DEBRACING DATE HERE WE COME!!

Yesterday I had an orthodontist appointment,. I had an inkling this might be my last appointment and that she would be saying, next time we deband. But didn't want to get my hopes up too much.

But yesterday, 6 years, 8 months and 2 days since I first got my braces on and started this very very long journey, she said those magic words...debanding!

I only got a retie yesterday on the top and a slight adjustment to the wire at the bottom because my gum is  bit red and sore near the back left molar where the incision site was.

She told me that I could cautiously go from wearing my elastics (blue on the right and orange on the left) 24/7 to only wearing them at night. But I'd need to keep a close eye on my teeth for any signs of movement. But rather than risk it, I'm just going to keep wearing them 24/7 and put up with the blue elastics and their continual snapping. It's only for a few weeks more.

Previously, I have only ever chosen 1 or 2 colours of ligs but in honour of my last adjustment, I chose a rainbow! They are super pretty!

Jaw wise, I've been feeling my area of altered sensation quite a lot this week. It could well be because the weather is freezing. Or maybe I'm eating lots. Or both. I attempted a snickers (cut up into slices) last week but the nuts were a no no, they just rolled around my mouth. It's odd isn't it, it's not like my teeth have lost their sharpness to eat nuts. But the jaw muscles say nope.

I'm looking forward to warmer weather when I won't have to wear my scarf out.

I will get a Hawley retainer with a pontic for the top and an Essix retainer for the bottom.

Debracing date is 16th February 2015 at 9am!!!!!

Picture time!

My pretty rainbows! There *is* a pot of gold at the end of these ones!
(And don't my teeth and bite look really good too?)

Serious face

 

Smiley Face

Side Profiles

18 Weeks and 5 Days

Wow that took a wee while to count back on the calender to see how long it has been post-op.

Last night, I was looking through photos on my phone and ended up looking at all the photos I have taken since 4th September.
I must admit, now, now I am a little shocked when I look at my post op pictures from the first 2 weeks or so. I didn't think at the time that I was that bad, but looking at them now, I'm like crikey moses! How swollen and bruised was I? It was a little bit amazing to look at them and compare with what I look like now.

And at the same time, I said to my husband last night, it feels really odd because it feels like the whole thing just didn't happen. Aside from not being able to eat certain things like pork and nuts, I'm back to a normal diet. Yes things do take a wee while longer to eat (pizza, a baked potato and coleslaw took me 1 hour to eat the other night) but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

And I can say that I still have the same area of numbness, although I think the better description would be altered sensation; I can feel touch, just not sharpness or pain, it feels odd when I touch it, I still feel like I have food down my chin when I don't but I don't notice it most of the time, usually after eating something challenging or when it is cold.

I now have to wear a big fluffy scarf when i go out, no snow here as yet but it is cold and my jaw certainly feels it more than it used to.

So, where are we with teeth and bite and so on.
Well *whispers* I think we might just actually be close to debracing!!
I knew the ortho I saw on my first post op visit was lying when he said braces off in 4 months LOL! But we're not too far off that now.
I had an appointment with my orthodontist last Thursday. The gap on the left that arose with my teeth shifting wilst my false tooth was out post op, has closed.
The gap on the right (actually the exact same gap between the exact same teeth as the left) is also closing. I got a re-tie with new coloured ligs (hot pink and pink for valentine's day) and e-link put on top left and right to make these final closures.
With the pain I've felt top right, I can already see that gap is closed.

Back to see the orthodontist in 2 weeks time and I think she's going to say we're done!

Of course, we won't be entirely finished, there will still be tooth restoration to do.

Part of me is actually a bit worried, how will I cope with no orthodontist appointments after nearly 7 years! and the other part of me is excited to see what kind of retainers I'll get, what my teeth really look like with no metal in the way and to be able to eat an apple for the first time in 7 years!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate today. I hope you had a lovely day :)

I managed to eat entire Christmas dinner from prawn cocktail for starters (although lettuce was a bit tricky), to full Christmas turkey with all the trimmings (albeit a slow trek through the plate) and 3 puddings (1 piece of cheesecake and 2 bowls of trifle (trifle is my favourite pudding ever!)).

Of course, there had to be the bag of nuts that I can't eat, but my hubby will enjoy eating them for me.

Definitely still need a napkin when eating, it's a funny thing, it's almost like my nerves have went inside out, I eat something and instead of feeling it inside my mouth, I feel it on the outside. So I feel like I have food running down/stuck to my chin but don't. That's on the right hand side where the numbest area is.

Putting on lipstick this morning was kinda weird.

I'll be 16 weeks post surgery tomorrow so here's a photo update since I've not done one for a while.

15 Weeks...I think

There was a time when I said to my husband, 'I wonder when I'll stop counting the time since my surgery'.

Well that time has come. I'm fairly sure I'm something like 15 weeks and 2 days post surgery now, but I have to stop and think about it, work it out.

I was supposed to have an appointment with my orthodontist on Thursday but the appointment got rescheduled because my orthodontist was off sick. Have never, in the past 6 years seen her off sick so she must've been really sick.
I did say to the receptionist that I was to be seen soon because my teeth are moving quickly post surgery but I haven't got my next appointment now until 8th January. Well, I'm just the patient so I can't make receptionists give me faster appointments. Although I could bet if the dental nurse was there, they'd find something sooner.
Just got to hope that my teeth behave themselves over the next few weeks.

That will also mean that my braces will NOT be off 4 months after surgery. Why am I not surprised??

Nothing to report really.
I am getting fed up of food getting stuck in my braces (one of the perks of the jaw surgery diet, nothing stuck!) and I am finding that food sticks between my teeth and my gums at the sides on the bottom and I can't feel it.

The area where the bone was sticking out is reduced to a small lump; it is slowly healing itself.

Food wise I have found most things ok although I am taking longer to eat now. I feel like I have eaten absolutely HEAPS in the past 3 weeks but the bathroom scales are telling me that i am maintaining my weight at 10st 6lbs (146lbs) so I can't be doing too badly. Plus my clothes are still too big for me. If I can mantain over Christmas then I think I'll need to go and buy some new trousers/jeans at least because I'm running on 2 pairs of jeans to wear.

I ate pizza for the first time the other night; had naad bread pizza as I figured that would be easier to eat than proper pizza dough base. That went ok except I couldn't eat the crust bits.

Have tried beef and been ok although was sore after the first time.
Have tried pork and that just is a no go, my jaws just refuse to work on pork.
Almost back to normal diet.
Still not attempted anything crunchy or hard like crackers or crisps. But then most of the food that falls into the hard or crunchy category are foods that I shouldn't be eating anyway :)

I can now eat a banana properly! Satsumas are good too.

I have had a couple of nights where I think I've either been clenching or grinding my teeth and have woken up with achey jaws.

I was also sat watching TV the other night and ran my hand over my jaw (still tend to do that as well as touch the numb area) and got a bit of a shock, it felt like something was missing! I think what it was was that some swelling has gone down again on the right hand side.

Coming up to Christmas now. I most certainly will be able to eat Christmas dinner!! Will likely have to skip the nuts and the crisps and so on but that's ok.

I have had 2 lots of laryngitis and 2 ear infections since my surgery so I'm pretty run down. I have also had major mood crashes. I have read online that a drop in mood can occur after jaw surgery, well mine certainly did. Just trying to work my way back to 'normal' again.

And a funny, it's only taken 3 weeks, but now I am fed up eating toast for breakfast!! :D :D

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.