7 month update

Liberation Day!!!

So they took off my top brackets and all on the bottom except for the front 6. These little beauties will stay on for another 6 weeks. But who cares, no one can even see them. Naturally this glorious day was marked by an event we are calling the day of "MegL's Orthodontic Freedom". There were margaritas....lots of margaritas. 

Thank you Dr. Craft and all my lovely ladies at his office for my pretty new smile!

6 Month Update

It has officially been 6 months!

The residual swelling is just on the left side and its not really noticeable so I don't mind it. This should be down even more over the course of the next year. I can eat everything now even though I still stay away from crunchy granola bars and raw carrots. Im sure I can eat them but I haven't tried yet. Popping off brackets on my braces are still a concern.

Things I can now eat:

* Steak (mmmmm)

* apples

* sandwiches (such a random thing to miss but sandwiches truly are amazing) 

Speaking of braces.... they are coming off already! In 4 weeks the top braces are coming off. At that time they will put a permanent retainer on my bottom teeth for 6 weeks then take the bottom brackets off as well. I was so excited when they told me. I am getting them off 9 months early! It's crazy just to think how I got braces on, had reconstructive surgery, and am now getting the braces off all in 1 year. 

I also had my 6 month post-op last week where Dr. Taylor called me the poster child of jaw surgery. He took X-rays to make sure everything still looked kosher, had a look inside my mouth and then sent me on my way. I will see him 1 more time in December for my  1 year follow up. 

I noticed that at the end of my teeth in the back left corner of my mouth, a little pocket seems to have formed. Its like the back of my cheek/throat is now shorter because of where they stitched me up and it created a little pocket that likes to trap food...kind of like a squirrel. He said if it is still bothering me down the line, he can numb me and shave off some of that piece inside my mouth. It doesn't  bother me that much but its good to know that its an option.

Farewell for a few months, I will post again when my braces come off and can show off my pearly whites and perfect bite :-)

Paris, June 2013

Night out with my sister, July 2013

4 month update

So its been 4 months and i feel like I'm completely back to normal. I can eat everything except crunchy granola bars and big bite sandwiches. The residual swelling is the same, just a little in my lower left and cheeks. Another year and it will be gone, I only notice it in pictures where I'm smiling really big. It kind of looks like I had Botox in my cheeks to which my mom replied "hey, people spend a lot of money to have cheeks like yours right now so enjoy it". Again, there is always a silver lining. My free cosmetic surgery side effects from this jaw surgery so far have included a free chemical peel and now all natural Botox!

Pain is basically non-existent. Sometimes my right jaw joint gets a little sore but I think the muscles are still rebuilding their strength as I regain my ability to chew again. Biting into a chick-fil-a sandwich today was pushing my limits and my jaw is aching a little bit because of it.

I go back to the orthodontist tomorrow where he is supposed to put on my finishing wire and officially let me off the hook with the retainer! I cannot wait to get this hunk of plastic out of my mouth. The top of my mouth is all healed and no longer swollen so the retainer is actually a little loose. It occasionally pops out when I'm eating...let me tell you, thats really fun when you are at a business lunch and your retainer comes out and gets stuck with food under it. On more than one occasion I have had to use a napkin, cover my mouth, and take it out. I won't miss this. Not even a little bit.

The ortho also mentioned that my braces should come off in the next 3-5 months! This is going to be the most exciting day! I was originally told it would be 21 months of braces but it actually will only be about 14 months. As a 27 year old single girl, this was music to my ears lol.

Enjoy the 4 month pics! I took one of my retainer so you can see what I have been wearing 24/7 the past 4 and a half months ;-) I even cleaned it off for you, you're welcome.

3 Month Post Op

I had my official 3 month post op appointment today and everything is good! My doc even looked at me and said "it's so perfect I can't stand it". Here is the Cliff's Notes version:

~ I met my target and can now open my mouth 41mm ( I was nervous about that one)
~ Over the next month and a half, I will be back to eating everything
~ My bones are healed but will be much stronger after a couple more months
~ I can wakeboard again!!! (As long as I don't do any tricks that would risk a face-plant)
~ the residual swelling in my left jaw and both cheeks can last up to another year ( but its not that noticeable so I don't mind)

Here are some pics including a few new profile shots. After today, I will just post about once a month until I get my braces off, then I will do 1 last post at my 1 yr. post op.

Day 90

So I know today is technically the 3 month mark but I will do my temporary send off after my post op this week.

Not much has changed the past few weeks. I am gradually able to eat more and more normal food. Today I even had bread and cheese, a little tough and chewy but good practice. I'm hoping that in the next month or so I'll be ale to eat those Girl Scout cookies calling my name from the fridge.

Well Happy Easter everyone! I'm spending my Easter Sunday having a Walking Dead marathon and laying on the couch!

Day 84

Yowza it has been a crazy trip! I am finally at the airport in Frankfurt in between flights. I am currently sitting in the Lufthansa lounge working on my 2nd cappuccino and wondering if my fellow travelers will think it weird if I do my jaw exercises. I have been slacking these past 10 days. It's hard to find 3 hours in your day to sit there and contort your mouth. I find that doing this in public causes people to think you have turrets and/or scare small children. I better buckle down this next week so I can reach my goal of opening my mouth 41mm by my 3 month post op.

My broken face really wasn't as much of an issue on this trip. I could always eat almost anything, no additional swelling or pain. I did notice my jaw clicking and popping a lot but I think that is because I have been skipping my jaw exercises so it is tight.

Nothing much to report on the jaw recovery front but I did have an amazing weekend in Abuja with one of my best friends, Heather. After my week in Lagos, I flew through Abuja on my way home to see her since she is a teacher at an international school there. It was a nice change of pace from Lagos where i had 5 armed guards accompany me to the airport and was not allowed out of the office or the hotel without security. However in Abuja (which apparently is more dangerous) Heather and I hopped around the city on our own sans scary Nigerian men with big guns.

Our first night we had pizza and beer at an outdoor beer garden overlooking the national mosque. The following day we spent at the pool at the Hilton, sipping diet cokes and people watching. That night I helped her chaperone the middle and high school dance haha. You know what's awkward? Watching 11-18 yr olds trying to grind on each other to Nigerian rap music. She rewarded me for my chaperoning duties by taking me to a "bush bar". This literally is just an open air bar in the bushes with cheap beer. I'm pretty sure my company would NOT be happy about that so we are going to keep this a secret ok? Julian/Steve - don't tell the big boss or he may never let me travel again.

My last day we had a true Sunday Funday and drank ciders by the pool all day. I even have a nice little sunburn to take home with me :-) this is definitely the first time I've come home from a business trip with a tan!

Ok, just one more 10 hr flight to go and I get to shower, snuggle with my dog and spend Twin's last night catching up and hanging out.

2 photos for you today: one profile pic and one that I took with my iPad upside down on accident

Day 80

Soooo exhausted. I have not stopped moving since I left American soil. After Finally arriving in Lagos we had the luxury of spending another 2 hours going through customs and waiting for our luggage. T.I.A., this is Africa... It was 1:00 am by the time we got to the hotel and we all smelled like a Nigerian airport.

It is so humid here that you have to shower by the time you get home from work because you are all sticky and sweaty. I'm currently sitting in the lounge drinking my long awaited diet coke. Excuse me, coke light ( which is better in my opinion). I don't have any fun pictures to share today unless you want to see pictures of traffic and walls with warning signs that say "do not urinate here". I didn't understand why I kept seeking that written everywhere. Then I saw a random guy just turn around and start peeing on a wall right next to a street full of people and cars. I thought to myself, oh, well that explains the smell.

Food is a little bit of an issue here because choices are limited unless you are at the hotel. We visited a vocational training center and after walking around and seeing the entire campus, they insisted we stay and join them for lunch. Since my digestive system is skeptical of Nigerian food, my only option was chicken and French fries. Well, there is no such thing as a chicken breast filet here. They literally just chop off pieces of chicken with bone, fat, organs and all. So I basically had a plate of fries for lunch. There was no way i could bite into this chicken without breaking a bracket off or stressing my jaw bones.

Don't get me wrong, Nigeria is not bad. The hotel is 4 star and the people are so hospitable they make Southerners look like a**holes. And in all fairness, I haven't seen any dead bodies in the road since my first trip...so there's that...

Greetings from Lagos, wet hair and all:

Day 77

I'm currently on a 10 day work trip overseas and I am exhausted! I popped over to London for 2 days then was supposed to be on an overnight flight to Lagos, Nigeria. Well, 1 1/2 hours into the flight they announce technical difficulties and take us all the way back to London! We have to stay in hotels and they rescheduled the flight for the following afternoon. By the time we went back through customs and checked in at the hotel, it was 5am... To make it even more enjoyable, the airport hotel kind of reminds me of The Shining. I keep expecting to see creepy twin girls standing at the end of my hallway.

On a positive note, the lounge for Virgin Atlantic is phenomenal. There is even a crystal chandelier! It's all decorated like a rock star lounge and they serve you all the food and drinks you want. I could get used to this :-)

I was a little nervous before my first flight because it was the first time I had flown since surgery. I wasn't allowed to fly the first month because the pressure is not good for healing sinuses (refer to Day 71 for a full understanding of how broken my face is). Well, no issues thus far! And eating in London was easy because you know what is a nice soft food? Fish & chips. You know what else is perfect? Guinness :-) Nigeria will be another story, we'll see how that goes haha.

Well, I'm off to Lagos for 4 days then Abuja for 3.

Day 74

It's been a good week. I managed to get in 4 hot yoga classes, 1 vinyasa class, and 3 Crossfit workouts, a couple wine nights with Lauren, and a delicious dinner at Jasper's steakhouse last night. My week was only marred by a minor poo incident...

To make a long story short: I live in an old houses so naturally the pipes are old too. Well as I sit on the couch watching my new favorite show, The Walking Dead, I hear a bubbling sound down the hall. At first I think Lauren is listening to bongo music in her room so I think nothing of it. Well when I go check out the bathrooms I realize that toilet bowl water is all over the floor and sewage is backed up into all the tubs! Oh great, my friend finally comes to live with me and my bathrooms are full of poo! After panicked calls to my landlord, the plumber is set to come out the next morning. However, I cannot even sleep in my room because it is connected to the bathroom and well....that's not the greatest smell :-( on the bright side, I made it to the 6am yoga class! Partially motivated by my need to burn off the cupcakes Tina ate for dinner but mostly so I could shower at the studio... So the lesson is: even when your house is overrun with shit, there is always a silver lining.

I really enjoyed getting to spend some valuable time with my best friend/twin. She has been staying with me for the month and it has been amazing. She's so easy to live with that I never want her to leave! We are very alike in a lot of ways: our love of the Olsen Twins, good food, yoga, and staying in drinking wine and watching tv instead of going out partying. But we're also opposite in a lot of ways. She is vegan/ vegetarian most of the time while I am a natural carnivore. She is mellow and laid back whereas I am high strung and moving at a million miles an hour. This is why it's been so great having her here- she balances me out. Hopefully I can retain some of her good influence when she leaves (almond milk, keeping up my yoga practice, putting good karma out there).

Here's a nice toothy smile just for you Twin :-)

Day 71

Getting closer and closer to the 90 Day Mark... surgery feels like such a distant memory now. I can't believe that a little over 2 months ago I had a broken face and struggled with something as simple as drinking water. Now I'm chowing down on salmon, cupcakes (I curse you Tina), rice, eggs etc. I'm really not limited with my diet anymore. Except for steak. And sandwiches. I feel like Joey on Friends: I love sandwiches and can't wait until I can actually bite into things.

On a super super exciting note..I got to eat pizza last week! I was literally doing a happy dance and smiling like an idiot with a mouthful of pizza. My friends made dinner and bought a separate special pizza just for me that they didn't cook all the way so it would be super soft. It will still be a while before I can enjoy a crispy brick oven pizza at Grimaldi's (sad face) but I'm getting closer!

So, have you ever wondered exactly what they did to my face during surgery? Well feast your eyes on this:

When I say they broke my face, I wasn't kidding. I didn't realize I had titanium plates and screws going all the way up by my nose. I mistakenly showed my mom this picture thinking it was really cool. Her immediate response: "OMG, you have holes in your bones! You are NEVER wakeboarding again!!!" Lesson learned: don't show your mother your sub-dermal battle scars, she won't think its cool.

Today's mugshot:

Day 68

Yay it's the end of the week! It has been crazy this week at the office. After a few 12 hour days and LOTS of report writing, I'm glad it's over. I went to both the orthodontist and the dentist this week! The ortho has decided to wait to do any major adjustments for another month or so until my surgeon lets me take the retainer out. So, they just changed my elastics and took some X-rays to check the angle of my teeth.

My teeth are finally not yellow anymore! The staining came off after a cleaning and I was so happy. I've spent the past few weeks looking like I don't own a toothbrush. I will say it again: I have never had such an appreciation for oral hygiene as I do now.

My cousin and grandma came in town for the weekend which was awesome. My grandma stayed with my Dad and my cousin stayed with me. Fortunately, we didn't have to entertain each other. Instead, we just went to the gym, yoga, drank wine, watched movies, talked at the speed of light, and ate all of the food Texas is famous for: Kolaches, Tex-Mex, Crawfish...

I'm now enjoying a lazy Sunday and for the first time in 18 months, I don't have to worry about school work for the week because its 'Spring Break'. I remember being so excited about spring break when I was younger: a week of vacation with friends or just sleeping in and doing nothing. When you are a grown-up and have a full time job, you still have to work :-( How is that fair? It's kind of sad that now I just look forward to having a week where I get to actually come home in the evenings! A week break from working all day, then driving an hour to campus, sitting in class for 3 hours and then driving all the way back only to get home at 10pm. And on the nights I didn't have class, running around like crazy trying to get errands done, doing homework, or driving to campus anyways to meet with classmates to work on group projects. Needless to say, I have a standing date with my couch and TV all week.

Day 63

It's official, I don't feel like my face is broken anymore! I mean, my jaw joint still feels tight and it's hard to stretch my mouth open but I no longer am uncomfortable. It took 2 months but I finally feel close to normal. When my coworkers ask me how my recovery is going I actually forget for a second what they are talking about. Tonight at class I gave a presentation and noticed my speaking was much better as well. I did have one minor verbal mishap this morning when I told my coworker I was going to a noon yoga class and she responded with a very confused look on her face... Apparently my retainer made my N sound like a D and she thought I was going to a NUDE class. Good thing we cleared that up!

On the food front: I can basically eat everything except crunchy foods now. I'm trying to eat healthier since Tina went a little crazy this past month. Now that my energy is back and my strength is increasing, I've doubled up my workouts :-) this month I will be combining 5 days a week of hot yoga with 3-4 days of Crossfit and a few runs mixed in there. It is now March and officially time to get ready for bikini season. I cant wait to be back out on the boat again with my friends. However, Holy cow I'm sore! It feels great to have endorphins pumping again and have that good relaxed but exhausted feeling.

Day 61

It's been a fun few days. After a stressful week of work and school, friday happy hour couldn't come soon enough. Twin got to meet most of my work friends and we all blew off some steam with our favorite after work margaritas. I was feeling daring and took a bit out of a chip and I did it! I don't really enjoy chips and salsa when the roof of my mouth is covered by the retainer but it still felt like an accomplishment. My friends even clapped haha. We then went out for Lebanese food and I could actually order food and eat with no substitutions! Kufta is a perfect example of soft meat so that paired with rice was a perfect meal.

Saturday was a lazy day of sitting on the couch watching tv. Once twin got home though we decided to go see Life of Pi since it won so many awards. They were right! It was an awesome movie. To keep up the trend of Oscar movies, we then rented Argo which was also awesome. A slow clap for Ben Afleck....

On the healing front: I'm feeling great. In comparison to days 3/4/5 which were the worst, I'm now like 5% of that. The only feelings of swelling or discomfort is a tiny bit in my nose. It just feels tight around my sinuses but not nearly as bad. I don't really have any pain except when I do my jaw exercises. I feel like I'm already healed even though I know I still have to take it easy. At the 3 month mark I'm going to ask the doc about wakeboarding. Maybe if I promise to not try any tricks or jumps that could possibly end in a face plant, he will give me the green light.

Ok off to join twin at the studio for some hot yoga!

Day 58

Today it has officially been 2 months! I can't believe it's already been that long. I look back at my pictures from those first few weeks and I cant believe how far I've come. Not only do I look physically different, but I feel better and am so happy with my straight face. Someone asked me the other day if knowing now how hard the recovery was, would I do it over again? The answer is yes, 100% yes.

At my 2 month post op, Simon the resident walked in and exclaimed "yay, it's my favorite patient!" Can you tell I was always teacher's pet? He said I looked great and that the swelling looks non-existent to an outsider. We then measured how far I can open my mouth and I'm up to 33mm! I've been slacking on my exercises the past few weeks so I should have progressed farther but as long as I can get to 41mm by my next appointment in 5 weeks then I'm good.

The doc then told me I can start eating "very tender chicken". Sooo pretty much the same stuff I've been eating. I need to cool it with the mashed potatoes and fried Oreos (damn you Tina!) or I'm going to gain back everything I lost.

Sadly, today was Simon the resident's last day of his rotation. I am really sad to see him go. He really was a huge help throughout this whole process. I gave him a hug when I left and I think I caught him a little off guard. What can I say, I'm a hugger.

Day 56

Tons of comments today from people at work saying that my swelling looks almost gone. Apparently during my first two weeks back at the office it was strange for them because I didn't look like myself. But now I do!

I've been noticing a few things lately:
1) my left jaw joint hurst when I stretch my mouth during exercising or eating a big scoop of mashed potatoes.
2) my back teeth are starting to get really sensitive
3) my right jaw joint clicks but the left is click free

Hopefully my post op appointment in a few days will clear up some of these questions. I will also have a full adjustment at the orthodontist next week followed by a cleaning at the dentist. I've never been more excited for the dentist. The Peridex rinse I had to use for 6 weeks stained my teeth . They aren't any funky colors or anything but it just looks like I don't brush them and they are yellow. Ive been told this will go away with a general cleaning. This whole surgery process will make you appreciate dental hygiene more than you ever thought possible!

Day 53

The past few days have been awesome! I started sleeping more on my side which is so much more comfortable! My week went by pretty fast with work being crazy (important people were in town) and school. Then Friday I did back to back workouts at the gym (ouch, I hurt now). I am amazed at how much my energy and strength has come back just in the past 2-3 weeks. I may not be as strong as I was but I am no longer shaking after I workout.

Later that night my twin arrived!!! Now, she's not actually my twin but she is one of my best friends and we are twins on the inside. She is going to live with me for a month and I couldn't be happier. Since she is from DC and has never really experienced Texas living, I took her to the Houston Rodeo's chili cook off and we had a blast! I could even eat! They had super finely chopped brisket, mashed potatoes, and even pudding, it's like they knew I was coming! Naturally we had to indulge in a fried Twinkie at some point....the ultimate desert on a soft food diet :-)

We ran into a few friends who hadn't seen me since before surgery and they said I looked good. I told them I looked especially sexy on day 4 and 21 and they had missed out by not seeing me then haha.

Day 50

Today I had 3 people tell me it looked the swelling was completely gone! I know it's not but it was nice to know that I look normal to the naked eye! The swelling is still there in my lower left jaw and a little bit in my cheeks. I can barely feel it anymore except for my nose which is still tight from my upper lip to the top of my nose.

I've been slacking on my jaw exercises lately. I did about an hour today and it really hurts to push my jaw to the right and forward. I'm hoping to ask my surgeon about it next week and see if I can expect it to get better.

My soft foods diet has gotten creative this past week. Baked beans and eggs for breakfast, shredded chicken with mashed potatoes, and did I mention.....girl scout cookie milkshakes! I even managed to eat bread: Chikfila (oh I miss it) comes by our office in the morning twice a week and the guy always forgets that I can't eat. Well he forced me to take a breakfast sandwich so after giving the chicken to someone else, I managed to eat the roll! It was the first time I've eaten bread in 7 weeks! Little victories...

On a side note, I had turtle soup at a work lunch today. Most of you probably have a look of disgust on your face but don't knock it until you try it. After 7 weeks of the same soups, turtle soup was a nice change :-)

Day 47

There are a a lot of jaw surgery blogs out there but not everyone has the same experiences. As a comparison, i've made a list things I have and have not experienced:

What didn't happen:

No breaking elastics
No bleeding out my nose
No syringe eating
Liquid diet actually not that bad

Things I did experience:

My nose kinda feels like its broken
Surgery site Infection
Only minimal drooling
Chipmunk cheeks
Jowls

I also ran my first hash run yesterday! I had to tread lightly and could still feel a little pounding in my face as my feet hit the ground. I was worried that it would really hurt but instead, I twisted my bad ankle that morning and it hurt so much I forgot about my face. In light of this, I will now share with you how I got my hash name:

Hash names are given to you by the entire group after you do something stupid. They are sometimes vulgar enough that you would never tell your mother what your name is. Well, 2 years ago my accident proneness was in full force and I may or may not visited the ER 5 times in 27 days... These visits included stomach viruses, a botched spinal tap, and then a face plant into the concrete where I knocked myself unconscious. So after showing up to the hash run with a black eye and a laundry list acquired injuries....I was named "Mississippi Housewife". Yesterday even though I was in pain because of my ankle, I couldn't admit it to the group for fear of being forced to chug an entire beer out of punishment for living up to my name lol.

Day 43

Happy Valentines day everyone! The past few days have been about the same. I really don't notice much of a change in my swelling anymore. I know it is going down but i think it is so slow that I don't notice it. I have noticed that I am getting more movement back in my top lip and it no longer looks like a fat whale. The left side still sticks to my braces a bit but not nearly as bad as 2 weeks ago. I've started taking pictures of myself every few days and making ridiculous faces just to see how much my face moves. Check out my kissy face :-)

I also slept on the side of my face again last night. It must be getting better if this doesn't hurt that much anymore.

In food news today I have learned that a crockpot is one of the best things you can purchase for phase 2 of your post-op diet. I made a huge pot of pulled pork that I can put on baked potatoes! It's like eating REAL food! The meat comes out so soft that chewing-challenged folks like myself can actually eat it. Our office is having cake today for valentines day and I so happy I will actually be able to participate this time. At the last office party I just had to watch everyone, it was very sad...

Day 40

Its been 40 days and 40 nights guys...does this count as giving something up for lent? I think I should get credit for this, what do you think?

I noticed last night that its starting to get a little less uncomfortable when I sleep; I even found myself sleeping on my right side. That is the side that is less swollen. In my sleepy stupor I somehow found a way to keep most of the weight above my temple so as to keep the weight off my cheek. I still don't think it's good to sleep on the side of my face just yet but I have no control what I do in the name of sleep at 2 am.

Baked potatoes are definitely my new favorite soft food! I stocked up at the store today and even looked up a few recipes for the crockpot. I was so excited about my baked potatoes and BBQ beef this weekend that I may just try and recreate it at home :-) my crockpot is currently working on pulled pork. Finally, i can eat meat that hasn't been run through a blender! Details of my impending crockpot successes to come...

I made it through a whole workout today ( ok, maybe 75%). The coach wouldn't let me do box jumps out of fear that I would fall and re-break my face but I did get to sweat it out with endless rowing, squats and lunges. Needless to say I look less than glamorous in todays picture but at least I feel better.

Day 38

Happy Saturday everyone! The past 2 days have been filled with lots of progress! My mobility and eating has been progressing extremely fast. It's as if as soon as the doctor said I could eat mushy foods I just ran with it! A lot of people have asked me how much weight I lost because of the surgery and liquid diet. After 4 weeks I was down 15 pounds. Guys that go though this seem to lose much more but fortunately for us women folk, we lose at a much slower rate. 15 lbs is still a lot but it has slowed. I can consume enough calories now ( with the help of potatoes and cans of chef boyardee) that my weight has stabilized. In fact, today I managed to scarf down a breakfast burrito sans tortilla, a gigantic baked potato with minced meat and about 17 chocolate muffins. At this rate I may be the first person to GAIN weight with a broken jaw. Again, I blame Tina.

I also worked out 2 days this week and I noticed how weak I got. I used to be one of the strongest girls in my Crossfit class...now I'm one of the weakest. On a side note: I must remember to be more careful with moving objects. I was doing twists with a 10 lb plate and hit myself smack in the nose. It did NOT feel good!

Below are pictures from yesterday and today along with a side profile picture. Take a look at the pre-op profile and this one. It's crazy how its changed, I definitely happy with the new profile so far!

Day 36

Swelling is continuously going down thank goodness! Several people have even commented on it. At this rate maybe ill look normal by spring break! I noticed some new feeling today. In my left cheek it felt like pins and needles. I wonder if my nerves are waking up and maybe I'm starting to get the rest of my feeling back. I've heard that it happens suddenly so maybe this is it?

When I smile now, you can actually see my top teeth! It will be nice when my full smile returns instead of stopping at my cheeks. People who don't know my face is broken probably think I'm giving fake smiles. Someone actually asked me what was wrong the other day and told me I looked sad. I had to hurriedly explain " no, I'm not upset, that's just my face" :-/

On the food front: I ate fish yesterday! This is was my most exciting news all week! Mashed potatoes and milkshakes are good but its nice to eat actual protein. Only 4 months 2 weeks and 6 days until i can eat steak....My friends were also really sweet the other day: they had plans to go to my favorite pizza place but made sure only to go once once i left. they know its my favorite so they didn't want to torture me. I love that everyone is so considerate. I think they will be just as excited as I will be when I can eat real food again! I apologize in advance for the 5lbs everyone will be gaining when I start celebrating my return to chewing.

Day 34

Today was another fun filled day of work and school (if I had my full range of facial expressions back I would be making a sarcasm face right now FYI). One of the negative side effects of not being able to eat properly is the fact that I can't regulate my body temperature. I am freezing all the time! It has been 70 degrees in Texas and yet I am wearing sweaters to keep warm. On the bright side, it was a perfect excuse to eat KFC mashed potatoes and gravy for lunch :-)

I then had a good visit at the orthodontists office today. He was excited to see me because he loves seeing the surgery patients progress. Having a great ortho who works closely with your surgeon is a definite must. They talk frequently and keep each other in the loop. Today's orthodontic updates:
~ he put a chain on my 2 front teeth to close my gap ( it was completely closed in 45 minutes!)
~ in 4 weeks he will replace my bottom wire and work on getting my lower bite in order because my back teeth don't touch in the right places yet
~ I only have to wear my elastics 8 hrs a day at night
~ he estimates that my surgeon will keep my retainer in for another 4 months
~ he won't worry about fixing my upper teeth and bite until the bottom is in the right place and my top jaw is completely healed/retainer removed
~ I should have my braces off in the next 7-9 months!!!!! That is 6 month ahead of schedule

I have decided that when the braces come off, I'm having a party. There will be party hats...and shots. You are all invited.

I also had a little emotional moment over my ridiculously large bowl of mashed potatoes today. I started thinking ahead to when I get my braces off and the swelling is gone and my face is straight... All these trials and tribulations will wrap up and I'm going to have an end product. I will no longer be a 26 year old with braces, my face will be straight and it won't break my heart anymore when I look at pictures and see a crooked smile. This whole process has been rough but I can honestly say that I don't regret any of it and it is going to be SO worth it!

Day 33

So the last few days I really feel like the swelling is getting better every day. Even people at work noticed. Or maybe it's just that we are all used to my chipmunk cheeks now...I'm going to choose to believe the former.

I was also more adventurous with my mushy foods diet. It feels so good to at least have something resembling normal food in my stomach. At brunch with a friend, I ordered a side of hash browns and mixed them up with scrambled eggs and cheese, it was heaven! I've also been treating myself to chocolate milkshakes the past few days. I probably will need to stop that or I might be the first jaw surgery post op to actually gain weight on a restricted diet haha. I blame Tina.

My left lip has really been bothering me lately. It is still puffier than the rest of my mouth so it sticks to my braces. I finally caved and put wax on the brackets. I'm going to the orthodontist tomorrow where he will be replacing my wire ( because they cut it during surgery). I'm excited because my teeth look ridiculous right now. I have huge gaps between my top teeth because they widened my top jaw. Now that my mouth isn't as delicate, the ortho will actually be able to start working his magic again.

Day 31

Excellent day today! Swelling is down a fraction and I was feeling good today. Over the past few days I have had two milkshakes...through a straw!! I also ate crab cakes last night and it only took 20 minutes. After a successful shoe shopping trip with the mama lady (post surgery presents to yourself are a must) we went to lunch. I ordered macaroni and cheese but the noodles were too al-dente so I had to get mashed potatoes instead. I had them but cheese on top and boy oh by they were amazing! It is so nice to have some normal food in my stomach again. Mashed potatoes and milkshakes...it could be worse right?!

I also did yoga AND went back to the gym yesterday. It was a lower body lifting day: I took it easy and went very light and i still struggled. It's crazy how much muscle you can lose in a few weeks. My dead lift went down 35 pounds! Even though I'm hurting today it feels good to be active again.

Well I'm off to see my hash friends (for those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, google hash house harriers). One day when I'm back to running, I will explain to you how I got my hash name...

Day 29

Big leaps today! At lunch time today I decided to try mashed potatoes out of curiosity. Success! I even used a spoon! It was still difficult though, it ended up being easier turning the spoon upside down and eating it like you would peanut butter on a spoon. The retainer on the roof of my mouth is a constant hindrance. It's not that my jaw hurts when I try to eat, it's that there is no room!

I also had my one month post-op where the resident called me his favorite patient. They then measured my mobility and I opened my mouth a whole 28mm, even wider than the other day. That means I basically doubled it in 2 weeks. I also got the okay to start eating super soft foods hooray! I still have to be extremely careful but I can start adding soft fish, well done pasta, and other mush foods to my diet.

When I came home from class tonight I immediately went to grocery store and stocked up on smoothie ingredients, fish, go-gurt, and soup. I decided to take a stab at eating ravioli....and I did it! It wasn't the prettiest site but at least I got to eat something that I didn't have to drink out of a cup.

As for the swelling, it's getting better slowly but surely. The bottom left is sill bigger but my bottom right seems to be getting closer to normal. The main swelling is in the upper lip, cheeks and nose. Oh how I miss the use of my upper lip. Its really hard to smile properly when your top lip doesn't move.

After today I'm also going to only post every other day since the worst part is over and my next appointment isn't for another month.

Day 28

I didn't feel sick at all today! I made it through my third consecutive day at work without incident. After the holidays, sick leave, and then being out for a few days last week because of the infection, I actually haven't done a full work week let alone work AND school.

I've also learned to keep a stock of ensure at my desk to keep me going throughout the day. I did however forget to bring soup to work so I went home for lunch and treated myself to a raspberry smoothie.

On the recovery news desk: I can now drink out of a straw! I tried to a week or so ago but wasn't that successful. I'm not saying I'm a straw drinking pro, but at least I don't dribble all down my face when I try anymore.

Day 27

Today got off to a rough start. The mornings are tough because there is literally nothing in my stomach so the meds make me sick. By lunchtime I feel much better. I even discovered a new soup today at a bistro by my house: middle eastern lentil, yummy! I also bought a pint of fresh squeezed carrot/orange/beet juice. Lets just say this- you can definitely taste the vegetables. Beets are supposed to be high in iron so hopefully this will help since I'm not eating as much meat as usual.

I noticed today that when I do my jaw exercises, my mobility towards the right is much less than the left. I think because they had to do a lot more work on the lower left and remove a piece, that the muscles have a lot more recovering to do.

Not much else to report today unless you would like to hear about my first exam of the semester. Happy Tuesday!

Day 26

I went back to work today. I was about an hour late though because I got woozy when I was getting ready, these antibiotics are not fun! However, I made it through the entire day without any major problems. My work friends even said they thought the swelling had gone down since they saw me on Saturday.

Exciting news: I can now open my mouth 25mm! My mom was nice enough to measure my mouth for me yesterday. Isn't it so crazy that only 3 1/2 weeks after surgery I can open my mouth that far? I was told that my jaw bones are held together by titanium (which according to Schmidt on New Girl, is the coolest of all the metals). The joint itself can actually move pretty okay.

I was also told today by my cousin that my pictures from the first few days are so hilarious that she is saving them on her phone as my contact picture so that every time I call it will pop up. She also notified me that I looked like Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movies! Omg she's right hahahaha! I've realized that you really just have to laugh your way through this whole process or you will never survive. Do i care that I looked like a morbidly obese man after surgery? Nope. I find it hysterical. In fact, I like to look back at those pictures from the first week and tell myself, "at least I'm not that bad anymore". 

I also put cupcakes in a blender on a daily basis so my pride has basically gone out the window :-p

Things you can and CANNOT put in a blender

Good Idea:

Cupcakes
Ice cream
Chunky soups
Berries
Bananas
Peanut butter
Super soft cookies
Sausage links with creamy soup
Girl Scout cookies in milkshakes


Bad ideas:

Egg rolls (the consistency is disgusting)

Day 25

Today was not much different than yesterday. The swelling under my eye is almost completely gone but my left jaw is still huge. This morning at my weekend bagel and coffee ( well now just coffee) spot, someone was sitting outside with a golden-doodle puppy. So naturally I had to go over and have a snuggle session with this adorable little ball of fluff. Unfortunately, I got head butted right in the face by this puppy. It was so cute though I couldn't even be upset.

After my outing for coffee and puppy snuggles, I tried to make a trip to Home Depot. Unfortunately , the trip wore me out more than expected and after almost passing out in the wood planks isle I had to go home.

I've decided that the number 1 most difficult part about a swollen face is having swollen lips. It's an incredibly odd feeling when your lip is twice its normal size, numb, can't move and is constantly stuck to your braces. I also noticed that my top teeth now have huge gaps between them from widening my top jaw. When I go back to the orthodontist in a week or so he is going to put on new wire and start working on getting my teeth in the right place.

Lesson of the day: cookies are not as good in the blender as cupcakes or Bundt cake.

Day 24

Sorry today's post is super late. I didn't get home until super late.

Today was another little step in the right direction. The swelling is almost completely down under my left eye. The lower left part of my jaw and my sinus is still swollen but it should continue to decrease a little every day. This whole infection thing basically put my swelling on the left side a week behind schedule. The doc had recommended we continue to flush out my incision site for a couple more days but I kinda stopped doing it. It really is a two person job and I can't see it. Here's hoping that its not a big deal....

My dad picked me up today to get me out of the house and into the fresh air. We took my dog izzy up to our town center, called Market Street, and had coffee, walked along the river-walk and relaxed in the perfect weather. For all you non-Texas folk, it was 78 degrees Fahrenheit...in January! This is why I love Texas.

I went to a friends housewarming party and even though I wasn't drinking because of all my antibiotics, I still had a good time. Thankfully my friends know about my face so they were not constantly worried I wasn't having a good time when they saw a blank expression on my face. During a few particularly hilarious moments I was laughing so hard they would grab my cheeks for me and yell " oh no! Stop making her laugh, it hurts her cheeks!" The bright side of not drinking was that I could drive everyone home at the end of the night instead of everyone waiting around for cabs that may or may not even show up.

Day 23

Today was a little better. When I woke up, the swelling under my eye had gone down a little more. I also spaced out my medicines combined with anti-nausea pills so now I don't feel sick all day long. I still have a headache and get dizzy when I stand up but in comparison to yesterday, I'm loads better! The follow up appointment went well, the infection is starting to subside. When they were flushing out the incision from 2 days ago, they told me I heal fast because the incision was already almost healed. In fact, all my incision sites from surgery are completely healed and the stitches dissolved! That is one of the perks of getting this type of surgery done when you are younger.

I also want to note that this type of infection is not common. As is consistent with my medical history (I'm always that .5% that gets a fluke illness) this only happens to about 1 or 2 out of 150 patients. Nevertheless, never ignore symptoms or increases in swelling after you have major surgery. The doc told me that if I had waited too long I would have ended up being admitted to the hospital. These things need to be caught early.

Over the course of the next few days the swelling should get better and I should be back in business by Monday! I'm going to have to rest up this weekend for sure. I can see sweatpants and season 4 of Breaking Bad in my near future.

Today's picture is on the less cute side...again. Makeup really does wonders but when your face is too swollen to wipe the makeup off, I've learned it's best to go au natural; even if I look like a zombie.

Day 22

The swelling went down a little bit today but I still felt awful all day. The intense antibiotics they have me on make me really nauseous and gives me a throbbing headache. It was an all day effort to try and drink enough fluids. I started to get worried when my symptoms got worse so we called the doc. He said it would take a few days for the infection to subside and the antibiotics were probably what were making me sick.

Sadly I had to miss my second week of my Thursday class. Thankfully my professor has been understanding so far.

I have a follow up tomorrow so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that nothing has gotten worse. On the bright side, the right side of my face is looking more normal in comparison to my left side...