Tuesday 24 June 2014

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.

Tuesday 17 June 2014

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.

Saturday 14 June 2014

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!

Wednesday 11 June 2014

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.

Wednesday 4 June 2014

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. ♥

Monday 2 June 2014

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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