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!
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