Wednesday 13 August 2014
Thursday 10 July 2014
7 Weeks Post-op
Time flies when your healing! Along with some pictures I'll share many improvements that I've seen over the last 3 weeks:
So for a while now I've looked pretty normal when I have my casual face on. It is still obvious when I talk or show any emotion that something isn't quite right; but that is getting better with time. My smile is much better than the picture I posted 3 weeks ago.
It takes some time to realize after jaw surgery that you won't wake up feeling better than you did the day before; at least not after the first 1-2 weeks. The process is very slow, but I have been seeing improvements on a weekly basis. The bottom half of my face is still stiff, but is loosening up. I can notice this when I brush my teeth; I have been brushing 90% normal for the last few weeks. I am worried that I have a bunch of cavities. There are 2-3 teeth in particular that are sensitive to crunchy foods like chips so I try and stay away from that.
The only area that is noticeably swollen at all is my upper lip. Although it has gone down a bit and isn't even noticeable in any of these pictures.
There is currently no part of my face that I would say is completely numb. Only my upper lip, the button of my chin, and the tip of my nose are partially numb. At this rate I can't imagine I'll have any permanent nerve damage! Knock on wood.
My face isn't as oily as before. Just a little noticeable now.
Unfortunately I have had a cold for about 1.5 weeks. A sore throat has lingered the whole duration and I've had periods of sneezing. It just doesn't seem to go away. When I was sneezing a bit 2 weeks ago it didn't feel good; I was worried it was opening up some of the snitches still healing in my mouth. Today I can let out a sneeze and it feels quite normal.
My TMJ symptoms from before surgery are still around right now. My muscles are very tight and sore. It hurts to eat solid foods sometimes. I am not too worried about that though because my orthodontist had me wearing lots of night elastics that would keep me clenching throughout the night and I would wake up in the morning in pain. For the last week I have stopped wearing my night elastics and stuck to the more comforting day elastics. I have since seen some noticeable improvements; not cured, but much easier to deal with. Last time I saw my orthodontist he said that my bite was perfect, so I'll see how not wearing my night elastics will affect my progress next time I see him.
The swelling in my knee has been very slowly going down. You have to look past the fact that I have very skinny legs to see the swelling. Doctors still don't know what is wrong with my knee. It has been a month now that I have been swollen. One of the possibilities before was that it was a rheumatoid arthritis attack. I have had a history of rheumatoid related problems and was very lucky to get an appointment (tomorrow) with a rheumatologist to see what he thinks. I am very interested to see what he says, but for now I am walking fine and mobile enough to not sulk.
I still weigh about 120lbs and need to really start making a real good effort to gain weight back. At this weight I look about 16 years old!
Time flies when your healing! Along with some pictures I'll share many improvements that I've seen over the last 3 weeks:
So for a while now I've looked pretty normal when I have my casual face on. It is still obvious when I talk or show any emotion that something isn't quite right; but that is getting better with time. My smile is much better than the picture I posted 3 weeks ago.
It takes some time to realize after jaw surgery that you won't wake up feeling better than you did the day before; at least not after the first 1-2 weeks. The process is very slow, but I have been seeing improvements on a weekly basis. The bottom half of my face is still stiff, but is loosening up. I can notice this when I brush my teeth; I have been brushing 90% normal for the last few weeks. I am worried that I have a bunch of cavities. There are 2-3 teeth in particular that are sensitive to crunchy foods like chips so I try and stay away from that.
The only area that is noticeably swollen at all is my upper lip. Although it has gone down a bit and isn't even noticeable in any of these pictures.
There is currently no part of my face that I would say is completely numb. Only my upper lip, the button of my chin, and the tip of my nose are partially numb. At this rate I can't imagine I'll have any permanent nerve damage! Knock on wood.
My face isn't as oily as before. Just a little noticeable now.
Unfortunately I have had a cold for about 1.5 weeks. A sore throat has lingered the whole duration and I've had periods of sneezing. It just doesn't seem to go away. When I was sneezing a bit 2 weeks ago it didn't feel good; I was worried it was opening up some of the snitches still healing in my mouth. Today I can let out a sneeze and it feels quite normal.
My TMJ symptoms from before surgery are still around right now. My muscles are very tight and sore. It hurts to eat solid foods sometimes. I am not too worried about that though because my orthodontist had me wearing lots of night elastics that would keep me clenching throughout the night and I would wake up in the morning in pain. For the last week I have stopped wearing my night elastics and stuck to the more comforting day elastics. I have since seen some noticeable improvements; not cured, but much easier to deal with. Last time I saw my orthodontist he said that my bite was perfect, so I'll see how not wearing my night elastics will affect my progress next time I see him.
The swelling in my knee has been very slowly going down. You have to look past the fact that I have very skinny legs to see the swelling. Doctors still don't know what is wrong with my knee. It has been a month now that I have been swollen. One of the possibilities before was that it was a rheumatoid arthritis attack. I have had a history of rheumatoid related problems and was very lucky to get an appointment (tomorrow) with a rheumatologist to see what he thinks. I am very interested to see what he says, but for now I am walking fine and mobile enough to not sulk.
I still weigh about 120lbs and need to really start making a real good effort to gain weight back. At this weight I look about 16 years old!
Wednesday 18 June 2014
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!
Wednesday 11 June 2014
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.
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.
Thursday 29 May 2014
Day 8
Got my elastics off today! Well....not completely. The tight ones that were holding my bite shut are off now. My orthodontist gave me some new ones that are looser and allow me to still open my mouth a bit; kind of like your standard elastics for braces. Being able to open my mouth a bit, I now can take another step with eating. Today I had some Beefaroni and Kraft Dinner. I had to blend both a bit with the blender. Not pureed by any means; just substituting for the ability to chew. All I had to do was use a spoon to get it past my teeth and then just swallow it whole. Boy was it good! I have now started doing very light brushing of my front teeth that I can reach. My lips are still particularly swollen and chapped and it hurts to try and move them to get to my back teeth. Another good thing is that I'm not constantly drooling and having to constantly walk around with a paper towel. I only drooled like 3 times today! My weight has also gone up a few pounds to 122! Recovery is going to be all downhill from here!
Got my elastics off today! Well....not completely. The tight ones that were holding my bite shut are off now. My orthodontist gave me some new ones that are looser and allow me to still open my mouth a bit; kind of like your standard elastics for braces. Being able to open my mouth a bit, I now can take another step with eating. Today I had some Beefaroni and Kraft Dinner. I had to blend both a bit with the blender. Not pureed by any means; just substituting for the ability to chew. All I had to do was use a spoon to get it past my teeth and then just swallow it whole. Boy was it good! I have now started doing very light brushing of my front teeth that I can reach. My lips are still particularly swollen and chapped and it hurts to try and move them to get to my back teeth. Another good thing is that I'm not constantly drooling and having to constantly walk around with a paper towel. I only drooled like 3 times today! My weight has also gone up a few pounds to 122! Recovery is going to be all downhill from here!
Wednesday 28 May 2014
Days 5-7
Things are looking up! I turned a corner on day 5. I have been sleeping better these nights, only getting up a couple times for a stretch. My swelling has been going down gradually and I have dramatically been eating better. In particular today (Day 7) I have had 1300 calories today of liquids. I've started to make milkshakes and eat soups. Ensure (a store-bought drink) is the best form of calories I have right now; 400 calories in one small bottle. On Day 6, yellow bruising appeared on the front of my neck and bottom of my lower jaw. This is normal and is the end of the bruising stage. I have even stopped taking my pain killers because I really don't have any pain, just discomfort from swelling. Although I still have to take my antibiotics 4 times a day to prevent infection. My surgeon says infection is a serious problem but he only sees 1 or 2 a year. Remember that I had said he does 6-7 surgeries a week! So less than 1% chance.
Days have been much easier now. Although I am still looking forward to getting healthier, I'm not just praying for the next day to come anymore. I am currently enjoying the Prison Break series on netflix and very addicted to it, as I am already through Season 1 as of day 7 (started on day 5). The lowest number I've seen on the scale so far is 118lbs, yikes!
Great news! I'm going to the orthodontist tomorrow to have my elastics taken off so that I can finally talk again. This will be a huge step for me and I'm looking forward to it!
At the eating station
Where I sit all day
Side view - see some yellow bruising on my neck
Day 7
Here is just a really funny picture of me. My mom and I found out that I look hilarious when I am laughing because I am so numb and swollen. We always burst out laughing when we see this picture now:
Selfie
Things are looking up! I turned a corner on day 5. I have been sleeping better these nights, only getting up a couple times for a stretch. My swelling has been going down gradually and I have dramatically been eating better. In particular today (Day 7) I have had 1300 calories today of liquids. I've started to make milkshakes and eat soups. Ensure (a store-bought drink) is the best form of calories I have right now; 400 calories in one small bottle. On Day 6, yellow bruising appeared on the front of my neck and bottom of my lower jaw. This is normal and is the end of the bruising stage. I have even stopped taking my pain killers because I really don't have any pain, just discomfort from swelling. Although I still have to take my antibiotics 4 times a day to prevent infection. My surgeon says infection is a serious problem but he only sees 1 or 2 a year. Remember that I had said he does 6-7 surgeries a week! So less than 1% chance.
Days have been much easier now. Although I am still looking forward to getting healthier, I'm not just praying for the next day to come anymore. I am currently enjoying the Prison Break series on netflix and very addicted to it, as I am already through Season 1 as of day 7 (started on day 5). The lowest number I've seen on the scale so far is 118lbs, yikes!
Great news! I'm going to the orthodontist tomorrow to have my elastics taken off so that I can finally talk again. This will be a huge step for me and I'm looking forward to it!
At the eating station
Where I sit all day
Side view - see some yellow bruising on my neck
Day 7
Here is just a really funny picture of me. My mom and I found out that I look hilarious when I am laughing because I am so numb and swollen. We always burst out laughing when we see this picture now:
Selfie
May 24th & 25th - Days 3 &4
These were the worst days for me. They say your swelling will peek 48-72 hours after surgery. This made my throat even more tight, making it nearly impossible to get any food in you. I felt as if someone was strangling me when ever I went to swallow any liquids. I basically starved for 2 straight days; wake up and go to bed hungry. My parents were worried and kept urging me to eat something. I was quite grouchy during this time.
In other news, on day 4 I took off that compression bandage on my chin. This made it only slightly easier to eat. Still not really in any pain, just a lot of discomfort as I was craving food. I was so hungry that I was even jealous of the food my cats were eating. Throughout my early days of recovery I was using a notepad to communicate with my parents. Looking back, here are some of the things that I wrote down during this awful couple of days:
"Just keeping up with medicine drains me of energy to eat food"
"Makes me wish I didn't have surgery"
"I keep getting the urge to yawn and I'm fighting it"
"Eating is like torture"
"Throat area so stiff"
Having to fight back yawns was (and still is) horrible. When I feel one coming on I'll start grunting and clenching my fists to fight it off. It's safe to say that these were the worst two days of my life. By the end of these two days I only weighed 123lbs.
Looking very exhausted and hungry on day 3
day 3 - compression bandage = day 4
Taking my meds
These were the worst days for me. They say your swelling will peek 48-72 hours after surgery. This made my throat even more tight, making it nearly impossible to get any food in you. I felt as if someone was strangling me when ever I went to swallow any liquids. I basically starved for 2 straight days; wake up and go to bed hungry. My parents were worried and kept urging me to eat something. I was quite grouchy during this time.
In other news, on day 4 I took off that compression bandage on my chin. This made it only slightly easier to eat. Still not really in any pain, just a lot of discomfort as I was craving food. I was so hungry that I was even jealous of the food my cats were eating. Throughout my early days of recovery I was using a notepad to communicate with my parents. Looking back, here are some of the things that I wrote down during this awful couple of days:
"Just keeping up with medicine drains me of energy to eat food"
"Makes me wish I didn't have surgery"
"I keep getting the urge to yawn and I'm fighting it"
"Eating is like torture"
"Throat area so stiff"
Having to fight back yawns was (and still is) horrible. When I feel one coming on I'll start grunting and clenching my fists to fight it off. It's safe to say that these were the worst two days of my life. By the end of these two days I only weighed 123lbs.
Looking very exhausted and hungry on day 3
day 3 - compression bandage = day 4
Taking my meds
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