3 Weeks and 1 Day Post-Op

As you can see, the swelling has gone down considerably. But, my right cheek is still a little puffy. Hardly noticeable, unless you're me. Things are coming along nicely, though. I go to see Dr. A on Tuesday and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he tells me I can start only wearing my rubber bands at night. That will be a HUGE relief because not only does it mean that my teeth won't be clamped together anymore causing me indescribable amounts of discomfort and aggravation, but also that I might just be able to start eating soft foods. A small progression towards being able to eat normal food again....just in time for my trip to Las Vegas for my best friend, Sonja's wedding.

The only thing I'm not looking forward to is when they start therapy on my jaw. So far, I've only been able to open it wide enough to barely stick my tooth brush in. I can feel my jaw lock on my left side and I'm afraid to force it open any wider. I know at some point I'm gonna have to bite the proverbial bullet and just c

rack it open. Hopefully, therapy will offer a less barbaric resolution. Dr. L is on Wednesday, he'll give it a quick look and maybe start therapy then. Time will tell.

I still haven't regained feeling in my lip and chin

on the left side. But, I do feel some tingling and

tickling sensations that drive me absolutely batty! It's almost like I can feel a hair on my chin or an itch but when I go to wipe it away or scratch it, there's nothing there and no matter what I do the itch won't go away. Very, VERY frustrating. It's far better than what I was experiencing last week. The slightest puff of air on my chin would send it into a frenzy. It was difficult to concentrate when this was going on. I couldn't do any of my work and it was agonizing to attempt falling asleep. I even wondered how people live with this sort of thing on an extended basis. It was enough to drive me to jump from the nearest cliff...not that one of those would be easy to come by here in Florida, but you get my point. Anyhoo. That's my progress and I'm sticking to it.

Ciao!

Donna

My, my....Time does fly...

It's been a week and a half since my surgery and my doctor is impressed with how fast I'm healing and of course he's patting himself on the back abit about how good of a job he did. I certainly can't begrudge him that. I'd hope for nothing less. This is me the day I got out of the hospital and into my own bed.

P

roblems I'm having though are from the rubber bands that are to keep my mouth shut. Apparently they are so tough that they've broken loose three of my brackets. Any more break loose and I'm not gonna have any teeth left to hook them on! I hesitate in calling Dr. A because he'll want me to go see Dr. L (which I am doing next wednesday anyway) to get them rebonded. The problem is...I can still only open my mouth a teeny tiny bit. My lower jaw isn't giving much yet, so they won't be able to stick that plastic thing that's supposed to keep my mouth open so they can work on my teeth with out saliva getting all over everything. So...I know it's a moot point to even go. There's nothing they can do at this point. So, lets just hope that the rest of the brackets hold until the time that I can actually open my mouth without being in excruciating pain!

This picture, to the left, is from today. The swelling is hard to notice, but my cheeks are fuller than they normally are. My doctor's were quite impressed with how quickly my swelling had gone down. I've lost about 8lbs so far. Doesn't really feel like it, but the scale doesn't lie! (yeah right!) The food thing hasn't been too bad. Once I finished the antibiotic and was feeling relatively normal, I started venturing out of the ensure/cream-o-potato soup/apple juice realm that they had me on in the hospital and started experimenting.

Pureed peaches...yuck!

Pureed homemade vegetable soup....yum!

Ravioli & Spagetti & Meatballs in a blender....Yum! (If you liked it in the first place, of course)

Cream of Wheat...Mmmm, mmm good.

I've been told that a big mac in a blender...with the assistance of beef broth taste pretty good, but I'm not willing to try it. I'll just stick to soups, apple sauce, and C.o.W. Those seem to be working out pretty well for me. Oh, and V8 Fusion is pretty darn good, too! For some odd reason, I don't really like the V8 Splash.

Here are two pictures from before & after the surgery, just to give you an idea.