Day 53: Filling in the Blanks #1

Considering that things are starting to plateau now in my recovery, there are continually larger gaps between appointments and therefore between blog updates. Although, I know there is so much more to tell you all! This is why I have decide to start a slightly different sort of entry, not an update but a "fill in". These posts will be to inform you of rather important things that I somehow forgot to mention, so feel free to suggest any topic you're curious about! As the first fill in, this is about something so basic that I simply looked it over: what did they DO during my surgery?

As I've said before, I was initially scheduled for a double jaw surgery, but then was subjected to only single upper. How the surgeon and his team actually got to my jaw is through the gum line. They made incisions from virtually one side to the other, and then they proceeded to cut the bone. It's a little hard for a visual learner like myself to explain this next step, so I've included a diagram at the bottom for the other visual people out there (and just incase I don't describe it clearly). What the surgeons did after cutting the bone is move the jaw upward. After that, the lower jaw then sort of slid up in to place as well. To keep the upper jaw connected the surgical team used plates and screws to hold it all together cozily, like little metal blankets for bones. The hardware is titanium because it is a mental that isn't commonly allergenic, and all together I had three plates and 16 screws put in. Following that they took the steps to close my gum line by using stitches, then banded my mouth shut as seen in earlier posts. Tah dah! You now know the quick and easy version of what happens during upper jaw surgery (in my case).

If you're hungry for more information, there are actually videos of live operations on YouTube, just search 'orthognathic surgery' and there should be a fair amount of results. Keep in mind, these videos aren't for the squeamish. I've seen a few, and even though I like some slasher films, the surgeries are way too gruesome for my tastes. So, if you need a visual and want to skip the gore don't forget about the aforementioned diagram below the day 53 photo.

Day 43: She Speaks!

After six weeks of waiting patiently, and silently...I can speak! I am officially band-free from now onward and it feels so good. It was initially a  bit strange to experience having the bands off for extended periods of time, but I feel like that was just do to a familiarity that I developed for them over the past months.So far the only speech difficulties I am having are that my S's are slightly snaky, but it is improving daily. What was even more otherworldly than speaking these past few days was eating.

Eating what you might ask? Real food! Real, solid, chewable food. Keep in mind that the food I can now eat is still required by my surgeon to be soft. "As soft or softer than fish." as he says, which, really doesn't sound appetizing when put that way. However, even on a soft chew diet, chewing after over a month is more marvelous than you could possible imagine. It's comparable to that feeling children have when waking to the "perfect" present lying under a Christmas tree, or finding a large sum of money in the pocket of a jacket you haven't worn in a few months. My first meal, in fact, was tacos, soft shell of course.

Aside from eating and speaking, even more good news came today at my orthodontic appointment. Such great news that I believe it deserves a drum-roll (in a way)...

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My braces will come off in one to two months! I'm absolutely ecstatic. All that has to be fixed at the moment are minor details including small gaps that appeared in my upper teeth due to wearing the bands, and a slightly rotated lower incisor. Just from the time my wires were adjusted this morning until this evening I can see a significant reduction of the gaps that had formed, however; the rapid movement of my teeth resulted in my mouth hurting a bit. Although if a slightly annoying amount of pain means that I'll get my braces off this Fall, I can take it without a problem.

Unfortunately, Photobucket was down when I went to edit, so the fonts are rather lackluster.

Day 31: Freedom!... kind of...

For those of you that have been reading continuously, so probably 10 people, I apologize for the gap between this post and the last. However, due to the nature of my last appointment, I acquired a certain amount of freedom that I could just not pass up.

My last post-op appointment was just over a week ago and it was full of lovely surprises. To start it off, we checked out just how far I could open my mouth at that point in time. The goal was to get to 30mm by the six week mark, and guess what? I was already at 19mm and it was only three weeks in! This proved that I was progressing well, so I was able to get some other perks as well. The elastic bands that hold my teeth together were reduced to two instead of five, and I only have to wear said bands for 18-20 hours a day rather than 22. My progress also opened up a variety of new, mellow, activities. Golfing and kayaking, two things I love, are now within my reach and I cannot express just how fantastic it feels to get moving around more after three weeks of well...walking. My next activities mile mark will come around week ten, when I apparently can ride a waverunner again. That also happens to be when I will need my next post-op appointment.

It seems like that is a big jump, from a three week appointment to a ten week, but in reality there isn't much my surgeon can do until then because bone growth does not begin to register on all of their fancy machines until that time. So, he gave me a list of things to do and mile markers between now and then and said to just call if something is a little off.

•  Keep doing mouth stretches (open ten seconds, then close ten, repeat ten times) to get to 30mm by week six.

•  Stay on a no chew diet until week six, then on to soft chew (consistency of fish and softer)

• Meet up with my ortho for further treatment at week six. Until this point in time we have refrained from moving my teeth around and messing with wires and brackets so that my jaw could heal.

• -Bands are officially off at week six, that is, unless my orthodondist needs me to wear bands for repositioning.

As you can probably tell from this post's list, week six is the next interesting spot on my jaw surgery timeline, so posts will be weekly (if that) between now and then. Time is absolutely flying though, I cannot believe that it has already been a month since jaw surgery. Week six better come quickly as well though; this no chew diet deal is getting old and I really want a peanut butter and honey sandwich.

Also, settings that I was unaware of until now are officially changed and anyone is free to ask questions or comment regardless of whether or not they have a Google account.(: