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.

Day 8

My healing process is inching right along. I still feel like a have a huge face and I noticed that my open bite is kind of back. I think it's because I haven't had the rubber bands on for the past couple days. I'll see Dr. Franco tomorrow and let him figure it out. I have a crock pot that I filled with water and put beside my bed and set it on low. Dr. Franco kept telling me in the last surgery and in this one to put moist heat on my neck, chin, cheeks for 15 min a spot several times a day. But, the problem is that if I go to the sink and use hot water on a rag, it only stays hot for about 3 minutes, then I have to get up again. That's very boring to do consistently all day long. Now with the pot next to my bed, I can sit and watch a movie and when the rag is not hot, I can dip it in the hot water by my bed! I dropped a few drops of tea tree oil on the rag and was surprised how much my cat loved it. She keeps getting in my face and trying to lick the rag.

In other news, remember how I told you that I was thinking of that chicken fried steak in Rockwall? Well, the chef died! My friend told me yesterday that he died and they closed the restaurant and I can never have his chicken fried steak again!. This is Texas and chicken fried steak is not hard to come by but still...I wanted that one. My breakfast was an egg, cup of asparagus puree and water. I started using chopsticks to scoop the eggs in and that works well for me. I guess after tomorrow I can't have eggs anymore after Franco bands me up again.

Day 7

So last night I was brushing more aggressively like Dr. Franco told me to do and those darn rubber bands broke and flew away. Now my mouth is open. I text Dr. Franco and he said that it was no big deal and he'd fix it on Thursday. Yay me, I took the opportunity to eat eggs. My entire mouth is numb. I don't like it at all. I know there are sores and when I brush I know I'm irritating them but I can't feel it so I'm worried I'll open a stitch or continue to brush over something that needs to heal. I got in there with a tiny flashlight to see what's going on in the back and it was pretty gruesome. I can see stitches and blood and slime and chunks of flesh. I just did what I could to try to get it cleaned. My top lip hurts when I move it up to brush. My bottom lip is loose and I'm constantly drooling. My chin and around my mouth and nose are really active. I feel a lot of nerves regenerating. There's pressure on my face and yellow bruising is starting to show up around my neck and jowls. I'm still not getting enough calories. I really need to work on that because it's just such a hassle to eat anything. I'm slurping and drooling and my nose is leaking and I'm still for the most part having to use a syringe to eat and the syringes have a plastic smell. This morning I had 2 eggs. That's 200 calories then I didn't have anything else until just now at 6pm. I had a shake, I put whey protein powder, collagen powder, cocoa, cinnamon, strawberries, blueberries, 1/2 banana, handful of spinach and a little water. I drank the whole thing. Maybe I'll try to get some broth and rice in before bed, since I don't have the bands. The problem with not getting calories is that I'm losing weight but it's good weight! Muscle tissue including my heart muscle! When people lose weight they want to lose fat slowly over a period of time then it stays off. But if you're starving you can't get better and you lose energy and get headaches and lose weight fast and when you finally do get better, you get that weight back plus an extra 10 pounds in case you need to starve again. Sigh. My pictures today look exactly like yesterday so I'm not going to bother with them.