pudding, polenta, and gnocchi. Today I actually had my first meal out in public: oatmeal pancakes with maple syrup. It was delicious and I didn't even care if I had some extra hanging off the (numb) right side of my lip. I've even been able to cut up fruit into small pieces and eat that with only a little difficulty, but I see myself making progress everyday. I'm still a bit swollen and obviously quite numb, but it has only been 3 weeks so I can't complain.

My next appointment with my surgeon is this coming Wednesday when we will be working on some jaw stretching. Fun! Here are a few pictures...


20 days post-op





22 days post-op

Wires off tomorrow!

I'm so excited for my de-wiring tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to get some "real" food down - at least some applesauce and mashed potatoes? I am so tired of ensure and chicken broth and of not being able to speak clearly. So far, my weight loss is at about 10lbs. I'm sure I'll be on my way to weight gain next week. I'll update tomorrow with the results of my appointment.
Here are a few pictures..I'm still pretty swollen and numb- on one side of my face more than the other, but at least my lips are back to normal.


8 days post-op




12 days post-op

One week post-op!

I can't believe it has already been a week since surgery. I have to say it did go by pretty quickly. Things are getting better and better everyday..just one week more and my wires will come off! I'll definitely be looking forward to that.

So I had x-rays taken yesterday - that went well and were really neat to see - before and after comparisons. My doctor's appointment also went really well; he said things look great and he got rid of the "jaw bra" I was wearing throughout the week. I was weighed and of yesterday had lost 8lbs in 6 days so hopefully I won't be losing much more. I have to increase my caloric intake, but it so hard to get much down when you're consuming only liquids and through a syringe on the side of your mouth. Also, below my eyes much of my face is pretty numb, I mean I can still feel when I touch everywhere, it just feels much less sensitive so I hope all of my feeling will return sometime soon. I'm still waking up pretty congested as well, but other than that I'm fortunate that everything has gone well and I'm recovering nicely.

Here are a couple pictures..please excuse the disheveled hair.




One week post-op

Picture update

Definitely not the most flattering pictures.


4 days post-op


Today, 6 days post-op

I've definitely had my fair share of swelling, but surprisingly (knock on wood) I haven't had any bruising at all. Yesterday I went for a walk around my neighborhood with my mom for the first time since surgery. It felt really nice to get out and get some fresh air. I might do it again today, but it does take a lot out of me.
I have x-rays today at 2 and then my first post-op appointment with my surgeon today at 4:15. I'm still wearing the jaw bra except when bathing and eating, which is getting easier, but still a task. I've lost 7lbs so far, hopefully I won't lose much more. I'll update with the results of my appointment. Till then!

First post-op update!

Hi guys! Sorry I didn't get to updating sooner. I've just been so tired and became a bit nauseated when reading/writing. So I had my surgery (upper, lower, genioplasty) on Friday morning starting at about 8:30 am. I finished at about 2:30 pm. It went really well, minimal bleeding, and my doctor even decided to give me a bone graft on my palette (freeze-dry, apparently) to facilitate the healing process. I spent two nights in the hospital and came home Sunday afternoon. I've had hardly any pain, thanks to the morphine while in the hospital. I have two thin splints wired onto my top and bottom teeth as well as my top and bottom teeth wired to each other..so I'm pretty firmly shut. I've been wearing a "jaw bra" around my head that my doctor wants me to wear for a week - it's kept the swelling down for the most part except my lips are HUGE. I wore ice packs around my face for about the first 48 hours, I don't know if they helped much, but it definitely felt heavy so I'm glad to be done with those.

Post-op recovery has not been as bad as I thought, at least so far. The first two days after surgery I had a good amount of blood that dribbled from my nose which was a bit bothersome, but then that dried up in my nose and made it hard for me to breathe even though I used a breathing mask in the hospital and a humidifier at home as well as a few different nasal sprays. Most of the gunk in nose is gone now, though so that's a relief. I also had a very sore throat from the breathing tube they inserted during surgery...still doesn't feel 100%. My other biggest complaint is the oral pain medications I was prescribed - it's disgusting, makes me want to throw up which would not be good at all. I'm to the point now where I can barely tolerate it, but it's definitely made me debate whether I should even take it, but I'm a little scared of the pain I might have. It is quite hard to speak and be understood, but I expected that. Eating was quite difficult at first, but it's getting a little easier. I've been using a syringe that I stick on the side of my mouth and push the "food" in there, but it really has to be liquid thin consistency.

I've lost about six pounds already, my doctor said if I lose more than 15, then it's feeding tube time - which he hasn't had to do ever before. I'm hoping I won't be the first. I'm already getting tired of chicken broth and ensure, but there's really not many choices while I'm wired shut. I see my doctor next on Thursday to check in and then again on Friday, July 2nd - when my wires are removed and I will have rubber bands instead. My biggest concern now is keeping my mouth clean - I use a prescribed mouth wash and a super soft toothbrush on the front of my teeth but it never seems enough. My doctor said he expects my braces to be "sparkling" when he sees me on Thursday, which will be quite the task I think. Any tips?

Overall, even though it's been hard at times, I have no regrets and am really happy that the worst (I hope?) is over. I've been up and walking around my house, can't imagine going out in public quite yet, but we'll see..maybe I'll take a stroll around my neighborhood tomorrow. The only problem is the pain medications makes me quite drowsy. I look forward to recovering and seeing the final results when the swelling diminishes. I'll keep updating as much as I can, probably after my next appointment.

P.S. Please pardon grammatical errors and punctutation.

I've included a few photos:


Before being wheeled into the operating room



Post-op


First post-op meal - vegetable broth

Twas the night before..

Quick update and final 'before' photos..

Orthodontist appointment went well. No heavy duty hardware, just two small hooks you can barely notice (you'll see in the picture). Received a call from one of the RNs. I have to be there by 6:30 am, so not as early as I had thought. Surgery will be around the same time. My last meal was cheese and bread (around 7:30 pm, just a bit past the 6 pm cut off, woops). I took a nice long shower since it'll probably be a few days before I'll be doing that. Now it's off to bed. See you guys on the other side!




P.S. Please pardon the old makeup.

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow at this time I will be in the ICU recovering from surgery...hopefully. I cannot believe how quickly time has passed..seemed like I was months away and now less than a day! I still have an orthodontist appointment later this afternoon to have surgical wires put on..I changed this appointment to the latest possible time so I wasn't walking around with heavy duty hardware in my mouth for several days. The last few days I have been eating everything! I figured I'd get as much in before the upcoming weeks of liquid dieting.

Surprisingly, I am not feeling too nervous..I'm sure I'll have a bit of hard time trying to go to sleep tonight and of course I'm sure I'll be super nervous tomorrow morning. As of yet, I haven't received a call form the anesthesiologist or the exact time I should be there tomorrow, but I've been told I should expect to be there by 5:30 am and the surgery should begin around 8am lasting about 5 -6 hours. I will be at Kaiser Hospital in Santa Clara. My mom will be taking me and staying until I am done and my grandparents (who are still telling me it's not too late to change my mind) and my sisters, brother and brother in law will be visiting that night. My dad should also be coming that night, he'll be driving from Arizona. So I'm sure I'll feel much better to have a lot of family around me.

I'll probably be updating again later this evening after I speak with the anesthesiologist and get back from the orthodontist. I'd also like to post some before shots to compare. I haven't decided whether I'll take my computer with me to the hospital..what do you guys think? I'm actually not quite sure what to bring with me since I've never stayed in the hospital before. I was thinking change of clothes, iPod?