4 weeks postop

Sorry about the confusion with my blog. I tried changing the name but then my followers couldn't see it anymore so I have now changed it back and will just live with the fact that weirdos may read it too.

I saw my OD  at 3 weeks and I only have to wear my elastics 8 hours a day (I was able to choose which 8...so chose while I slept). And 3 elastics instead of 4.

 Saw him again this week too week now only have to wear one elastic across the front from top to bottom to work on correcting the lower midline.  I see him again at 6 weeks postop to hopefully get my teeth moving again.

I have progressed I eating almost normally but am still avoiding crunchy/chewy foods

My sutures are finally dissolving and moving out little bits at a time. I will be glad when they are gone as they are annoying.

Still partially numb on my right outer lip and chin but increasing sensations (tingling, itching). I talked to one of my coworkers and she said she will give me some acupuncture treatment next week to see if it can help with numbness as I have read that acupuncture can be beneficial to encourage nerve regeneration. I love having physio friends!

Still have swelling but really only along the mandible, near the surgical sites. Everyone says I look good but I can still see and feel the swelling.

I went back to work last Thursday and it has been going well. It was nice to see everyone and have a 2 day work week the first week :) I have been a bit more tired in the evenings but I'm sure this will be better next week.

For post op folks when did you attempt to resume flossing? I know I should try again soon.

My TMJ joints are still feeling a bits stiff. I can open about 2.5 finger widths but lateral and forward movements still feel pretty stiff and I can feel the scars pulling inside my cheeks at times.

Here are a couple new pictures

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Creepiness!!!

Hey everyone. Just wanted to give you a heads up.  I've tried to change my settings to prevent weirdos from viewing my blog.  I had a bunch of hits from www . Bracesforum . Net which appears to be a creepy fetishist site...yuck!!! If what I've tried has worked I will share with others how to do it.  To my actual blogger friends please let me know if you are still able to see my pics/blog or if you are having any trouble.  Thank you.

Follow up with surgeon...and other stuff

I had another follow up with my surgeon yesterday as he just wanted to make sure things are on track with my bite.  He was happy with how things have progressed with the anterior elastics and now I don't have to see him again for another month.  I still have an open incision at the back right portion of my mouth, but he didn't seem too concerned with this.  I am getting more contact on my right molars than left but he said this can be corrected orthodontically.  Not much else to update.  No teeth pictures today.


Off topic, we're removating a room in our basement and here is a picture of my decorating plans.  It is going to be a spare bedroom/office.  I have ordered the bedding and artwork online.  I'm excited but I kind of wish this stuff was going in my bedroom!  We're working on drywall sanding and the ceiling this weekend and then I can do the fun decorating part.  I'm going with a beachy theme :D

This painting is my favorite part!!!

I'm not decided on the wall/carpet color yet

Day 14 - Two weeks post-op

Back to the orthodontist today. I no longer have to wear the elastic at the very front that was going sideways from bottom to top and I can take the two front ones off at night as they had been making my front teeth quite sore. They took another xray and were happy with how things are looking. I did mention that my left front tooth seems to contact the bottom teeth because of the inward angulation. He said we can address this when we start moving the teeth again. Back again next week for a quick check.

The feeling is definitely returning in my lip and chin..hooray!!!  I can sleep on my side again now too!  So al in all a good couple days.  Also experimenting with other soft foods including bread :D 

Swelling still there and fluctuates a bit but not too bad any more.  I still have a bit more time off work, go back next Thursday.

I got a call from my surgeon's office on Monday also and they want to see me this week instead of next week. So I see them tomorrow.

Sorry for the bad hair, shadows and funny angles (self portraits…haha)

 

Not smiling vs. smiling. 

The base of my nose seems to get wider when I smile big…

I can’t remember if this happened before ( I don’t think so) also not sure if I enjoy this L

Right Profile



Left Profile

Bite no longer open

Day 10

Things have been going well the past few days. My lips and cheeks are less irritated so changing elastics is becoming much easier and less painful. One night I covered most of my brackets with wax just to see if it would soothe things and it did :)

My anterior elastics seem to be correcting the open bite already.

Swelling has come down but seems to fluctuate now. I still have some fading bruises, but they cover pretty well with foundation.

Numbness...not much change, still tingly on the lower right. I started taking my B vitamin supplement in hopes of helping this along. Also taking my multivitamin.

My weight really hasn't changed much, down maybe 3 lbs but my weight is usually pretty stable (thanks for the good genes mom!). I tried really hard to keep my calories up to maintain my weight. I've been getting more adventurous and managed a hamburger/pasta casserole tonight and even satisfied a donut craving yesterday, oh yeah and I had pancakes for breakfast too. I'm still pretty cautious and mostly smoosh things with my tongue as biting/chewing make me nervous and feel strange.

I see my OD again in a couple days so will post again after that.

Still swollen but much improved

Here is a close-up of my bite now without elastics on...no longer open yay! 

Still need to move upper teeth with braces.  Can't wait to start getting them moving again.

Happy Easter!

Day 7

So headed off the the OD office today and they checked out my bite.  They took another xray and changed my elastic configuration.  Things are feeling a little tight now but at least he said I can take them out to eat. Things are already lining up a bit better.  He thinks the other elastics I had may have been too strong.  Truly the post painful part is my lips and cheeks.  They are raw from elastics rubbing (and being stretched open today) on them plus I have a crack at one corner of my mouth which makes changing the elastics painful so I've only been taking out the front ones to eat which has worked out okay. 

More pasta for me today but not blenderized and it was amazing.  Liptons sidekicks  and mini-ravioli, not exactly healthy but I practically lived on carbs before so they were fantastic!!!  I can't wait until I can eat bread/pastry again...mmmm.  I almost watched a food show today and then thought I better not.

Took Katelyn to the park and walked dogs too.  Getting back to normal but not ready to go back to work yet as I basically talk all day and don't think I could handle that yet.

No other big news today so thats all for now :)

Day 6

Today was a busy day.  Got up early because I thought Paul had slept in but he didn't.  So I showered and got ready to head out on the highway for my follow up appointment with the surgeon.  Thanks again to my wonderful dad who did all the driving (4 hrs, plus another 2 for him!).  We had a nice time visiting in the car and having some dad-daughter time :)  I even ate in public, twice!!  Which I didn't think I was ready for but people didn't seem to notice...or at least they didn't stare.

It was a bit windier so I when I got cold and tensed up I got to experience an awesome jaw muscle cramp/spasm, but at least it resolved quickly when I got out of the wind.

I ran into one of my hospital roomates in the waiting room, turns out she is also from where I live and saw my husband where he works yesterday too, small world!  She's doing ok (and has finally stopped vomiting, I guess she reacted to her antibiotics), poor thing...

I saw another surgeon from the practice for my follow up visit.  She was very nice and answered all of my questions.  She agrees that the tingling is a good sign but the numbness may still take awhile to resolve which is what I thought.  I've also been having some hypersensitivity which is also a sign that things are retunrning :)   She changed my elastics  but left them in the same locations, only two on each side now.  I now get to change them myself every day so we'll see how that goes tomorrow.

She said my teeth were "quite clean" but I didn't tell her I'm nowhere near brushing the 100x a day they encourage. 

She couldn't really figure out what could be causing the clicking I feel on the right side.  It really feels like its coming from a specific tooth so I think it might be shifting around or something or could just be a wonky sensory thing with the nerve injury.  She reassured me that there is no hardware anywhere near that area and didn't seem too worried about it.

The only worrisome part is my bite as she did seem concerned that I now have a bit of an anterior open bite and very few of my molars touch as well.  She tried to call my ortho's office (which was already closed for the day) so she said she would talk to them tomorrow and let me know what the plan is.  This made me a bit worried as I did not have an open bite prior to surgery...

Here are some pics from today. I really need to stop taking them at 10pm when I'm tired.

 THE BITE

 

P.S. I got as call from my ortho's office bright and early today and they want me to come in so he can take a look.  I'm headed out now...I'll update you in Day 7 post



Day 5

Sorry my posts are coming the next day (today is morning of day 6) but I just can't get to posting at night since I'm usually tired and my kiddo is a night owl. I always thought kids went to bed early, but not mine!

Anyways, sweatpants made a comeback yesterday, but mostly because I didn't have anywhere to go and let's face it they're more comfortable. I had a nice relaxing day snuggled up on the couch with my puppies, catching up on some recorded shows. Nothing too exciting but I think that's what I needed.

I didn't have much of an appetite but did have oatmeal, soup and chili (thanks for the inspiration Nichole!). Only needed one T3 yesterday.

No other big changes to report.

Wow, bad picture today!

My dad is driving me to my follow up appointment later today as I don't think I'll feel like driving for four hours. Thanks Dad!

Day 4

Today was a decent day. At home with the family, went for a walk to the park.  Had an afternoon nap.  I even got dressed in real clothes, no more sweatpants!  And put on some eye makeup!

I'm starting to get tired of liquids, can't wait until I can eat real food again.  Tried some pasta blenderized but wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Think I'll stick with soup for a bit longer.

Swelling continues to go down and the bruises are changing color. Starting to feel like I look more normal again.

Pain has been okay, got bumped in the face today, not too hard luckily but it still hurt.  Because my cheeks are swollen the most uncomfortable part is the elastics rubbing and digging in at rest.

Numbness is similar but I feel like I'm getting occasional twinges of feeling/pain, hopefully a good sign.

Tomorrow hubby will be back to work and my daughter back to day care, will be nice to have the place to myself for a couple of hours.

 Check out the bruising on my neck!

 Kiddo wanted her picture taken too....

My pretty flowers from hubby :D