Day 304: Debraced!

This happened about a month ago, but due to being in the middle of exams and having a trip to Thailand straight after I was unable to post. But here I am in all my toothy glory!

Those photos were taken at the hospital straight after removal. I was so happy!! Here are some photos from our trip to Thailand:

 

As you can probably tell, I am ecstatic with my teeth now!

I have a clear plastic retainer that I wear at night time, and a permanent wire retainer on the back of my bottom front 6 teeth. I am worried about them moving, especially my top front teeth rebounding up again and ending up with an open bite again. I guess time will tell. I have another follow up appointment with my ortho in four months, and then I am done!

Numbness hasn't changed much, still completely numb in my top gums, and partial feeling below my bottom lip and to the left of my chin. I haven't gone back to eating normally yet, I still am wary of biting through hard things with my front teeth. Hopefully this will return to normal eventually.

I will probably do another post some time just to do some comparison photos and an update, I will also try to update every 6 months to a year in case things change!

Thank you to everyone who been reading my blog and following me on my jaw surgery journey. I hope that this has been useful or at least interesting in some way.

All the best,

Kelsie

Day 28: Otherwise known as 4 weeks..

Where did the time go?

Today also marks 1 month since surgery. Thanks February for being a short month!

Here are some update photos:

I had my surgeons visit last week, all went well and he said I don't need to go back for another three weeks. My next appointment is scheduled for a couple of days after the 6 week mark :-)

The numbness is pretty much the same... though my cheek is feeling a lot less dead and so I am hoping feeling will come back soon. My chin also feels less dead and I am getting lots of prickles, pins and needles, and shooting pains through it. My lips are getting easier to use though they still feel kind of papery, especially in the morning. My top lip still feels kind of rubbery and full, like I've had botox. My face mobility still isn't completely back, I am still very stiff especially in the nose and upper lip region, but talking is getting A LOT better and easier! My tongue is still very sensitive but I think full feeling is slowly coming back. Everything is slow so there isn't much to report. Haha. I'll do another update in a weeks time!

Kelsie

Day 23: After X-Rays

This afternoon was my ortho appointment. Dr. P. is really happy with how my bite is looking! He will start orthodontic work again at the 8 week mark, so everything will stay as it is for now. Unless my surgeon moves any rubber bands or whatever. This means the resin and everything will stay on as well. This stuff is quite bulky, I never thought I would be so excited to go back to having normal braces again!

Woahhhhh look at all that metal!

And compared to before:

I was totally gobsmacked when Dr. P. was looking up the x-rays in the office today. The difference is huge!!! It's shots like these that make it all worth it. Look how straight my teeth are!!!!!!!!!

I told him today how I've noticed I can breathe a lot easier through my nose. I haven't noticed a difference through my mouth yet but you can see on the x-ray how my airway has opened up. I don't feel so self-conscious about breathing loudly anymore! I'm pretty sure I don't snore anymore either.

On my incision line along the bottom I have a lumpy patch:

Dr. P. said this is normal, it is just scar tissue and it should eventually disappear. It's a bit tender so I have to be careful while I'm brushing. I asked if I can go back to my normal toothbrush but he said the baby one should be fine for now. I can reach almost all my teeth, it's just the very back molars that I can't at the moment.

Yesterday when I was brushing one of the rubber bands at the front came loose so I decided to take the other one off until I'd finished brushing. When I looked in the mirror my mouth looked so different so I decided to take some photos! You can actually see my smile properly and I got super excited!

I find these pictures so exciting to look at.

One thing I'm dealing with at the moment is disgustingly bad breath. I'm brushing twice a day and rinsing with mint mouthwash every time I eat but my breath STILL stinks ALL THE TIME. I can't wait to clean my mouth properly! I have noticed a thick white coating on my tongue and I am worried but when I rang my surgeons office last week he didn't seem concerned. I'm seeing him again in a few days so I'll get him to check it then. Maybe this is why my breath smells so bad.

My skin has started to get really pimply in the last few days, hopefully it's nothing to do with the surgery......

Numbness is not much change... I got a patch back yesterday above my lip on the left, so apart from my lips and chin the whole left side of my face is back. In a rough diagram, this is what numbness I still have:

And of course, inside my mouth. I hope my tongue comes back soon, I miss it very much.

Last night I ate cheesecake! And it was delicious! I have also managed to eat lasagne that WASN'T BLENDED. It took about half an hour, and my braces had mince and vegetables all through them, but it was worth it. Being on a liquid diet makes you realise how important the texture of food is. I tried blending up a donut a few days ago with a bit of milk.... not quite the same. Luckily it was still delicious.

Other things I have eaten include chocolate mousse, icecream (I am over the sugar-free diet as you can tell), more soup, pureed mince and vegetables, and mashed potatoes (or parsnips) and gravy.

Only 2 weeks and 5 days until I can start trying to chew again! The countdown is on....

Kelsie

Day 21: Three Weeks

Wooooooooo three weeks!! Let's start off with some photos:

Swelling has gone down heeeeeaps in the last week. My top lip no longer looks so huge! The only swelling I can see now is down the sides of my nose (and probably under my nose too), and my jawline. I look pretty much human again now though!

Smiling is still a bit weird but getting easier! My facial muscles are really stiff so it's still hard to make expressions and talk properly but it's getting easier slowly. I had my first day at uni today and I actually managed to talk to people so it was okay! Sometimes I have to repeat things.

Numbness is still very much the same, I'm still tingly as well.... I think I got some feeling back on my top lip on the left today. I've noticed I can feel the corners of my mouth as well, I'm not sure if it's always been like that.... And there is still no feeling on my right side.

The stitches started to come out this week. The incision lines are still very sensitive though, I have to be careful when I'm brushing. I'm still using a baby toothbrush....

Eating has been interesting! Today I pureed up some parsnip and poured gravy on it, it was DELICIOUS. Tonight I am making lasagne and am gonna puree that baby up.

This is what happens when you eat oats and don't blend them first:

Even though you can use a spoon, it doesn't mean you can get all the food in your mouth. Remember this.

Kelsie

Day 20: Spooning

I've cheated a little bit and started eating with a spoon BEFORE the three week mark... Oh my gosh!

After my appointment with my surgeon I figured nothing would be changing between then and the three week mark (which is tomorrow! woo!) so I may as well start now.

It went pretty well! I blended up a canned stew that would have been too thick to suck through a straw. I didn't make too much of a mess... I've realised I will generally still need to blend up food before eating it with a spoon, it's just now I can eat food that is a bit thicker.

It is definitely not easy and I often get food all over my face, I still have no feeling in my bottom lip and my tongue is still weird so it makes the motion of eating quite difficult. Sometimes I kind of have to inhale the food haha. I'm just glad to eat real food again!

So far I have managed to eat:

Thick soup/stew (blended)
Dahl (lentil stew) and rice - not blended! Though it got stuck in my braces..
Frozen yoghurt
Blended up broccoli (YAY FIBRE)
Scrambled eggs (YAY REAL PROTEIN) - this also made a mess in my braces, but so worth it.

More tomorrow!

Kelsie

Day 17: Triangle-less Once Again

Today I had my third surgeons visit. He just changed the bands again and took some measurements. I asked him if he was going to put more triangles on and he asked why and I said they were really painful haha so he said he won't do them this time. Yay!

So you know when he asks me to open as wide as I can and I think I'm doing really well? apparently it's only 2.1cm. Woo. That's gonna be fun trying to get a spoon into.... I tested it before and it should be okay, I'm more worried about making a mess because my tongue still isn't back to normal. It's very sensitive, like that feeling when you burn your tastebuds away. Hopefully they come back in a few days!

Here are some shots:

And some of my teeth:

The clear chunky stuff is resin which is used to hold the wire in place as he had to cut it during surgery. I'm guessing this will come off when they resume orthodontic treatment at the 8 week mark. My bite looks pretty good! I'm hoping my top jaw doesn't rebound again now the triangles are off. If they start to then I might put the triangles on myself.

I can smile now!

It's a bit crooked but I really don't mind, I'm so happy with it!

Numbness is still the same really, I'm still tingly pretty much everywhere but my cheek and gums.

I asked if it was okay for me to sleep on my side again and he said it won't do any damage whatsoever which is good. Damn I miss sleeping on my side! I have started to the last few nights because I felt like it would be okay, so it's good to have this confirmed. I still feel sensitive and bruised on my lower jaw but it should be okay on a soft pillow.

The last few days have been extremely painful, I finally resorted to taking pain medication again! The triangle on my right side was giving me so much grief, it felt like it was ripping my bottom canine right out of my mouth. It peaked a few days ago and I tried the paracetamol, and then the ibuprofen, and THEN the codeine... and nothing worked. Seriously. I'm surprised I managed to get any sleep. Anyway, I've continued to take ibuprofen twice a day just to take the edge off and it seems to be calming down now. Hopefully with the triangle gone it will return to normal.

I FINALLY finished the chlorhexidine mouthwash! I've been using normal mouthwash since then (Colgate Plax) and I just water it down. I tried using it full strength and it hurt quite a lot! I've continued using it every time I eat, and brushing morning and night. I can't wait to use my normal toothbrush and waterpik and piksters and floss!

My hip has been getting better I think, it's still painful if I walk too far but Dr. W. says this is normal. It should settle down in a week or two. I go back to uni next week so hopefully it's not too bad walking around campus.

And for the next round of 'What's Kelsie Eating?':

This is spaghetti bolognese.

Other things I have eaten:
Chicken and Spinach Soup
Pumpkin Soup
Blended up canned stews and soups from the supermarket
Blended up pasta bake
Blended up stewed apple with a small amount of ice cream (I gave in to sugar cravings)
Vegetable juices
Sugarfree milkshakes
Milked down greek yoghurt

Til next time,

Kelsie

Day 14: The Two Week Mark!

I made it to two weeks! It feels like it has flown by, which is weird because I have just been sitting around doing nothing waiting for time to hurry up and get me to the fully-recovered point haha.

I moved back to my flat yesterday, I've spent the last two weeks at my mum's place and she has been taking good care of me! I was starting to get a bit restless though and had lots of stuff I wanted to sort out before uni starts (1 week away). It's good to be back, though I miss my mum already!

Things are progressing slowly but surely in regards to jaw surgery....

I can't believe how much the swelling has gone down! I look almost normal! :-)

Let's have some comparisons (Because who doesn't love comparisons!):

Yesterday I went to a first birthday party. I actually managed to eat some of the food too! I had an iced chocolate on the way there, and then I had some jelly that I mashed up with the spoon and sucked through a straw, and also some chocolate milk. I am still using straws, but this is a hell of a big improvement on a week ago! I'm hoping that when I graduate to a spoon in a weeks time that it won't take too much practice. This all depends on the bands my surgeon puts on at my appointment in a few days as well... if they are too restrictive then I won't be able to get a spoon in! I'm reeeeeeally hoping he takes the triangles off, they are pretty painful.

This was the first time I have eaten anything with sugar in it since surgery. I have been avoiding sugar like the plague!! I really don't want to have problems with cavities later on. I am slowly being able to brush my teeth better each time I do it but seeing as I can't floss, waterpik, or rinse properly I really don't want to risk it.

I am getting a bit of pain.... still in that area above my front teeth where the metal sticking out of my gums is rubbing against the inside of my lip, and possibly an incision. Also in my bottom right canine tooth which is the tooth the bottom of the rubber band triangle is attached to. This is the area where I was getting some gum feeling back so I guess it makes sense. If it continues then I might have to take some panadol.

I haven't noticed any significant feeling coming back, though the tingling in my chin is still pretty aggressive. I'm looking forward to finishing the mouthwash and seeing how much feeling I have in my tongue, should be only a day or two to go! I was thinking I would move onto kids mouthwash after that. Listerine might be a bit too strong haha.

My hip bandage came off this morning, and this is what was under it:

Scary huh! My surgeon says when this bandage came off to just leave it off.

And now for the next round of 'What's Kelsie Eating?':

This, my friends, is minced up butter chicken (with a tablespoon or two of rice). It was pretty delicious!

My next surgeon appointment is a few days away (Thursday), hopefully I have some exciting news after that!

Kelsie

Day 11: Double Digits!

I made it into the double digits!

Swelling is still slowly coming down... I'm hoping by the two week mark I look kind of normal. I start uni again on the three week mark so hopefully it's even better by then! My top lip is huuuuuge compared to my bottom lip, though I was reading about this on another blog today (http://timetoembraceit.blogspot.co.nz/ Thanks Dani!), she also had the same problem but it went down eventually!

There isn't too much to report....

In terms of numbness nothing much else has come back. I think I'm getting a bit more feeling on my top lip, mainly on the left side. I think I can feel a surgical hook on the inside of my lip which I am happy about! I got the tiniest bit of sensation back on my bottom lip today!!! I was pretty happy about this too :-) my chin tingles and spasms are driving me crazy, but I'm glad about it. The right corner of my mouth was twitching hard core today, even mum could see it from a few metres away. This is the completely numb side so (touch wood) this is a good sign! I tested the inside of my mouth today, my gums are pretty much completely numb, though there is the tiniest patch on my bottom gum line that I can feel. When I am brushing there are some areas that feel very sensitive which I hope is a good sign. I started to 'feel' my teeth again today. It feels similar to the feeling after a braces adjustment. I can feel a lot of pressure too. It's not too painful at the moment, I'll see how I go without pain medication tonight but if it gets any worse I might start taking it again, especially for sleeping. As for numbness in my tongue, It's kind of hard to tell because it feels like I've got some feeling back but it's almost like it's muted. I have a feeling this is because of the chlorhexidine mouthwash, I remember this making my tongue feel quite numb for the day when I used it some time before surgery. So maybe after I stop using that I will get more feeling back in my tongue. I am onto my last bottle of it so shouldn't too long now.

I'm sleeping lying pretty much flat now, though I am careful to stay on my back. I'm not sure when I can roll onto my side again....

I'm having some pain in my hip but maybe this is because I'm a bit ambitious with my walking.... I really miss exercise.

Food is going pretty good, I don't miss normal food as much as I thought I would. I'm sure I will by the 6 week mark though haha. Today I started my food bucket list.

Meals are much easier now I can eat through a straw, this has opened up many more possibilities! Today I ate blended up curry :-)

I'm tempted to start taking photos of my food and play a game with my friends to get them to guess what the food is.... For example, what is this concoction?:

This is the blended up meatballs and sauce from the other night.

I am excited for a time when my food doesn't resemble baby diarrhoea.

Kelsie

Day 9: All the Appointments

Some update pictures:

No sign of anymore bruising, just the yellow patch on my left cheek.

My surgeons visit was very fast, he just changed my bands and re-dressed my hip. I now have a triangle formation on each side:

He answered some of my questions as well. I can drive! Yay! My ear problems are normal. This morning it popped open again while I yawned which is good and it has continued to pop a few times today while I yawned. This evening it has gone back to being sensitive -.- hopefully it sorts itself soon.

I then had my first ortho appointment since surgery. Dr. P. seems really happy with my bite too! I asked him for some bands in-case my ones come off (I accidentally lost one last night). He also answered all of my annoying questions! I've been worried about numbness but he assured me it's not abnormal to not have much feeling back by this point. He also said he was impressed at how clean I've been keeping my teeth which I was SO happy about because I've been so worried about this. I'll talk a bit later about what my cleaning process is at the moment.

I couple of days after surgery i noticed two weird wire things poking out of my gums, one in the bottom and one in the top right in the middle. The top one is the one that is irritating me right now, but here is a photo of the bottom one:

Excuse the drool. Dr. P. explained that these are connected directly to my jaw/skull (they have a special name, skeletal keys or something), and that they will be used during orthodontics of need be to pull my top jaw down again if it relapses. I have already noticed my top jaw has relapsed since surgery, my front teeth were touching the brackets on my bottom teeth but now they sit a few mm above the brackets. Anyway, this sounds painful and I hope they don't have to do this haha. Having the things there is painful enough!

Here is a photo of the fantastic Dr. P. and I:

He has been so great! He explains everything he does and answers all of my questions happily, even the annoying ones... I'm so lucky to have had such an awesome orthodontist for my jaw surgery journey!

Cleaning:
In hospital my cleaning method was rinsing with Chlorhexidine mouthwash after eating, also known as Savacol. Once I got home I got a baby toothbrush and now I use that too. I brush with this twice a day, morning and night after breakfast and dinner, and this is after washing with the mouthwash (of which I got more bottles as part of my prescription). I should probably brush more than this but I find it annoying and also it irritates my mouth. I rinse out my mouth with the mouthwash after every time I eat, generally within the hour. Up until today I have been syringing the mouthwash in, but I found this afternoon I could just pour it in. I am getting better at swilling it around too.

To be honest, cleaning my teeth has been the worst part of the process this far! I hate it soooooo much. I actually put off eating sometimes because I don't want to have to clean my mouth haha it's so annoying! But I know I have to do it. And obviously it's paying off. It should be easier now I don't have to use a syringe.

Food:
Much the same as usual.... Trying to get the essential nutrients. I'm still taking loads of vitamins and things. Mum made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and blended up the meatballs and sauce for me to drink (didn't wanna risk the pasta clogging the bottle). WOW it was soooooo good. It did end up clogging the bottle so I put it in a glass and sucked it through a straw! Success!

Med:
Still no pain meds. I asked my surgeon today if this was okay and he said it's fine, if you don't need them then you don't need them. I did find it hard to get to sleep last night because my face had so many weird sensations but hopefully this passes. It's not painful, just damn uncomfortable. I took my last antibiotics last night, yay!

Numbness:
I had some feeling come back in the tip of my tongue last night! I'm so happy! Everything else seems much the same.

Sleeping:
Dr. W. said I could start lying flat again if I wanted to, so I might take a pillow or two out. I just don't want to roll over on to my side I guess. I'm managing to sleep through the night which is good, just last night I couldn't get to sleep for a while.

I am now completely syringe free! Yay!

Day 8: The Lopsided Face

It's amazing how much the swelling can go down during the day. Well it feels like it has anyway... I am starting to resemble a normal human being again! Well, a human being that has had some serious botox.

Numbness:
I have started to get feeling back in my left cheek, which is actually the cheek with more swelling. You can notice when I smile because I can lift the left side higher!

It's hard to describe the amount of feeling coming back because sometimes it's not black or white, there is kind of a scale between 'has feeling' and 'has no feeling'. Areas can be tingly or ticklish or sometimes temperature-sensitive, but not have full feeling back. I am still completely numb on my chin, bottom lip, and parts of my right cheek. The rest of my face has some kind of feeling, whether it be full or partial. This is a diagram of the numbness I have at the moment, the red highlighted parts are the areas with complete numbness. I think there are also some areas on and under my nose but for the most part there is some kind of feeling in the rest of my face:

The inside of my mouth is pretty much completely numb. I can feel some small areas when I am brushing but otherwise it's just the back half of my tongue (from what I can tell) and possibly the inside of my top lip?

I am still getting tingly and some other weird sensations which I think is a good sign! Here's to staying positive!

Food:
I am still using my squeezy bottle. I will see what my surgeon says tomorrow, because I can open my mouth pretty wide... I'm wondering if I can start using a spoon. Though I'm guessing that will be a no until the three week mark still... probably for the best seeing as most of my tongue doesn't have any feeling. I can imagine it getting pretty messy. I just tried drinking out of a cup and it went well! No spillages!

Drinking out of a straw is going well! I can drink a whole glass :-) It still feels weird and kind of hurts a little but I'm guessing as my muscles get used to it and I heal it will become more natural.

I tried blending some poached eggs and hollandaise sauce this morning for breakfast... wasn't good or bad in terms of taste but it did make me feel a bit sick haha. Mum made macaroni cheese for dinner so I tried blending some of that up with some milk. It tasted pretty good but was still too thick so I'll try more milk next time.

Med:
I haven't taken any pain medication since the morning of day 5, not even the paracetamol. I hope I don't need to start again at some point, I'm enjoying not taking it! My antibiotics should be finished either tonight or tomorrow morning which is great :-)

Pain:
The pain hasn't been too bad, the pain in my left temple has gone but my ear is still bothering me. I really hope my surgeon or ortho can fix this tomorrow! I have had some pain in my lower jaw on the left but I think it must just be an ulcer and not an infection as it feels similar to the pain I get from ulcers, and I haven't swelled up or been feverish like I should be if it was an infection. I was thinking it could also be where I have bitten on my cheek or possible caught a stitch between my teeth. I'll get my surgeon to look at it again tomorrow.

I've had a bit of muscle ache in my lower jaw but nothing too serious. It feels like the muscles are trying to pull my bottom jaw forward... I'm guessing this is normal!

The bit right in the middle on the inside of my top lip is pretty sore, but I'm guessing this is where the incision is rubbing against the screw that is there. I thought I saw a stitch there last night.

Talking:
Talking is getting easier, though I still sound like I have a mouth full of marshmallows haha. I was reading today that you should slow down your talking and make sure you are pronouncing everything correctly because your muscles are going to have to get used to you talking again in a different way. I want to make sure I do it correctly! A speech therapist might be a good idea at some point.

Hip:
Everything seems to be going well, I am going to try and go for a longer walk tonight. It's been very hot here for the last couple of days, I thought it would be best to wait until evening!

Appointment:
So I have my second post-op surgeons appointment and first ortho appointment tomorrow... I have lots of questions for them! I'll let you know how it goes :)

Kelsie