4 Weeks Post-Op

        My knee is finally getting better! When I saw the knee surgeon last week he gave me a compression sock to wear on my leg along with some anti-inflammatory pills. The swelling has gone down quite a bit, but is still there. I've started going for daily 30 minutes walks to drain any swelling I have left in my face. It still really bothers me that my upper lip is really swollen (and numb) still but I guess that will take some time. I am normal to look at but can't hide the fact I had surgery on my face when I talk or smile because of my stiff upper lip. 

        Ever since I've started seeing improvements in my knee, I've started feeling more flickering of regenerating nerves in my face. I've also noticed that I have more feeling in my face. It is such a gradual process that I did not realize any improvement until recently. With my increased mobility I have more energy and am much more up-beat. Eating is going great; I had a large bowl of pasta last night. Now that I can eat more of a variety I am trying to focus more about nutrition now and not just about getting anything possible into me. I don't think I had any vegetables at all until about day 12! I have also started to get into my Dental Aptitude Test (DAT) studying. All of this dental work that I've had done has made me want to go into the profession. Just to clarify, I've known I wanted to do this since I was about 16, so I did not just decide last week :) Anyway, that's about it! Check back in about  2 weeks!

3 Weeks Post-Op

Here I am 3 weeks after my jaw surgery. Things are not going too well right now. On Day 10 I woke up in the morning and my right knee was moderately swollen. I wasn't able to bend it too much and had a bit of difficulty walking. My mom took me in to a walk-in clinic to get it checked out. The doctor just said to ice it and if it gets worse, go to emergency. So that's just what I did the next morning when I woke up. On Day 11 it had swollen up even more and I couldn't put any weight on it; I had to get around on crutches. I then went on to spend 4 days (3 nights) in the hospital. On Day 1 (at the hospital) they drained 60ml of synovial fluid from my knee that did not look quite right; they sent it

for testing. On Day 3 (at the hospital), they put a scope into my knee to clean it out and remove some more fluid for testing. This was a very minor surgical procedure, but they had planned for me to be put to sleep for it. Right before the surgery they realized that I could not open my mouth wide enough for them to put some tubes into me during the surgery. So instead they decided to give me a spinal block and have me awake for the procedure. It was so weird to not have any sensation below my hips!!! Anyway, the doctor was very nice and gave me the option of watching the entire procedure on a screen via the camera that he would be working with inside my knee. I said yes to that! The whole procedure took about 20 minutes and then I was consciously wheeled into the recovery room. I took this picture of my knee below today (Day 21) to show the swelling. The swelling has never really gone down at all since I left the hospital which is a bit worrisome. My surgeon (jaw), Dr.Tocchio, warned me before having my jaw surgery that there was a <1% chance that I could get an infection afterwards. Out of the 6-7 surgeries he does a week, he says he only sees 1-2 infections a year. It sure seems like I won the lottery due to the timing of this, but the doctor says there is no sign yet of this being an infection. He has found no puss in my knee, and I am not fevering at all. Coincidentally I finished my bottle of antibiotics for the jaw 1-2 days before my knee flared up, giving more reason to point to infection, but at this time we don't know what it is. I have an appointment with the doctor (knee) this Friday so I'll find out then if they've found anything.

That's it for the knee. I'll write a bit about how my jaw has been doing:

        All of the major swelling in my face has gone, except for my upper lip; it is still quite swollen. There is still minor swelling around my nose and lower jaw/throat that is only noticeable to me. The numbness in my face doesn't feel like it is changing very much, I guess this takes time. I am not in any pain and have not been since about Day 4. My knee has a bit of an ache but that's that. I can talk quite well now in the sense that I can be clearly understood. As the swelling and numbness goes down even more, my speech will keep getting better. I wear some lose elastics during the day and take them out to eat. I can chew soft foods like eggs and pasta now, but I still resort to mostly blended/liquid foods because they are just easier to get in me. Some of my molars are sensitive to food so I'm sure I've got a few cavities that'll have to be fixed down the road. I also put on some additional elastics during the night that keep my bite closed tight. In other news, I saw my orthodontist today for the second time. He says the mouth looks great!.... but the knee does not.

        I have slowly been able to open my mouth wider and wider. My smile is also looking better and better as the days go by. My new bite feels AMAZING! For the first time in years I can feel all of my teeth touching properly and an even distribution of force when I bite down. Here is a look at how my bite is closed in the front:

            Before my knee swelled up on me I was just starting to get some energy to go outside and have a semi-normal life. I can barely walk now, so I'm back on the couch. I have been watching a lot of Prison Break (Season 3 now) with my cats to keep my company. I wake up each morning and don't really notice any difference in my knee so I'm looking forward to that appointment with the doctor on Friday. In terms of weight I'm back to rockbottom (about 120lbs) because I wasn't eating a whole lot while in the hospital. I should start gaining some weight now.