day 28..having some concerns

I am now on day 28 of my orthognathic recovery. I saw my oral surgeon yesterday. He wants me to continue to wear my rubber bands. They are not as tight as they were when I was totally shut. I can speak against them, although it can cause some pain. I am also able to take them out to eat. I can deal with the rubber bands because I'm able to speak and eat.

Half of my chin and lip have feeling, while the other half is still totally numb. I am beginning to get concerned that I will never regain sensation. I know that it is still extremely early in the recovery, but I just don't understand why only half of my chin has regained some feeling. I am assuming the nerve on my left side was damaged more than the right. I've tried to find information on the internet about this, but all I can find is that numbness can last anywhere from weeks to several months and a small amount of patients have some permanent loss of sensation.

I don't know if it is due to the numbness or swelling, but I have somewhat of a lisp when I talk. I also cannot smile right. I am guessing and hoping that these things begin to correct themselves.

I didn't have all of these questions before, because it was such an extreme surgery. I assumed everything that I felt and saw was normal. Now that I am starting to recover and feel a little more normal, the concerns are arising. 

I can't even begin to explain how ready I am for the recovery process to be over, but I am also just as excited for my orthodontic treatment to be over. I am ready to feel confident and beautiful again. I haven't felt that way in quite awhile, and I won't feel totally confident until my braces are off. I hope and pray I only have about six more months of braces. 

Some of my symptoms are beginning to resolve themselves. My face has all but quit peeling. The dryness seems to have resolved now. My "post surgery acne" is beginning to clear up. This helps to boost confidence.

I still have wrinkles around my mouth. I am becoming extremely concerned about this. If any of you have experienced this post orthognathic surgery, please share your experiences as I am terrified my skin will not bounce back. I don't want to do any injectables, but I will if these wrinkles don't go away. I'm 21 years old and refuse to live with my first wrinkles yet. Especially not around my mouth!

As you can see, some of the aesthetic concerns are beginning to show themselves. I am assuming that this is normal, now that it has been a month since my surgery. Most surgeries do not require nearly this much time to recover, hence why it feels so strange to still be suffering from symptoms after all this time.

Please share your experiences! I know I promised pictures at 1 month, but I am at work right now and unable to take anything. I will post soon!! 

day 22 ... crawling

Today is day 22 of my orthognathic journey. I saw my oral surgeon two days ago. I told him I felt my bite was off again, and indeed it was. He rubber banded me again, which is exactly what I feared. The good news? It's not nearly as tight. I can talk if I make an effort to open my mouth against the bands. I can also take them out to eat. The downside to taking them out, though, is putting them back in. They are complicated and very difficult to replace.

I still am very swollen. I'm also concerned because the creepy crawling feelings I was getting in my chin have now all but disappeared. Either that or I don't notice them anymore? As of now I have feeling in one patch of my chin and half of my lip. I know it's already been 3 weeks, but the horror stories of people never regaining feeling are starting to get to me. I guess I will ask my surgeon next time I see him about the numbness. It's the  very question I've been avoiding, so as not to stress myself out anymore.

I've also noticed that my skin has been very dry, flaky, and peeling. It's been localized around my jaw, lips, and chin. I think that it has something to do with the swelling, although I don't understand why it would cause peeling. So for those of you who are planning this surgery: buy lots of good moisturizers. 

I still have the wrinkles I noticed a couple of weeks ago. I have noticed however, that they improve when I am not rubber banded shut and also when I am hydrated. They are much more prominent when I am dehydrated and when I am rubber banded shut. Perhaps the clenching of my jaw makes them more pronounced?

I hate to say it, but I am still needing my pain medicine every now and then. I believe I wouldn't need it at all if it weren't for the rubber bands. If they aren't making my jaw hurt, they are making my teeth hurt from where they are putting so much pressure on the brackets. I also still need my muscle relaxer at night, but this is because I want my jaw to grow correctly while I am sleeping, and I tend to clench my jaw a lot especially with rubber bands. I don't want to clench in the wrong position. Am I paranoid?

I'm still hungry, although the cravings are significantly less. I have found more things that I am able to eat. I can eat hamburger helper if it is just rice. I just cut up the hamburger chunks extremely small, and I am able to swallow a forkful with no problem. I've also discovered that I can eat chocolate chip cookies. You may be thinking how that's possible, but the key is to take them out of the oven when they are extremely gooey. Give them no time to harden or cool off, and you can eat them with a fork without chewing. They are just mush, and absolutely delicious. And for those of you who are addicted to popcorn late at night (well you probably didn't eat it every single night like I did), I get my salt fix in bed by drinking chicken broth. My bowl of popcorn every single night has been replaced with a cup of chicken broth (two chicken cubes for extra flavor) every single night. Although I cannot wait for popcorn again, the saltiness of the chicken broth helps to curb the cravings.

When I reach 1 month of post orthognathic surgery, I will post pictures. Leave your comments please!

finally some relief - day 15

I saw my oral surgeon yesterday, and THANK GOD, he took off my rubber bands. It's such an amazing feeling to be able to open your mouth and talk normal after a week of not being able to do so. It's also an amazing feeling being able to eat things such as rice and mashed potatoes again, instead of the soup you've had for 7 days straight. I can only imagine what it will feel like to eat a steak or french fries.

I still have complaints though. I'm still hungry. I've lost 9 lbs so far and it's only been 2 weeks. My weight loss is, however, supposed to slow down. At this rate, I will probably be down by at least 20 lbs when this is over. That is, if my weight loss slows down as expected.

The only thing I dislike about my rubber bands being off is that I am constantly analyzing my bite. Over and over and over again. My jaw actually got sore last night from biting down so many times, trying to make sure that it was still in the right place. What is throwing me off is that my teeth still have a lot of movement to make, so they do not all touch in the back. This of course makes me feel as if my bite is off, when it's not my bite, but the position of my teeth.

I've noticed that the right side of my jaw (the side that is more swollen), is much more painful than the left. I wonder why that is? Perhaps he had to do more work to that side.

I also noticed that I can really feel my stitches now. They go all the way into my cheek and about halfway up towards my upper jaw. I didn't realize how big the incisions were. I'm also bothered by my braces bracket in the back for the first time. I think I've been incredibly numb this entire time, and now I  can finally feel it poking me. It hurts!! Unfortunately, I can't open my mouth wide enough for my orthodontist to fix it, so this is something I'll have to life with for a little while.

Everyone says that my swelling is down a great deal, although my surgeon still said I have a long way to go in that department. 

I can't wait until I can open my mouth wide enough to brush the back of my teeth. I would give anything to be able to do that again. I wonder if I can use mouthwash safely when I still have incisions that are healing?

Anyways, here is to hoping I can forget about my bite for awhile. I need to quit worrying...I can't wait until this awful recovery process is finally over.

getting somewhere - day 14

Today is day 14 of my orthognathic recovery. The past week has been relatively uneventful. Things are starting to progress much more slowly. 

My chin is still numb, although I have over half of the feeling back in my lip. I will say that sometimes the nerves are sensitive and its painful. I am very sensitive to hot and cold. I can also feel pressure on my chin, although my skin can't feel anything.

I'm still very swollen. I think I have what they call bone bumps. The swelling is very hard to the touch. It feels just like bone, which I've read is a normal part of healing. 

Besides the fact that I am still starving, my biggest complaint as of today is that at 21 years old, I have developed wrinkles around my mouth. This is largely due to the liquid diet; I constantly have to "pucker" to eat. I've also been told it's most likely because I am dehydrated, and that my skin should bounce back. Needless to say, I will be drinking lots more, and I am moisturizing much more rigorously now. I pray these wrinkles soon disappear. 

I've lost lots of weight, and my clothes are noticeably loose. The weight loss is supposed to slow down, but right now it's rapid. I fear I will be emaciated when this is over. I counted my calorie intake the other day. I had consumed 690 calories the entire day. No wonder I am loosing. It's difficult to take in enough calories when all I can have are liquids. I can't afford 3 Boosts a day.

My next appointment with my oral surgeon is today; he promises that my rubber bands will come out and I'll finally be able to talk again! Hopefully this will return some normalcy to my life. I don't want to get my hopes up, but I can't help it. Having my mouth banded shut has been very painful. I saw my surgeon in tears Friday, only to find out that I was having "muscle spasms" and I was given a muscle relaxer. I am much better now, but I can't wait to be able to eat mashed potatoes and cottage cheese again! I'm so sick of soup! 

feeling crappy - day 8

I'm on day 8 of my orthognathic recovery, and I'm really getting sick of being miserable. My jaw will be wired shut for more than likely the next week, and all of this is beginning to overwhelm and depress me. 

For those of you who have been pregnant, remember how you felt around 34-36 weeks? You couldn't quite see the end in site, you were totally unsure of how your body would look afterwards, nothing worked right, nothing fit, etc...? That is how I'm feeling right now. I'm sure I'll look great, but the anxiety of not knowing is getting to me. I know I'll be able to eat again, but 7 more weeks is a really long time. I'm hungry and there's nothing that will work to satisfy my cravings. I hope these feelings pass.

I'm sitting here at lunch at work, and I am just wanting to go home and rest on the couch. I'm tired, I feel like crap, and I'm having a nearly impossible time motivating myself. I should have taken off more time. I wish I could at least work from home...

I am still just as swollen today. I am not up for posting any pictures...I'm just feeling too self conscious. I wish I could hide my face for the next 2 months. 2 months right? 

Sorry that this post is pretty depressing...that's how I am feeling right now. I've been told that is part of the process, but it doesn't make it any easier. I'm holding onto how worth it everyone tells me that this will be...

here goes nothing...day 7

     I decided to begin a blog about my orthognathic jaw surgery. I thought perhaps it would benefit myself as well as anyone who happens to read it. I realize there are so many of these out there, but  maybe mine will be unique for someone. So here goes nothing...

     Before my jaw surgery I had a deep overbite that I had previously attempted to fix as a teenager with braces. Because braces alone failed to work and I relapsed, here I am as an adult with a new set of orthodontics and on my seventh day of my orthognathic jaw surgery.

     My surgery entailed of correcting my overbite with lower jaw movement alone, as well as manipulating my chin into a more cosmetically pleasing position.

     Day 1-5 were pretty typical. I spent day 1 in the hospital. I was extremely swollen. The biggest things that I noticed were that I was not in as much pain as I thought I would be (perhaps the morphine?) and that my biggest complaint was the swelling, numbness, and chapped lip. I'm not sure why my lip got so chapped, I just know that it had something to do with the swelling. I put chapstick on constantly and still today it is very chapped. Yesterday, day 6, I was very tired and worn out. I was trying to focus at work, but found myself checking out around 2 pm. Also, I could not move my neck far enough back to wash my hair, nor could I lean forward enough in the sink to wash my face. This is much better today, and was the worst yesterday.

     The symptoms I am experiencing today are frequent tingling and continued numbness in my chin and lip. However, I've noticed that today for the first time there is one tiny patch of feeling that has returned on my chin. That is something to celebrate! I've also had this awful sensation that something is stuck in my throat, ALL DAY. I do not know if this is related or not, but it sure has been a pain. 

  I had my first follow up appointment with my oral surgeon today. Much to my dismay and disappointment, he decided that my bite was at risk for shifting either to the right or left, and so he banded my mouth shut. I trust him, and so I let him do it. That doesn't mean that it isn't miserable though! I can't talk to coworkers or family members very well at all.

     If I had to pick one thing that stinks the most about this whole ordeal other than the cosmetic appearance that is just embarassing, I'd pick the hunger. I have been craving my favorite foods, favorite restaurants, and anything salty that I can get my hands on. I have begun making plans and lists for the things I will eat when my 8 weeks are up. I have mastered the art of swallowing whole spaghettios, rice, and scrambled eggs in a desperate and always failed attempt to satisfy my cravings. I am not allowed to chew, but who said that I couldn't swallow? ;)

      Now that I am wired shut, I have to liquify everything and eat through a syringe. I just attempted to eat puree'd soup with a syringe for the first time tonight, now that I can no longer enjoy what I now consider a luxury. It truly was disgusting. Not only was it nearly impossible to get the food into the syringe, but when I was done I had so many tiny bits and pieces in my braces. I rinsed my mouth about 10 times to get it all out. It's hard to rinse when you can't spit!! I think I've decided I am going to stick with milkshakes (halfway melted) and chicken broth. At least the weight loss will be expected!    

My biggest advice to anyone that is planning the surgery are the following things:

1) Plan more than 1 week off from work. You are going to be exhausted from recovering and won't have the energy to put into work that you need to

2) Buy lots of straws, dietary supplemental drinks, chicken broth, and lots and lots of soups

3) Set aside some money for many unexpected runs to the grocery store, local fast food joint for milkshakes, and pharmacy

4) DON'T EXPECT to look amazing one week after surgery. I didn't think I would still look this WEIRD, and it's been somewhat of a hurdle trying to get me down today. Expect to look strange for a long time...I'm hoping it's going to be worth it. :) Please share your experiences and post your comments. I will try to update often!

     Even though I didn't want to, here are my photos from today. Ignore the giant pimple on my head. It's very difficult to wash your face after jaw surgery. :) You'll notice one side is much more swollen than the other, which is normal from what the surgeon told me. My jaw looks like it is clenched though...I am hoping that is just an effect of being banded shut.