12 Weeks Post Op - RELIEF!

I had my latest ortho visit on Thursday.

The max fax surgeon was actually in to see me at my appointment today. Was SO nice to walk in and see him when I was worried out my mind about this bone sticking out my gum. By this time I had prepared for going back into hospital, left my husband a set of instructions and phone numbers for work and other appointments, instructed him what stuff to pack in a hospital bag if need be, etc etc.

The max fax surgeon who saw me, is not the one who actually did my surgery but is the one who came to see me post-op in hospital the whole weekend and last saw me when I was at Day 2 Post op. He is just such a nice man...I wish I could take him home with me :)

Anyway, in his lovely calm way, he looked in my mouth and confirmed that it was indeed bone sticking out of my gum.

With a few twiddles of some tweezers he took that bone out! Apparently it was a fragment of bone that had decided it wasn't going to be a part of my new face and was working it's way out. It was quite a big fragment for being a fragment.

I must have looked a right muppet because I then proceeded to burst into tears with relief!

I also explained to him about my squint mouth, but I wonder if it's something that is only going to be noticeable either to me or to others when I am tired or ill because he said he didn't see it.
He checked my numbness levels and I could feel him touch my lip and chin on the right hand side so feeling is coming back, even if it is painful.

Next it was my ortho's turn. I showed her the gap I wasn't happy with but I don't think she's going to do much about it; she said that it is likely to only be noticeable to me. But really, all this hard work, don't we want as near damn perfect teeth as possible??

So I got elink for that gap and elink for the gap on the other side she is working to close. The molar that she put powerchain on, is quite mobile and she didn't want to do anything to it so that the wound from where the bone was removed, could heal.

No powerchain today and red and green ligs for Christmas.

She has given me a new configuration of elastics...the most fierce looking yet.
Moved to blue elastics on the right and remain with orange elastics on the left. Now over 2 hooks at the top and 2 hooks at the bottom on each side...kind of like a square/rhombus style shape.

I also had to get an xray done, I presume to check that everything was ok after having this bone fragment removed.

Then I was given the green light to eat a normal diet again! Instructed not to eat anything that could break my braces, no chewy meat or crusty bread.

Came home and had (oven cook) battered fish, oven chips and peas. Not really my ideal choice of a first 'proper' meal but that was what we had. Took a wee while to eat it, especially the chips and I must say I suffered for it in the evening; I was sore! But I guess it's just a workout for my jaw now.

As well as being sore I had a lot of nerve stuff going on. Best way I can describe it is cobwebs, a heap of cobwebs on your face, tingly, itchy, feeling weird and just not pleasant.
Took some paracetamol and codeine and with being hugely tired (relief after the stress I think) I was in bed and asleep by 9.30pm.

Friday I had TOAST! I had TOAST! I had toast for breakfast..OMG so good!

Went out for lunch with my best friend to celebrate the fact I wasn't in hospital having bone removed and that I can eat normally again. Took a long time to chose a meal because I didn't know what I would be able to eat and what i wouldn't and didn't want to pay money for food and find I couldn't eat it.
I chose risotto with chicken, prawns and chorizo. Managed the chicken and prawns but not the chorizo. Took a while to eat it too but that's ok.

Supper was curry and rice but this time I could have the chicken and the naan breads :)

Today I had a bacon sandwich for breakfast, yum yum! I was never a big lover of bacon before but it has tasted really nice now.
Lunch was a fried cheese sandwich...O.M.G. probably THE BEST thing I have eaten in the past 3 months!!
Supper was spaghetti meatballs, but I think I would've managed that last week anyway.

But it is SO NICE to be eating normally again! I made it through 12 weeks of liquid and soft-chew diet!
And this week I can go back to planning meals for the coming week and cooking nice things and enjoying meals the same as the rest of the family.

Still going to have soup for lunch tomorrow LOL but that is because it is cold, dark, grey and wet outside now and soup seems appropriate.

I am going to allow myself to indulge in food this weekend and then from Monday get back to eating sensibly again so I don't pile on all the weight I have lost. I have went up from 10st 4 to 10st 8 and would quite like to stay at this weight now. Saying that, Christmas is just round the corner!

Next ortho visit is in 3 weeks time.

Selfie pic time!

Look Away If Your Squeamish Warning

If you are squeamish, don't look at this blog entry.

I managed to take a good photo of this lump and what looks like bone sticking out.
To give an idea of where in my mouth it is, it is where the incision site is on the left hand side. So what looks like bone, is sticking out between my gum and my cheek. And on further looking today, I can see another bit that looks like bone too :(

Now I am worried that I'm going to have to go back into theatre to have this fixed. Can't seem to find anything online about it other than malunion of bone fragments is a complication of this surgery.

Two photos, one shows the 'bone' sticking out better and the other shows this new area of what looks like bone appearing at the back.

11 Weeks and 2 Days

Hmmmmm....
I think my orthodontist may have her work cut out for her on Thursday. Another hour in the chair of torture for me perhaps?

That red lump on the inside of my cheek, between my cheek and my gum, where the wound would have been...on further poking about at it, there appears to be a fragment of bone sticking out. Well it looks like bone. I'm hoping it's something silly like some rice, but it's definitely hard and won't move if I pull on it (gently) with tweezers.

That pain in my jaw on the right hand side where it feels like someone is punching me in the face....the penny dropped today and that could well be neuralgia.

Great!

The rest of my list includes:

my squint mouth (the top lip goes one way and the bottom goes another)
my lopsided mouth, it is still dropping on the right hand side
my midlines; they didn't meet after surgery but that was ok because that's how they wanted it. Now my midlines have came together and are making themselves go the other way unmatched.
a couple of gaps still to close
one gap that has appeared that I'm really not happy with
my lower furthest molar on the left which the ortho attached powerchain to to bring it forward a bit so it was more useful to me, hasn't come forward but has twisted round instead.

Today, I ate chicken for the first time since before my surgery. It was nice, juicy, soft roast chicken and it went down just fine :)
Good to know, that unless the above list means a trip into hospital for things to be fixed, I'm on track for eating a full Christmas dinner!

Photo time! Couldn't decide whether to use pic 1 or pic 2 for the serious face photo so used both. Pic 1 is a nice pic but pic 2 shows how my mouth is drooping.

Day 75 - Pain No Happiness

For the past 3 days I've been in pain.
It comes and goes.
For example, today I have been awake since 7am and up since 7.30am. I've been fine. Eaten a pancake and had a cup of tea for breakfast.
Now, at 9.50am, it feels like someone has come and punched me in the jaw on the right hand side. It is a deep pain. Definitely bone pain rather than nerve pain. Almost like the kind of pain you get with toothache.

Have taken painkillers which should help put it away.

Yesterday the same thing happened, pain arrived late morning, took painkillers and then it came back later afternoon and then nothing until this morning.
If it's not my jaw, then the only other thing I can think it could be is another ear infection. But I don't want to go to the doctors and have them tell me that my ear is fine, it's referred pain from my jaw (had this happen already).

So painkillers and we stick it out until my appointment with the orthodontist next week.

I also have developed a lump on the left side, between the cheek and my gum. It's quite red and getting bigger. I tried to get a photo of it this morning but this is a case where I really need a medical photographer to take a picture because I can't get a photo that shows what I see with my own eyes.

I have a worry that food may have become trapped and skin growing round it.

But it will have to be looked at.

Day 73 - Pain & Happiness

When I got up this morning I was really sore on my right hand side. Took painkillers which helped until late afternoon when the pain hit again. Weird.

Also, where my wounds are healing, on the left where the cheek meets the gums, a wee lumpy bit has formed. I'm guessing it is just the wound area healing but it is annoying because it feels like I have food stuck between my gum and my cheek.

Went to the cinema yesterday to see The Imitation Game...SUPERB film!
First time at the cinema since surgery and for a girl who can't not have popcorn when she goes to the cinema, it was kinda hard to make do with a hot chocolate.

Today went out for lunch to celebrate my daughter getting her braces off. Her teeth look beautiful. Whether she will wear her retainers though is another matter.
I ordered an egg sandwich, white bread, no salad.
My food arrived, I piled all the crisps on to my daughter's ate cause I can't eat them.
Then I went to cut the crusts off the bread and realised this was not an egg sandwich, it was brie and rocket.
So went back with sandwich, reiterated egg sandwich, white bread, no salad.
Back came an egg sandwich, white bread and a bigger pile of crisps lol!
Attempted the coleslaw, tried the move it about your mouth and swallow whole technique until I choked on the 3rd forkful. Then I stopped :-)

This week is the first week since my surgery that I really miss chocolate, actual chocolate not just the taste.

But happiness has come a wee bit.
How to eat milk chocolate digestives on a soft chew diet?
Dunk your milk chocolate digestive in a hot cup of tea!
Fit fine :-)

10 Weeks Post Op Today!

Today I have reached the 10 weeks mark!

*Still* on the soft chew diet. My ortho did say that it would be around the 10 - 12 week mark that the bone would be healed but I'll wait until the 12 week mark I think before I start on something harder than soft chew.
I attempted a wee bit of soft crust on a sandwich last week and oh dear, my jaw did not like that at all. In fact, since, it's felt like something's not right, when I bite down, the jaw feels soft and squidgy and whilst I still had my numb area, I didn't particularly notice it before, but now I do.

But I don't know if this feeling that something isn't right is related to my actual jaw bone healing and having been squished with a crust or if it's to do with numbness and feeling coming back. I shall ask the ortho when I see her on the 27th November.

This week I went out for a meal for the first time since my surgery. Me and my husband went out to celebrate our wedding anniversary (14 years, the man deserves a medal!). Ended up going to an Italian and I chose basically sausage pasta bake. But struggled with it because the sausage was really quite firm. I was going to choose what my husband had (cannelloni made with minced chicken) but it said on the menu it was wrapped in breadcrumbs so I thought I wouldn't manage it. Turns out there were a few breadcrumbs sprinkled on top and the rest would've been much easier to eat than my meal. Oh well.
Cheesecake went down all right though :)

Here's a pic of me at 9 weeks and  5 days after having been to the hairdressers for the first time since my surgery.

Oh! Note of advice, if your hairdresser is on the rough side and yanks your hair to dry it, don't go to the hairdressers until your jaw can cope with it. My hairdresser was off sick when I went for my appointment and I got another hairdresser instead. Oh my goodness, she had long nails (felt them when she washed my hair!) and a sharp red comb (I'm surprised I did not have red scratches across my scalp and down my neck) and she pulled my hair with all her might, yanking my head backwards, when trying to straighten it. I felt like a bobblehead! No way on this earth would my jaw have coped with that even just a couple of weeks ago.

Day 61 - I've Got A Feeling...Wooohoooo!

Sing it like the Blackeyed Peas yeah!

I ate a couple of grapes yesterday and realised that grapes don't come under the category of soft chew. One grape and the numbness feeling was setting in, 2 grapes and it was like eh no, not happening, this is not comfortable.

But this morning, I've woken up and I've got lots of tinging and cobwebby feelings in my chin and on touching my chin and lower lip, it just feels ewwwww, not pleasant. I initially wondered if I was feeling particularly numb today but then wondered, is it a case that I'm feeling less numb and feeling is coming back?

Then I kissed my husband goodbye as he left for work and oh! I can feel more of a kiss, I could feel it!
So had a wee poke about whilst looking in the mirror and I could say that my area of numbness has shrunk to this:

And funny enough, the bit where my mouth looks as if it is drooping down, is the numbest part. I wonder if once all feeling returns, if my mouth won't look quite so lopsided.

Diet wise I'm still on the soft chew diet but I feel like I'm almost back to normal eating just minus the meat, crusty bread and hard crunchy stuff like crisps (not that I really need to be eating crisps anyway). Or maybe it just feels normal because I've been eating no-chew or soft chew for almost 9 weeks now.

Pain wise, I'm only taking paracetamol as and when I need it, usually if the weather is really cold. This is a big improvement because there was a time when I felt like I was never going to have to stop taking pain meds!
Oh and hoovering is a challenge. I've hoovered like 1 or 2 rooms at a time but at the weekend I attempted to hoover the whole house and had to stop and rest half way through because my jaw felt so heavy that it was going to drop off.
I now have an ear infection (to be expected after my chest infection and laryngitis) so need to take pain meds for that instead.

Didn't get either of the 2 jobs I interviewed for last week, so still job hunting. Hopefully something will come up.