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.(: