Weeks 4-6

Wow, I can't believe it's been three weeks since I've posted an update! For the first few weeks, everything in my life revolved around surgery and recovery. But all of a sudden, I was back to normal life.

As of week 4, I didn't have to wear my splint during the day anymore. I was so happy to finally be free! I also found out I was allowed to start chewing things, and now, week 6, I'm pretty much eating everything I used to. Some things I still have to cut up small, like for instance a cheeseburger, because I still can't open my mouth very far. My surgeon told me to do stretches three times a day to try to get my jaw opening up wide again.

I really don't have much to report other than that! Like I said, like is pretty much back to normal. I went back to work during week 4 and I've been cracking down on wedding preparations. Only about three months to go. :)

I'm scheduled to get these lovely arch bars off my teeth on July 8th, right before the 8 week mark. I don't have to wear my splint at all anymore as of today. Once the arch bars are off, I just need to get a few of my teeth sanded down a tiny bit so that my bite fits together better. My teeth aren't quite touching on the left side, but I can barely notice. My surgeon said that we can fix it either by sanding down a few teeth or getting Invisaline. Whatever is cheaper!

I still have some swelling, plus the arch bars pushing my lips out a tiny bit, but it could take months for the swelling to go down completely. Just waiting on the nerves in my chin and bottom lip, as well as my gums and the roof of my mouth, which I just recently noticed are also numb. Obviously not that big of a deal if it took me over a month to notice!

That's about it, here are my week 4 pictures! I didn't take any since then because nothing has really changed. :)

Days 14-18

Week three is well underway and I'm feeling great! I can't believe how fast my recovery is going and how great I'm feeling at this point. The biggest problem I've had is just anxiety when I try to go to sleep at night. I'm just ready to get back to normal life! But at least I'm progressing well and time is going by pretty quick. I have another appointment with Dr. Lanzi tomorrow and starting Thursday I get to take my splint out three times a day for two hours each time instead of one hour.

I've been doing great with eating (not surprised!). I've been eating a lot of Macaroni and Cheese, also potato soup, rice, mashed potatoes, eggs, and even broccoli! I could only eat the top part of the broccoli, but still, I was very happy! :) I'm not sure when I will be allowed to start chewing, but at this point I've figured out that I can eat anything that's cut small enough to swallow whole. You'd be surprised how many foods you can swallow whole! (Don't try it though, I don't want anyone to choke  on anything!!)

I've been much more active this past week since I've been getting my energy back. I've been driving places, chasing around kittens, playing frisbee in the yard, and yesterday I even hit the volleyball around with my brother for a good half hour. I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to be doing that but I think I'm good enough at volleyball that I know I won't get hit in the face just hitting the ball back and forth!

Here's my pictures and some highlights from my week!

Day 14: I'm not sure why I look so sad! Just wanted to do a non-smiling picture that day I guess! You can definitely tell I have more swelling on the left side of my face, but the swelling seems to be going down fast! Anyway, this was Thursday, and I went to watch my volleyball team's game. Afterwards, we all went out to eat, and everyone was quite amused watching me eat my Mac and Cheese! It was made with penne pasta so I had to cut each piece in half long-ways so I could swallow it easier. Needless to say, I hardly put a dent in my pasta by the time everyone else was done eating!

Day 15: Friday I had lots of visitors! My friend came over in the morning, and my cousins came over in the afternoon and stayed all day. After we talked for a little bit (while my splint was out), we went outside to play Frisbee and wound up finding a baby Blue Jay! It was more like a fledging, as it had all of it's feathers. We found him sitting on the ground, and we were worried that my cat would get to him, so we tried to teach him how to fly. We were throwing him off the deck and catching him on an outstretched blanket. He was doing pretty good, but wasn't quite flying away. We fed him some worms and water, and eventually put him back where we found him. My mom saw him sitting in a different part of the yard the following day, so hopefully he was doing good and has learned how to fly by now!

^These pictures really show how swollen my upper lip has been. It's not that bad, but it's definitely noticeable. I think the arch bars are also making my lips protrude a little more than they otherwise would.

Day 16: Saturday I slept in pretty late! Then Corey and I went to breakfast and did some shopping. We bought some things for the wedding, and got some gifts for my cousins' going away party, which is where we spent the rest of the evening. That's where I passed the volleyball around with my brother. This is also the day that I started to notice some feeling coming back in the left side of my lower lip! Yay! Still waiting on my chin and right cheek, though.

 Day 17: Sunday I went to church for the first time since surgery. Everyone was happy to see me. :) They've been praying for me, and I'm so grateful for all of their support! I wasn't feeling too great on Sunday (not because of surgery so much as mother nature) so it was a lazy day after that. I took a nap for an hour or so before lunch, then watched TV the rest of the day. In the evening, I played video games with my fiancé and my brother before bed.

 Day 18: Today! Monday! Woo! Everyone is at work, and my Daddy is with my Grandmom, so I'm all alone today! Pretty much for the first time since surgery. When I woke up, I took a shower, and then drove over to Alfred Angelo to order the last of my bridesmaids' dresses for the wedding. I can't wait until they all come in! After that I went to visit Corey for lunch. I had a Boost, my favorite. ;) I'm trying to stick with having a Boost for one of my three meals because I don't want to overeat when my body isn't used to taking in so many calories. I don't want to put all the weight I just lost back on. Hopefully I'll be allowed to go back to the gym soon so I can get toned up in addition to losing a little more body fat. What better time to get in shape than before my wedding, right?!

I almost forgot! Here are my babies, Milo and Remy! I love them so much <3

Day 13

Today was another good day (as you can imagine). I drank a Boost for breakfast because I had to use one of my three hours to talk at the animal shelter. Since I'm getting my energy back, but can't quite go back to work yet, I decided to get some foster kittens. I've been fostering for a long time. All three of my cats were fosters that we decided to keep. I've probably had over 50 kittens altogether. I really have no idea. But anyway, I'll post some pictures of the two little guys later. Still trying to think of good names!

As for my meals today, I finished some leftover potato soup for lunch, and then I had my FAVORITE thing ever, potato pancakes for dinner! My family is Polish and my parents' recipe is awesome. I'm not sure if potato pancakes are considered to be as soft as scrambled eggs, but I had no problem mashing the pieces up with my tongue, which I assume is the point of the soft foods (no chewing). It's still tough to eat because I can only open my mouth about an inch, not even. I also have to look in a mirror while I'm eating because I have to be very careful. Also my bottom lip is still numb and I would definitely make a mess if I didn't watch what I was doing!

So I can feel my left cheek and bottom eyelids! That means the only numb spots I have left are my whole chin, my bottom lip, my right cheek (right next to my nose), and the right corner of my top lip. But with feeling comes pain. That's not to say the pain is bad or any worse than it's been, but I can definitely feel soreness in my bottom jaw. Also, the tension from the rubber bands that are holding my jaws shut is making my teeth sore. Overall I'd say the discomfort level is about a 3. Which is pretty amazing considering everything they did to my face! 

I feel the need to point out how much ice cream and milkshakes I haven't eaten. I really thought that I'd have like, a milkshake a day! But I wasn't really able to get any milkshake through my teeth during the first period of my recovery, not to mention the last thing I wanted was anything milk-based with all the protein shakes I was drinking. I know they don't actually contain milk but my stomach would beg to differ. And even the past two days, people have brought me ice cream and milkshakes but once I'm done my meal I don't have any time or room in my stomach to eat them! When you only have three brief chances to eat in a day, you are much more particular about what you eat in that small time slot!

Well, that's about all for today, here are my pictures!

DAY TWELVE!!!!!

Today was the big day! The day I've been desperately waiting for, well, twelve days! I had my second post op appointment today and I got to open my mouth for the first time since surgery! If you've ever seen Hocus Pocus, I felt like Billy the zombie when he cut the stitches that were holding his mouth shut and he coughed out dust and leaves! It was the craziest feeling. The best part was feeling my new airway. Obviously, it's been great breathing through my nose, but it was absolutely amazing breathing through my mouth! Every breath felt so easy and full and wonderful. As you can imagine, it's pretty tough to open my mouth because my jaw was just operated on and then sat shut for almost two weeks. It was kinda scary trying to open my jaw because it feels really unsteady. I still have a lot of healing to do, but I'm so happy with my progress.

At this point, my swelling has gone down a lot, but there's definitely still a good deal of it. Some swelling can remain for up to about 6 months, so I may not really see the finished product for a while, but honestly, I'm already really happy with the way I look. My gums aren't showing all the time, my nose isn't droopy, and I have a jawline! Did I mention I CAN BREATHE!?

Oh, the BEST part of today....I GOT TO EAT REAL FOOD! I've never been so excited for anything in my life. I'm now allowed to take my rubber bands off and take my splint out for one hour, three times a day for the next nine days to eat. My parents and my fiancé and I went out to Houlihan's right after my appointment so I could have potato soup. It was awesome. I had to pour out all the soup onto a plate and mash up all the potatoes and I was only able to finish half of the little bowl of soup, but it was such a relief. The hardest part of not being able to eat is knowing that you're not allowed to eat. As much as you want to, you physically aren't allowed to put a piece of food past your teeth. It's really great for seeing how much self control you have though! :P

The other interesting thing about my experience today was actually being able to talk! Let me tell you how fun it's been playing Charades with everyone for the past twelve days.... It's pretty funny at times, but now that I need to communicate things other than "pain medicine," "ice pack," and "water," it's starting to get really frustrating. I have too many things to say to keep writing them on my little white board. But anyway, my voice sounds pretty weird. Obviously my face is still swollen and things are still adjusting and settling. I have a little bit of a lisp at the moment but honestly it sounds cute. I reminded myself of my older brother when he was pre-pubescent and had a spreader in the roof of his mouth. Quite funny. :)

Here's my day twelve pictures and a video from the restaurant! It's a little hard to understand me, but gimme a break, I haven't talked in twelve days! :)

I'm finally starting to feel like myself. I'm getting my strength, energy, and morale back after a very trying twelve days. I'm excited to see where I go from here! :)

Day 6 through Day 11

So apparently I'm not quite as good at this blogging thing as I thought I'd be! Honestly, I've had absolutely zero energy and haven't been doing much of anything. I didn't even want to watch TV the first few days because I was so physically and emotionally exhausted. Showering was the biggest accomplishment of each day for the most part. Regardless, every day gets better.

Saturday (Day 9) was my first real outing since surgery. I went to my friend's son's 2nd birthday. I was only there for an hour and I was exhausted. Monday (Day 11) my fiancé took me to see a movie.

Here are some pictures from days 6-11:

Day 6:

 Day 7:

 Day 8:

 Day 9:

Day 10: Forgot to take pictures (oops)

Day 11:

Day 5- First Post-Op Appointment

So Tuesday I had my first post-op appointment. Unfortunately, Dr. Lanzi was out of town so we had to drive a half hour to see his partner, Dr. Burke. It was a long day, but I made sure to get lots of nutrition in me so I was strong enough for the trip.

At the appointment, I got my chin strap removed, as well as the two little stitches. The stitches in my mouth are all dissolvable I believe...

I also got X-rays. (Unfortunately, I don't have pre-op ones to compare at the moment)

I have like 5 plates and 22 screws or something like that.

Day 4

This is the day I finally hit rock bottom. I hadn't been "eating" enough and it finally caught up to me. After napping for a few hours in the afternoon, I got up to go to the bathroom and we all thought my next stop was going to be the Emergency Room. While I was in the bathroom I started feeling really sick, and so my mom and Corey sat me down in the kitchen where I tried to pull myself together. My mom rubbed a cold washcloth across my face and body to try to cool me down. I knew I needed to lie down so I tried to get the living room, but I fainted on the way and they had to sit me down at the computer desk. When I FINALLY got back to my chair, I was able to lie back and proceeded to drink as much Boost as I could handle. I started feeling better from there, and we made sure I started getting as much nutrients as possible, even if I didn't want them. I actually don't have much of an appetite at all surprisingly. But I'm learning how to eat for nutrition, not for taste.