My apologies for not posting this blog yesterday, I had a super long day and was totally out of it when I got home.
Here are the 1-week post-op pics:
It looks like my swelling is still going down slightly everyday! Yesterday was the first day that I blow dried my hair and put on some mascara - what a difference it makes to feeling good after a week of schlumpiness. I can really start seeing the way my profile is going to turn out - AND I'm LOVING IT!!!!!!!! Bruising is more prominent everyday. Thats ok though - I'm thinking of getting a nail polish to match it.As I mentioned in my last post, I also had my Post-Op appointment with Dr. R (my Oral Surgeon) yesterday. He said everything looks PERFECT and that I am healing up super well. When the OS assistants were cleaning my teeth before Dr. R came in to see me, they said that my teeth are very clean and that I'm doing a great job at it (hard to know if you're doing a good job when you can only rinse your mouth with the medicated oral rinse they give you). I am supposed to keep the same elastics on that I have right now (since the surgery) and he'll change them when I come in next week for my 2nd Post-Op (on Friday). Dr. R also said that I can start drinking any liquids I want including soups and such (anything that doesn't require chewing) as long as I make sure I clean my mouth really well after (oral rinse and light brushing on the brackets only - have to make sure I don't hit the stitches still). The stitches are still in there - does anyone know how long they take to fall out?
During the appointment I also had my x-rays done! See here (now vs. before):
I personally think that all the metal screws are cool. Maybe X-Men will come and find me and let me join their troop. I don't know what super powers I'd want right now, but I'll think about that one. As you can see from the x-ray above, I have a total of 6 screws in my face now, 2 in my chin and 4 in my upper jaw. I can't feel them. Maybe I'll be able to when the swell goes away? Comparing the 2 x-rays has been kind of fun. It's amazing to see how perfectly my teeth fit together now. Some of you may be wondering why I have less teeth on my top opposed to my bottom... this is because I had teeth removed from my upper jaw when I was 13(ish). So Dr. R did the best that he could without those. Usually the top teeth will go father back than the bottom teeth, but this really wont affect my chewing. Dr. R wished that they hadn't taken out those teeth because then they would have been able to perform double jaw (ouch) surgery and make my bite perfect... but they did an excellent job at what they had to work with!
Daily improvements section: I can now drink out of a regular glass cup!!!! AMAZING!!!! I did this a few times without spilling anything on me. The only weird part is that I cant feel the cup when it presses against my left side (still super numb). I had an entire bowl of blended hearty home made soup (made by my boyfriends aunt who is an incredible cook). It literally took me an hour to eat it with a child's spoon while my boyfriend sat with me patiently. Ativan at night (I got an extra prescription of this because sometimes having only one per night doesn't work as well).
Most annoying part: YAWNING! It does NOT feel good to yawn. I can't open my jaw fully and it gets really sore when I try to. I guess this is my body's way of telling me GO TO SLEEP NOW OR WE WILL MAKE SURE YOUR PUNISHED!
After my Post-Op appointment I went to visit my boyfriend's father who is a chiropractor. Before the surgery he asked if I wanted to try some cold laser therapy to help with the healing and I was up for it. So he did the first laser therapy session on my face. I'm going to do it a few more times next week and hopefully this will help even more with the swelling and healing (especially with the stitches - I want those suckers out!)
Weight - I'm down 8 lbs - eek! I'm hoping I don't lose anymore now that I get to eat somewhat real foods.
I'll post Day 8 later tonight (arent you guys lucky with two posts in one day!!)
Alexis
Hey! Looking good! For only a week post-op I definitely don't see much swelling. To answer your question about stitches mine started to fall out after about 2 1/2 weeks and continued to fall out over the next 2 weeks. It really is different for everyone though, some even have theirs removed.
ReplyDeleteKeep it up with the healing! :)
Hi Sarah!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliments on the swelling :) Good to know I'm not behind on stitches falling out... I've never had stitches so I'm unsure how they are supposed to work. Everyday they hurt less, so I assume that means my skin is healin up!
Hope your doing well!
Alexis