Day 20

So today I got my stitches out. I didn't realize that I had a ton of stitches under my upper and lower lip. I never dared to look to be honest. I also had a few near my back molars that had to be removed. I also have one stitch near the back of my throat on the roof of my mouth.....this one we couldn't get today because I couldn't open wide enough for her to get to it. Anyway, the stitch removal was weird, at one point I actually cried a little bit, for some reason my right side is much more sensitive than my left side and some of the stitches were painful. I am glad that they are out though. For some reason I think that now that they are out some of this swelling in those areas might start to go down. I know it doesn't look like it in the pictures but I am still very swollen in the area surrounding my nose, upper lip, and around my chin. It wouldn't be such a big deal except that the swelling is pressing on the nerves and therefore I still have considerable numbness and altered sensation in these areas which is frustrating sometimes. It is getting better day by day but I keep having to remind myself that I just had major surgery 3 weeks ago and this is to be expected.

So I thought that last week I might actually get some real food. WRONG! I actually got real food today. I still can't "chew" but that didn't keep me from swallowing baby spoons full of chili tonight along with very soft cornbread, followed by Ben and Jerry's Brownie Batter. I was in heaven! Now mind you I could just get the baby spoon in between my teeth at first, and it took a long time to eat but it was wonderful. By the time I finished (which took about an hour) I had more range of motion and could easily fit the baby spoon in. I can take the bands off 4 times a day for 1 hour. An hour each at breakfast, lunch , and dinner, and then another hour in the evening. It was totally bizarre to talk and eat with my new mouth. I felt like I had fake teeth on. It was pretty odd. I also got to brush the insides of my teeth tonight....also wonderful! My husband helped me get the bands back on afterward and now I am just trying to figure out what I am going to eat for breakfast. I'm afraid that this whole experience has changed my outlook on food. I feel like I have been on "Starvation Island" and now that I have been rescued everybody better watch out! :)


Jen

Day 13....De-splinting!!!!

So today was my big splint removal. It was mostly painless, a few twinges on one side when they were getting it unwired from my upper jaw but other than that it was fine. They popped the monstrosity out and she sat me up and handed me a mirror to check out my new bite. I seriously almost cried when I saw it, it is beautiful. All of my front teeth come together perfectly. For the first time since I can remember my teeth touch in the front! I got to clean my mouth as I best as I could after they got it off. I actually got a little woozy while I was cleaning my mouth afterward. Not entirely sure why. Maybe I was a little scared having my mouth "unsecured", I don't know but I had to sit down. I could only open my mouth just a little bit and it was weird. My mouth and lips felt and feel like they aren't mine still. I still have a lot of swelling around my mouth, chin, and nose. The swelling is much more visible now that the splint is out. I'm still having a small problem with drooling I would say about 5-10% of what it was...not bad for having the splint out for 8 hours. I think the remaining 5-10% is because A)both of my lips are still pretty numb, and B) I am now banded shut, though without the splint. I will be banded shut until next Wednesday when I go in and they take out my stitches and then she will give me a schedule to follow where I start to wear the bands less and less and practice using my new bite more and more. I am very happy with where my smile line is and now am just anxious for some feeling back in my lips.

I don't have any profile picture from today but the one's up there are from right after I got the splint out and then after I got home from getting my hair cut.

Jen

Day 10....Emotional day

Not a terrific day. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Just couldn't get comfortable. Then my Aunt and Uncle left this morning, which turned out to be a very emotional event for me. I was so grateful for all of their help and I couldn't even actually speak the words. Then my Mom was going to head home for the night too and return in the morning and I lost it. She opted to stay....she only lives 25 minutes away but having her here is very comforting. Very emotional day for me today. I am so over not being able to talk to anyone. I don't even say a quarter of what I would like to using the computer or the whiteboard. I'm also entirely over the drooling situation. The splint is the cause. Imagine holding a cookie in between your two front teeth and you cant close your lips around it.....yup you're right you would be drooling drooling drooling. Which is what I have been doing 24/7 for almost 2 weeks....very depressing. My surgeon assures me that this lovely little side effect from the splint will vanish when the splint is removed. So frustration is at an all time high. I see my surgeon again tomorrow for another follow up visit. Basically she looks at my sutures and cleans things. So far I have been getting a Gold Star for good hygiene and rapid healing. Amen.

Here is to hoping tomorrow is a better day!

Jen

P.S. I just don't have the energy to post day 10 pictures and there really isn't too much change anyway today.

Day 9

Today has been an ok day. I had a small meltdown this afternoon...just a quiet "I am so frustrated that I cant speak" kind of cry. So I remind myself I have about 90 hours or so left in this part of the recovery. A lot of my swelling has gone down on the sides of my face but not at the center. Still very puffy around my nose lips and chin....which are also still very numb. I have better muscle control today but still have a pretty crooked smile as you see up there. Also my lips are not evenly swollen all over and they keep getting hooked up on my surgical hooks in the front. The numb parts of my face have been tingling for days but I know there is no way I am going to get feeling back until I have some more significant loss of swelling. Also I know the splint is not helping at all.

I have been getting creative with the blender the last few days. I have had completely pureed : pepperoni and sausage pizza, cinnamon roll, and a burrito from Del Taco my sister brought over for me to try (thanks Jess!). Eating and drinking has gotten a lot easier but could be much much better without this torture device in place and banded shut. Come on Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!

My Aunt and Uncle are leaving tomorrow. I am sure that they are ready :) We will miss them terribly and I still need to figure out a way to show them how much we appreciate their help. My family would have been in full nuclear meltdown by now if it weren't for them. LOL!

Hope everyone is well, I'll try and post again before my de-splinting on Wednesday afternoon, but I'm not sure that I will be able to. But I will definitely have pictures up by Thursday morning without the damn splint.

Jen

Day 6 pictures

There is my attempt at a smile. It's not bad I don't think for being 6 days post op. I can see where my smile line is going to be and I am very happy with it. \-I was actually feeling pretty darn good last night for the first time due to a few different factors. First of all I got 2 gross clots out of my nose yesterday which made breathing a miraculous event. The second event was that I got more than a few drops of liquid and nutrition down which gave me some much needed color and energy. I actually sat on the floor last night with my husband laughing (well as much as one can laugh with a splint) and teasing each other.

My family has been a godsend and I can truly say that there is no way, NO WAY, that I could have made it through this without them. My Aunt and Uncle came in from out of town for the week to help us with the kids, an imposition so great that I am still trying to figure out a way to show my full gratitude. They came in and ran my household of 5 kids.... 2 teenagers and 3 little guys under 5 years old. It is beyond a full time job. My Mom stayed with me for 3 nights in the hospital so that my husband could work since he had been without work for 3 weeks prior. And she has been here everyday helping with the kids and running me around to doctors appointments. My sister came and sat with me at the hospital that first day out of surgery and entertained me and she has come over and brought me all different kinds of foods to try in the blender and has just been a should to cry on literally on my "wall" day. She brought over my favorite fast food burrito last night so that we might try to blend it up in the next couple of days. My husband has been working non-stop since the day after my surgery and has been taking care of our household stuff and being there for our babies when he gets home from work.

So today is actually day 7 for me and I have another appointment at the surgeons office. I am sure that they are going to clean my splint again. I cant wait to get this splint out. My splint is not only banded to my top teeth but then my teeth are banded together over the splint. Think wet sock in your mouth feeling the whole time. Not fun. 7 days and counting to getting it out. I cannot wait!!!!

Jen

Ok so day 5 was by far the hardest day since day one. Lots of swelling night before last. Had a hard time breathing and getting comfortable and I was up most of that night. I slept much better last night getting about 5 hours in. I just parked it on the couch with my 13 year old daughter for the night. She is so sweet and is by far the best at figuring out my charades..LOL! I went to see the surgeon yesterday and everything looked good. My teeth looked good, my chin looked good, and my splint was in tip top shape. She took the tape off of my chin yesterday, I took that profile picture in her office yesterday right afterward which is why you can still see the adhesive in the picture. They took some xrays, I don't know how big the picture of the xray will show up but you can clearly see all my nuts and bolts. While I was at the surgeons office she gave me a liter of IV fluid, it made me feel so much better. I am really not getting enough fluid I am afraid. It is much harder than you think to be banded shut and be trying to get enough fluid back into this tiny pocket at the back of your throat next to very swollen cheeks and not being able to open your mouth and to try and swallow enough fluid and calories to keep going without choking. And yesterday I choked on some Propel, had a lot of "gunk" back there and coughed a lot...which isn't easy with your mouth banded shut. I'm actually in a bit of pain today after the whole coughing spell last night. Ugh. I need to call the surgeon this morning just to make sure that I haven't jarred anything. I really love the look of my new profile, my front view is really scary for day 5 though. That picture was taken after I choked yesterday....and that kind of took everything out of me. I cant wait for this numbness to subside some more. I feel like I have a numb muzzle on. And the tightness is a bummer too. My orthodontist called and checked on me this morning, I love my ortho and his staff, they are the best. My Mom called the surgeons office for me this morning. They think that everything is probably fine. I see her tomorrow. My poor little kids are about over me not being able to talk to them I think. 8 more days until splint removal...woohoo!!! After I take day 6 pictures today I'll just post those pictures from today later. Today I can start to see some of the more natural shape of my lips....that is encouraging....now if only I had feeling in them.

Jen

Day 4 post op

These pictures are from day 4. This has been one of the tougher days cause I am hungry today. Starving is more like it.I didn't imagine that I would be so hungry so soon. I've lost 7 pounds so far and don't want to lose anymore, but eating is so hard. Finding something you like that your stomach tolerates well with all the meds is hard. I came home today and saw my kiddos so happy to see them. My little guys were all trying to climb all over me and my big girls were awesome. My 16 year old was helping me remember the sign language alphabet. It has helped so much...thank you Brit. So frustrating saying things NO ONE understands. My 13 year old was content to sit and have a half written half spoken conversation with me. LOL! Cant wait to get rid of this stupid splint and all the damn drool! Should come off on Christmas Eve..will confirm that tomorrow. Tomorrow I get the chin strap off....something to look forward to,pus a thorough cleaning of this splint. Even with the awesome waterpic I cant get it clean clean. And I swear I have to have dragon breath from hell. Today I had to crush up my steroid pill and drink it with juice. By far the MOST DISGUSTING thing I have had to endure since this adventure began. My Aunt and Uncle are still here helping to man the kids...thank GOD! Very weak today......need to eat more but finding it really hard to do. Having some cream of chicken soup tonight.....yum!!! I'll post pictures tomorrow after the chin strap comes off. First time I will have a chin in I don't remember when. :)

3 day post-op

profile 12-12-09 love my new nose and my new chin

12-12-09 nice drool on my shirt but looking better

right out of surgery 12-10-09

12-11-09 profile

This is 12-11-09 about day 2

Before profile

Before front view

Good Morning,

First of all let me apologize for how the pictures are posted it was my first time trying to post them. I had upper/lower/genio done on Thursday morning 12-10-09. I got here late I was supposed to be here at 630 and it ended up to be more like 650. They got me checked in in the front and then back to a room where they had me change my clothes and do my labs. Then off we went, my 13 year old, my mom, and my husband came with me to wait. Only one person could come down to the surgical holding room with me and that was my husband, he went down there with me and we chatted with my surgeon while we waited for the anesthesiologist. I was nervous. Cried a litle bitfrom nerves. Finally the anesthesiologist came over and asked me some more questions. This guy looked so much like my brother who died 2 years ago unexpectedly and I was immediately more comfortable. I really felt like he was watching over me :). I Love You Jeff. He gave me something to relax me, and told me that he would be with me the whole time watching me to make sure I was ok. I kissed my hubby and handed him my glasses and off we went. The only thing I remember about the OR was the bright light above me and the music playing in the back round. There were about 10 people in there.

The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery with a super nice male nurse talking to me holding my hand. I guess I had been back there a while because they were waiting for a Sub -ICU room I was in recovery at 330 but not up to my room until about 6. Not that I knew. The recovery nurse said I was the best one of these kinds of patients that they ever had. Where's my badge for best patient?? LOL! My husband finally got some work after being off for about 3 weeks and of course it had to start on Friday. So my Mom has been staying here with me which in hindsight is probably a godsend. I am not sure that my husband could have handled the vomiting and suctioning that went on most of night one. The hardest night was night one. The pain medication that they gave me in the pump gave me motion sickness so everytime I woke up and moved I got sick. Getting sick wasn't as scary or as terrible as I thought it would be. They still had the stomach tube in and anything the tube didn't get they got with the suction or it came out my nose. I couldn't feel it coming out my nose BTW.

Friday was a lot of sleeping, the liquid Vicoden they are giving me is nasty and gives me killer heartburn. They took my catheter out and took the stomach tube out and took me off the IV. I got to use the bathroom and I walked the ward yesterday. They gave me some anti-nauseous medicine last night after the Vicodin and that stopped the heartburn, thank goodness. Slept great last night. except that they moved my room at 1am. Today I am just hanging out and drooling a lot...that's fun. Most of the swelling is in my lips. I hate that ice mask that they have for me. It presses on my throat which makes me feel like I am choking. So I don't wear it very much. At this point I am just amazed about the amount drool. Oh and how huge and swollen and cut up my lips are.

Good things:

I DON'T SNORE!!!!!!!!!!

I love my nose!

I can start to see my new bite and I love it

They are switching me off the Vicodin and putting me on Motrin to take care of the heartburn. Amen. Just took the Motrin and choked on it....it was ok.......I'm ok.

Lots of tingles around my lips, nothing around my chin yet.

Not so great things:

Eating is slow but going Ok

just general uncomfortableness that comes with being banded shut.

my IV stings when they push

I want to take a giant drink of water

Im getting a lot of feeling back (which is a good thing)and my throat hurts today

3 days out........

So today I went and had my surgical hooks put on. It wasn't bad, just took a while. I love my orthodontist and his staff. I'm starting to get a bit nervous today. Today is my last day of work before the surgery. Hooray! Tomorrow I am supposed to have my teeth cleaned and then my pre-op appointment is at 1:45pm. I am trying to start thinking about all the questions that I might want to ask. Gosh, this came up so fast. I will post some before pictures in the next day or two. Not too much else to report today. :)

Final models yesterday

Well yesterday I saw my OS and she took my final models. We did 2 sets of impressions, 3 wax bites, and she did a measurement on my face using some weird contraption. I was so excited that my appointment was with my surgeon. I took the opportunity to ask my most pressing question for the moment which was "when I come out of surgery will I be in a raised position, and not lying flat on my back"? The answer was yes...I will be in a semi-upright position about a 45 degree angle. I told her about my anxiety about not being able to breath when I woke up since I would be banded shut and most likely a bit congested from the surgery. She joked with me that they really liked their patients breathing and she thought that I would probably be able to breath better than I have in my whole life when they are done. Now that was some exciting news! We also decided that we will live with the 1 unit of blood that I donated for myself. The blood donation place cancelled my appointment for 11/20 because they are moving their office and couldn't reschedule me until 11/30. My OS was not happy with that and thought that it was too close to the surgery date. She said she hasn't ever had to transfuse anyone (also nice to hear) so we should be good with 1 unit. My next appointment is on December 4th with a GP for a pre-op physical and then the big day will be upon me. My dentist called today because I had an appointment scheduled to get my teeth cleaned 12/11 which I wont be able to make since I will be having surgery 12/10. So she rescheduled me to 12/8. I wonder if it is a good idea to have my teeth cleaned beforehand? Not so sure. Anyway, that is all I have for now.

1 month from today!!!

My surgery is scheduled 1 month from today!! My sister called and left me a message this morning wishing me well with my surgery. I called her about and hour later and she answers the phone "yes, I know I'm a dork". She wrote my surgery date on her calendar...just the wrong month. It was actually very funny.

All of my pre-op appointments are scheduled, and this is the only week that I don't have some type of appointment to go to. Last Friday I had my pre-op x-rays done. The place that did them doesn't bill insurance so I had to pay $122 out of my pocket and then submit it for reimbursement. They took some pre-op photos that I didn't know they were going to take (or I would have worn some makeup!) of my profile and then straight on with a smile and without. I am sure that they are not exactly flattering.......probably perfect "before" photos...haha!They took some extra x-rays right in the front to make sure that the roots on my canines had been veered off to the side. My surgeon will be making a cut for my 3 piece lefort right there and she has been very diligent in making sure that those roots are moved out of the way.

I also had an appointment on Friday to donate some of my own blood just in case for whatever reason they might need to transfuse me. That took about an hour. They tested my hemoglobin level which was at 13.7 which means that I have plenty of it running through my veins. Hooray!Apparently, every liter of blood loss will lower you a point. So after I gave a liter I should have been at about 12.7 and after I go back to give another on the 20th I would be around 11.7. The nurse said they don't look to do any transfusions until you are at 9. So I am looking good to go. Getting excited and nervous. I am anxious to have this behind me. I see the oral surgeon on the 23rd to have my final impressions done. Then on December 4th I have a pre-op physical with a general practitioner. On December 7th I have my surgical hooks put on by my orthodontist and on December 8th I have my final pre-op appointment with my surgeon where I will get all my instructions and prescriptions. Then the 10th is D-Day! The time is starting to fly by and I know with Thanksgiving approaching it will be here before I know it.

On a side note my 13 year old daughter was blessed with a new baby brother today. My ex-husband and his wife had a beautiful baby boy this morning. Big Congratulations to them!!!!

Jen

My first attempt at blogging

By the time I have surgery in December I will have been in braces for 14 months. I will be having upper and lower jaw surgery along with genioplasty to correct my "skeletal deformity" as my surgeon so delicately puts it. I had braces about 20 years ago and opted not to get this surgery done then, mostly out of fear. I am now ready and excited about the prospect of my teeth touching in the front and having a chin. I scheduled all my pre-op appointments yesterday and arranged to donate my own blood just in case I might need some. My mom lives nearby and my aunt will be coming into town to help us out with the kids just after the surgery. My next appointment with the oral surgeon is on November 23rd to take my final impressions and x-rays. Anyway, if you are reading this I will try and give as many details as I can think of as I go through this process. There probably wont be anything too exciting on here until I start a lot of my pre-op stuff.