Pain- 1/10 Discomfort- 1/10 Weight- 121/122 Energy Level- 7/10 I had my first appointment with my surgeon today. He said that I was healing better and looking better than he thought that I would at this point. He also said that the surgery could not have gone better, so that was good to hear! When I first arrived, the technician led me to a room to have an x-ray done. Prior to surgery, my back teeth only touched when my jaw was all the way back and resting. Even when I slid my jaw forward, there was a good 3-4 mm gap between my top and bottom teeth. Now my teeth touch! I have no idea how that happened, but it's a good feeling. It looked like there were only two skinny plates (one on each side) and each one was being held together with 3 screws on each side. So, two plates and 12 screws. The surgeon came in and clipped my bands off and had me move my jaw up and down a few times. It felt like getting a cast off: very fragile and unstable. He said I was doing a great job keeping my mouth clean and then he spent a little time irrigating my mouth. He told me I would be banded shut even tighter! That was disappointing to hear. I was expecting to have two tight bands that I change out 3 times a day when I eat. He says I will be tightly banded until week 3 and then each week graduate me to looser bands. It sounded like I would not be ready to go back to my orthodontist until week 5, but at this moment I am set to go back at week 4. I was too distracted and didn't think to bring this up, but I will for sure when I go back in 6 days. Another concern is that I go back to class 4 weeks post-op and being in a counseling program, I do a lot of talking. Therefore, I was not expecting to be banded shut for 5 weeks. I will share this with my surgeon and figure out a better timeline when I go back. I was honestly caught off guard by this because in every other lower jaw blog I ready this was not the case at all, so I did not think to ask these important questions. My husband and I ran a few errands today and it really wore me out. I was ready for a nap when I got home and I took a a very long one after I drank lunch. I also tried tomato soup (Campbell's with milk, not water) and it was amazing! I had been holding off because I was not sure how the acid would make my incisions feel, but it was fine. No pain or soreness. I accidentally discovered I can drink from a cup today too. As we were running our errands, I took a bottle of water with us and a straw. Without thinking I picked it up and drank and had no issues! I tried with a cup later and as long as I can watch the liquid it doesn't spill. I tried drinking in the dark during my nap and spilled all over myself since my lower lip is numb. This also makes taking medicine a lot easier as well! Sleeping still is not going very well. I keep waking up laying on one side of my face and it causes about 3-4 rated pain. Getting heat on it and taking some Ibuprofen gets rid of it in 5-10 minutes, but it is making sleeping very difficult. Even if I could lay how ever I want, it would hurt. So, I am trying to avoid pain when I sleep and I cannot wait until I don't have to worry about that anymore. I lied about only having a couple bruises. It was unintentional, but in my defense, the bruise is yellow, appears in only certain light, and is one huge bruise. It covers the entire lower fourth of my face, down my neck, and about 3-4 inches into my chest. The only time I can see it is when I am in bathroom (this room has the best lighting) and it does not even show up in photos. The surgeon pointed it out as well. It's a bit strange.
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WelcomeThis blog documents my journey through lower jaw surgery in hope of providing help and insight involving the experience. Archives
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1 Year Post-Op 9 Months Post-Op 6 Months Post-Op Paying for Jaw Surgery 5 Months Post-Op Retainers Braces Off 4 Months Post-Op Fear vs. Reality 3 Months Post-Op 12 Weeks Day 81- Ortho. Apt. 2 11 Weeks 10 Weeks 9 Weeks Day 59: Surgeon Apt. 4 8 Weeks 7 Weeks 6 Weeks 1 Month Post-Op Day 27: Ortho. Apt. 1 Day 25: Surgeon Apt. 3 3 Weeks Day 17 Day 12: Surgeon Apt. 2 Day 10 Day 9 Day 8 Day 7 Day 6: Surgeon Apt. 1 Day 5 Day 4 Day 3 Day 2 Surgery Day (Day 1) Pretesting Appointment Surgical Hooks 1 Week Pre-Op Insurance is Complicated Caution with Insurance Pre-Op Appointment Planning and Preparing Orthodontist Apt. My Fears Pre-Op Date Surgery Date Phases of My Journey Life with Braces The Operation 3 Months Pre-Op |