September 2011 Buddies!!!!

[Marian]

I've just googled the breed - what a handsome breed!! I'm pleased you didn't have your surgery in a year's time when there's a huge, lolloping puppy prancing around the house!!

Well done on the elastics - it's pretty fiddly isn't it!!

[Marian]

Jeff - where are you. Are you ok?

[Kristyar0]

I'm so glad you said your smile is hideous! I keep smiling in the mirror every day waiting for it to look good and every day I am somewhat frightened by my reflection!
Today is my last day off work! It came around way too fast. However tomorrow is just our annual OH&S training day so I really have 4 more days for my smile to improve before I have patient contact again.
Jo, I am so excited for you to be getting a puppy! I have never had a pet before and when I get my own place it will be one of the things I'll be most excited about!

[underbiter]

hi Marian and Kirsty yes im so looking forward to the puppy coming unfortunately it will be my mum and dads dog as i dont live at home normally im staying for a few weeks whilst i recover, i only live down the road tho and im sure ill be called upon a lot to come and walk it when its old enough. My mum works full time and my dad works shifts but i only work 2 days a week so most of my week will probably be spent with the dog training it which im looking forward to. We are planning on calling the dog Frank a name i love as i love giving dogs people names lol!

Not had the best 2 nights sleep, the night before my bottom jaw was driving me mad clicking and stretching and last night my upper jaw woke me up feeling tight and clicking a bit, obviously my jaw is fightiing against the elastics so i must have done a good job putting them back on. Had a lovely tea of mashed avocado and blender chopped prawns with seafood sauce last night really felt like id had a good meal.


Jeff hope you are ok saw you posted that you think you might be allergic to the mouthwash, did you work out if it was definately the mouthwash?

[Marian]

Avacado and prawns!!! That sounds delicious (and very posh!!!). Might have to go to Morrisons later to get the ingredients!!

I've been to the ortho today. I had the wafer/splint removed and now have 4 elastics in. On each side of my mouth there is an elastic around 4 hooks so it is in a square shape, and then there is a diagonal one from top front to bottom at the back.

I said to the ortho that I hope that my smile will change because I look a bit gruesome - she said "no, you look lovely". Wrong answer!!!

My ortho leaves to have a baby on the 4th November (today was interesting because I had a baby squashed into my head ). It's a shame really because I would have liked to have been with her til the end - buy hey ho - it can't be helped.

Right, let me go and pursuade hubby to drive me to Morrisons....

Bye for now.

Marian xx

[underbiter]

Hi Marian how is it now the splint is removed does it feel big in your mouth i was very lucky as my surgeon didnt use the splint he was going to fit as with widening my top jaw as well but it then wouldnt fit so he left me without. 4 elastics doesnt sound fun, im suspecting my ortho may decide to add more to mine when i see him next thurs but i havent got enough hooks at the moment so im guessing he'll add more. Im a bit concerned that my mouth opens really wide makes me think i havent got the elastics on right, but i cant see how else they go on they are as far as i can get them, mine are sort of in a tick shape straight down from the top and then to the side. oh well i see my surgeon on tues so he'll know im sure. It looks the same as in the picture i took of myself having just had them fitted by my surgeon.

[boatsink]

Marian - that's awesome you got the splint removed! You are making great progress. Please make me save me some avocado and prawns .

[Marian]

Success - I pinched 5 chips from hubby's ham, egg and chips tonight. Had to pick squidgy ones that I could suck, but at least I had chips.

Also had ravioli, but had to swallow it whole - I'm surprised I haven't got indigestion! I did have an aching jaw afterwards tho unfortunately.

It was a relief when the splint was removed - with it on, I could only close my teeth at the back. Now that it's gone, when I talk my teeth click together in a very unattractive way. My teeth have never touched in so many places before, it's all a bit of a novelty for me!!

I have never been sooooo obsessed with food as I have been this last couple of weeks - I seem to have spent two weeks spooning sloppy food into my mouth (well most of it went into my mouth!!).

Danny, how are you getting on now - you can give us later September buddies a bit of an insight into a few weeks times. (I would send you some avacado and prawns, but I'm not sure it would travel very well, so I'll eat it for you )

Kirsty, how did your first day back at work go?

Marian xx

[gothpenguin]

Hello All,

My apologies for disappearing; I've not been in constant pain anymore so life is starting to return to normal..namely, I'm up and about alot these days so I'm not a couch potato anymore

But I should give you an update, I'm now day 11 post-op, most of the swelling has gone down. Although there is this stubborn patch along my right raw-line which feels "harder" than I would expect bruising to be. The bruise on my chest is still there, according to my wife more green than yellow. I asked my ortho about this particular swelling and she said there is a muscle that runs from the throat down across the chest, and blood can collect between that muscle and the skin which leaves the bruise.

As for the allergy; still no clue what it is. The anti-histamines seem to be working as the rash has mostly dissappeared. Again the ortho seems to think it may have been a delayed reaction to the drug ocean that I was given during the surgery; I'm inclined to agree.

My recovery is progressing, I only take a couple doses of pain medication throughout the day, mostly for random headaches....the intense tooth-ache I had a few days back seems to have cleared up so I'm happy about that. I still get random bouts of nausea(mostly if I'm on my computer for too long), I'm hoping that will pass shortly. I think feeling is starting to return to my lower lip, but my chin is still numb I'm sleeping better; but I'm still sleeping sitting up so I'm still not sleeping through the night(although two young kids are partially to blame) I never noticed previously but after surgery I couldn't really move my head; I couldnt look over my shoulder or lift my head to do things like gargle..... my range of motion is still not great, but much better than it was.

My energy level is returning, I did a grocery shop today...to which I drove my car(that makes me exceedingly happy). When I got back home I had an hour and a half phone meeting after which I was exhausted, so this day just kind of wiped me out. I'm hoping to start half days at work next week, and telecommuting more frequently than now.

Finally, I've never craved food as much as I do now. First let me point out that prior to surgery I thought of food as a necessary evil. Now anytime my wife/children has a biscuit, cakes,fruit or anything my mouth waters. I'm hoping to be able to appreciate food more once this is all done. I'm still mostly liquidizing my food, although I am able to eat beans, ravioli for the last few days although my jaw hurts afterwards(*I should point out that I only have elastics in, currently 5 different ones(as previously described by Marion, but I have an extra triangle in front)... the one at the front I remove to eat*) I managed to eat blended sheperds pie today(mash, creamed corn and mince)... it was heavenly.

I see people talk about smiling; my wife is slightly unsettled by my new face, in part because It doesn't really have that much expression. If I try to smile my lips run over the metal/elastics and is not very comfortable. It comes out more of a scowl anyway I'm trying to picture how my smile will look,once everything is cleared away, right now it looks like my bottom teeth still come behind my upper teeth. So it looks like I will still have a tiny overbite....is this me just being pathetic, does anyone's teeth meet perfectly at the front when they bite. I guess I worry because my surgeon warned about relaps) My ortho says everything looks good and I have to say my profile looks better than I could have wished for.


That all said, I'm freakin' ecstatic that I've had this done

Jeff

PS- sorry for being gone for so long, I promise to be better in the future.
PPS- how long until I can have fizzy drinks and/or alcohol?

[underbiter]

Hi everyone and Jeff long time no see *slaps wrist* haha! Just joking im just glad you're ok. I had to go back to the hospital to see my ortho as i didnt feel like the elastics were on right but couldnt find the hooks that were meant to be used, i was right i had been doing it wrong but at least id only done it wrong for 3 days so can easily be corrected. My face is really starting to take shape now and its rather strange looking at myself in the mirror, seeing a sort of recognition but not quite if you know what i mean.

My jaw shape is now the same as that of my mums and its weird because ive never felt like ive kind of looked the same as my family with my face shape, and ive got a pretty good heart shaped face now as opposed to just a round ball with my chin sticking out. Theres still a bit of swelling in my cheeks im guessing from the plates that are in my upper jaw, and a decent bruise on my chin which looks more like ive had a vampire sucking on my neck!

Those chips sound lovely marian may have to try that. I made a lovely fish soup earlier for dinner as i didnt fancy taking the elastics off tonight id took them off this morning for teeth cleaning anyway. I seem to have got most of my energy back now, yesterday i went shopping with my friend and although i was tired felt the walking did me good. Today i drove myself to the hospital and back it felt good getting back in my car and had a wander round a supermarket, didnt seem to get as many stares as i normally do so something has definately improved, the only thing people were staring at was the bruises. Ive been using arnica cream on my bruises and it seems to be working for me.

Ive got most of my feeling back its just my chin and a little bit to the left of my mouth that are still numb, so thats a relief. Unfortunately it means i can feel the wire from the brace digging in my lip a bit tonight so ive gone a bit mad with the wax.

Tomorrow im looking forward to seeing my brother and his fiance for the first time since before the op, they live and work in liverpool 2 hours away so havent had a chance to come down yet to see me, also my brother is a bit of a wimp when it comes to anything to do with blood or surgery so i dont think he would have coped seeing me last week looking like roadkill! For dinner we're having steak and jacket potatoes so mine will be chopped up and im hoping for a bit of stilton on it to make it taste better.

Marian and jeff you dont seem to be coping very well with the restricted diet hope youll find something to tempt your tastebuds that you can have. I have had a craving for crisps for several days which is rather annoying. i may resort to melting quavers in me mouth tomorrow.

Hope recovery is going quick for everyone else too x Jo
ooh forgot to add im hoping to start back at work next week only doing one day at a time to begin with but looking forward to it im getting bored sat at home with nothing to do except chores and browsing the internet

[Marian]

Welome back Jeff

Guess who had a packet of snak-a-jaks last night - took me 25 minutes to suck my way through a packet (like you Jo I had a craving).

Re alcohol Jeff - all I can say is that I have a vodka and coke sat in front of me right now, and last night I enjoyed two glasses of white wine. A little drink or two will certainly help you to sleep better.

Jeff I can only admire that you are still sleeping upright. I gave up on that about a week ago. The only trouble with lying down is that you tend to roll onto your side whilst asleep so it's all a bit sore when you wake up. Also, I think your face swells up again over night which is a bit disheartening when you peer into the mirror first thing in the morning.

How come you're all going back to work??? I was signed off for 4 weeks by the hospital - not that I'm complaining - this stress free way of life is suiting me very nicely thank you!!

Right, I'm off to tackle my first shepherd's pie tonight - I'm sure it'll be fine - I guess we have to learn to trust our mouths again

Happy evening meal everyone! Bye for now.

Marian xx

[gothpenguin]

Hmmm, everyone seems to be spoiling themselves food-wise, maybe I should indulge. I've been craving biscuits and crisps like you wouldn't believe..... that, and my diet coke.

I still think I'm going to stick to the sleeping upright until I see my surgeon on tuesday(I also have my second ortho follow-up) Speaking of which, two of the brackets on my teeth have come loose. The front right bracket and the tooth beside it. I think all the pressure from the elastics have pulled them loose. Should I call my ortho straight-away or would I be oK until tuesday(really the earliest I could be seen would be monday anyway *shrug*)

Marian- I'm an early-career academic, and >2 weeks away from work can be detrimental to my future well being. I've got papers to write job applications(with Oct 30 deadlines) meetings to chair etc. I don't intend on going back full-bore, but I need to get back into things. Besides, If I want any holiday time I don't want to use it all up on sick-days.

Jeff

[underbiter]

Hi jeff personally if its only a day difference would leave it til the tuesday, but maybe ring them on the monday to check thats ok.

Ive only in the last couple of days been sleeping normally, which is on my sides and back, before that i was sat almost vertically cos it was the only way i felt comfortable. Ive gone down with the painkillers and only now need paracetamol in the evening before bed, as thats when i get a bit of a headache and jaw ache. Im going back to work simply because i feel ready my energy is about 90% at the moment what it was before, and as im not planning on working til wednesday i think ill be even better by then.

I cant cope sitting around doing nothing id rather be keeping busy and as theres not much for me to do at home id rather be earning. Dont go back before you're ready tho marian theres no rush, and ive always been quite quick to return to work after operations in the past so its normal for me.

[Marian]

Jeff, I also have a piece of brace that has come loose. I have metal bands around my molars and the very back one, bottom left has come loose. If I bite down on it I can force it back on so I'm not too worried. My ortho wound a thin wire in and out of each bracket so that nothing would fall off during surgery, so I guess it must be a common problem.

Shepherd's pie and baked beans went down a treat tonight. I felt full up for the first time in 2 weeks! I then pushed my luck and ate half a tin of rice pudding and promptly felt a bit queasy - trust me to push my luck!!

Here's a question for you - I have just de-elasticed and cleaned my teeth and I'm sure that the central line of my bottom teeth is getting more out of centre each day. Hubby said nobody would notice, but I just feel that after all this effort my teeth need to be right. Do you think this will be able to be corrected by the ortho?

Bye for now. Marian xx

[underbiter]

Hi Marian, i think the orthos can correct them because although my jaw is in the right place my top teeth have got to be corrected, i will have some taken out and replaced with veneers because the teeth on the top dont yet fit over my bottom. Ive found my jaw has been clicking for a couple of days and yesterday i snapped 2 elastics on the the right hand side once and then it went again so i think that side of my jaw is fighting the elastics, it was quite funny when it went the first time cos i was laughing and it went 'ping!'

Had a lovely meal last night of chopped up steak with stilton melted in, jacket potato and cous cous and then cheesecake without the biscuit filling. had one or 2 glasses of wine last night as well (Okay 5!) and also went to the pub with my friend for last orders, surprisingly tho the wine didnt seem to affect me like it normally does, im not sure if thats cos i had a lot of food or cos of the anaesthetic in my system. I slept very well last night tho and didnt wake once so i think wine is the way forward!