7 months on the dot

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I posted so I thought I'd do an update. Everything is good with my teeth and jaws. I am still very numb on my lower lip and chin. I have some puffiness around my nose and when I press there it's the sensation of pressing on a bruise but it's barely noticeable. I can eat anything, but bacon is a little rough. My gums are numb so flossing is weird because I can't feel it at all! I did end up getting a bridge replacement where that missing tooth was and I feel good about that choice. It feels perfect. I had a retainer for the lower but it was too tight and when I got my bridge I re-fitted for a new retainer. That was a month ago! I called them and they haven't received it yet because of the holidays she said. I hope it doesn't mess up because I haven't worn a retainer in a month! It's probably fine. As far as my TMJ aftermath, there is pain above my ears on both sides where he made the incisions but it's nothing bothersome, it only hurts when I press on it to massage the tissue. My good ol' friend the finance manager at Dr. Franco's office called me a couple days ago about my 'open account'. She says that Cigna has decided not to pay for some things that they agreed to pay. Seriously! Anyone in the states trying to have jaw surgery... the worst part truly is the financial issues and insurance hassle! I haven't called her back to find out more because I just got back from vacation yesterday and I can't deal with her. But, I know I have Cigna letters saying they'll cover 100% so if they try anything funny, I'm pretty sure that's a lawsuit. We'll see...

So in love with brushing my teeth without braces! Cleaning my teeth all those months was such a pain!

Day 115

I got my retainers yesterday. The bottom retainer is so tight! I think my teeth already shifted a tad bit but Dr. Simon told me to just wear them a few nights and then if it's still hurting I could go back and redo it. But I woke up this morning and it was fine so, I'm not worried about it. I did see Dr. Franco and he said that the bone had deteriorated and they would have to do a bone graph if I wanted to put in an implant. I can't be bothered to do that, so I'd rather just get the bridge put back on since that's what I had for the past 20 years and it felt like a regular tooth. My face has lost a lot of swelling. My chin and bottom lip are still numb and my gums are pretty numb. I used to have sensitive spots when I was brushing and I can't feel them now and I can't feel anything when I floss. There's still some pressure around my nose and under my eyes. I also have some sensitive areas around my ear where they opened the cartilage for the TMJ surgery. I try to massage that everyday to loosen up the scar tissue. I can open my mouth as wide as I could before. This picture was taken last week when I demonstrated how I can open wide and bite through food I couldn't before.

I can bite through everything. It's a really weird feeling and I haven't gotten used to it yet. It's exciting! Here are my retainers.

Day 100

Hayia! Hope all is well in the world of jaw surgery stressers. I got my braces off!

They gave me a bottle of champagne and a cupcake on my way out! Dr. Simon said that I was finished fast! I'm super happy about that! It's good to be out of braces since I'm 34 and it's a little old to be still working on teeth.

I have temporary retainers and I'm waiting on the regular ones. I went to the dentist for a good cleaning. There was all this problem about a bridge or implant. You know what to do with the space where that tooth is missing. My insurance of course doesn't pay for anything and it's expensive to do either. I've had a bridge so long that the bone has deteriorated so they don't think an implant will even work. So I'm going to ask Dr. Franco when I see him on Monday.

Day 83

Hi everyone. My swelling has gone down a ton. I've been massaging my temples where there's scar tissue from the TMJ surgery and it's feeling better everyday. I'm on the books to have my braces removed next Friday! I hope it happens. You know how that stuff is fickle. The Monday after I'm booked for a cleaning and stain removal. I also still have to be fitted for a bridge where that one tooth is missing. Things are winding down and I'm almost finished! Here's before and after(photo taken today)

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Day 68

Hi everyone. It's been a couple weeks since I posted anything. Last week I went to Dr. Simon's office and she said "Good God Girl, You're done!" that was exciting to hear. She said that she wanted to add one wire to close up the gaps in a couple teeth and then I'd be finished. The gap is very close to where Dr. Franco made the incision so she wanted to wait a couple more weeks before she put the wire on because it adds pressure there. She wasn't sure it was stable. She did tell me that I only had to wear my rubber bands at night. HALLELUJAH! But the following day I saw Dr. Franco and he said it all looks fine. My swelling is down a lot. There are tiny patches of thick swelled skin around my nose and upper lip and lower jaw near my jowls. I can rub my lips together which took a while to be able to do. I'm still feeling numb along the upper jaw gum line, chin and around my nose. I can eat most things. I tried tortilla chips the other day. I was able to chew them but the enjoyment wasn't really there because it was hard to clean out of my mouth and there is a weird numb zinger that goes down my chin when I bite together. My hearing was still out last week but I flew to Seattle for a wedding and poof! It was cured after my plane ride. Totally weird. I always forget to take my picture until after I put my hair up and wash off my makeup. But, anyhow here is my small swelling.

Day 48

Hello. I have nothing good to say about the hearing in my left ear. I thought that it might be improving when I could feel some pops but basically it's just popping now and so the level of how much I can't hear varies from Darth Vador sounds to underwater tea party. As a kid, did you ever go underwater and have a tea party with your friend and then come up and try to figure out what they were saying? If you didn't then you may want to try it so you can understand what your friends and co workers are saying after your surgery. Another thing you could do to practice is go somewhere in a plane and when you get to 30K feet, put on ear plugs and then have a tea party with the person in the seat next to you. Actually, they said this hearing loss is highly unusual so it probably won't happen to you. The good news is that I think my swelling went down 1 notch. They told me at work that I looked less swelled Monday morning. As far as discomfort goes, I have a lot of complaints still. I have zingers, pins & needles, my bottom lip and chin are very numb still the gum line on top and right against the bottom teeth are sore and annoyed. The roof of my mouth feels burned but mostly numb and the area around my nose is stiff and thickly swelled. I feel a lot of pressure there when I smile or laugh. My cheeks and around my TMJ are still sore too. My teeth were a little sore from getting my braces changed out but now they're all right. I have some pain when I first take off my rubber bands. I think I'm holding them together too hard when they're banded. It's not really necessary since the bands are quite weak. I'm wearing the rubber bands in my sleep and throughout the day. I take them off a couple hours around my 3 meals. Neither Franco or Simon were specific on how many hours I could leave them off, so I just chose what I want. But, I make sure to wear them most of the time because I don't want to slow the process down. Also, if I leave them off too long, it hurts more when they go back on. FOOD things are good. This entire time I have not had much of an issue with food. It was definitely a problem the first week or two but I haven't really felt that hungry. I'm up to eating some chewy things like sausage but I'm not that good so sometimes I give up. I can workout and run. Overall I lost 10 pounds but it's already coming back on a little. Here are some photos of food I've eaten.

Sausage and bison chili

Mushroom Risotto

chicken cacciatore

Shepherd's Pie

Day 45

So I finally got to go to the ENT about my ears. It was so stupid because I got there and had to fill out all the paperwork and wait. Then once I got in the smaller waiting room he came in and I told him how I couldn't hear for 2 weeks and that I felt like Darth Vader and could hear my own breathing sounds, etc. My left ear is the problem but my right is catching up quickly. He said that there was nothing in them to cause hearing loss and I should take the test. He put me on a waiting bench in the hall behind 2 elderly women where I waited another 2 hours! When I was finally called into the room the 'test' was a pressure sensor, where she said "Oh wow, you're showing pressures like what you would read if you were in a plane!" Duh. That's what I've been explaining. Then I went into the sound booth and pressed a button every time I heard a sound. When I was finished she explained to me that my chart showed "very poor readings for someone my age". I went back to the waiting room, this time I didn't have to wait long because I heard the doctor tell the staff he wanted to go home and hurry up with the last patient (me). He diagnosed me with swelling inside my ears. No meds, no help. He said just wait it out and come back to redo all that crap in 2 months. Jeez. In other news: here's my new nephew just 4 weeks old.

You can see in this picture how awkward my mouth is. It's still completely numb and I can't smile showing my teeth because they are nasty looking. I'll keep practicing.

Day 39

I saw Dr. Simon yesterday. She said I won't be in braces long because my bite looks so good! Yay! As usual, she had a lot of trouble opening the doors on my brackets and said she could feel my teeth moving. I couldn't feel much on the top because I'm still so numb but there were a few sharp stings in the roof and behind my canine when she was changing the wires out. She put 2 triangle rubber bands on but they're not nearly as tight as the ones Dr. Franco had me wearing. She also mentioned that my swelling looked pretty normal for 5 weeks and that it would stay swollen for several months. She was surprised that I can't hear out of my left ear. I woke up today and it's the same. It's now been over a week and the longest I've ever had water or whatever is in there. I'm just waiting for my appointment with the ENT now and hopefully he can wash out the gunk so I can hear again. My teeth are so disgusting. The wash that you gargle with after surgery turns them brown! They look like wood almost. I'm so embarrassed by them but there is nothing I can do. I can't wait to get them cleaned and whitened!

Day 37

I ended up losing all hearing in my left ear. For days, there's been the feeling that I had water or liquid in there. When I turned my head upside-down I could feel it moving around...just like swimmer's ear or when you have water stuck in your ear. I tried sleeping on that side, hoping it would drain, I tried using a blow dryer to air it out, I tried holding my nose and breathing to make my ears pop. Nothing. Then yesterday my right ear started crackling and making the same sounds inside that my left ear did at first. I got really worried that I would lose that side too! I made an emergency apt. with Dr. Franco. today and he looked inside my ear and said that there was no fluid or wax buildup that was abnormal or anything he could see that would cause me to not hear. He recommended that I go see an ENT to get my ears flushed. He said it's very unusual for this to happen. When I say I can't hear, what I mean is that I'm hearing what you would hear if you plugged your ears. It's like I'm in an airplane 30,000ft up, with plugs in my ears and headphones over that. You can hear inside your head what you're saying but can't hear other people or things. It's very annoying. While I was at Dr. Franco's office, I asked him if he or Dr. Simon would take off my splint. He said either of them could and I asked him to take mine off. He said ok! I was so happy because that thing is really intrusive! He went and got some wire cutters and made a few clips and pulled it out. It was like getting stitches out. A little pinch here and there and it fell out. It feels great to have it out! I can talk better, taste my food and brush! I was worried the splint would be super nasty and full of food but it wasn't that bad. He said that it actually looked pretty clean and not disgusting. Yay! The roof of my mouth where the splint was laying is rough and hard feeling. I thought that it would be a little easier to chew but when I went to have a piece of cucumber I couldn't chew it. I can on the right side but the left is still struggling to chew. I think it will take a few more weeks. After my apt. I went back to work and everyone was like, "whoa! I can understand you!" so at least there's that. Tomorrow I will see Dr. Simon for my first post op orthodontic experience. Might as well throw in some painful braces tightening while I'm at it. Actually, I'm happy to go because the wires are all cut up and some are really stabbing me. I want fresh wires. Next Wed. is my apt. with the ENT specialist who will I guess flush my ears. Gross, who would want to work with noses and ears for a living. I don't really want to wait another week without hearing. Oh, well. Also, I've been drinking the occasional glass of wine. Dr. Franco said it was fine last visit and I found that it feels better to have a glass of wine than take an advil or tylenol. My pain is more discomfort at this point. It's not really that painful but it's just enough and for over 30 days it feels like it will never end. I'm constantly aware of my mouth. It's throbbing in some places and pinching in others. My lips and chin feel burnt and my cheeks, jaws and under my eyes feel sore. The skin feels sore. My swelling has gone down some but still puffy, especially in the jowls. Here are today's photos.

Day 34

Well I can't hear out of my left ear. Last Thursday I was hearing that white noise you sometimes get in your ears if there is water in them. I was hearing it when I listened to music in my car or sounds from the TV. If it got a little too loud, I would hear this "wind" in my ear. Remember when I was saying my left TMJ was hurting for several days last week? It doesn't heart anymore but I woke up last week and my left ear was totally clogged. I haven't been able to get rid of it since then! It's very annoying. It's just like when you have water in your ear but usually you can get it out if you tilt your head or take a hot bath. Nothing has worked. I'm supposed to go see Dr. Simon this Friday but I'm not sure there is anything she can do about it. I feel like there is just a tremendous amount of drainage going on there. Hopefully it will drain what's left of the swelling in my face. I want it to go away though because it's extremely distracting. Over the weekend I also had some palsy in my bottom lip. It just completely gave up. When I talked, it was completely uncontrollable. I wasn't sure if it was hanging open or what. But, that passed after a couple days. Now, I have lots of pins and needles in my bottom lip and chin, big pressure on my Right TMJ and drainage or something covering my left ear. When I smile there is a pressure on my zygomatic bones.

See on the chart #7. That's where I can feel the bolts. I'm not sure what I'm feeling exactly but there is an annoyance under the skin there and tension. The pain I feel now is mostly in my teeth from the rubber bands. Everything else is just very annoying. I keep feeling warm water dripping on my mouth and chin and of course there is nothing there. Ah! When I see Dr. Simon on Friday, hopefully she can rid me of this splint which makes me hard to understand for others, and it'd be really fun if she didn't make me wear rubber bands anymore. Just those 2 things would make me feel better I think.

Day 29

I don't have much to update. Same old things, swelling is going down very slowly, I have pain in my TMJ area and lower left jaw, my front lower teeth are sore and I have some knots around my nose. My bite is closed which is really weird to me! I can't wait to try out my new bite. Fore now, I can chew a little but I'm not really using my front teeth yet because they're sore. I tend to push the food back to the molars like I always have.

The state of my teeth are really scary. When I finally get my braces off I'm going to have to get a serious cleaning. They are almost brown looking! So gross, I hope they have enough tools to chisel away the gunk!

Day 25

I saw Dr. Franco yesterday and he said that I'm looking good. I told him that I still feel and look very swollen and he said it's normal to still be this swollen and he's not worried at all about my progress. He wants me to continue wearing the rubber bands until my appointment with Dr. Simon. He also mentioned that because it's Texas and hot and humid my swelling will be a little more and last a little longer. I've suddenly got this piercing pain in my left TMJ and I researched it and other people wrote that they had this same pain a month after surgery. It's hurting me and ruining my ability to eat. But, the bloggers out there say it's normal so I'm going to wait and bring it up to Dr. Simon when I see her in a couple weeks. I feel better when I massage where it hurts and take a couple tylenol. As of now, I take Advil every 6 hours or so. My Rx pain killers are all gone. I got some Tylenol today so I'm going to take Advil then wait a few hours and take Tylenol. My friend said that helped her. That's about it. I'm bummed out that I have to keep wearing these rubber bands. They suck.

I'm supposed to stretch my face and loosen up the scar tissue by making kissing face and big smile. I look really stupid doing that but just doing it 2 days has helped it feel more relaxed when I actually laugh or smile. It's not so tight.

Day 22

I'm surprised I didn't have to do much of a liquid diet. I had a few days or so of just liquid things but really, I could swallow eggs pretty early on. I was expecting weeks of being starving and I haven't really experienced that. The first week I wasn't really hungry and now that my appetite is back I'm eating plenty to satiate me. Here is what my meals have been looking like: Salmon with sweet potato mash, crab and risotto cakes; slow cooked chicken soup over rice; spinach and cheese omelet with mashed potatoes and of course a shake with protein and collagen powder, cocoa, spinach, fruit and water.

Day 20

I'm still working half-days. I may do that until Wed. I'm hoping that some of my swelling will go down soon. I'm still super swollen and it's annoying me. There's tightness at the joints and if I smile I can feel a lot of stress in my ear and TMJ area. My lips, chin and nose are all still really numb and my cheeks, eyes and neck are all puffy and feel bruised. It's kind of hard for people to understand me at work and the more clearly I try to talk the more stress it puts on my face which makes it hurt. I can open my mouth pretty wide. I hope I can get rid of these bands soon. They're a painful hassle.

I can't see a huge difference in my appearance. I look like a really swollen version of what I already looked like. It's slightly different.

Day 18

Not too much to report. I still have a lot of swelling and pins and needles in my nose and chin. There is an aching pain on my top gum line. I have a lot of discomfort inside my mouth, for example certain teeth are hurting and the retainer on the roof of my mouth is bothering me. My gums hurt and keep getting this sharp annoying pain on the roof of my mouth--It lasts only a second but it's very annoying. I got some meatloaf hoping I could eat it but it was a little too tough for me and I ended up just going with the mashed yams and chicken broth again. I did eat a salmon filet yesterday and that was tasty. I'm so ready for this to all be done. It feels like I will never get out of feeling like this. Today is Saturday so I'm taking it easy. I went for a long walk and got some sun but for the most part I've been lounging around all day. I worked 3 half days this past week and it was hard to do. I may have gone back a little too early because my mouth was really aching by the end of work each day. I had/have a lot of work to do and I feel like it would be fine to just do the work but it feels best to not smile or talk, ha! It's really hard to work like that though, because I want to smile and talk to people but by 5pm I'm rushing home for pain meds and bed. Putting a hot wash cloth on my face helps the aching stop.

Day 16

I had an appointment with Dr. Franco yesterday. I told him there was a wire that was sticking out and stabbing me in the lip and he said he couldn't bend or cut it but he had a tool that he could buff it down so it was smooth. Luckily that worked out because that wire had been catching my lip and making me bleed for days! I don't have an appointment with Dr. Simon until June 20th so it would have been a long time with that annoyance. Franco said I did a good job with the first round of rubber bands and he put only one on this time. I could have cried I was so relieved. The bands are the worst part of this ordeal. They're so painful that I had trouble sleeping! Speaking of sleeping, I have't mentioned that I have NOT had a hard time sleeping this whole time. I've read other blogs and people talked about not being able to sleep or get comfortable. Anyway, after my appointment I actually went to work for a few hours. Everyone seemed pretty thrilled that I was back and I told them I'd work some half days and ease back into it. I'm still in some minor pain but I'd rather just go back to work. There are five girls that work there and we all answer the office phones. I was planning on letting them get the phones until I was better able to talk but then I found out they're all on a 7:30-4:30 schedule now and I'm the only one that will be working to 5. For 30 min. I was answering the office phones and just mumbling and spitting but nobody said anything or seemed to care so I'll just go with it. I can't smile well and my face is so tight feeling and achy. I went to the store yesterday and bought some groceries. I bought a few packs of spinach ravioli but when I tried to eat it I realized that it was a little ambitious and I have to stick to soup a little longer. When I tried to chew I felt a little pop, it didn't hurt it just felt scary. When my mouth is banded shut for hours it's hard for me to get it open after I take the bands off. When they were off that whole week I was able to get my mouth open quite a lot. I can drink out of a "big girl cup" now but occasionally I'll feel liquid running down my neck an chest and realize it's spilling out. Here are some photos of the only rubber band I currently have and the position of my bite now and my best effort at a smile.

I got an X-Ray and took a photo of it so it's bad quality but at least you can see the pins and the 'break' which is the dark arch over my top gum line and the dark lines between the back molars. Gross huh!

Day 14

It's been 2 weeks now since surgery. My swelling is still pretty bad. The area around my nose is stiff and tight feeling. My lips and chin feel like they were burned. I have more movement in my mouth but scrunching my nose up feels weird and I can't really smile or laugh well, it kind of hurts. Inside my mouth the roof is pretty numb but feels more like a recovering burn and the line where my top lip meets my gum is sore and swollen still and the bottom front teeth hurt due to the rubber bands. There's still some swollen areas around my ear from the TMJ surgery and I keep going to scratch it only to realize that it hurts to do that. I don't know what that's about. I can eat mushy food. My mom made me some vegetable soup with the veggies pretty chunky. I tried to eat that but it was difficult so I put it in the blender and it was easier after that. I got some almond milk chocolate pudding that I'm really into. Scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, protein shakes, omelet, soups. Brushing is such a bore. I have to brush, rinse with my waterpik and swish with a mouthwash and add my bands after every meal. It takes forever.

Day 12

I'm in pain. 7 over 10 for sure. I stayed in bed all day today. The rubber band-pins and needle combo is torture. I was crying this morning. I had some chicken broth and eggs and stayed in bed. The swelling is the same today although I can feel a tad more sensation in my cheeks than yesterday. Hot washcloths to the face and neck for the rest of the day.

Day 11

My face has the feeling of pins and needles CONSTANTLY. It's very annoying and it's the strongest in my chin and lips. I'm starting to get some movement back in my lips. I've been using the moist heat (aka hot wash cloth) on my neck and face like Dr. Franco told me to do. I hate the rubber band situation. I don't feel like I'm putting them on right because my teeth are moving and it just doesn't feel right. They hurt too. my bottom gum line is throbbing all day from the pull of the bands. I'm able to eat more now. I can have eggs and chili and rice. My boyfriend just went to pick up some Shepherd's Pie. It's pathetic looking and sounding when I eat. I'm slurping and sucking the food but I can get it down so that's the important part. I'm a little more mobile, I've gotten out to the park a lot and I've gone to the store and can do things here and there. But I get very tired and need to come home and nap after a couple of hours. I have some pain but I'm trying to lay off the pain killers if I can. I just want to take 1 a day now and try to use Advil instead during the day. My mouth feels really overcrowded at this point. With the retainer, braces and bands I feel really trapped. I can't wait for all this to be out of my mouth. The shifting around of my teeth has also made a wire stick out and is stabbing me non stop. I got some tools and tried to bend it until I go see Dr. Franco on Wed. but it didn't really work. Here's the swelling process as of today!

Day 9

I saw Dr. Franco today. He banded me back up and gave me a small bag of rubber bands. I'm supposed to take off the bands for food and then put them back on myself. I tried it after my supper and it's not as easy as they make it look when they're putting them on you in the office or at the orthodontist. I really struggled to get the little suckers on and didn't have any coordination to do it. Also my gum line where the inside skin of my top lip meets really hurts. They made incisions there and it's swollen so when I'm messing with it I get stressed easily. What if I'm doing the wrong teeth anyway? He showed me but I'm not confident I did it right. Dr. Franco also removed those single stitches that were on both of my cheeks. He said that I needed to get really into the moist heat rule and make sure I'm doing it all day long so the swelling can drain. I told him what I did with the crock pot by my bed and he said I was smart. :) Before I banded myself back up I brushed and used my waterpik on the lowest setting. Dr. Franco said not to use it the first week but after it's ok. I was so grossed out by what came out of there even after I brushed! There is stuff stuck under the retainer and in between all the cracks and swells. Yick! But it feels clean now. After my appointment I went for a long walk around the park and through a neighborhood I like.

In the photos you can see some of the yellow bruising I have on my neck and chin. You can see how my chin is a little longer, although its still hard to tell with all the swelling. The one of my face is to show you how much i can smile. Not much but much better than the past week. That little dot in between my eyes appeared the day of the surgery. I'm not sure what it is. My skin is pretty gross and I'm looking forward to a good facial when this is said and done.