I was due to see my surgeon on Wednesday but unfortunately he had to cancel - he's gone on an unplanned compassionate leave for 2 months which means he has handed me over to the care of my ortho for the time-being, and he won't be seeing me until he returns on the 28th of June, but will be seeing my ortho in 2 weeks. I'm not too fussed in all honesty, as I've been seeing both my ortho and surgeon at the same time, and my ortho is pretty switched on surgery wise. It just means that I'm still not chewing/blowing my nose etc... as I haven't had the 'all clear' from either of them - so a big step for normality for me will be closer to the 8-week mark, when I do finally see Mr.Ortho.
Anyway, here is a general 'update' of things that have been happening surgery and life wise:
Pain:
Is basically non-existing, however since I've started work placement and i'm communicating more, and just generally working more my jaw is getting incredibly tired and achey which results in pain. It's not surgery pain in general, it's more of a 'getting used to normal habbits' pain. But it really does ache. One thing I also keep doing is 'shocking my jaw' - usually when walking down the steps. I forget that my face is pretty delicate at the moment and I bounce down steps as I usually did pre-op, and when I get to the bottom one I throw all my weight down onto my foot (rather than placing it down gentally), and it's like my body has lost it's suspension and the sudden force travels up my body and shocks my jaw a little. It's pretty pathetic really but oh well!
Swelling:
Has come down a lot. I can't see any swelling at all anymore, however my family and friends do say that I still have a tiny little bit around my lower jaw and under my chin. But last little bits can take months to disappear.
Numbness:
I've pretty much regained all feeling in my entire face, accept for half of my bottom lip and part of my chin. At times they do tingle which makes me think that one day they'll wake up, but I won't be surprised or bothered if they don't. My gums are still completely numb but again are tingling, but I now have all feeling on the inside of my mouth and tongue.
Eating:
Still on no chew unfortunately atleast until the 8 week mark. I can now open my mouth around a finger and a half width so it is gradually getting wider. Eating is gradually getting faster but I still use a little spoon or fork, and it's still a messy process because of the bands. I guess psychologically eating in public is a big thing, as I only feel comfortable to eat around my family James and Dani, I certainly wouldn't tackle a restaurant yet! (Atleast not until the bands are off!). It's also a pain trying to find foods that aren't messy which I can take to work.
Congestion:
I'm not really congested anymore, however I still can't blow my nose (as I haven't been given the all clear), if i'm being honest I've secretly blown my nose EVER SO GENTALLY sometimes (shh!) and it feels incredibly weird. I get this popping sensation in my right nostril which scares me sometimes, and happens if I blow or press a patch near my eye which I do want to ask my surgeon about. But I can't wait for the complete all clear so I can have a blowing party with a box of tissues!
General Feeling:
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| Surgeons thank-you card. |
My surgical team and orthodontist have been absolutely amazing and I hold a lot of respect for these people, they're so intelligent and their level of care and compassion for me has been more than I ever expected during this surgery stage, I really can't thank them enough for the impact they've had on myself and my life! They are truly an inspiration!
One thing I have done is had a thank-you card made for my surgeon of my x-ray, as i'm pretty sure he will be discharging me from his care pretty soon which i'm incredibly sad about, (my ortho won't get one until he removes my braces and discharges me :P) but it's cool so I thought i'd post a pic!
That card is co clever! You should definitely get all of the photos printed and make a jaw scrapbook with copies of your blog posts in :)
ReplyDeletexxx
You look great. When you say sometimes when you look in the mirror you don't like your face...what imperticular do you mean?
ReplyDeleteI guess it's more different rather than something you don't necessarily like. You can have the smallest change in the world that nobody would even notice, but to yourself it is a massive thing - especially when you've been used to a certain 'face' for your entire life. To then go and change your jaw line, nose and give yourself a chin is a big thing, and won't be something you get used to in 6 weeks alone. I love the improvements but I still miss my old face sometimes!
DeleteI guess as humans it's easy to analyse and critique your face, and this is something I find myself doing even after surgery, forgetting what it was even like before. But then when you look at a before picture next to an after, it's then when you realise what great improvements have been made!
Hope your progress is going well!
You look amazing babe I am so proud of you xxxxxx
ReplyDeleteDo you feel like maybe you look more like what you did when you were a kid before the jaw growth changed?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say so no, as obviously you change a lot from childhood through just aging itself! Whether this is what I would look like if my jaw didn't develop into what it was as I grew, I guess I'll never know!
DeleteNice card!! You are so right we wait for the surgery then its here and gone in the wink of an eye like that. You look so different and beautiful chick!!!!
ReplyDeleteyou look amazing! Such a huge change. I can't wait to see my profile change after surgery.
ReplyDeleteThank you Melissa! I can't wait to see your change either! :) xx
DeleteThank you Chloe! Not long for you now! :) xx
ReplyDeleteThat's remarkable. Congrats.
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
DeleteAhhh, this is so great to see! I have pretty much the exact profile to you and have just started my journey! Getting braces on in two days I just cannot wait to get it all started. Your blog is helping me so much to understand the process of things so thanks for that! It's actually really great to see someone with a similar shape to mine to see how it can improve. Looking great!
ReplyDeleteHey Britt! Good luck for your journey - it will fly by. Mine sure did! :)
DeleteHey i just had my jaw surgery on june 27,2013 i'm day 15 post op and i hate the way i look i can't go out in public! I'm so swollen i had double jaw surgery and a genioplasty i had a gummy smile and my upper jaw protruded and my lower jaw was too far back and a receeding chin though mine wasnt ad bad as urs. My genioplasty was done using my chin bone where it was broken off and fixed to the new position. I dont know. People considered me good looking before the surgery im afraid this balloon face will always stay! I had a very slim face with a perfect nose. Now my nose looks swollen! And when i smile i look like the grinch!
ReplyDeleteHey! I know it's hard but try not to worry. Day 15 is still incredibly early days. I totally understand where you're coming from but the majority of swelling will last for 6 weeks. I still consider myself slightly puffy in my cheeks still and i'm 15 weeks post-op now! As for smiling, it will get stronger every week. At first I felt like the joker when I smiled, I really honestly scared myself with this awful smile but soon enough it started to get better, so try not to beat yourself up too much - 15 weeks is still very early days. As far as your nose goes, you need to speak to your surgeon. He should have told you prior to surgery that maxillary impaction (moving top jaw upwards to fix a gummy smile) can alter the shape of your nose, i.e. make your nostrils flare, which has happened in my case but my nose looks alot better now for it. This is because they have to cut into the nose bone when they take the top jaw upwards, so some changes to your nose features will be expected, but again, you're still incredibly swollen so your nose will probably look swollen to you because of this!
DeleteI know it's hard but try to go out of the house every day for an hour or so. People will probably stare, but I found it helped me to adjust to my new face alot quicker, otherwise you will never want to venture outside again!
Hope this helps! :) x