Getting better

First, I saw my orthodontist yesterday. He was surprised to see that my neck is still bruised, cause usually when patients come back after two weeks it will be gone. I don't know.. maybe it just takes me longer to heal. Actually it doesn't look that bad anymore, but for these first couple of weeks I've been concerned about what people that see me might think. Perhaps they imagine I'm beeing abused by my fiance... :-/

Anyway he was also very pleased with the results from my surgery, and seems convinced that the remaining gap in between my jaws in the front is something that he'll be able to fix. With the miracles he's done to my teeth so far, I trust him completely.
Right now I have two rubber bands keeping my jaws closed training them to bite right. I wear them as much as I bare.. but take them out when I need to eat, or when I'm just too tired..

When I woke up this morning my face was still swollen. My left eye was half closed because of it, and yet again i could not breathe through my nose. During the day finally I've become less swollen. My OS suspects I might have sinusitis and that is what has made me worse. I have been given antibiotics to last three more days and will be going back again on monday to see if I'm better then.

I had the stitches removed in my mouth today. It wasn't supposed to hurt so I tryed to relax. But then it stinged just enough to make tears start running from my eyes and then it becamse more difficult to relax. It wasn't comfortable.. but not all that bad either. And it did feel good to get rid of them.

I wonder now how long it will take before I start feeling normal.
I can't feel the palate in my mouth, which brings out some of the joy I feel about beeing able to eat softer foods. I can't feel my gumbs, which makes brushing difficult, not beeing aware of how hard I'm pressing the brush. The right side of my nose, lips and chin are numb still. I can feel when something touches it, but not what or how hard. On some spots I can't even feel hot or cold.
My OS pinched me with a pair of tweezers, and I thought he was just touching lightly.
I know it has only been a little over two weeks, but I'm feeling anxious to get the sense of touch back.
I sometimes get the tingling sensation. The worst is when I feel an itch, and reach my hand out to itch it, and it does nothing...

I guess all I can do is wait and keep healing.

Still swollen :-(

This is the third day of antibiotics, second time around. Good news is, Dalacin has given me no side-effects so far. No nausea or anything.
Bad news is, it has had no effect either... I'm still just as swollen as I was two days ago. I was told it would take about three days, but I was hoping for at least some improvement.
Last night I made a facial mask with cucumber, to cool my face, and it felt so good. Kept cool for a bit longer than wet towels.

Today I have an appointment with my orthodontist, and tomorrow with my OS to get the stitches removed. Wish me luck...

Survived the first two weeks

well then it took me a while to post again, but now I'm back.
The day after my last post I reached my "turning point". I felt I had more energy, the swelling had gone down and when I looked in the mirror I started seeing where all of this is going. My face is still pretty stiff, but I'm getting a clue what my new smile is going to look like and seeing that made my laugh and cry of joy.. I'm gonna be smiling constantly when this thing is over.

Things went just fine at the hospital. The stitches on my forehead were removed. The ones in my mouth are going in two more days.

A few days ago, the swelling to my face was almost all gone and I was feeling better and better every day.
Then I woke up yesterday, with half of my face all swolled up again, and feeling weak and in some pain. I called the hospital and got to come in immediatley. It seems I've gote another infection, so now... more antibiotics... :-(
This time I got a different kind though, three pills so far and no problems, so hopefully I'll make it through.

8 days post-op

okay, i am feeling better at least than I did the other day. I don't feel like my entire face is going to explode.. Right now my main concern is still not being able to breathe through my nose, actually being more clogged up than ever. Not beeing able to blow my nose in this condition sucks. I´ve started feeling it getting to my ear when I swallow too, so what now if I get an ear infection and I'm prescribed yet more anthibiotics??

I'm going to see the doctor that did my surgery tomorrow, we'll see what he has to say. I have a few questions to ask this time. I never had any questions before, but now there´s a lot. Like what is it I´m swallowing down every now and then that feels like small pieces of plastic? And I'm concerned about my bite, dit it really go as planned? I can't really find a place where my teeth come together naturally on both sides. it feels a bit weird. Also I have to ask for the medical term for the actual surgery I had so that I can write it here. It never mattered to me what it was called before, but it matters now that I´ve found so many people getting different kinds of jaw surgeries.

I just drank a banana.. it was actually pretty good. Just blended a banana with some milk, a few blueberries and a little chocolate. Jummiest thing today. Dinner was chicken noodle soup in wich I added chopped garlic and olive oil. I´ve also been drinking tea, juice and various soups throughout the day.

I´m trying to recall how long ago it was that I started this process. Actually it is alsmost three years ago now that I went to my dentist for a check up and started discussing correcting my jaw. I was supposed to do this in my late teens, butt stuff got in the way... it was 5 years later that I took the decision and started on this journey at 24 years of age. Around the same time I became pregnant with my second child who will now be 2 y/o on valentines day.
I´ve worn braces 1½ years before this surgery and I´m told I will keep them on for another 6 months after.

By the way, you may wonder what was actually wrong with my bite and why I wanted to get it corrected.
Well people around me have not been able to understand it. They noticed a crooked tooth and a lot of gums showing in my smile, but the didn't see that I had not only and overbite, but also and open bite. Basically I haven't been able to really bite at all, without using my tounge and sometimes even my fingers to press up against my top teeth. Eating a hamburger for example, the tomato and lettuce would hang out of my mouth when I tryed to bite. Ham sandwiches were the worst.

Gah, why do I have to keep thinking about food??? I am sooo craving to chew real food again. PIZZAAAAA!!!!!!

I'll be back with information about how things go at the doctors.

6 days post-op

I find it sad now, that it is not until 6 days after I had my surgery that I thought about sharing my experiences. I have to admit, I was poorly prepared for my surgery. I had the information given to me by my orthodontist, but I did no research on my own. I guess I just didn't want to think about it that much, just get it done and over with.
Well as I sit here, after my surgery I am reading blog after blog, looking to read about others people going through what I am going through now. I am swollen and in pain, and I sooooo want to blow my nose right now (but of course, I can't).
What is strange is that I'm in more pain right now than I have been for the earlier days. I keep wetting towels with cold water and putting on my face and head, and I haven't had that need before. Now my jaw hurts, my neck, cheek bones up to my ears..
Today I did a bad thing. I stopped taking antibiotics this morning. I know you´re not supposed to, but they make me so sick. I was so naseous this morning, there was just no way.. and now that i'm finally better, i still can't bring myself to taking another one of those pills from hell. I hope I feel better tomorrow...