Day 11: A Fun Day

Today was very eventful!

This morning I went to church with my family. Everything went fine until I started to feel shaky and almost fainted about three quarters of the way through Mass. After sitting down for awhile and having a McDonald's shake (the cure for everything), I felt just fine.

This evening my aunts and my cousins came over to visit, swim, and have dinner. While it was hard to watch everyone eat hamburgers, hot dogs, and corn on the cob, my cousin did bring some delicious smoothie mix over with her. I was also able to eat a "dissected" roasted marshmallow and melted chocolate while everyone else was eating s'mores. It was great to see everybody and show them how my face is coming along.

I think one of my brackets or hooks is rubbing up against my cheek and irritating it. This is something that I would normally just put wax on, but since I can't open my mouth very wide, all I can do is hope it feels better tomorrow.

In the pictures for today my upper lip looks a lot less swollen which is just another step in the right direction. My smile is also a little bit crooked because of the uneven swelling, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time before it evens out.

Day 10: A Little Bit Tired

First of all, last night was the first night I've been able to sleep without any pain medication! This is definitely a good sign.

Today was a pretty low key day. I think all of the activity yesterday left me feeling a little worn out so I just lounged around the house for most of the day.

Tonight, I went out to eat at Champp's with my family and I got some of their delicious potato soup. I've gotten in a pretty good routine as far as eating, and I've been getting enough nourishment everyday.

Also, today my chin and lower lip are bothering me a little bit. They are both very tingly because I'm starting to get some feeling back, but it can be rather annoying at times. I'm still waiting for the swelling on the one side of my face to be the same as the other side, but I know it will all come in good time.

Here are your pictures for today.

Day 9: Mastering the Smoothie and Raiding the Surgeon's Prize Jar

Everything has gone extremely well over the past 24 hours. 

Last night I was able to eat a scrambled egg that was broken up into tiny little pieces. It's one more thing I can add to the list of things I can eat! :)

In addition, this morning I officially mastered making a fruit smoothie. I put some frozen yogurt, half of a Special K protein shake, banana, strawberries, and blueberries in the blender for a yummy treat with quite a bit of protein in it. 

This afternoon I went back to the oral surgeon's office where almost everyone knows me by name now. My surgeon is still on vacation, so the other surgeon looked at me again. He said that the rubber bands did the trick, and my bite is falling nicely into place. He left the rubber bands the way they are which was a huge relief for me. I was nervous that he might tighten them and I would have to go back to the syringes. He also said that I'm looking very cute and should be excited about how everything will eventually turn out. I go back again on Tuesday for another check up. The surgeon said they will probably remove the heavy duty rubber bands and replace them with a weaker elastic. At the end of the visit when my mom was making me another appointment, I saw the surgeon's prize jar and they let me pick out what I wanted. The picture below shows all of my "prizes" for being a good patient :)

Later in the afternoon my mom took me out for some retail therapy. I got some new shoes, a skirt, and two tops. Even though I was exhausted by the time it was over, it was definitely worth it!

Also, the last time I took medicine for pain was last night before I went to bed, and my mouth is barely sore at all. 

Here are the rest of the pictures for today. I'm looking a lot less swollen, although the one side of my face is still a little bit slower to go down. 

Day 8: Still Making Progress

Nothing too exciting happened today.

The war with nutrition continues and I'm still working on making sure I eat enough. This afternoon I was able to make myself a strawberry and banana smoothie and I also tried a Special K protein shake. My mom also bought me some gourmet mashed potatoes which tasted great because they had some actual texture.

I'm still taking motrin once during the day as well as during the night. The pain seems to get a little bit better everyday and is turning into more of an annoying sore feeling that is tolerable. My chin and lower lip are slowly but surely regaining feeling and tingle quite a bit.

My tightened rubber bands feel a lot better today, and I can tell my jaw and teeth are trying to figure out where everything is supposed to go. Today, I was also able to open my mouth enough to eat with a spoon and was syringe free! I go back to the oral surgeon tomorrow to see if they need to make any more adjustments.

I'm hoping that I can get out and about in the next few days because I'm sick of just hanging around the house.

In addition to the usual pictures, I added this one today. Last night after I brushed my teeth, I noticed that I was able to close my mouth all the way. It still is not completely natural but it looks SO much better than attempts at closing it before surgery. I think I stared in the mirror looking at myself with my mouth closed for a good five minutes.

Here are the regular shots.

My sisters made me laugh right before I took this picture :)

Day 7: It's Already Been a Week!

I can't believe that it was already a week ago that I was spending my first night in the hospital after surgery! Time really has passed by quickly!

Last night I tried to go to sleep after only taking prescription motrin instead of percocet. It worked out fine until I woke up around 3 AM with a lot of pain on the side of my mouth where they tightened my rubber bands yesterday. I then took percocet which knocked me out for the rest of the night.

Last night I decided to track the food I eat every day on MyFitnessPal.com to make sure I'm getting enough nutrients each day. I realized that I'm not getting enough protein in my diet, so I worked on that today. I was able to eat some yogurt with a syringe this afternoon and I also made sure I ate more substantial food and drank some milk. Eating is definitely one of the hardest parts of recovery. It takes a long time to eat pretty much everything. For example eating a small container of yogurt and a cup of chicken noodle soup took about 45 minutes. I can only eat small amounts at a time and it seems like as soon as I finish eating one thing, I'm already starting to get hungry for something else. On the plus side, when I had Max and Erma's chicken tortilla soup for dinner tonight, I was able to eat with a baby spoon instead of a syringe.

Some friends came over to see me today, and it was very nice to see and talk to them since I've pretty much been hanging around the house all week.

The swelling is still pretty bad and uneven, but hopefully it continues to go down over coming days and weeks. Here are your pictures for the day :)

Day 6: Visit to the Oral Surgeon

Last night I was finally able to get all of the remnants of the dressing off my face using baby oil.

This afternoon I went to the oral surgeon for a check up. Since my surgeon is out of town, I saw the other surgeon in the practice who was in on my surgery. He said that everything looked good and took out the stitches on the outside of my mouth. He tightened the rubber bands on one side of my mouth because things were a little uneven. I know that this has to be done, but it is slightly frustrating because I tighter rubber bands mean I can't open my mouth as quite as far as I could before. For the past few days I was able to eat certain foods like apple sauce and pudding with a spoon, but now everything I can't sip out of a cup has to go into my mouth through a syringe. It almost felt like I took a step backwards. He also told me that I need to make sure I am eating enough everyday so I don't lose too much weight. I go back to the surgeon on Friday for another check up.

My mom took me to Panera for lunch. I got a wild berry smoothie and broccoli cheddar soup that we took home and put in the blender. They were both delicious.

So far today I only had to take the prescription motrin for pain only once when I got up in the morning. Hopefully this means that I'm close to being off the strong pain killers.

I was also excited that I could sit down and focus on reading a book for awhile this afternoon. Up until now it has been difficult to focus on doing things like reading and watching TV for more than a short period of time.

Thank you to everyone who has sent well wishes. They really mean a lot!!! :)

Eating my blended Panera soup with a syringe

My lips almost close!

Attempting to smile :)

Profiles

Day 5: A Really Good Day

The past day has been very productive. Last night, I was able to eat some chicken noodle soup with the noodles chopped up into tiny pieces. I then was able to take a shower without feeling dizzy or faint. 

I slept relatively well with some more percocet dreams. 

This morning, I woke up feeling so much better. The pain was less intense and I was able to walk around the house for awhile. I made it throughout the day with a minimal amount of pain medicine. I also was able to sip out of a cup instead of shoot liquids into my mouth through a syringe. It really makes taking my pills a lot easier. 

I also was able to finally get all of the dressing of my chin which I considered a huge success. :)

While I was up and about, my mom and sisters made me laugh and smile. We were talking about how huge my lips are and how some people pay to have lips like mine. My mom couldn't stop laughing at me trying to stop smiling which only made me laugh more. It then took awhile to get my face back to normal. 

My aunt and cousins stopped by today to visit. They all ordered pizza for dinner, and while all I wanted to do was bite into a piece of pepperoni pizza, I was able to pick apart little pieces of a breadstick and eat it which was very yummy. 

Smiling a little bit more :)

Profile views

Day 4: Moving Along

Last night I got in the shower again for a few minutes before I started to feel unsteady. I was able to get a majority of my chin dressing off, and am only waiting to get the last part off after taking a shower tonight. It is extremely sticky and is like trying to pull off a band-aid that goes across my entire face. I didn't expect it to be this difficult to get off.

I've determined that my least favorite part of the day is between 9 and 11 at night. I normall am super tired and grouchy which makes getting everything done ten times harder. For example, even though I had been taking my pain meds all day, I couldn't swallow a pill without gagging. However, it eventually went down and I went to sleep.

Whenever I go to sleep after taking my percocet, I have the craziest dreams. I wake up and tell my mom about them which is usually good for a decent laugh, or at least an eye roll. 

Today was more of the same: eating and drinking from my syringes, sleeping, and trying to move around a little bit. I am probably going to try some chicken broth for dinner because I feel like I need to eat something besides smoothies, ice cream, and apple sauce. 

My lower lip and chin are still pretty numb, but before I left the hospital, my surgeon said that he expects everything should eventually go back to normal because there didn't appear to be any permanent damage done to the nerves. 

I can actually pull my lips back and start to smile a little bit today :)

Looking pretty swollen here 

I want to get this last piece off tonight.

Day 3: Lots of Sleeping

Well, last night after blogging, things went downhill a little bit. I felt hungry, so I decided to try a little bit of yogurt. Well, after that, I threw up when trying to take my antibiotic. It was very unpleasant and disgusting because my mouth doesn't open very wide, but I lived through it. Let's just say I won't be trying yogurt again very soon.

After that, I managed to take a pain pill and fall asleep for a couple hours.

When I woke up around one in the morning, I decided to brush my teeth and use my mouth rinse. That was the best thing that I've done since I got home. Although it was quite messy since I still don't have a lot of control of my facial muscles, it left me feeling fresher and not so nasty feeling.

I woke up a few times throughout the night to take some pain medication, but it was definitely the best I've slept since before surgery.

Today, I continued to eat the things that I've been eating and move around a little bit. I've finally kind of gotten on track for when I need to take my pain medicine and then sleeping a lot after taking it.

I'm actually surprised that I can mostly breathe through my nose when I want to. I was told that because of the swelling it would be difficult to do so. However, as of right now, the thing that makes it most difficult is some dried blood in my nose from the few small nose bleeds I've had.

The swelling seems alright today, although my surgeon told me it might get worse over the next few days because I'm no longer on the steroids they were giving me in the hospital to keep it down. He also warned me that the steroids wearing off might leave me feeling a little bit depressed, so we'll see how that goes.

I still have to get in the shower and try to get the rest of the dressing off of my face. It's just hard trying to coordinate it with taking pain killers, eating, etc.

Here are some pictures:

Still no facial expression 

Some profile views. 

Day 2: Everything is Lots of Work

This morning after not sleeping very much, all I wanted to do was go home. I had done the three things my surgeon told me to do (1. Drink/Eat 2. Walk and use the bathroom 3. Take painkillers in pill form) and I knew that I would be able to leave the hospital very soon.

My surgeon came to talk to me in the morning and said that he was very impressed with how I was doing. He was wonderful about everything, and no, I'm not just saying that because he's been looking at this blog. He gave me my prescriptions and instructions for what to do at home.

Before I left, I actually felt hungry for the first time and had some Italian ice.

Once I got home I slept for awhile before I got up and moved around and had a smoothie. I still keep dozing off, but every time I wake up I have a little bit more energy. However, it takes lots of time and energy to do things that I'm used to doing easily on a daily basis.

I got in the shower for a little while to try to get the dressing off of my upper lip and chin. However, since it's been hard to eat, I got very dizzy and had to come out after only a little while. Here's a picture after first trying to get the dressing off.

Afterwards, I took a nap and then started picking at it some more. In case you don't know, I'm very determined to get stuff taken care of.

There was a little bit of improvement here. The tape in the middle of my upper lip makes me look like Hitler, which reminded me of Rat Race, one of my favorite stupidly funny movies. Just in case you've never seen it, here's the clip these pictures made me think of. Skip to about 3:30 for the funny parts.

Anyhow, I'm going to try to get in the shower one more time tonight to get the rest of the dressing off. More pictures and updates to come tomorrow evening.

Day 1: Feeling A Little Bit Better

I was awakened pretty early in the morning to have some blood work done and my vitals taken. I then talked to my surgeon who said that I should get up and move around as well as start drinking some liquids and eating some soft foods.

I then was taken for some x-rays which was extremely unpleasant because I had to keep turning my head and they kept touching my face where it was tender.

Throughout the day I got up and walked around the halls three times. I also drank some water, half of McDonald's smoothie, a little bit of a vanilla shake, apple juice, and some Italian ice stuff.

My sisters and neighbors came to visit me in the hospital.

Towards the end of the day I was able to swallow a pain pill on my first try which was a huge accomplishment for me.

I did not sleep well at all at night, and let's just say that every hospital room needs to be a private room :p

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers, and I will update the blog again later today so that I am all caught up.

Me eating my smoothie with a syringe.

Day of Surgery: What I Remember

On Tuesday, I went into the hospital at 6:30 in the morning. They had to take a urine sample and some blood before I went into the pre-op area. I waited with my mom in the surgery waiting room for awhile until they took me back into the pre-op area where I put on a hospital gown and they started my IV. I got to talk to the anesthesiologist, my surgeon, and some nurses before I was given some anti-swelling medication, an antibiotic, and some "happy juice" through my IV. They then wheeled me into the operating room where I remember getting on the surgical table and having a mask put on my face before I fell asleep.

Afterwards, I remember having to roll off the table onto the gurney. I was extremely hot and the nurses in recovery kept putting ice cold towels on me. I also remember being next to a guy who was really out of it and kept saying that he wanted a t-bone steak. They also hooked up my morphine pump in recovery. I didn't get into my room until 5:00 pm.  

My surgeon came and talked to me in my room and said that everything went great during surgery.

For the rest of the day I kept taking morphine and dozing off. It took the nurses a little while to figure out the right anti-nausea medicine that I needed, but thankfully I didn't throw up at all. My mom stayed with me the whole night, and my dad and neighbor came and visited for a little while. I slept reasonably well that night except for having my vitals taken every couple of hours and having to listen to someone move into the bed next to me.

Here is a picture of me not too long after surgery. 

Tomorrow!!!!

Tomorrow is the day!!! The day that seemed to take all summer to get here is finally here.

Yesterday, I went out for Mexican for my "last supper" before surgery. It was absolutely delicious. Today, I tried to stay busy to keep my mind off things. I went to up to the mall with my family, took a nap, and went to go watch my sister play in a summer basketball league. As for tonight, I'll just be relaxing at home and trying to get a good night's sleep.

I'm so nervous, yet excited for the surgery. I'll be one step closer to fixing the overbite that has never been close to being fixed before, but at the same time, I have a very long road ahead of me. I don't know when I'll be able to update my blog, but I'll see if my mom or sister can get pictures and updates up while I'm still in the hospital. Thank you again for all of the support and for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. 

6 Days Left: A Busy Day

Today has been an extremely busy day! There has been lots of running around and talking to doctors to say the least.

First, I had an appointment at the hospital for pretesting. First, I had to fill out a bunch of health forms. Then a nurse practitioner talked to me about what to expect the day of surgery. I have to be in the hospital at 6:30 in the morning. I will have some blood drawn and then I can go into the pre-op area where I have to put on a hospital gown and get my IV started. I then have the chance to talk to my surgeon and the anesthesiologist before they start giving me drugs through my IV to relax me and calm me down. Once I'm in the operating room they'll put me to sleep and I'll wake up 4-6 hours later in the recovery room. After talking with the nurse practitioner I had some blood drawn. Thank God I had an expert who was able to find my tiny vein on the first poke! After that, I was all set, and headed off for a quick lunch before I was off to the orthodontist.

My appointment at the orthodontist was relatively painless and short. All they had to do was attach some extra hooks for rubber bands after surgery and retie my wire in a few places. I kind of felt like it was a send off for me. Everyone wished me luck and said they can't wait to see how I look after surgery.

The last item on the agenda was stopping by the oral surgeon's office to pick up the consent forms I have to sign. All I can say was it was interesting and somewhat scary reading through all of things that could possibly go wrong. My oral surgeon has told me about pretty much all of the possible problems, but they tend to be a lot more direct and scary on paper. Also, for anyone who wants to know the proper medical terms for the procedures I'm having, they are: lefort I osteotomy, mandibular bilateral saggital split, genioplasty, and nasal septoplasty.

As a side note, by popular deman, now anyone should be able to comment on my posts.

That's all for today!

A Video and Special Thank You

It's only nine days until my surgery!!! Explaining the process of my jaw surgery can be difficult and visualizing what is happening can be even harder. For those of you who would like a more visual explanation of the process, I have attached a YouTube video of someone who underwent the same surgery (simply press play and then follow the link to YouTube). She had her upper jaw moved up, her lower jaw moved forward, and her chin extended. As a note, it only provides before and after pictures, so there is no need to worry about "gory" pictures from the actual surgery. The x-rays around 2:26 really help show where everything is moved and how it is reattached.

I also would like to say thank you to everyone who has been so supportive as I start to get ready for surgery. Whether you have tried to help me figure out what I'm going to do when I can't chew for six weeks or simply wished me good luck, every word of encouragement is appreciated more than you know.

Only Two Weeks Left Plus My Last Visit to the Oral Surgeon

I can't believe that my surgery is only two weeks from today! Everything is starting to move extremely fast, and I am definitely starting to get anxious, nervous, and excited. Not a day goes by that I don't think about what's going to happen to me. I have to confess that I've gotten slightly obsessive over the surgery - I've watched every before and after YouTube video I could find, read more blogs than I can count, and told so many people who could probably care less about the procedure.

For those of you who don't know, I'm a huge crier and crying is definitely my way of expressing almost everything. Whether I'm upset, angry, stressed, anxious, or relieved, I cry. So of course, on the way to the oral surgeon's office for my last appointment before surgery, I started crying to my mom because I really don't know what I'm getting myself into. Yes, I've read and watched stuff, but I still have trouble wrapping my head around what is actually going to happen as far as the procedure and recovery. I'm basically trying to imagine what having my face broken and then put back together is going to feel like, and it's no easy task. However, by the time my appointment today was finished, my surgeon made me feel much better about what was going on.

At my appointment, I first had to have some impressions and measurements taken for the millionth time. Once all of the nasty putty stuff was out of my mouth, my mom and I got to talk to the surgeon about some of the nitty gritty details about the surgery. It will last anywhere from 4 to 6 hours.  Ideally, he would like to move my upper jaw 11 millimeters up, but since that is quite a bit, it will probably end up being more like 8 or 9 millimeters. He will then move my lower jaw forward until it is in the proper position and then advance my chin. He is also planning on shortening my septum to ensure that my nose doesn't turn up too much. According to the surgeon, everything should turn out "lovely."

The surgeon also ran me through what my time at the hospital will be like. Once I'm at the hospital, I will have one last opportunity to ask any last minute questions before they hook me up to an IV and start giving me drugs to relax. My surgeon assured me that I am his only appointment that day and he will wait with me after surgery until I wake up to ensure that everything is fine. He will also be in the hospital each day until I leave to make sure everything runs smoothly and according to plan. While in the hospital, I will have a pain pump to help reduce the pain as well as steroids to help control the swelling in my face. I will remain in the hospital until I am able to take care of myself with the biggest concern being hydration without an IV. The surgeon said that after a day they will really start pushing me to drink lots of fluids.

After giving me the run down, I got to ask him any questions I wanted. My list ranged from "What happens if I have to yawn?" to "What is done to keep me from throwing up after surgery?" He was very patient and thoroughly answered everything. I believe that I am in very good hands and everything will work out beautifully.

Finally, the surgeon told me that I will definitely look different after everything is said and done. While I know it will take some getting used to for me and everybody else, I can't wait until everything is worked out and I get to show off my brand new look.

Look for a new post next Thursday, July 14th. It is the day I see the anesthesiologist for pretesting as well as my orthodontist for the last time before surgery.