21 WEEKS TOMORROW! almost 5 months post op.

I highly doubt any of my family or friends still keep up with this, but I figured I’d make an update on my progress. I just finished jaw physio about 2 weeks ago. I went for about 6 weeks and did my jaw exercises everyday and it has helped my jaw tremendously. It was a very tedious process, however, I am very happy I went to physio. We worked out a lot of the scar tissue, and I can easily fit 2 knuckles in my mouth now. I don’t expect to be able to put 3 knuckles in my mouth in the future. My physiotherapist said 2 knuckles is plenty range of motion for the rest of my life. I am still trying to get use to the look of my face. I feel as though my nose has changed so significantly. I am not sure I am comfortable with the change. Chewing is still an adjustment. The only things I cannot chew at this point are nuts and lettuce because my molars don’t touch yet. Swelling is slowly but surely going down. I still notice it in and around my upper jaw. The lower is fine. Numbness= lips, chin, and gums inside of my mouth. Fingers crossed the feeling will come back shortly. The numbness is quite frustrating. I have elastics in my mouth now to encourage contact between my upper and lower back molars. My orthodontist also stated that my upper jaw is a bit too narrow, so he is using the elastics to stretch my upper jaw. If all goes well, I anticipate my braces will be off by Christmas. Anyways, just wanted to post one last update for a while! I will definitely post when I get my braces off the final results! 🙂

9 WEEKS!

Hello to anyone who is still following this! I want to start of by apologizing as it has been a month since I’ve updated! On the bright side that is because my life has pretty well returned to normal. Yesterday marked my 9 week anniversary. Crazy to think! So as of now, the things still bothering me are : swelling, how wide I can open my mouth, jaw aching, numbness, chewing. I’ll start off with swelling. It has obviously gone down a considerable amount since the surgery, however, my upper lip, nose, and front of my face around that area are still swollen. Dr. Edwards said it’ll be 6 months for ALL of the swelling to dissipate. As for range of motion, I can comfortably fit one finger inside my mouth, not quite two fingers yet. When I yawn or do the jaw exercises I was instructed to start this week, it really aches. He wants me to do these exercises every day 5x a day so I can strengthen my jaw muscles and eventually regain full range of motion. I still experience general aching in my jaw joints, and it hurts most when I wake up. The pain really isn’t THAT bad though. As for numbness, I am 100% numb in my lower lip and chin, and about 60 ish% numb in my upper lip/ nose area. I experience random jolts of pain or random “phantom” sensations as some would call it around my face. The weirdest one is the phantom drooling. For the past two weeks my chin will feel like something really cold is dripping down my chin, and when I go to wipe, nothing is there…. haha. Definitely interesting. I am really hoping I regain feeling back soon, as it can be quite frustrating. Just last week, at the 8 week mark, I was given the go ahead to START lightly chewing soft foods : such as pastas, fish, egg .etc. It was the WEIRDEST feeling when I first started. My teeth line up completely differently, and not to mention parts of my mouth are still numb. I’ve been trying to chew for about a week now, and only today did it start to get a little easier. Still got a long way to go! I’m hoping around the 12 week mark I will be able to eat harder foods like vegetables .etc. As of last night I FINALLY finished those pills I took at night that made me so sleepy! I’m very excited about this. Hopefully I can establish some kind of normal sleeping routine in my life now haha. In general, my energy levels have returned to normal during the day. I only get tired when I lift things or exert myself too much.  They also told me that it’d be 6-10 months before my braces will come off. 😦 Kinda bummed me out, because I was hoping to have them off by the time I went away for school! Oh well. That’s pretty well it in terms of my recovery. As for my life, I am keeping busy with the company of friends & family and work! That’s all for now guys. I’ll update around the 12 week mark! Here are some before & after photos 🙂

5WEEKS.

Hey friends! 5 whole weeks have gone by. Crazy to think! The first 3 weeks went by quick and the past 2 have kind of dragged out. This week will probably seem long too as I am VERY anxious for next weeks appointment. Eating is the same, swelling is the same, numbness is the same, and sleeping is the same as last week. I think that is what is most frustrating at this point. It seems as though nothing is changing. If there are changes, they are hardly noticeable. Feeling kind of down today but thats okay. Not going to ramble on and complain to y’all. Just gotta look forward and be patient. I’ll talk to ya soon 🙂

4 WEEKS.

HEY EVERYBODY! So today marks the 4 week anniversary! Hallelujah. Everything is going well! Went to Dr. Edwards office for the routine mouth clean and check up today. He wasn’t there so the other oral surgeon, Dr. Goos, assisted me. We didn’t take an x-ray, and he hardly cleaned my mouth as he said it was already very clean 🙂 This made me oh so happy! My tedious mouth cleanings are paying off. I don’t have to go back for 2 weeks at which point I will hit my 6 week milestone! During that appointment, he will remove my splint, elastics and the hooks off of my braces. I cannot wait. As for numbness, I have feeling under my eyes and in other small parts of my face. The part of my face that is most numb is definitely my lower lip and chin. It makes sense too because that is supposed to be the last place I’ll regain sensation. Pain this week has been a bit more than normal. Maybe because I am regaining some feeing back. I also think it is because the hooks on my braces have been cutting into the side of my cheek on the inside of my mouth. Swelling, as you can see below, has not changed significantly from last week. From here on out it will decrease very slowly. Eating is practically the same as last week too! I went out for dinner for the first time and was able to eat! Made a pretty big mess of myself in the process, but it was worth it. I went to Chiantis and was able to eat their bread with the oil & vinegar, and also the cheese ravioli dish! Pretty exciting stuff. The past week has probably been the hardest mentally for me. Only because at this point the changes are so gradual. I almost thought I looked more swollen this week than last week, but it could be my imagination. I am going to make lots of plans for the next two weeks, and just keep myself busy! The more I do, the more positive I feel, and the quicker time will pass! That’s all for now folks, I’ll chat at cha next week 🙂

APRIL 10TH, 2013 3 WEEK PICTURE PROGRESS

 

 

 

 

 

 

APRIL 10TH, 2013!!

Hey guys! Today marks my 3 week anniversary.. haha. The past week has been fine! Only time I feel pain is when I wake up or talk too much. Even then, it is not bad, it just feels like a dull ache. Numbness is still basically everywhere. I randomly get like tingly feelings in certain parts of my face, which means my nerves are slowly reconnecting! My swelling is going down very slowly but surely. Still look a bit ape-like haha. I saw Dr. Edwards on Monday and he said everything is going well, and he changed my elastics to lighter ones. My energy levels are definitely increasing, and I find I am able to do more without getting tired during the days. Sleeping is okay, I still wake up every hour but it is easy to fall back asleep. I am still able to eat the somewhat solid foods I mentioned before without chewing. My food choices are limited, however, it is soooo much better than being completely restricted to only liquids. I think it is almost harder now than before because I feel like myself again, so I want to do everything I used to but I am not allowed. True test of my patience, i’ll tell ya! Oh well. In 3 weeks time, I’ll be getting out my splint and getting my elastics off! Just gotta keep reminding myself of that. 🙂 I’m gonna make another post of the pictures I took today to show my 3 week progress! Talk to you soon 🙂

 

 

 

APRIL 4TH, 2013

Hey guys! Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve updated, it has kind of slipped my mind. So the past couple of days have been good! To recap, April 2nd was a really slow day. Just visited with people and hung around the house. April 3rd was good, I got to see Bridgette, my Grandpa, and Lauren! Finally cleaned up my rooms (the living room & my actual bedroom), and did my laundry. I drove for the first time too which was fun. Feels good to drive again. Everyday I figure out something new I can manage to melt on my tongue and “eat” I guess you’d say? New things I’ve tried include: cheesecake, honey nut cheerios “soggy”, butterscotch ripple ice cream, avocado, eggos (put on butter&syrup and then put it in the microwave for 15 seconds and it becomes super soft), yogurt, applesauce, and pudding! They are all very easy to get down, and have been such a nice change  If you’re reading this, and thinking of trying some of the above, just be sure to clean out your mouth EXTRA carefully with salt water. AND don’t actually chew anything, just use your tongue and the roof of your mouth to kind of break stuff up and then swallow. It will take some extra time for sure, but in my opinion it’s definitely worth it! Pain is very minimal, and the swelling is decreasing slowly but surely. My lips are slowly starting to look more human-like. Numbness is still occupying majority of my face.. so, yes, the drooling is still occurring. Sleeping has gotten better too! The changes from this point on will be very gradual, so I don’t think I’ll update everyday. I will probably just update every couple of days and then post a picture once a week. I will post my picture from yesterday, (2 weeks post-op). Then next week I’ll post a picture of myself 3 weeks post-op, and so forth. So overall, everything is still going really well. I am really looking forward to the 6 week mark to get the splint and elastics out of my mouth! Talk to you soon 

APRIL 1ST, 2013

Happy April Fools Day!! People say that… right? Anyway. DAY 13! Great day today. My sleep was a bit better than the nights before luckily. Woke up in a bit of pain today because I keep rolling onto my sides when I sleep. Saw Dr. Edwards at 1, and he cleaned out my mouth and assured me once again that I was on track. Decided it was a good day to stop into work and pick up my paycheque I was supposed to get on March 20th. When I went inside, literally nobody recognized me. Really freaked me out. Everyone was so nice though and wished me a speedy recovery. After that we went to Shoppers to fill my prescriptions and then just went home. When I got home, I got to see Lauren which I was stoked about. She just got back from Palm Springs and I missed her company this past little while very much 🙂 My dad went to the bottle depot today and gave me the bottle money which I most definitely appreciated. I also tried to eat some ultra-softened, or some would call it soggy, fruit loops today. I was able to do one loop at a time haha. So, yes, it took me a long time to get them down, but it was definitely worth it. So we caught up for an hour or so and then my brother suggested it was time to cash in our “coin jugs”. We have had these giant empty cooler jugs that we have been filling with coins for quite some time. I was waiting until after my surgery was done to roll all of the coins and then cash them in. I am very lucky, however, that the TD bank I go to just got this new coin machine where you can bring all of your coins, and literally just dump them into the machine and it will spit you a receipt and you can either get it back in cash or deposit it. So no coin rolling for me! Matt and Lauren and I make our way to TD bank with these ridiculous jugs on our backs. I was able to deposit all of my coins, the bottle money, and my paycheque into the bank. Definitely a nice feeling to have some money coming in. Then I went to visit the LaPlante’s house after dinner with my mama and Lauren. Going to their place is always delightful. Such a lovely family. Made myself some ichiban soup which I was able to choke back very slowly. Tip: smash up the noodles while they are still in the package and then put them into hot water. It works well! After that, I came home, and then here I am! Big day today. Lots of talking and moving. I’m hoping I wont pay for this tomorrow. I know I probably rambled on a bit about my day today but I am just so excited I was able to do so much and feel pretty normal again 🙂 Hoping for another good day tomorrow. PS, I forgot to take the usual expressionless picture today…. but I did take one of me trying to close my lips so here you go 🙂 haha

March 31st, 2013

Happy Easter everybody! Sorry I didn’t update yesterday, was visiting most of the day and then was too tired by the end of the day. Yesterday was good tho! Saw Jill K late afternoon and then Melissa and Ali after dinner. Got a booster juice from Jill which was great! Later, I was able to eat kraft dinner, sort of, by cooking the noodles to mush practically, and then making it super cheesy. I didn’t chew it at all, of course, but I basically just put it on my tongue and then swallowed it. Super exciting! I still look like a primate of course, but I’m hoping in the next couple of weeks I’ll start looking like more of a human. Before bed on Saturday I made the mistake of pulling off what I thought to be dead skin under my lip… and it turned out to be a stitch. Ouch! Please, fellow jaw surgery friends, DO NOT pull off skin unless you are 100% sure it’s skin. 😦 I didn’t entirely pull out the stitch but I’ll have to show him tomorrow when I go. Day 12, today, was decent. My sleeps have been really bad the past three nights for some reason. I can’t seem to stay asleep for more than 30 minutes without waking up. Anyway, Joel came over today and we hung out for a while. Then the family had Easter dinner which I joined! Decided to try putting mashed potato and gravy on my tongue and then swallowing. It worked pretty well! Felt like part of the family on Easter 🙂 I tried singing yesterday, which was probably a bad idea. Think I may be over-doing it with talking and eating and stuff! Trying to be a tough guy. Hardest part for me now is to just rest and not exert myself too much. Pain is mild, and mostly just my upper jaw. Numbness is still in most areas of my face for sure. It’s quite funny actually. Sometimes, I’ll be drooling and have no idea until my mom calls me out on it. Anyhow, aside from hunger, sleep, and numbness, everything else is fine 🙂

MARCH 29TH, 2013- DAY 10

DAY 10! Got a pretty bad sleep last night, so the day started off slow. Forgot to mention what I ate for dinner last night, and it is worth mentioning because it was surprisingly really good! My mom made this roast beef for dinner, so I took a can of vegetable & potato soup, added the gravy from the roast beef, and the roast beef itself! Put it all in the blender and there you go. It was actually great, cause it was quite salty. Yes, I know it probably sounds disgusting to all you people out there eating solid food, but for me it was like a 5 star dinner haha. Anyway, my auntie Laurie visited today and I watched a movie with my mama. Had a nap later in the day. Was feeling a bit discouraged today, probably just because I was tired, hungry and getting sick of my house! My mom, bless her soul, suggested we go for a drive. So we went to Cochrane and then turned back home. Was going to get a booster juice, but they were closed by the time we got there. Thought I’d try out a Starbucks since I haven’t yet. Wasn’t too bad. The syringe was able to fit through the lid, and it looked pretty funny so I took a picture! Was definitely in better spirits by the time I got home. Later, Dar was eating mint chocolate chip ice cream, and I, of course, was extremely jealous. Thought I’d give it a try and just let the chocolate chips melt in my mouth. So it actually was a success! I used a spoon too for the first time. I was rather excited about this!! So to recap, day started out a little gloomy, but got MUCH better by the end. I know now for future reference, if I am ever feeling down, to just get out of the house for a little bit. A change of scenery really helps. 🙂 PS, sorry I have no idea how to adjust the picture sizes….hahaha. I have to get a friend who knows how to blog properly to help me organize mine! Talk to you soon!