Post-op tips

[bmueller]

One thing that was really cool for me, is once my bands were loosened and I could open a bit, every night I would go to sleep and when I woke up, my muscles had relaxed during the night and I could open my mouth more the next morning.

Glad to hear the worst of the breathing problems are over.

[Hyrules]

The elastics I have are still kinda tight. I cannot really open my mouth more that 1 or 2 mm with them on. But when I remove my elastics I can open wide enough to barely fit my toothbrush in there and brush the teeth that are down. I'm just eager to get that acrylic plate out of there ( still attached to my upper jaw). It gives me a lisp when I talk and it's a food trap. The good thing is that I can drink from a glass makes it easier to eat and drink.

[Hyrules]

One thing that was really cool for me, is once my bands were loosened and I could open a bit, every night I would go to sleep and when I woke up, my muscles had relaxed during the night and I could open my mouth more the next morning.

Glad to hear the worst of the breathing problems are over.

It's funny that you should say that because this morning when I brushed my teeths I found out I could open a little wider that yesterday with less pain and could reach more teeths. It's really incredible how the body is working.

[bmueller]

Bingo!

I thought it was all in my head until by the end of the week I realized I went from being able to open 1 mm to fitting 2.5 finger width in my mouth.

Just wait until your swelling/bruising goes down. I took pictures every day and it's amazing to see the day by day changes to your face!

[Hyrules]

that's basically what i'm doing. I took pictures from day 1 to day 8 and after that it'll go to 14 days and 1 month and 6 weeks.

[Hyrules]

Well now 15 Days post op. Most of the swelling is gone except in my cheeks but that's normal. I saw my surgeon yesterday. He removed the acrylic plate holding my upper jaw. Everything is doing more than great. Numbness is going away slowly. My surgeon show me that it'll go away by pinching the numb zones with at surgical tool. I felt it trust me. He also told me that none of my nerves were damaged during the surgery so everything will eventually come back. I still have to learn to talk again because of the acrylic plate which gave me a lisp. I cannot chew for another 4 weeks and my surgeon told me not to force open my mouth. I have to sleep with rubber bands back on my molar.

[bmueller]

Yay! No more splint. You're making great progress. Only 4 weeks left and you'll be eating everything you've been dreaming about.

[Hyrules]

dreaming is not the exact word for this lollll. I dont think there is a word for this. Actual food eating instead of drinking.

[subu]

I think on Day 5, I was dreaming of walking down aisles of food at a grocery store and deciding on what I wanted to eat! Are you still on a liquid diet or have you been given the ok for soft foods yet?

[Hyrules]

My surgeon doesn't want me to chew anything. He simply said not yet. Lately I also been having some jaw joint spasm during the night. It's quite painful but it doesn't last very long and it's only on one side.

[Hyrules]

So basically i'm still on liquid diet.

[subu]

I'm allowed a soft food diet, but no chewing. Just swallowing soft things: macaroni, yogurt, rice... My surgeon says when we chew, it's like applying 1000 pounds of force which our broken jaws can't handle.

How much longer are you on the liquid diet for?

[Hyrules]

Mostlikely until the 12th of june. Next time i have to see my surgeon. It will be almost 6 weeks post op.

[subu]

You're almost there!

[Hyrules]

It's getting easier to sleep with the rubber bands now. I kept them all night long last night and got no pain at all. I also feel strength coming back to my jaw as I find the rubber band easier to stretch when wearing them. But I'm not forcing it. Numb areas on my right hand cheek is starting giving me some feedback. Other numb zone are tingling like hell. Sometime I can feel a bit of heat or cold. 2 weeks to go till 6 weeks post op. This week marks my 4th week post-op. I will meet my surgeon next week and my orthodontist as well. Geez i'm getting tired of drinking my food i'm getting to the point where just thinking about it starts to disgust me. Turning my appetite off. Yesterday I ate some icecream with a spoon. It seems that I can open wide enough to get the spoon in. I just understood last night that my palate is numb as well. Since i need long exposure to icecream to start to feel the cold. I cheated... I ate a chocolate bar the day before... well it's not really cheating when you smash it to small pieces and just let the chocolate melt on your tongue and since its an Aero, it's made mostly of air as well.