DECEMBER 2014 BUDDIES!!

[oimysizex]

I bet you cannot wait to get your splint out! Have you planned out what your first meal is going to be yet?

I have numbness only in my chin now and a tiny bit in my lip!!

Hope you are ok. x

[gutsygumshoe]

That's great news about your splint, Nadira! And awesome that they've given you a 'chewing' date, I bet you can't wait! Do you know what you're gonna eat first?

Hmm maybe that's what's wrong with my sleeping problems... I need a cat to curl up with!! Haha!

Day 30 - hard to believe it was exactly a month ago that I was packing for the hospital, and nearly having a panic attack every time the phone rang in case it was the hospital calling to cancel again! (We had a lot of wrong number calls that day... think the stress took a few days off my life)

Wednesday night was very bad for pain... I went to bed feeling a bit 'off', then ended up being awake for most of the night with this bad pain in the roof of my mouth. It felt almost like I'd been punched in the roof of my mouth, like this really sore ache deep inside, like it was bruised. So as a result I felt pretty rubbish yesterday and had to take painkillers throughout the day. The pain did subside eventually, and ended up with the roof of my mouth burning and popping and pinging. So I guess it's all nerve-related. Hardly fair that it can hurt so much when it's still numb!!

Last night was totally different though, I went to bed and for the first night since before surgery, I slept straight through and didn't wake up once!! It was still only about six hours in total but hey I'll take it Wonder if the dose of codeine I took shortly beforehand had anything to do with it...

Saw my orthodontist again today. He had a look at how's my overjet's improved since he gave me these new bands last week - it's now down to about 2-3mm, when last week he reckoned it was closer to 6mm. So that's pretty awesome! The position of my lower jaw definitely feels more comfortable now - before it felt kind of like I was consciously forcing it forward, but now this is the position it wants to sit in naturally. Hopefully the bands do their thing and it all settles into place and stays there.

He explained why he was worried last week - the bands the previous orthodontist (who I'd seen while he was away) had put on me, were only holding my lower jaw in place, rather than pulling it forward. So they were doing nothing to correct my remaining overjet, just preventing it from relapsing. He said that while the bone is still healing it can stretch, but you only have about a six-week window before it's healed in which to make any major corrections with bands. As I didn't get to see him and get these tighter bands pulling my jaw forward until week three, he was worried that it may have been too late. However, with the improvement they've made already it seems we caught it in time, so touch wood the delay shouldn't have affected the final outcome too much.

It's annoying, if my original surgery date hadn't been cancelled, then I would have been able to see my own orthodontist a few days post-op before he went on leave, and would have been given these tighter bands way back then. What can you do though I guess. My hope is just that, if I had been given these bands back then, it would mean I would have been in the position I am now a few weeks earlier, rather than a different outcome altogether. But like I said, what can you do?

Ohh I'm so scared of relapse later on when the bands eventually come off

So tomorrow morning, exactly one month post-op, I'm up at the crack of dawn to accompany my sister to the hospital, where she's having surgery to have her crazy impacted wisdom tooth out. The fact that they gave her a surgery date exactly one month after mine we're taking as a sign that it will go well!

[gutsygumshoe]

Day 31... I'm one month post-op today!

Sister's wisdom tooth op did indeed go well this morning, she was only in theatre about half an hour and we were home by lunchtime. And my mum and I got to watch a pretty snow shower while we waited so all in all it was a pretty good morning haha!

Today has been pretty good, very little pain. Despite the fact that I was up super early this morning (5am on a Saturday shouldn't exist) and spent all morning hanging around the hospital, before briefly returning home and then spending the afternoon running errands in town, I didn't feel too tired at all. Had a brief nap before dinner but even before surgery that wouldn't have been unusual for me, lol. Definitely felt like my energy levels were much more normal today.

(I say very little pain, my jaw just twitched while I was typing that and made me bite my lower lip, ow)

Smiling, while still a bit small and stiff, has become much more natural over the last few days. Top lip still has some stiffness and while I can move it fairly well, there are still certain things that it doesn't want to let me do properly, namely use a straw or make the shape that you do to put lipstick on (I sent my mum and sister into hysterics a couple of weeks ago trying to demonstrate the lipstick thing). It's still sore to touch along where the incision line would have been inside, so I guess it just needs more time to continue healing and stretching.

Figured reaching this milestone required pictures, so ending this post on a smiley before and after note... left is the night before surgery, and right is earlier today. What a difference a month makes!

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[oimysizex]

Your teeth look great Mel!!

I am one week post op today.

My after picture still shows an open/over bite which I suspect will close with elastics

[gutsygumshoe]

Thank you! The change in your bite looks awesome! The elastics will definitely help with closing gaps Did you find you bruised much at all afterwards? The entire front of my neck down to my collarbone went bright yellow, lol! (Also I really like your jumper in the bottom picture!!)

[oimysizex]

I've bruised all under my chin and the side of my face its all yellow and looks severly jaundice haha!!!
the jumper is from walis(bhs) lol.

has your bruising gone now
x

[gutsygumshoe]

Hehe, when my bruising first turned yellow my sister said I looked like I'd been coloured in with a highlighter! The bruising is all gone now. Most of it had disappeared by the two-week mark, except for a teeny bit that sat right in the indent of my collarbone, which took a few more days to go.

Day 34, and I finally braved it into the office today. It's my first day actually going in, although I've been back at work working from home since the 2nd. I felt pretty good this morning and it was so good to see everyone! However I can feel my energy flagging now! My plan was to leave early to miss the rush hour craziness on the trains, but I've been pretty busy and lost track of time and left it too late. So I've decided to hang on here until the trains have calmed down a bit. Should be ok but I wish I'd brought something chocolatey with me haha.

A guy came into the office to fix some wiring or something near my desk just after lunch - gave me a bit of a funny look when I smiled to say hello. I realised shortly after that I had a bit of couscous stuck on the numb bit of my lip!! Guess I didn't wipe round my mouth as well as I thought I had after I'd finished eating

I realised last night that a lot more of my remaining numbness has improved. I have probably 90% feeling back on the left side of my face, the only bit that is still numb is in the corner of my top lip. However it's not entirely numb - I can't feel if I touch it normally, but can if I scratch it with my nail. On the right side there's still a patch on my upper lip, lower lip, just under my lip and on my chin. Again the upper lip I can feel if I scratch it with my nail, but the other bits are completely numb still. They do start itching and crawling if I touch them though so it seems like something's going on in there - I'm hopeful that these areas will gradually improve the same as the rest has. If only so I stop wandering round with my lunch on my face!!

[Nadira]

Nice to read you progress reports and see your photos.
Not much to report still wondering what I am going to eat when I can chew my food again.

Six more sleeps until the splint is removed.

Yes the food on the face, stuck in the brackets or in my case with the lower lip and numb chin, if I do not wear a 'bib' I have to change my shirt after eating, much better than my first attempt to drink water in the hospital and I poured the ice water down the front of my gown. Brrr

To,or row I will try to photo my smile with the splint.

[gutsygumshoe]

Hi Nadira, it's good to hear from you! I look forward to seeing your pictures if you can take them, it's so interesting to see everyone's results!

I ended up pouring water down myself the first time I attempted to drink too, I think because everything in my mouth was so numb and my tongue so swollen, I couldn't figure out how to swallow it. The nurse offered to get me a new gown, but it was so hot in there that I was quite happy to keep the damp one on to cool down haha!

Day 35, and I'm five weeks post-op... how crazy is that! After my venture into the office yesterday I ended up sleeping from pretty much straight after I'd had dinner, until 7 this morning. And I felt like I'd been hit by a bus when I woke up - I ached all over, not just in my jaw! It's mad how much it wiped me out, considering it's not even a physical job, I sit at a desk all day. I'm so glad I arranged to only go in for a couple of days a week and continue working from home for the rest, as I needed today at home to recover. I must be getting old haha.

Been having a few twingey pains in my lower jaw today, I'm guessing it's been worse because I'm tired. Also had the burning pain in the roof of my mouth again for a while earlier. It doesn't seem to be quite as numb now as it has been though so hopefully it's my nerves sorting themselves out.

[Nadira]

Yesterday was the day!
Splint removed at the surgeons, and then straight to the orthodontist to get rid of the surgical wires. Yes the spikes / hooks are gone and I was able to brush and floss places that have not seen any cleaning in 6 weeks.

I can not schedule a cleaning until the OK from the surgeon, I am sure to will have depend on mouth opening.
Follow up with the surgeon in two weeks and orthodontist in. 2 months, where it will be back to active wires and elastics. After all that work now just two more weeks of no chewing.

My numbness is more tingling and sharp spiky pain. Feels very much like a sliver of glass in your foot when you step down. I can decrease the intensity by wearing wax or silicone protecting the inner lip from the braces. Even though inner and outer are as numb, irritation to the inner, magnifies the nerves reconnecting zings.

Gutsygumshoe I am glad you are taking it easy to maximize your healing.
Even at 6 weeks the long day yesterday wiped me out that I had to stop at friends in the way out of the city and nap so I could be safe driving home. I also had a physio appt first thing for an ongoing balance issue.

And then I slept 11 hours last night.
Today is one appt in the city and I have to fill up with gas, and wash my car. The wonderful January weather was not record warm, yet yesterday was another outdoor patio day. The snow has melted. A good day for errands.

Hi oimysizex- how are you doing?
I was over optimistic about chewing, not until mid Feb. And I think my first meal will be a salad.
Steak would be awesome, I will wait for that meal until I have the jaw strength and energy to enjoy this meal. For Christmas my friends gave me a gift certificate for a great steak place.
Friends with a wicked sense of humour.

[gutsygumshoe]

That's awesome news Nadira!! Do you still have any bands or are you done with them now?

Day 42! Can't believe it's been six weeks. It feels like forever ago now. I saw a friend at the weekend who I hadn't seen since late summer last year. The first thing she said was 'you look different... have you changed your hair?' before she remembered and was like 'omg your operation!!' Properly cracked me up! Although to be fair to her my hair IS different to when she last saw me Was good to go for a wander and catch up.

I think my strength might slowly be returning. I've worked some crazy long days recently, and although I've been tired and had a sore face the next day, it hasn't totally wiped me out like it would have done a couple of weeks ago. I'm trying to do more days in the office now.

Weight-wise I've lost another pound, taking the total loss so far to 10lbs. Fully expecting it to go back on once I can eat normally again (although I'll try to be good!). Numbness-wise the roof of my mouth is almost completely back now, although doesn't feel quite 'normal'. Stiffness in my top lip is still slowly improving. Still numb on the right side of my chin and under the right side of my bottom lip, although it hurts a little to touch so hopefully that's a good sign.

I see my orthodontist again on Friday. My bands seem to have done a good job, my bite feels much more stable now, like it knows where it wants to be, and my remaining overjet has shrunk a lot. I'm hoping that he might give me the go ahead to start chewing again... although I'll probably be too scared of damaging anything to try!!

Hope everyone is well! x

[oimysizex]

Hi Nadria, great news on your splint being removed!!!! Has your ortho mentioned anything about brace removal?
I think its about 3 month until you can open your mouth fully? I could be wrong but my orthodontist said to me yesterday the reason they dont pull braces off before 3 months (minimum) is because you need to be open to wide as possible so they can do moulds for retainers, also because bites can spring back open before then, so hopefully you can have a clean soon.

I am 2 1/2 weeks post op and I went for my first ortho appointment yesterday, I was put back in 'active' wires on my top arch yesterday, (my top jaw wasn't operated on, so this wasn't a problem)

Lets hope your numbness wears off soon and you get most if not all feeling back. I've got slight feelings back, overall i have about 90% feeling back, numbess is located in half my chin and abit on my lip which is very annoying!!

Hope you are all ok. xx

[oimysizex]

Day 18 and I'm definitely over the worst
I'm very impressed with my bite (so far) and I am shocked at how different I look!

[gutsygumshoe]

Oimysizex your teeth look amazing, you must be so pleased!!

Day 44 update - I saw my orthodontist earlier this afternoon. He seemed pleased with the progress I'm making, as my overjet is continuing to shrink, although he's still annoyed that the orthodontists who saw me during the first couple of weeks after surgery didn't put the tight bands on me back then. I'm getting the impression now that maybe my end result might be a couple of mm off what it could have been had I been put in the tight bands immediately. But what's done is done I guess. Just have to wait and see what happens.

Even so he seemed to think that everything was looking good. He asked if anyone had commented on me looking different - I told him that a lot of people have told me I look younger now (probably because of my slightly chubby cheeks!) and that I also look so much more like my sister. It's weird, we didn't look much alike at all before, but now our noses and chins are almost identical, there's definitely a much stronger resemblance!

He said I don't need to go back now for four weeks, and to just continue wearing my bands as I have been. So seeing as it'll be a while before I'm back there, I decided to try my chances and ask about chewing... and he said I'm all good to start again!!

As soon as I got home I heated up some three bean soup - I've been eating this a lot recently as the beans and veggies in it are nice and soft and easy to squish against the roof of my mouth. So I figured that it would be a good thing to start with. And let me tell you... chewing is WEIRD. Haha, my back teeth aren't in the same place anymore and my muscles are really weak so it was all really strange! But like my orthodontist said, it will help build the strength back up. I just need to keep practising and get used to it again!

[Nadira]

Gutsygumshoe -
Good news with the chewing
I was told 8 weeks, and I figure close counts so I will start chewing my scrambled eggs this week. I did not check if after 8 or at 8 weeks.

Oimysizex- I will have braces for another 8 months. The lower back teeth on my rt side need to be elevated. If you look back at my X-ray it shows that there is a widening between my upper and lower jaws and this is what it looked like before surgery. At least now one of my molars can meet in the right place.
In two weeks I see the surgeon for a check up, and then get exercises for my jaw, I am still to be careful about opening my mouth.
Then in 2 months back at the orthodontist for active wires. The wires i have now are very different in that they did not seem to put any tension on my teeth. Something about 8 strands to make up one wire. And there are not any surgical hooks. Such a relief.

My splint was wired to my upper teeth, so I had to wait until the six week mark, I believe this is my surgeons standard practice, just like I am so on muscle relaxants for another week. I clench my jaw at night. And that got me the extra screws. At the hospital I was told that, yes my surgeon is particular, and he gets very good results, lower complications. Errors on the side of caution. Like the 3 nights in hospital for BSSO and more if both upper and lower. My friend with a different surgeon was out the next day. I personally did not mind as I had a private room.

I am still getting used to being splint free. And finally the feeling in my chin and lip is not as irritating.
Because it is nerve I do not think there is anything I can do, but wait.