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