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......

 

Day 126: Long time, no see

Sorry I haven't posted in sooooooooooo long! Life has a habit of getting really busy, huh. I have some recent photos to post, here are some of my family and I before my brother went to his school ball:

This was for a wedding, it's the first time I've worn make-up since surgery:

Aaaaand at a party a few weeks ago:

Unfortunately I do not have progress photos to post today, I am in the middle of exams, but I am planning to do a big photo post when I am finished. It will be worth the wait, I promise!

Soooo today is 18 weeks post-op. Also known as 4 months and 6 days post-op. I can't BELIEVE it's been 4 months already, time really is flying.

Things are going really well. I am still 100% happy with my decision to have surgery, no regrets so far. My surgeon and orthodontist are happy as well, everything seems to be going great. Not sure when I will be getting the braces off, I have my next appointment in two days time though so hopefully he gives me some hints!

Eating is mostly back to normal, probably about 90-95%, though I still struggle with very hard things - especially using my front teeth.

Numbness has almost disappeared, I have probably about 80% back? There are spots on my chin and bottom lip which are back, but not 100% normal. Oh, and upper gums are still completely numb.

Health-wise I haven't been doing great, my iron levels have raised a bit but are still below normal levels. I've been having some emotional issues but I think this is due to low iron and probably just stress. I've also been having problems with my heart over the past week, an irregular heart-beat caused by PVCs. I've had blood tests done to rule out imbalances so this is most likely due to stress and anxiety. After exams I am planning to rest up until next semester. I haven't had a good break in about 2 years with uni, full time work, and then surgery, so I think a break is what I need!

I have pretty much gained back the full-use of my face, the stiffness has completely disappeared and I no longer feel limited in regards to facial motion. I just measured how far I can open my mouth and it's around 47mm.

I feel a lot more confident with my appearance now, I even got blue ligature bands last time I went to the orthodontist! I've always had silver to try and attract as little attention as possible to my teeth as I was so self-conscious of them. It worked, because a lot of people never realised I had braces until after surgery haha. Now I am happy with my smile, I feel no shame in showing it off! Woohoo!

I can't think of anything else to say right now so I guess I should go and study.....

Until next time,

Kelsie

Day 84: 12 Weeks!!!!!!!!!!

WOAH time has gone fast! Less than a week and I will be three months/90 days post-op! This seems to be the point at which you can consider yourself 100% medically healed, though some factors like nerve regeneration and getting full range of motion back may take a bit longer.

Here are some photos of a sandwich I managed to bite ALL THE WAY THROUGH:

Oh man, life is good.

I am absolutely 100% happy with my decision to go through with double jaw surgery, it has definitely been worth it. Being able to eat properly is amazing.

Here are some update photos:

Loving the big goofy smile!

I am enjoying having most of my range of motion back, as you can probably tell from the following ridiculous photo grid:

This is what I am doing instead of studying. Sigh.

I measured my mouth opening today and I can get to 4.5cm! Before surgery I could open about 5.5cm so I'm pretty happy with this!

I haven't talked about my hip for a while:

The scar is definitely less raised now, it's almost flat. I still have some muscle soreness occasionally but it's not bad enough to stop me from doing things. I have been running again and it's fine.

I have my next surgeons appointment in 4 days, and then its 9 days until my braces get adjusted!!!! Never thought i'd be looking forward to that haha.

Until next time,

Kelsie