9 Months Post Op

First of all, I would like to begin this post by announcing that I am not dead.

For those of you having surgery that follow this, friends, family, and Facebook stalkers, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a verrryyy long time.

Today is officially 9 months post op, so I figured it was a good time to update. I haven't written in such a long time because this summer I had a very negative attitude and disposition with this whole jaw joint issue I've been dealing with. Plus, on top of that, my orthodontist called me about a month ago to tell me I have "root resorption." Grrreat. So, at that point, I was just done with dealing with this and wanted to think about it and bitch about it as little as possible.

Well, luckily, my joint is slooooooooooowly improving. Basically I was literally so stressed out, I made all this happen by clenching my jaw 24/7 and not realizing it. I'm just hoping it continues to improve and will be completely back to normal once my braces come off and my OS gets me in a bite splint that I'll wear at night.

Now, about that root resorption... apparently this happens to only 1% of people. I should have just gone ahead and counted myself in, because I am usually part of any unlikely statistic. Apparently my orthodontist compared an x ray from before I got my braces on, to an x ray taken a couple of months back and discovered my roots are shorter and are literally just disappearing. Microscopic root resorption is normal and typically occurs with braces, in order to allow the teeth to move. But mine is beyond that. Apparently bicuspid extraction, having braces multiple times, wearing braces as an adult, and an open bite are all factors that make the likelihood of root shrinkage higher. Check, check, check and check for all four of those scenarios with me.

The good news is, my orthodontist said the likelihood of my teeth falling out is not any greater than it would be had I not experienced any resorption. He told me over and over again not to freak out yet (even though I did, and he said "I knew you would" haha). He explained it is his job to catch problems like this and take appropriate measures. So, he said my braces need to come off ASAP. He said usually when braces are removed, the roots stop disappearing. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I pray the root resorption will stop and I can live to be a very very old wrinkly lady before they fall out/come out/disintegrate!!!

Sooooooo....my braces come off October 7th. I should be excited, but I can't help but wonder if this resorption didn't happen, and I were able to wear them longer, would my bite get even better? Or is this pretty much as good as it gets and they probably would have been ready to come off at this time anyway?

I wanted to add a few pictures, but my internet is just ridiculous lately and won't do anything.

Officially 5 months today...And back on a soft food diet.

So Saturday evening I noticed my jaw felt really funny on the right side every time I chewed. It was like constantly popping and cracking and making these awful sounds and feelings. I just figured it was a side effect of my rubber bands. (I wear them religiously, and one day about a month ago, I woke up and my bite was all kinds of screwed up. So of course I panicked and called the orthodontist. They just said that means I obviously wear them a lot and need to take them out for a couple of hours because they were kind of "over correcting.") So I thought it was kinda something like that, and didn't worry. Then Sunday, every time I would chew, it would hurt and pop and crack like crazyy. That continued and I just tried to do my best to eat. As time went on, it got to where when I would just look down, I could feel the disc in my jaw slide forward and pop. I knew Tuesday I had a regular braces adjustment at the orthodontist, so I just thought I'd wait until then.
Well, I don't know if he had a bad day or what, but he was not very pleased with anything haha. The short version of the story is this: I told him all my symptoms, he said "that's not an orthodontic problem, you need to talk to your OS," then he had me bite on that paper I mentioned 2 posts back, and polished my molars down a little to make my bite absolutely perfect, then got all bent out of shape because I couldn't slide my lower jaw left and right. He kept saying "you're 5 months post op, you should have full range of motion, did he not give you any exercises to do? You should be doing this and this, blah blah blah" I didn't even bother explaining everything again because we were both pretty frustrated and I knew what I was capable of doing when my jaw wasn't acing up. Plus I planned on calling my OS right away when I left. So after all that crap, nothing was even done to adjust my braces. But he did go on and on about how awesome and perfect my bite is, so that's good news. He basically said I'm ready to get out of braces, but he said he won't take them off until he knows I have full range of motion. Then told me to make an appointment for 8 weeks from now? Cool.
So I went out to my car and called and made an appointment to see my OS today and then called him on his cell phone. He told me he can't really say much without seeing me and sounded a little perplexed when I told him what went on at the ortho appointment.
SO....I went to his office today, and at first he really got on my nerves too because we were both having trouble communicating what was going on. He obviously knows a hell of a lot more about this than I do, and all I know is what I feel. So after a while, he paused and then said "...you look annoyed..." Ummm..YES I AM. (I don't hide emotion well haha) I felt like I wasn't getting any answer from anyone and hated what I was feeling. So we started over and he got me calmed down and explained in a different way. Basically, my jaw disc is acting up because it has been overexerted. He said I seem really stressed (duh) and that will cause it, plus fatigue, overstretching, trying to eat too many hard and crunchy foods too often too early, strain, etc. All of the above applies in my case, so he said for two weeks I need to "rest my jaw." This means back to the "things you can cut with the side of a fork" diet, prescription ibuprofen every 8 hours, and warm moist heat. He also said to not wear my rubberbands at all for this time. Oh and he made me feel so much better about the ortho visit. He said "you're hurting, your disc is acting up, it's fine" because he knows what I'm capable of doing and he wasn't happy I was so upset.

If you're wondering, (most ortho blogging people already know this) young women in their 20's are much more likely to have issues like this over any other group of people. Including people that have not had jaw surgery. He said it can happen to anyone. He also said that probably 5 out of 10 non surgery people can't even move their lower jaw from side to side anyway and it doesn't matter.

Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon, but I seriously feel like my jaw already feels a little better. I really pushed it the past couple of days when it was hurting with a big meal on Sunday, hibachi and sushi Monday, and really crispy Italian pizza Tuesday. This afternoon I just ate some beans and rice since it's soft, and I haven't had rubberbands in for 24 hours and it seems to be helping! I'm not too discouraged about a soft diet either. I know some yummy foods I can eat and it's just 2 weeks. Also, I'm challenging myself to not eat any fast food for almost three weeks. I eat way too much junk and I've never felt so uncomfortable in a bathing suit, so I'm trying to take care of that since we are going to the beach soon! So a soft food diet only makes that easier for me haha. I want my jaw to be happy and ready to chow down on some fresh seafood and eat more than a killer whale does when I'm on vacation.
Another thing that makes today not so bad? I won tickets to the sold out Kenny Chesney show today when I was on my way to work! That's the second year in a row I've done that for his shows haha That's gotta be pretty rare!

I'm taking a Maymester class right now and it just might kill me, so I won't be on here much but I will update when I go to the OS in 2 weeks.

Sunday was my birthday, so I'll post a few random pictures from it on here!

Some of my girls and I at the Braves game:

Aid and I being silly...but I thought I'd post it because it's a good profile shot!

And I'm just adding this one because it cracks me up every time I look at it hahah

My boyfriend and I:

Wow I am fired up!

This is mostly directed toward to other ortho bloggers reading this.

Okay, I haven't been on here much lately, because I have been SO BUSY! But I still read all of your updates and love reading about your progress, I just don't have much time for comments lately!

But I had to get on here and share this. A lot of you probably have yahoo accounts or look at the yahoo homepage, and may have seen this article:

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/article/tv-news.en.ap.org/tv-news.en.ap.org-20110511-us_people_bristol_palin

I absolutely am not a Palin fan, and whether you are or not is cool with me. But I read this article tonight and then skimmed through some comments, and they're just ridiculous. Basically everyone is just going on and on about how she had plastic surgery and she's lying, "I've never heard of braces for medical reasons, they are only cosmetic!" etc.

People are so ignorant and unbelievably just....stupid. It amazes me more every single day.

I have never left a comment on an article on yahoo, but I just had to tonight.

I said "You're all so incredibly ignorant. It's called "orthognathic surgery." Google it, and educate yourself. It is a medical condition, and it causes a lot of troublesome things during the every day lives of people who have misaligned jaws. Be thankful you do not have to live with it, and thankful you do not have to endure the painful surgery. It's due to a skeletal deformity that happens during growth. The stupidity of the world never ceases to amaze me.

If you would like to enlighten yourself and get your head out of your asses, you can check out my blog on my orthognathic surgery procedure, and see for yourself what it's like. http://whitneysjawsurgery.blogspot.com/

I have several followers on there that are documenting their journey as well and you can read their experiences too."

That was the extremely nice way of putting what I am actually thinking right now.

It just goes back to what I have said several times on here, and I know a lot of you are dealing with...It doesn't matter what you say, some people are still going to be idiots and think this is a cosmetic procedure you elected.

My genioplasty when I had my orthognathic surgery was purely cosmetic and my choice, I have no problem saying that. Obviously the rest was not. However, you can't argue with stupidity.

I may end up with some crazy comments on here if people actually see my comment. Can't wait for that! :)

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe.” -Albert Einstein

16 weeks

Today is 17 weeks since my surgery! Monday will be exactly 4 months!

I know this is ridiculously long, but I like details, and think this is important. Besides, it's been a few weeks. So you should read it all! :)

Last Monday I had an appointment with the oral surgeon, so he could make sure I had been doing my exercises. I passed! haha I had really been slacking, but I tried so hard to keep up with them. It would take exactly 50 minutes out of my day to do 10 sets of 10 reps, 3 times a day (Yes, I calculated). I don't have nearly an hour every day to devote to that! But I spend half my life driving, so I tried to do it then. Driving a stick shift, managing ATL traffic/bad drivers, doing jaw exercises and of course texting/updating facebook is hard to manage! Just kidding, I don't really do that. (Cause my mom is reading this (: ).
But he said I can open 36mm. He said he's sure I can very easily stretch it to 40 with my fingers, so he is pleased. I think I'm going to continue doing them though because 40mm is the minimum.
He said everything is wonderful/excellent/great and that I am a good healer. I think he's just an awesome surgeon! ...I was looking all over the inside of my mouth after brushing my teeth the other day, and I seriously have practically no scar tissue at all and you can't even tell where incisions were in there!
He asked about my numbness and said not to worry about it, because I am not even 4 months yet and nerve regeneration will take 6-9 months. Yesss! There's still hope! He also said that big nerve that runs basically ear to ear through the chin, wasn't severed during my surgery. He said he only stretched it out a lot. (I can't even imagine how that works/looks. Stretched? wtf?) So he has no doubt the feeling will come back. I don't knooooow.
But I guess my numbness that went away quite quickly wasn't related to that big "main" nerve. I don't know, I'm not a neurologist. But it's really interesting and cool. I still feel electric shocks and pinching all the time still, so it's trying to work!

So, that was my last visit to the surgeon, and I don't even have to go back until after I get my braces off! That is sooo crazy! How have I gotten this far already?? It doesn't even feel right because since December I have gone in there at a minimum of every few weeks. It's like a part of my life now haha. A year or so ago when this process really started moving along, there were several days where I got in my car from OS and OD appointments and just sat there and cried for 20 minutes because of the pain, confusion about what I should do, fear, etc. And now when I leave either office, I feel so happy about the direction I'm headed, and so thrilled with going through with this! Amazing.


Then last Friday I went to the orthodontist and he said over and over again how great everything looks! That makes me feel great because he is a total perfectionist and would not say that if he wasn't beyond pleased. He asked me to bite down on paper that made little black dots on my teeth so he could see my "wear patterns" he said a few dots weren't supposed to be there and said if he polished my back teeth just a little bit, my teeth would fit together even better. So he pulled out basically a sander haha and polished down a teeny bit of each molar. Then when I bit down again, my bite felt even better! Amazing what they can do! After that, he started putting something on two of my upper teeth and I heard him tell the assistant "Now, I may have made this an extreme step, so if it gives you a lot of resistance when you engage it, let me know!" When I heard that I thought "Shit...this is going to hurt really bad." Sure enough, it did. The assistant had her pliers or whatever haha and was bearing down like all her weight to get this thing to engage. The resistance alone was hurting and when it engaged...OWWWW! Then she did the other side and it was the same way. Apparently these two teeth were sitting at a little too much to one side or something so that will fix it. I hadn't had any extreme ortho stuff since like November so I guess I got spoiled with only little stuff that didn't hurt much. Other than that, he changed my rubber band configuration, which made my teeth look even more perfect like 2 days later! So crazy how quickly that works! My next appointment will be May 16th.

Life is so normal now. There are days I don't even think about jaw surgery! I eat whatever, do whatever, it's nothing. I'm so busy with school, work, and an honor society I'm participating in. Plus I've been going through a process since January to be accepted into a program that offers a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I was accepted! Only about 10 or 12 undergrads were chosen, so I'm really proud of myself. So I get to visit New York in the fall! :) I also started an internship with a cool company in the area yesterday, so I am really excited to gain some experience. Everything just seems to be falling into place. Like my jaw :). Okay, lame.

This is from last night:

 

I thought this would be a good comparison that shows the little changes:

3 Months After Surgery

Today, March 18, 2011, marks exactly three months since surgery!

First of all I'd like to say that if I can get through this, absolutely anyone can.

I read on several blogs that you shouldn't expect to feel normal until the 3 month mark, and I definitely agree.Of course I thought I would be different, and would just get through this and it would be no big deal. But my surgeon reminded me at my last appointment that this is still the early part of recovery, and it's hard to remember that. It's especially hard for people that aren't going through it, because 3 months is quite a while. But unless you have gone through this surgery, you don't realize what a toll this takes on your body.
But I feel normal 99% of the time. There are still some moments where I think about it, but most of the time I actually forget I had surgery. Every now and then, my jaw pops if I bite down (which is normal) or some mornings the muscles in my face feel really stiff, but none of that is even a big deal. I am a little bothered by the numbness I still have in my chin and lip and all of my upper jaw/gums/teeth. But since I don't have the feeling back at this point, it is likely permanent, and I'm just going to learn to live with it I guess :/ When I was reading about surgery, one of my biggest concerns was numbness, and I know someone is reading this right now thinking "okay there's ANOTHER person that is still numb after surgery, to hell with this." But the benefits that I have gotten from having surgery (a bite I am in love with, I can breathe, I feel rested and energized all the time, I don't look like a grandma from the side anymore, etc.) are well worth it. I don't know how I lived my life so freakin ridiculously tired and miserable ALL THE TIME before surgery. I am so thankful to feel normal.

OKAY MAJOR BREAKING NEWS:
My grandpa and I are totally obsessed with Steak and Shake, and I always make time for him and my dad during my insane week and we usually go there. For 21 years, I have pulled my food apart and broken it up and eaten it, rather than biting into it. WELL, on Tuesday, I BIT INTO MY CHEESEBURGER! And not only that...I also bit into the lettuce. THE LETTUCE! The. Lettuce. It was so awesome! All my "normal" readers are thinking"Wow, really? You're that excited about biting into a f-ing cheeseburger?" YES I AM. And I know all my pre-surgery readers are thinking "Wow, I cannot wait to do that!" I am so happy to bite into food!!! Now I just have to break that habit of pulling my food apart into bites, because I found myself still trying to do that just because I have done it for so many years.

Last night I had an awful dream that I woke up and, for whatever reason, my teeth were all screwed up and turned around the wrong way, some were completely backwards and behind other teeth, and some were loose, and some brackets and parts of wires had fallen off. It was a total mess and I was horrified. I was beyond relieved when I woke up and saw my teeth were exactly where they were when I went to bed haha

That's my big update for you guys for now. I have to go back to the surgeon at the end of this month, and to the orthodontist at the beginning of April. So there will definitely be updates then. I open a little wider, but I seriously need to start doing more exercises next week, or my doctor is going to kick my ass.

Pictures from this past week:

 

 

Orthodontist's Forecast Compared Against The Actual Result

Those of you reading this that are going to be having surgery soon will probably get a "forecast" from your orthodontist or oral surgeon about your expected outcome. My orthodontist did mine, and I found it earlier and thought it might be interesting to compare it to my after picture, so here it is:

I adjusted the contrast and brightness on the after image because it's really light and I thought it might be easier to see. I'm not really sure what I think about this to be honest. I'm very happy with my actual result, and relieved I don't look exactly like the forecast (that is a SERIOUS chin). First of all, I don't think the original image really looks/looked like me to begin with. The software used to create these images are very limited anyway. So I think they're good to get an idea about what to expect, but don't expect exactly that. Mine obviously isn't the same. But you can still see the difference in the weak look of my jaw and chin and how long my face looked because of my jaw position. And I think that's the point. I think a forecast is worth getting so you can get an idea, but don't expect to look exactly like that image. I just thought you guys might be interested in this if you got a forecast and weren't sure what to expect.

Day 74 / More Before and After Pictures

It's my spring break this week (even though it's still winter). This weekend I was able to go visit one of my best friend's from high school at USC, Caroline! Our other best friend, Alora was able to come as well! We call ourselves the Variety Pack because...we are! Haha you have a blonde, a brunette, and a red head! Although Alora isn't technically a blonde anymore, we will always remember her with that bleach blonde hair from high school! It was so great to get all three of us together, because we have some seriously hectic lives and Alora lives in Alaska now with her husband who is in the Army. So this definitely doesn't happen all the time and it was so great to get to catch up! Caroline also lives with 4 of the sweetest girls ever!
I had no jaw issues which was great and it survived a night of pineapple vodkas, everclear slushies and a bunch of crazy girls running wild all over Columbia!
I actually had an appointment with my OS on Monday, but I was out of town. Today I called to reschedule, and it turned out I could either come in today, or a week from today...I chose today!
He said everything looks great and he is still very very happy! Yay! I don't worry anywhere near as much as I used to about all this, but today I was feeling like my bite was off and my muscle was acting up, so it is such a relief to hear everything is still great! Every time I leave that office, I feel like I'm on top of the world because I am always so happy to hear we are on the right track still, and every day I feel a little happier I did this!
He's a little concerned about me not doing my opening exercises though. He said this is the critical point to be sure to soften up the scar tissue, so later I can open as wide as I'm supposed to! He progressed me to finger exercises, which means I am supposed to open and push down my lower jaw with my index finger, while pushing my upper jaw up with my thumb. I know that sounds weird, I guess I would have to show you for you to understand.
Anyway, I'm going back in a month so he can check that, and then I don't have to go back to see him again until after I get my braces off! Whatttt? That really makes it set in.....this is almost over! Okay, maybe I have several months left, but really...that's nothing.
Now I'm back at work for the rest of the week, and weekend, with lots of homework, then back to school on Monday. Growing up sucks.

Today my OS gave me copies of the after photos he took at my last visit, and they are pretty exciting comparisons!

 

Pictures from the weekend:

10 weeks

Okay, I've been MIA...sorry about that. I have been SO BUSY and happily not thinking about my jaw every 2 and a half seconds.
Let's seeeeeee...it's hard to think about what's been going on in the past two weeks since my last post, because I'm always doing something.
I'm still LOVING the benefit of not being totally exhausted every day of my life. So awesome! This is what normal feels like!
I've looked at a few old pictures lately, and I still think I look like me...just a little more improved. This is what I was supposed to look like all along, but my jaw was too dumb to know that and sucked at growing. I always had a little bit of what looks like a double chin in 90% of my pictures cause everything was just not in the right place. Not anymore!
Chewing food is a little different sometimes, but I'm used to it for the most part. Now that all my teeth fit together, I think I chew things much less just because all my teeth are working together...not just four. I still don't bite into food because I'm not positive I'm supposed to (I never asked, but my surgeon never said anything about not doing it). Either way it isn't necessary, and honestly I'm not sure that I could open wide enough to do so. I can nly open enough to fit two fingers in still because I suck at remembering to do exercises and my surgeon is probably going to be pissed when I go back, so I really need to make an effort to work on it.
I have some news! Aid and I went to Fogo De Chao for our third anniversary, and I got to eat STEAK!!! Fogo de Chao is a Churrascaria restaurant. They have a HUGE salad, sides, cheeses, meats and vegetables bar. Then when you are ready for your meal, you flip a little green card over and all these men run over with huge skewers of 14 kinds of meat and cut it practically off the cow right there at your table. It was SO GOOD. We absolutely loved it! I was a little slow at eating the steak, but it was easily manageable. Oh I also just remembered...on Valentine's Day, I chose a lobster and pasta dish, since I knew I could eat that. But I had a bite of Aid's steak and could eat it then too!
I guess now the only thing I can't eat is really hard stuff like peanuts or walnuts. Not like I'm dying to eat that anyway haha. I can't really think of anything else that I know I can't eat.
My chin and lip numbness is much better! The feeling isn't totally back, but it's nothing like it was. I noticed a week or so ago that I could feel temperature there again, and now a little bit of feeling. I love when I feel electric shocks in there..I think it's so cool how nerves regenerate like that. When I feel that pinch it makes me happy it's working to try to get the feeling back! But my upper jaw is still totally numb...which I don't like at all. I really hope that comes back soon! But at least the roof of my mouth has feeling...I've heard some people don't even have that.
I think I have swallowed about 10 rubber bands now haha. My ortho told me to leave them in when I eat, and they don't bother me, so I do...but they ALWAYS break while I'm eating. If I'm in public, I don't think it'd be very lady like to dig out that rubber band and all the food that gets stuck everywhere, while at the table. So I just leave it until I can take care of it. Most of the time they stay stuck around the back of my braces, but sometimes when I go to put new ones in....the broken one has disappeared. There is only one place for it to go. Oh well.
My left side kind of pops or something every now and then, or sometimes I feel the muscle do something weird. I think it's just that muscle being stubborn and trying to resist a new position. l only feel it if I have been a really really bad girl and had no rubber bands in for a couple of hours. So it seems like the muscle works it's way back into it's old habits and then gets pissed when I put rubber bands on again.

I've gained back the 8 lbs I lost, but that's okay. I don't know why anyone would expect to leave most of that off after not eating hardly anything and then eating your normal diet again.

I always manage to write a short story with my posts, but I want to be really detailed about what's going on for those of you going through surgery and wondering how things progress and change.

I have really been slacking on taking pictures of my face/jaw specifically, so the pictures from Valentine's Day and our anniversary will have to do this time.

 

8 Weeks!

I haven't posted much lately, because there hasn't been any new events and it's really nice to not constantly obsess and think about jaw related things!

I've been trying to adjust back into my regular diet, which has been a little weird. I don't destroy steak or anything, but I can eat most stuff. Although it has to be in little bites. But I just love food!
I have some excccccellent news! I BIT INTO A PIECE OF LETTUCE TODAY. I think I heard angels sing when it happened! What an awesome feeling! I still don't feel comfortable with biting into things yet, but soon I'm going to bite into a sandwich and tear that lettuce apart.

My bite feels awesome! And looks pretty close to perfect (although in my Orthodontist's eyes, it's probably not). But I adore it!

I discovered this middle rubber band is making it a lot harder to talk again and I sound a little lisp-y if I'm feeling lazy, but I really don't care to be honest with you!

I was looking at my itemized bill from the hospital today, and it is soooo ridiculous. I'll share some of the highlights...My grand total JUST for supplies/hospital surgery expenses (not including the bill for the surgery itself from the surgeon) is a grand total of $41,846.00!!
A tube of Vaseline for my lips that were falling off....$15.00
7 Drill bits. Hahah DRILL BITS? I could have brought him some of those from my dad's toolbox. $4,193.00
41 screws... $5084.00
7 Plates.... $3403.00
Water for irrigation. Yes, you read that right. WATER.....$56.00
Anesthesia is charged at 15 minute intervals haha. I needed it for 4 hours...that's a total of $3,007.00
And hospitals charge for the amount of time you are in the recovery room!! That's charged at 15 minute intervals as well. I was there for 2.5 hours so that's a total of $1,345.00
They gave me 10 (total) "servings" post surgery of Dilaudid, Morphine, and Toradol. No wonder I was flying high and feeling great those first 14 hours. And said some bizarre stuff and remember infomercials at 4AM being SO interesting...
I see on here they ordered a size large compression sleeve for my thigh. A large? :( Miss Thunder Thighs here.
There's a huuuuge list of all the drugs given to me before, during and after surgery. It's so weird that many substances were in my body. And one of them is labeled as "Meth" haha Hmmmm.
It also says "blade stryker tips" and I don't know what that is so I google image searched it. This is what came up. Damn. Haha I don't think that's right.
Anyway, I am very thankful for great insurance!

I'm pretty sure I don't really have any swelling anymore. If I do, it's not much I notice and it's only in the morning. No pain at all anymore. Yay!
I am used to the subtle changes in my face now. Just a couple of weeks ago, when I would look in the mirror I would be happy one minute, then later when I would look I would think "Umm.. you probabllllyyy shouldn't have done this!" or sometimes "WTF HAVE I DONE?" haha But now I look in the mirror and see Me! And it's not some surreal or scary experience. It's just Whitney!
But I have a hard time remembering exercises lately! I gotta work on that!
My only complaint is I am SICK of my numb spots and want the feeling back so bad!

Here's a couple of pictures from Wednesday when we went to the Bosnia vs. Mexico game. It was SO AWESOME. Wow. I truly wish I could go every single day of my life haha. But that was a big day for my jaw...basically 16 hours straight of laughing, talking, screaming, cheering, eating, drinking madness. But it seemed to be just fine. Oh, and it was SO cold that day, which usually bothers my jaw...but I guess it doesn't anymore.

  

And I took this just now:

 

See you in a week!

Day 51: First Post-Op Orthodontist Appointment

My orthodontist appointment was actually scheduled for tomorrow, but they called and said they had an opening today if I would like to come in, so I did!
I was a little nervous because I didn't want them to do anything crazy like change a wire or move brackets around. All my orthodontist and the assistant did was look in my mouth several times and ask me to bite down.
My orthodontist seemed really happy with everything, but we still have lots of work to do. He put me back in rubber bands...which I don't mind because it makes me feel much less paranoid about my bite shifting. They're pretty tricky to put in though. There's one on each side from my "canine" on the top running diagonally allllll the way to the very back tooth on the bottom. It's hard to get back there though, so it took me a while to put them on. Then the third is like a box around my front teeth on the top and bottom. I still have my surgical hooks there, so they said I can just hook it on those.
My orthodontist said I can take the front rubber band out sometimes if I want, because he knows it's not so cute. But unless I have some kind of special event going on, that baby is staying right where it belongs. I really don't give a shit about how anyone thinks my rubberbands look when I am at school or work, or some other random place :)
He said I need to wear everything for a minimum of 12 hours, but the longer, the better! He stressed several times that I control my fate now more than anyone, based on how I cooperate. Believe me, they WILL be in 23 hours of every day.
That pain to the right of my chin that I complained about a couple of weeks ago is back today, and in full force. It HURTS. Today I randomly felt a sharp pain, and then a dull pain every now and then. But while I was at the orthodontist, he used his little tools to pull my cheeks back and look in my mouth, and as they hit that spot it really hurt! I asked him about it and he said he thinks my nerves regenerating are just hypersensitive, so they misinterpret how stuff feels, and makes me feel pain. I will agree with that, because that is also where I am still numb. When I run my finger over it, it feels tingly. But when I use my nail lightly, or wipe that area with a towel, it gives me a painful sensation. So that makes sense that my dumb nerves are confused. But right now it is really hurting with a sharp pain every few minutes. He said my rubberbands may make it hurt more, so to take some ibuprofen. I guess it's a combo of that and getting messed with and moved around at my appointment. As long as I know it's nothing to worry about, I can deal with a little pain.
Of course I asked him about 38 questions haha so when we were finished, he went to the patient next to me and jokingly said "Okay, you can't have any questions, because Whitney took up all of your question time! Just kidding Whitney!" haha

I moved back to my big girl toothbrush today! My braces were so abrasive on the baby toothbrush that it's annihilated now and feels like I'm brushing with a brillo pad. Plus, my mouth opens wide enough now to get a regular sized toothbrush in. I'm kind of happy to no longer be using that gay monkeys and bananas toothbrush and using a more age appropriate one haha

I don't have to go back to the orthodontist until the first week of April. I guess that's all to update for now. I'm thrilled I didn't have one of those awful orthodontist days that every ortho patient has every once in a while!

6 weeks! Before/after pictures!

It’s been nearly seven weeks since I had surgery! I had my six week post op appointment yesterday, and once again my surgeon says everything looks great! What a relief! I worry so much some days, and the only thing that makes me feel better is going to my post op appointments and hearing from the man himself.

My surgeon said I can start progressing into my regular diet. I can already tell this is going to be much longer of a process than I expected. But everything about this is extremely sloooooooowww anyway. I ate Panda Express yesterday because I wanted some fried rice and that was a quick fix. Some of my chicken was hard to eat, and everything has to be in little teeny bites. And I was too scared to try to chew on any hard pieces, I just had to throw that away. Basically my jaw has lost all it’s strength, since the muscles were basically torn apart. My doctor just said to try to eat whatever I want, but if it hurts then to back off a little. I’m thankful to have the okay to do that!

Also while I was there, he took some “after” pictures and wants to put me in his book he shows patients at their consultation! I would say that means he is really proud of the results, and so am I!! I could never have found a better surgeon! He is amazing.

He gave me a wonderful gift while I was there….copies of my before pictures! Wow. WOW. WOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW! IT’S INSANE.

I must have looked at these pictures 20 times yesterday. In fact, I’ve been dying to make this post since yesterday afternoon but I had a lot of studying to do!

I would like to say once again, that I did not have plastic surgery. I’m certain nearly every other orthognathic patient has had at least one person that knows about their surgery assume it is plastic surgery. It is most certainly not. If you’re interested, you can go back to read in my first couple of posts about why this is a medical need and why I personally needed the surgery. Skeletal deformities cause a lot of problems, and greatly impact a person’s quality of life. If this is an experience you never have to go through, be thankful, because it has not been an easy road over the years.

I was perfectly fine with how I looked before, including with how my teeth looked. However, I was really unhappy with my bite (or lack thereof) and my sleep apnea, and just generally how I felt exhausted all the time. I don’t believe anyone has this surgery just because they don’t like how they look. There are always medical reasons that greatly impact their life, and the cosmetic benefits are just icing on the cake.

 

So here it is:

 

Here's some pictures I took at home before surgery:

Look at this dork..

Some recent pictures so you can compare:

Took this one at work when I was bored so you could see that 45 degree angle

I got no sleep last night and you can tell, but here's one from today:

 

Un-be-lievable.

Obviously I didn’t look like this in all my pictures I took for my personal life. Over the years, I learned how to pose, how to smile and which side was my “good side” haha so I didn’t look like Mr. Ed.

But, my doctor needed the “real me” pictures. So that’s what these are. This may not be that shocking to everyone that always saw me on a regular basis, because this is probably what they saw since I wasn’t in front of a mirror all the time to make sure I wasn’t looking like a retard. But I never saw myself to this extreme.

 

I’ll point out some things the doctor pointed out to me as well. Obviously you see my jaw just looks like someone came up and shoved it back into my skull. It just doesn’t look visually satisfying, if you know what I mean. My upper jaw, had a slight cant, which isn’t as obvious in the first picture, but it is obvious in one of the before pictures I took of myself. Also, I have a bump in my nose (it was broken apparently at some point in my life, I just never knew haha ) before surgery. My surgeon explained that when the upper jaw is moved, the nose looks different as well. As it is moved, it brings the tip up a little bit, which makes that bump no longer as prominent. Finally, in the side profile picture, I have one hell of a huge shnoz. I had no idea my nose looked that damn big! My surgeon said it looks like that because it is practically a 90 degree angle from my nose down to my chin, since my jaw and chin sit so far back. Now it looks like a nice nose since my chin is out where it is supposed to be. Not like a nose that is going to turn around and poke your eyes out. He said my lips are still open a lot because of my muscles being tight and that’s one reason I need to continue exercises. He also said my braces are catching them and pushing them out and that makes them stay open as well. Over time, that will change.

When he puts my after pictures up on his website, I’ll update with them!

In an older post, I went through the long story about how I had to find a new oral surgeon, and how I am thankful that happened. Well, I can say now I am even MORE thankful that happened. My original surgeon didn’t want to do upper jaw surgery on me. He said I didn’t need it, although even I knew I did. He told me if we did, I would look like an old lady because you wouldn’t see my upper teeth. Wtf. Obviously I wouldn’t want it moved up THAT much. And I can’t see how he ever planned on getting my teeth to fit together perfectly without doing upper jaw surgery. He was also obsessed with the bump in my nose. He talked about it more than my jaw surgery and how he couldn’t wait to work on it. That was a red flag to me because I wasn’t looking for rhinoplasty and he isn’t even supposed to be doing that anyway. I’m sharing all of this because I want the pre op people reading this to know that many surgeons have many different opinions and it is well worth consulting with a couple of doctors! I’m not sure what kind of Picasso painting face I would have ended up with, had I not had to switch for insurance reasons.

My numb spots in my lips definitely do not have anywhere close to their normal feeling back yet. But when I touch those spots, it feels tingly! Just a few days ago it was completely numb, so that is fabulous. My gums are still totally numb though, which feels so weird when I touch them.

I still feel like I have a little bit of swelling in my cheeks all the time. But I know I have swelling in my cheeks in the morning when I wake up, but as the day goes on, it goes down. But now that I do so much talking and I’m constantly on the go, my jaw starts to swell a little at night.

Oh yes! Correction. Those weren’t screws I felt in my face before. We looked on my xrays yesterday, and they are two little plates on each side! We also counted how many plates and screws were in my face, but I can’t remember now :( There was around 40 screws and 12 plates, I think? I have a small hardware store in my face.

I finally feel pretty much normal majority of the time. Sometimes I am a little weirded out when I look in the mirror, others I’m not. And sometimes things just feel funny. To the average person, six and a half weeks seems like a long time..and it is…for normal life. But when you’ve had your face sawed apart, and ripped open, and drilled on, and sewn up and everything else it went through…it’s a lot. And it’s a lot for your body to take on. My mom and my doctor had to remind me of this a couple of times. I guess I expected to feel normal in just a couple of weeks, but that just isn’t practical.

 

But I feel great! Not tired, great mood all the time, and just really happy!

Should I sayyy itttt?..............

 

I’m really glad I did this! :) It was well worth everything, just to feel like a normal person who gets a normal amount of sleep and has teeth that can BITE.

But, I am still not that person that says “Greatest decision I ever made and I’d definitely do it again.” I don’t know about that one. But we’ll see!

 

I don’t have to go to another post op appointment for four weeks. I’ll update next week when I go to the orthodontist for the first time since surgery and let ya know how that one goes….SCARY.

Day 38

Today in my horribly long two and a half hour finance class I discovered I can feel two screws in my face. I was obviously really engaged in the lecture! I was just sitting there with my hands supporting my head because I'm lazy and was like "what the hell is that?" As I felt on each side of my nose there are DEFINITELY screws there hah. I thought I felt this a few weeks ago but I wasn't sure. Definitely screws. It feels really cool actually. I'm weird enough so I won't go around saying "Hey, do you want to feel the screws in my FACE?" I'll just keep it to myself I suppose.
It is kind of strange that they are up so high. But from what I have read, when your upper lip is cut, it is stretched basically up to your eyeballs. You like that??
I'll be sure to ask my surgeon next week at my appointment to confirm.

I have had some really long days this past week, and I can proudly say I'm not beyond exhausted like I typically always was before surgery. I sleep well and breathe well while doing it now and I feel good. Really, really good. It's 11 o'clock as I'm writing this and I've been up since 7 AM going full speed and I still feel great!
It's still painfully hard for me to wake up in the morning, but I think that's just me being allergic to any time that requires an alarm clock. Oh well.

Quick picture:

Five Weeks!

Today marks five weeks!

Not really anything new to report.
Tuesday was exactly one month from surgery, and the day I went back to school. It was a lonnnngg day. Wednesday wasn't bad, because I just had one 2 and a half hour class and then I was able to go home. And Thursday was another long day, plus I went back to work that evening. But it wasn't bad, everyone was happy to see me, and it was a good night. I think a break was much needed from work anyway, because I was so burned out.
I also think the extra talking is helping me get back to my normal not lispy self. Sometimes I think I sound so weird, but everyone tells me I sound the same to them. I don't know.

It's been more difficult for me to stay on top of my exercises lately, since I haven't been spending so much time at home. I wonder what people would think if I did them in class haha. I try to do them while driving but I like to sing every song on the radio too much :) But my mouth does open a little wider than it did a few days ago!

Still numb in the same parts of my lips, chin, and all of my upper gums.

Day Thirty!

I went to the oral surgeon today, and he was all smiles and excited about his work again haha.
He said I am progressing very well and look perfect!
He even said I can take off my elastics! I didn't think I would get to stop wearing them until a couple of more weeks! Or, I would at least have to wear them at night, like I have read other people doing.
But he said as long as my bite doesn't change they are off for good :)
Of course I am not convinced that my bite won't decide to be rebellious so I will be paying attention.
I talk a lot better without them! Good thing, because I start work this Thursday and saying "Sutherlin Nissan" 895729834 times a day offers many opportunities for lisps. Cute when you're 2. Not cute when you're almost 22.

He also said not to worry about that pain I have been feeling, because he thinks it may be from the elastics and we'll see how it is in 2 weeks. I also asked him about the tongue thrusting and he said those types of things he always notices after seeing patients several times, but he hasn't noticed that with me so I must not do it much. He said "someone like you" (is that bad? Don't answer that.) will think about it and pay attention to it and correct it. I'm still gonna remind the orthodontist about it and see what he thinks though!

I have to start doing more "exercises." I'm supposed to open my mouth as wide as possible without hurting, and hold it for 10 seconds. 10 sets of 10 reps. He said to continue my lip/smile exercises too.

He said to call my orthodontist to make an appointment for 2 weeks from now. And to come back to his office in 2 weeks. He also said that at that point (6 weeks post op) I can move into my regular diet and do you know what that means??? CHEESEBURGERS AND FRIES AND CHICKEN FINGERS AND FRONTERA. Okay. I'm insane. But really, after weeks of soft mushy food and soups and bullshit, I am ready for that stuff!

That's basically it. When we were leaving I remembered he didn't look in my nose like he usually does, and I forgot to ask if I'm allowed to blow it again. So I'll call the office in a few days and ask. But I mean, I'm not really dying to blow my nose or anything. Digging around with q tips gets the job done pretty well.

I start school again tomorrow. It will be a long day, but at least I don't have to start back to work until Thursday. After what I have been through for the past month, 18 hours of school and 20-26 hours of work each week doesn't seem so bad anymore.

Peridex has really stained my teeth, but I'm not too concerned right now. Crest whitestrips are in my future 6-9 months from now!

Day Twenty Nine

Today I think my nerves must be playing tricks on my teeth. Sometimes when I bite down on my left side, it feels really funny. Kinda like I'm biting into...aluminum foil? It's so strange. But if I touch it with my tongue and bite again, it feels normal.
I have regained some feeling in the roof of my mouth. I have feeling in the back half, toward my throat, and on the "edges" at that textured feeling part. But that's all. And my gums still have no feeling, along with my lip and right half of my chin that haven't changed.

I get random pains and pinches and tingles and other sensations in random parts of my lip, cheek, and roof of my mouth. It's just my nerves trying to figure stuff out again, and the pain isn't a big deal. It happens out of nowhere for a split second and it's gone before you realize it's there, so no need for any medicine.

I ate Olive Garden again today. Yes, it was amazing.

Tomorrow I go to the surgeon again for my check up, so I'll update then!

Day Twenty Eight!

It's been 4 weeks! So crazy how fast time passes!

Eating is a little easier. I chew stuff a little bit, then swallow. I basically live off oatmeal, beans and rice, and some type of pasta. Good thing I like that stuff a lot. But I can't help thinking about how delicious something CRUNCHY would be. Like some chicken fingers!
Watching my boyfriend eat Summits hot wings (the best wings in the universe) is like torture. But my black beans and jasmine rice wasn't too bad. And he is sweet and finds me the soggy blue cheese fries to eat :)
Special thanks to Aida and Ray who also pick through their food for the soggy stuff to feed me haha

My jaw started hurting in that spot by my chin again tonight. But I did SO much talking and eating today, I really wasn't surprised. Actually, it was probably just pissed because the Falcons were playing like a middle school team. Warm moist heat and popping some ibuprofen made it all better though.

Really nothing else new to report!

Day Twenty Six

Last night I remembered that my orthodontist told me at the beginning of my treatment that I am a "tongue thruster." Sounds like something a hooker does, right? Really it means that when I swallow, I push my tongue against the back of my teeth. Normal people put their tongue on the roof of their mouth when they swallow. Without braces, it causes the teeth to get pushed outward and stick out.This is another effect of thumb sucking, and bad orthodontic work when I was young. I went to an orthodontist at the age of seven, just as is suggested (a different one than I have now). But she didn't do the best work. There are several appliances and options that orthodontist could have done immediately, and there's a good chance I wouldn't have required surgery. In fact, there are several ways of controlling jaw growth in young children. Additionally, I could have gotten an appliance that breaks the habit of tongue thrusting, called a "crib appliance." Which would have been a lot easier to control, because I had only had the tongue thrusting habit for 7 years, rather than 21. Also, she didn't bother placing an appliance in my mouth to make me stop sucking my thumb until I was 10. Yes. Ten.Years.Old. In other words, too damn old. That should have been done the day I went to that stupid orthodontist. But, that's in the past and we didn't know any better, or know things would get to this point. Now all I can do is try to fix everything, and tell everyone and their mother not to go to her.
But I swear, if I have a kid that comes out sucking their thumb...we will break that habit on day one. I don't care how cute it is.
Anyway, as I was saying...my new, smart, perfectionist orthodontist informed us at the beginning of my treatment that I am a tongue thruster. Well last night I thought of that, but I couldn't remember what he said we were going to do about it, and I started getting so worried. I just don't want him to take my braces off later this year, and all this hard work and money goes down the drain. That would be the biggest disappointment there could possibly be. I'm not positive that my retainer will hold my teeth where they belong. I read online I could get the crib appliance and/or go to speech therapy to fix the habit and swallow how I'm supposed to, but he hasn't mentioned that. I don't know when I'll be going to the orthodontist again, but I'll definitely be talking about it with my surgeon Monday.
It's been all over my mind, and all I could think about so today my mom suggested we get out of the house because I was starting to think and worry way too much. That was such a great idea! We went to the mall for a little bit, and then went to Olive Garden. Wow it was soooo DELICIOUS! I figured their great salad would be too hard to eat so I opted for soup. I got the Chicken and Gnocchi soup and it was so good! I had two bowls haha. Then I got the Portabello Ravioli, because I knew I could cut it up easily and it's fantastic. And of course I couldn't resist Tiramisu for dessert. Yummy! I was so happy to have something different, and be out. And obviously my appetite has not been negatively impacted.
I'm so glad my mom saved me from insanity today and I got to get out, but not do too much. I guess now that I am looking more human I need to start getting out more to build up my energy.

Oh, and in other news...I got the okay to stop using Peridex today! One less step in my 3-4 times per day 10 minute brushing routine :)

Pictures from today: