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.