The Grand Reveal: Day 148

Hello everyone! I can't believe I haven't posted since August - sorry! However, nothing much happened between August and October as I was just attending my regular checkups and everything was peachy. I have also been very busy with university and work.

Anyway, I have brilliant news. On the 31st of October (which was day 148 post op) I had my braces removed. The procedure was pretty straight forwards and I knew what to expect as it wasn't the first time I've had braces removed. It still felt strange though. My teeth are slippery smooth.

You can now see that my teeth are lovely and straight - a Hollywood smile (if I don't say so myself). I'm so pleased with the results. It was a long process, but definitely worth it.

Below is a picture that I found of myself from around Christmas time last year. My face looks so different (apart from losing half the hair). The surgery has made the tip of my nose slightly wider, but I won't complain about that. My face looks a lot more balanced and natural.

Now all I have to do is wear a clear plastic Essix retainer which is not a problem. It is a bit of pain having to take it out to eat and then brush my teeth again before it goes back in, but nothing compared to the awkwardness of surgery.

If you have anymore questions about my experiences, please do feel free to get in touch by leaving a comment below.

Thanks for reading!

Post Op: Day 66

Hello!
So, you may have noticed that my updates aren't as frequent, but that's because things have slowed down. There's not too much more to say at the moment. Pain isn't really there at all, neither is discomfort. Everything feels ok!

Two months on and we're nearly there with it all. Chewing is improving so I am nearly back to normal with the eating. The left side of my mouth is getting stronger so I can eat most things apart from hard toffees or anything too crispy. On the right side, my teeth aren't touching still, but they're slowly improving.

This week, I visited the orthadontist and it was good news. I don't have to go back for a month and hopefully when I do return they'll give me the go ahead for getting the braces off. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that these elastics do their magic over the next few weeks.

I'll keep you updated with the next bit of news I hear. Let me know if you have any questions - I'm happy to help.
Thanks for reading!

Post Op: Day 44

It's now six weeks post op! Time has flown by. Things are now pretty much back to normal as I have gone back to work which is nice because by the time October comes and I am back at university, I'll be feeling perfect (fingers crossed).

This week I went to see the surgeon and the orthodontist and here's how they said progress was:

Orthadontist: Bite is improving quickly! Just need to carry on with the elastics for a few more weeks because my overjet has nearly gone and it will bring my right teeth together more (they still don't touch much). Once they are together, I will have a perfect bite apparently.

Surgeon: Teeth are slowly settling. Looking good and I don't have to see him for three months!

I can't believe how much my overjet has decreased. Below you can see my progress pictures. The first photo was taken just before surgery, the second about two weeks post-op and the last one six weeks.

Sorry, the photos aren't the most flattering, but you can just see how much has been done.

Swelling has nearly gone now, pain isn't really there at all and numbness is now only on the right side of my chin and bottom lip and roof of my mouth. Can't open my mouth much still, but that will come with time.

Also, another note, I'm starting to chew a bit more, but only on the left side of  mouth where my teeth are meeting properly. Still taking it slowly though and won't be eating anything chewy or too meaty yet.

Not much else to update on at the moment, but I will post again soon with more progress. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!

Thanks for reading.

Post Op: Day 29

It's been four weeks and one day since my surgery! It really does feel like a lifetime ago now. I have recovered so much since then, but I think it will take me a bit longer to have fully recovered.

I am still visiting the hospital every week for my orthodontics just to fine-tune my bite. I go again today and hopefully they'll tell me it's nearly perfect.

Here are my ratings!

Pain - 2/10, there isn't really any pain from my jaw and throughout the whole process pain has not really been a problem for me. The biggest problem is just how awkward the surgery is and not being able to eat properly! At the moment, the pain is mostly coming from an ulcer inside my cheek from where part of my brace has been rubbing.

Stiffness - 7/10, I can fit the toothbrush into my mouth now (just). I can only open my mouth a few cm though. It's definitely worse in the morning, but gets better during the day when I limber up a bit. I think this is quite normal though. My surgeon and orthodontists tell me that this is nothing to worry about.

Numbness -  5/10, the numbness on my cheeks has definitely gone down. It almost feels back to normal now! The only problem I have is with the right side of my chin and lower lip. I can feel slight pressure, but not temperature. I am hoping that it comes back. It's just a bit slow. Inside of my mouth, my lower gums are a little bit numb and I can't really feel anything on the roof of mouth which I discovered when I got the toothbrush in there.

I can smile better now though and it gets better every day. Overall, I'm really happy with my progress so far.

Thanks for reading!

Post Op: Day 19 and Numbness

So, we are now nineteen days past the surgery date. Time really is flying by. This Thursday, it will have been three weeks! Recovery is going really well. When I visited the surgeon last week he told me that I don't need to see him for a month now because I am on the right track. However, I still have to see my orthodontist every week to check these elastic bands in my mouth.

I am looking more normal every day! The changes from day to day are minimal now too. Swelling has nearly gone I think and I am not even at the three weeks mark! The only issue I have is that there is a bit of numbness which I have tried to illustrate on the photo below:

The areas which I have highlighted are partially numb (the chin is the worst). I do have a little bit of feeling in those areas, but not as much as I did before, but the orthodontist said that he thinks the feeling will come back soon.

In all these photos I look a bit sad, but I am not! I am finally getting used to smiling again. Here is a little smile I captured earlier this week on instagram:

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to ask any questions or let me know about your own experiences.

Post Op: Day 12

It's nearly been two weeks since my surgery - time is flying by. I'm feeling loads better than I did as well. Swelling has gone down a lot and I'm not in any pain. I haven't taken any pain relief in over a week, so things are going well.

My face still feels a bit frozen though! It's difficult for me to smile, but I keep trying. I miss being able to do a big cheesy grin because at the moment I look a bit miserable.

I also visited the orthodontist again! I can never get away. Now that my jaws have been moved, they're just trying to fix my bite so it's perfect. They've placed my elastics in all sorts of positions and now I can hardly open my mouth. However, he showed me how to change them myself and here's the photo so I can reference where to put them:

It's a bit scary, I know. I think my teeth are looking alright though. The only problem I am having is that I am only biting down on my left side, my right teeth don't touch, but we're fixing that. I'm going again on Thursday so I will keep you updated.

Thanks for reading.

Post Op: First Appointment and Photos

Hello again,
I am now 9 days on and I am feeling better everyday. On Thursday I went for my first appointment with the orthodontist and surgeon since surgery. Both just had a look in my mouth and they were surprised how much my swelling has gone down! They say I'm doing really well. The orthadontist changed my elastics again. I wish they would show me how to change them myself so I can take them off and try and brush my teeth a bit better. It is the brushing of my teeth that I find most difficult because of all the hooks, elastics and I can't get far into my mouth. Has anyone got any tips?

I'm also ready to share some photos! I think they're a bit scary, but you can see my progress. If you want to find out about my first 0-6 days, you can read about it here.

Won't be winning any beauty contests with these:

The first two days after the day of surgery were the worst for me, but it got better from there. Bruising was worst on day 4 and 5, but it seems to be disappearing now which I think is pretty quick! Still got a bit of swelling though.

Thanks for reading!

Post Op: Days 0 - 6

Hello, so today is the first day I have felt up to opening up my laptop and to write about how it's gone so far. I have been exhausted, but I get a little better every day.

Day 0

So my Mum and I were at hospital at 7:00am and went up to the admissions ward at 7:30am (so early)! I was checked over by the nurse and anaesthetist before seeing the surgeon. I signed my consent form and had to go down for surgery. I said goodbye to Mum and was in the theatre at 9:00am. I can't really remember much about being anaesthetised, the needle hurt in my hand and my arm went dead and then I was out.

I woke up in recovery at around 2pm, the surgery took so much longer than expected - although still not sure why. I felt like I was left in recovery for a long time too as I was still sleepy and they had to give me my a nebuliser because of my asthma, but I didn't feel sick or ill at all which I was glad about. Only thing about recovery that I didn't like was when they took the tube out of my nose which felt very weird. I went back up to the ward at around 4pm where I met my worried Mum who stayed with me for a little while, but I was quite sleepy.

The rest of my family visited which was lovely and brought gifts and cards, which I wasn't actually expecting, but definitely a positive of staying in hospital. Thank you family.

When they left, I felt tired, but I couldn't sleep the whole night. The nasal packs in my nose felt horrible and I couldn't stop dribbling so had to sit upright and have the sick bowl under my chin the whole night to catch it all. I was shattered in the morning.

Day 1 - 3

These days are still spent in hospital. Still uncontrollably dribbling and just wanted to go home. After the first day, the swelling goes up a lot! I had to have extra steroids to make it go down. They had to keep putting a cannula in my hand which was the most painful thing for me (because I don't have any veins) and at one point I had one in each hand. My hands are still black and bruised.

The days were boring, but the nights even worse because I couldn't sleep. Hospitals are too noisy and the nurses keep interrupting rest which medicine and to take your blood pressure and temperature. The nurses were really kind to me though really.

The worst day was the second day because of the swelling and the anaesthetic had worn off so I was feeling a little bit sorry for myself and might have cried a little bit. I wanted to go home, but they wanted to see my drinking and eating more.

Finally on the Sunday, they let me go home. I was so relieved, although walking out of the hospital took it all out of me. I had to shuffle, I was all out of energy. Really glad to be home though where I can relax properly.

Day 4 - 6

Happy at home! Things are finally getting better. Haven't really been on many painkillers. I haven't had paracetamol since day 4. The only thing that is uncomfortable is the swelling (my head feels like a giant balloon), the congestion and dribbling. I just have to keep persevering!

Tomorrow I have to go to the hospital again for my first appointment after the surgery so they can have a look in my mouth and check everything is on the right track. I hope they change my elastic bands - they turned a bit orange from my soup.

Will keep you updated and I'm hoping to post some progress photos later because this post is a bit meaty as it is with all this information.

Thanks for reading.

Less than 24 Hours

It's now less than 24 hours until I go into hospital! I'm now feeling pretty nervous, but still can't really believe it'll be happening.

Today, I went and visited my grandparents, my grandma made me a nice big sandwich for lunch which will be my last for a little while. Hopefully when I have a sandwich again, I'll be able to bite into it properly without all the filling falling out. Then I had a little trip to the hairdressers to tidy my hair up and I've got it cut so it's manageable for tomorrow and the next few days.

My last supper will be Dominoes pizza, yum yum! I am going to miss that for a while.

Here's my last picture of me before surgery tomorrow. Hopefully everything will go well and there will be no complications - my fingers are crossed. I am excited to be on the other side of the operation and for there to be no more anticipation because I find that makes me more nervous.

I'll keep you updated.
Thanks for reading. ♥

All Prepared

This is the first post of my new blog about my jaw surgery journey. I am having to have it on both of my jaws as well as having wisdom teeth taken out at the same time! I was inspired by Becky who has had the same surgery to start this blog.

Here's the story so far:

• I originally had braces in 2006 when I was 11 years old to straighten out my teeth. I wore them until Easter 2009.
• Afterwards, I think my overbite gradually got worse as I grew up so my dentist referred me to the hospital when I was 18. 
• In Easter 2013, I had the braces fitted again to get my teeth in order for the surgery.

It took about  6/7 months to prepare my teeth for surgery, however I had to wait around a bit because I wanted to have surgery in the summer so I had enough time to recover and so it didn't interfere with university.

Last Friday I had my pre-operative assessment and I was asked all about my health and told how I will feel after surgery. They weighed me, measured me and even took my blood (worst part for me)! 

Now I'm all ready for surgery. I go in on Thursday - I'm quite nervous, but it'll all be worth it. I think it's the anticipation that makes things scarier. 

 

Here are a few pictures of me, before braces and with braces. I always smile with my teeth because I find it difficult to close my mouth and it causes my chin to dimple which looks quite funny. I have been told by the surgeon that I have a bit of a gummy smile (however, my teeth are quite big so I don't think it looks too bad).

Here's me now! When I relax my face my lips are usually open. I don't think the profile of my face looks quite right. Hopefully the surgery will improve this and I'll be able to close my lips properly at last!

I will keep you updated! Please let me know if you've had similar surgery or if you're going through something similar.

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