Swelling
All visible swelling is gone. There is still swelling going on, I can feel it, but it's not noticeable to anyone else.
Bruising
Bruising was gone by the end of week 2
Wound Healing
Noticed today that all my stitches are now gone.
Pain
I have 3 types of pain:
- Jaw pain which is heavy and achy,
- Nerve pain which is sharp and ouchie
- Teeth pain with the orthodontic treatment.
Pain medication
I now take ibuprofen first thing in the morning and before I go to bed at night. Usually need to take paracetamol in the afternoon. In some ways the pain is worse now than it was in the early days but it's not constant if that makes any sense.
As jaw pain gets worse, the awareness of the numbness gets higher.
Numbness
I don't think I have regained any feeling. I'm still numb from my lower lip down to the bottom of my chin, more so on the right hand side than the left.
I've done a wee job on Paint to show the outline of the area of numbness. It's certainly no work of art LOL but I hope you get the idea. The blue dot shows the numbest point
I have this week been getting increased burning sensation on my lower lip right here (shown by the red dot). It feels really sore, like I've splashed a too hot drink on my lip.
Diet
I remain on a no-chew diet. Usually breakfast is porridge/readybrek, lunch is soup and supper is blended whatever the rest of the family is having.
I'm still not really missing any particular food except bread although breakfast is particularly difficult because I would normally have toast, or museli or pancakes or bagels or scones or a soft boiled egg and I can't eat any of those things.
Lunch is usually soup, sometimes I'll have a cheese omelette for a change.
Supper involves a lot of mashed potatoes, rice, sauce, tiny pasta and cheese sauce. I have eaten some things I would never ever have thought I would and there are some things that once I'm back on normal diet, I never want to have to eat again (apricot yoghurt springs to mind)!
Pre-surgery I didn't think I would go down the route of blending normal family meals but I have done and it's certainly helped.
I can now eat with either a tablespoon or a fork. I have to watch to make sure that i don't put too much in my mouth or else I get the urge to chew. Still another 2 weeks to go before we can do soft-chewing.
Weight
Pre-surgery my normal weight was 11st 4lbs give or take a lb or two.
After 4 weeks my weight is 10st 8lbs. This is a loss of 10lbs in total.
Tiredness
I am still getting really tired and this is frustrating.
Thursday this week with my trip to the orthodontist was probably my busiest day yet and I was super tired yesterday. I went to bed at 8.30pm but really I wanted to go to bed at 7pm!
Talking
Before surgery I had a few folk ask me if I'd be able to talk after surgery and I thought 'yeah, course I'm going to be able to talk'. Well, lets just say that yes I could talk because I still had a voice, but my jaw muscles dictate(d) how much I could/can talk.
This week, I can talk in conversation for 30 minutes before I find myself chewing the inside of my cheek and lower lip on the right hand side.
I can talk in conversation for up to 60 minutes and then my hand finds it way up to my chin to hold my jaw and the aching kicks in and I really need to stop.
Yawning
I don't think I have ever yawned as much before in my life as I have done since surgery. My ortho's advice on Thursday was to take my elastics off when I need to yawn, hold my jaw so I don't over extend it and to take afternoon naps to try and stop the evening yawning spells.
Work
If I had work to go to, I'd be going back to work on Monday with a phased return and altered hours.
Exercise
Still can't walk too fast, although I am getting faster. I have to walk at a more leisurely pace because (and this will sound daft I'm sure), I can feel the vibrations of walking going through my jaw, and too much makes me feel queasy.
I still can not run for a bus.
I have not yet returned to yoga. I think I need a couple of more weeks.
Activity
Slowly increasing. I can now hoover, put away laundry, dust, clean the bathroom, I can shower and wash my hair and get dressed all in one go rather than having to split it up over the morning or do shower one day and wash my hair the next.
I haven't driven since my surgery but I could probably manage ok now for short journeys.
I'm by no means back to normal yet and finding it difficult to get the balance of doing stuff and resting enough.
Today breakfast was readybrek. That was hard because since it's Saturday, it's bacon sandwiches for breakfast for everyone else and this week the smell of the bacon really made me not want to eat readybrek.
Lunch will be soup
Supper will be chicken korma (blended) and rice.
I've been awake since 6.30am, probably because I went to bed so early last night. But I could be done with more sleep, I'm yawning still!
On inspection last night, it is not my central incisor that is hitting a bracket but the lateral incisor that has just been moved to close a gap.
I'm going to attempt to go into town shopping with my daughter this afternoon. Let's see how much I can manage.
Photos:
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