Three Years Post-Surgery Update

Wow, time has flown! So much for my six-monthly updates.....

Life is great post-surgery, the only lingering effects have been partial numbness to the left of my chin and my upper gums are still completely numb. The metal plates and screws are still in place and I haven't noticed any adverse effects. It's hard to believe that I never smiled in photos before surgery, I was so self-conscious - I smile all the time now and don't even think about it!

Some more good news - my big dream of having a nice smile when I graduated finally came true:

What prompted me to finally write this update was a few weeks ago a person recognised me from this blog - we even had the same surgeon! I hope that if you are reading this before you undergo jaw surgery that you find my blog useful, and if you have any questions or even just want to share your experiences I would love to hear from you. Either comment on a post or find me on Facebook!

Here's some of my more useful posts:

My first post on this blog can be found here
I wrote a list of reasons I wanted jaw surgery here
My surgery experience can be found here
And some comparison photos can be found in this post

Or check out some of the other tabs up top for more info.

Some recent photos:

Thanks for reading!

Kelsie

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 234: I have a De-bracing Date!

At my last visit with my orthodontist Dr. P. he said he was very happy with how things are looking and that I could be booked in for debracing on November 12!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

This is only 5 weeks and 2 days away. I am so freaking excited.

I still have a gap at the back where my back teeth don't touch (funny how the situation has reversed..) but Dr. P. says this will resolve when the braces get taken off and the metal bands won't be in the way. I'm guessing it will settle anyway. I will apparently be getting a permanent metal retainer on the back of my bottom teeth, and a clear plastic moulded invisalign-type retainer for the top.

I haven't had time to take any proper comparison photos, but here are some update photos that have been taken since my last post:

Gilbert the Chihuahua

My new friend, Zambesi. I've started volunteering at Bird Rescue

My family and I went to Queen while they were here in NZ!

My man and I taking a cheesy photo at dinner

Taking a selfie like a Gen Y

That profile

I think that my swelling has pretty much disappeared. It HAS been 8 months so I think this assumption is correct! My numbness hasn't changed as far as I can tell. I still have no feeling in my upper gums whatsoever. The funny patches on the right side of my lip and the left side of my chin are still there but I have kind of gotten used to them. Except for when I put them directly under the shower head, they're too sensitive! The area under my bottom lip is also like this.

I am looking forward to getting back to normal eating when the braces come off, I'm pretty sure that they are the only thing stopping me now. The only things I have trouble with are hard nuts and carrot sticks, and also biting through hard things with my front teeth like muesli/granola bars.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am so happy with my decision!

Kelsie

Day 181: Holy cow, it's been 6 months!!!!!!!

Today it's been 6 months since jaw surgery.

Woah. I can't really believe it. Time has flown!

Here is an update picture, from when I made friends with a bearded dragon wearing a sombrero.

Today at work (I work as a checkout operator at a large supermarket/grocery store) I happened to have a customer who will be having the same surgery as me with the same surgeon. We talked for ages and she was asking me all these questions. One of them was 'Are you happy with your decision?' and I said ABSOLUTELY yes!!!!!!

Because I haven't updated in so long I missed out on some people's surgeries so I am looking forward to reading some blogs and catching up!

Much love!
Kelsie

Day 150: Throwback Thursday

So I finally got the pics my mum took off her phone so that I can post them here! Just a warning, they are pretty gory....

These are from Day 0, so the evening following surgery.I remember these being taken, but I thought they were from the day after surgery! I was then up for most of the night vomiting blood but thankfully I was still drugged from surgery and barely noticed. Mum had to deal with the brunt of it. She is a trooper!

 

Notice the drains are still in me. Gross. Here's one of the drain in my hip:

 

Dangggggg look at that profile! I almost cried when mum showed me this:

Day 1 - the day after surgery, there are ones of me writing (as I couldn't be understood at this point) and also of me feeding myself with a syringe:

Day 2:

This is from when they re-dressed my hip, I got mum to take a quick photo once the bandage was off:

Day 3: This was the day I came home from hospital:

Day 4 - Valentines Day! On the way to the surgeons office for my first post-surgery check-up:

Day 5 - The number hands thing didn't really catch on...

Day 6 - looking a lot happier:

And why not have another couple of comparison pictures while we're here??

Day 141: Photo time!

I finally got my a into g and took some photos to show you guys... I have even done some comparison shots too! Woo!

Here is a shot from the side showing the gap at the back:

And to show how far I can open my mouth:

The finished results!

I'm so happy!

And now for some comparisons, drum roll please......