Day 24-25: Back at School!!!

Yesterday I moved back into my dorm at school. I love the way my room is set up and I'm working on getting everything in place.

I've had a few things to do for my training so far, and everyone in the Welcome Week Leader group is wonderful. Last night when we had a meeting to introduce ourselves and they had ordered Jimmy John's for us. I could tell that everyone was kind of wondering why I wasn't eating so I explained that I had jaw surgery 3 1/2 weeks ago and still can't chew.

When I went to Target yesterday with my mom and sisters we made sure that I loaded up on a lot of soft food and I think that I'm going to be alright as far as eating.

Overall, I'm so happy to be back at school, and I can't wait to until all of my friends come back so I can show them my new smile! I think the change of scenery and being busy helped make me feel better even though I'm very tired now. I'm looking forward to a great year and will keep you updated on how things are going.

Here are today's pictures:

Day 23: Another Visit to the Oral Surgeon

This afternoon I went back to the oral surgeon for another check-up and everything went really well. He said that everything is looking fantastic. I now have two sets of two rubberbands in my mouth. The first set of two stretches from the front of my top teeth to the middle of my lower jaw. They are used to keep my lower jaw forward as it heals. Here is a picture:

The second set of two rubber bands is in the back of my mouth and they are in the shape of boxes. They are used to bring my bite together in the back because right now my back top molars don't touch my back bottom molars. In addition, he also said that when my braces are eventually off, he can do a simple in-office procedure that would remove some of the gum that makes my smile "gummy." Finally, he almost told me that I could start chewing at my own discretion, but then realized that it hasn't even been a month yet. He said that I should try cutting "normal food" up in to super tiny pieces and then mush them around in my mouth. 

A few weeks ago my aunt brought me over a baby food grinder to try out. I've been reluctant to use it, but today I sucked it up and put some macaroni and cheese through it. It actually didn't taste too bad. Maybe I'll try putting some other stuff through it in the upcoming days. Tonight, I was able to eat some of Red Robin's chicken tortilla soup by cutting up the chicken pieces. It was delicious.

Overall, today was a much better day and I've had a lot more energy. I'm looking forward to moving into my dorm tomorrow and meeting all of the other Welcome Week leaders! :)

Here are today's pictures:

Days 20-22: Getting Ready to Go Back to School

The past few days have had a lot of ups and downs. First of  all, I've had a lot of trouble eating dairy for the past few days. On Tuesday, I threw up after eating yogurt, and felt sick for about an hour after I ate ice cream. This has made it hard to eat enough during the day because dairy has made up a huge part of my diet.

Yesterday, I went with my mom and sisters to Greenfield Village. It was nice to spend some time with them before I go back to school. However, all of the walking around made me tired and I had to take a nap when I go home.

Today, I spent a lot of time packing for school since I go back tomorrow. As of right now almost everything is packed up. Once again, all of the activity mixed with not really eating enough has left me feeling exhausted. I can only hope that at school I'll have enough energy to be involved with all of the activities that I have to participate in for Welcome Week for incoming freshman.

I go back to the oral surgeon tomorrow before I leave for school, and hopefully there is only good news! :)

Here are pictures from today:

Days 18 and 19: Not the Greatest Days

The last couple days have been kind of difficult. I haven't felt the greatest and I've been tired and have to take a long nap in the middle of the day. I also am sick of eating the same set of foods everyday, and the things I've been eating aren't appetizing any more. Also, even though I'm excited to go back to school, I'm scared to leave the routine I've gotten comfortable with at home.

Today, I went to the orthodontist in the morning. The appointment was only for them to look at how everything looked after surgery. They looked at how my rubber bands are placed in my mouth and checked to make sure there were no loose brackets or anything. They were very pleased and I have to go back when I come back from school at the six week post-op mark for a check up with the oral surgeon.

Today, I also went to get a haircut which made me feel a little bit better. I hope the the next few days are better than the last few.

Here are yesterday's pictures:

Here are the pictures for today:

Day 17: Putting Rubberbands Back In

Last night when I was brushing my teeth one of my rubberbands broke, so I had to face the thing that I've been fearing for the past week: putting a new tiny rubberbands on the hooks. Fortunately, after quite a few tries, I eventually was able to put it in place. Then this morning when I was eating breakfast the rubberband on the other side popped off. Luckily, it seems like I have a system down and it only took a few minutes to put another one on.

Before surgery, my surgeon told me that some people might have a hard time 'adjusting' to my new look and might not think that I'm the "real Meghan." While I'm definitely excited about how everything is coming along so far, it's hard to tell exactly how other people feel now and how they will feel down the road when everything is said and done. I'm especially anxious about going back to school and seeing how people react to how my face has changed.

In addition, I know that by looking at the pictures, it looks like almost all of the swelling is gone. As much as it's hard to explain, I know that there is quite a bit left to go down. I can feel it in my cheeks, between my nose and upper lip, my lips, and all around my mouth. Even though it might look like the end product, I still have a long ways to go, and it will probably be a few months before I get there. I think at this point, the swelling will no longer go down rapidly like it has been, but instead the improvements will be a slower and a lot less noticeable from day to day.

Here are the pictures for today:

Day 16: A Look at How Far I've Come

Today I went out shopping for new jeans because the one's I have from last year are too big since I've lost weight from only eating liquids and soft foods. I also went out to eat at Max and Erma's and got to have some of their chicken tortilla 'torture' soup.

I still haven't taken out my rubber bands even though I'm allowed to because I'm afraid I won't be able to get them back in. Maybe one day next week I'll give it a try.

Even though things are far from being over, I thought I'd give you a look at how far I've come so far. This is a picture of my smile today and my smile back in June.

It's easy to see that my smile isn't as "gummy" as it used to be. I'm excited that everything is coming along so well, and I can't wait to see the final result!

Here are the rest of today's pictures: 

Day 15: Nothing Exciting

Nothing new happened today. The swelling is still going down a little bit at a time and I was able to put some wax on the bracket/hook that was rubbing up against my cheek. I'm hardly in any pain anymore except for feeling a little bit sore every now and then. I still get tired in the late afternoon, but it's nothing a quick nap can't fix. It's funny because my mouth still doesn't do everything that it used to be able to do. For example, I can't frown or pout my lips, and we always laugh when my mom or siblings ask me to try to make a face.

Here are the pictures for today: