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@emmasjaw
it’s been four years since my surgery and i did forget entirely about this blog but just to give a quick update, my jaw is completely healed! here’s are two pics of what i look like now that everything is completely healed! (and has been for a few years)
Almost my one year mark past my jaw surgery! I'll make a big post compiling all of the changes I've failed to document the past few months
It didn't occur to me to post when I got my braces off initially but here are my bare teeth!! Fun anecdote: when my orthodontist told me that I was getting them off I started crying. It had been four whole years in braces and I'm happy to finally have them off! I've been buying a bunch of new lipsticks because I'm not embarrassed of my mouth anymore (the one I'm wearing in the three close-ups is Celebrity Skin by Jeffree Star). I have a retainer now too. One of those clear plastic ones that just goes around all of your teeth like a mouthguard. I'll try to remember to take a picture of it when I get home. I could not be happier about being able to eat apples and other such things without worrying about food getting stuck in my braces! Ive gone back to doing taekwondo (I'm really out of shape after not exercising for 6 months). My face is still a little swollen and chubby and I don't know when it's going to go away but I'll post more if anything else comes up.
Six months post-surgery today! I haven't updated this blog in forever because it seems like nothing much changes but there have actually been some. My surgeon prescribed some horrible chalky paste for the scar under my upper lip to heal that up and give me more facial mobility and animation (personally I didn't think there was any issue with it but whatever). I'm supposed to put it under my lip every night but I really hate it. Like really. Also, since I still haven't been allowed to exercise it's led to me gaining more weight than I thought. It's not a lot but a little more than I weighed before the surgery. Besides that I think everything is pretty much the same! I'm looking forward to going back to taekwondo soon, as I've been missing it. Anyways, I'll probably make another post once I get the braces off (hopefully in january) just to show the final results!!! It's been such a journey and I'm glad to finally be at a point where I can enjoy my new jaw shape instead of being hindered by it!!!
July 20 2015: idk what day it is lol. Today I have a surgeons appointment (it was supposed to be two weeks ago but my great grandmother died :((() where I’ll be getting stitches taken out and hopefully told that I can eat a cheeseburger!! My diet has gotten much Much more normal, being able to eat cheeto puffs and soft popcorn and bacon (albeit having to chew unusually) Sorry I haven’t updated in forever, but I just got a new car (not at all relevant to my jaw but I’m super excited- two of the pictures up there were taken in it) and progressing so far that day to day the changes are nearly nonexistent! I had a taekwondo ceremony the other day to recieve my second degree black belt (yes, really lol) and while I couldn’t do all of the physical activities (because I’m not supposed to do anything that could jolt my jaw yet) it was still sorta physically exhausting because of standing up for long periods of time. And I got tired of everyone telling me that they didn’t recognize me because I look so different- yes I know! (Not bitter about it though, it’s pretty dang cool!!)
How long did it take for you to get surgery? I have an underbite to and I’m 17 and just now about to be referred to a doctor, and I kinda wanted to get it done like as soon as it can be because I’m gonna be 18 soon and I won’t be able to have it then because my insurance will probably not pay for it so just wondering how long it took for you?
Sorry I haven't responded, I haven't been paying much attention to this blog as of late! I'm 17 as well and a junior in high school and I've been in braces since the summer before my freshman year (almost three whole years!!) Once it was clear that I was done growing (by looking at x-rays of my wrist bones to see if my epipheseal growth plates had closed- it sure would stink if my underbite grew back after the surgery!!) my surgery was scheduled tentatively for the summer of 2015, in which the date of June 9th was eventually cemented after two years. I would say that it's about 2-3 full months before you start to feel normal. I'm at day 69 in my recovery and I'm going to school every day and driving and eating crunchy things with no pain! I believe (this is more my parents' realm of expertise) that my family's insurance covered it under the fact that it was actually medically necessary and not wholly cosmetic. Hope this answers your questions!
July 20 2015: idk what day it is lol. Today I have a surgeons appointment (it was supposed to be two weeks ago but my great grandmother died :((() where I'll be getting stitches taken out and hopefully told that I can eat a cheeseburger!! My diet has gotten much Much more normal, being able to eat cheeto puffs and soft popcorn and bacon (albeit having to chew unusually) Sorry I haven't updated in forever, but I just got a new car (not at all relevant to my jaw but I'm super excited- two of the pictures up there were taken in it) and progressing so far that day to day the changes are nearly nonexistent! I had a taekwondo ceremony the other day to recieve my second degree black belt (yes, really lol) and while I couldn't do all of the physical activities (because I'm not supposed to do anything that could jolt my jaw yet) it was still sorta physically exhausting because of standing up for long periods of time. And I got tired of everyone telling me that they didn't recognize me because I look so different- yes I know! (Not bitter about it though, it's pretty dang cool!!)
July 2 2015: day 23 post op (I think lol) nothing has really changed since I last posted. Yesterday I got my surgical hooks off at the orthodontist which was not a fun experience as my face is still tender from the surgery!! Thankfully the lady was very gentle with everything and let me tell her when it hurt too much. I had two broken brackets from the surgery and two completely missing brackets (popular theory is that my surgeon took them off during surgery but I can't swear that I ever had them in the first place)
I've managed to start eating some more solid food like cut up peaches and even poptarts (heated up in the microwave and broken into little pieces) and I'm starting to feel more and more normal, aside from my horrible sleep schedule that I haven't changed since I had the medicine keeping me up to 3am. At least now I've managed it to be about 1am instead but I'm still sleeping to 11am every day, lol. I'm not ready for school to start in about a month (but I am ready to get my own car soon!!!!)
Well, anyway, I've been thinking about it and I think the main advice I have for anyone else about to go through jaw surgery is to early on eat foods you don't care about ruining for yourself! For example, the first few days I lived mostly off of french onion soup but now I have lost all desire to eat french onion soup ever again. Maybe it would be different if I wasn't eating it out of a syringe but it'll definitely be a long time before I'll be craving it.
June 25 2015: Day 16! Nothing much has changed in the past few days, hence why I haven’t updated! I went to the surgeons office on monday for my third post-op checkup, and I’ve started to leave my liquid diet behind, instead eating small pieces of mostly-solid foods such as bread, rice, beans, cooked carrots, and even chicken! I’ve eaten chicken pot pie, a Chipotle burrito bowl (with rice, beans, pico de gallo, and chicken), and sausage corn chowder with little difficulty! At the surgeon’s office, I asked a question that had been occupying my thoughts: when can I eat a cheeseburger? After chuckling at me, he told me probably about a month from now, depending on how well I heal. I plan on trying extra hard to heal as best I can now, lol! (I really have been craving a cheeseburger!!!)
Aside from food, the only changes in my mouth so far have been the removal of some bottom stitches (not gonna lie, this hurt since I was not on the oxycodone like last time) and my adaptation to the rubber bands in my mouth. Also being able to drink water without a straw was a big plus, since I’ve gained more feeling and control in my lower lip. The surgeon has me doing some physical therapy in the form of “waking up” my upper lip muscles by alternating smiling and puckering my lips. These motions, puckering more so than smiling, hurt a little in my upper gums (probably where my stitches are) but I think they are making a difference in causing feeling to come back.
I plan on making less frequent blog posts, maybe every other day or whenever something significant happens, as the changes I’m seeing day-by-day are less noticeable and blog-worthy (which is a good thing, I’m back to feeling more normal!!)
June 19th 2015, 11PM: Today was great and uneventful! My boyfriend came to visit around 6 for about an hour and the social interaction was really nice (even though my mom and dad and dog are rad, it’s different to talk to someone who’s not directly related to you!!) He said that my face looks very different (obviously) and that I talk funny now!! I do have a moderate lisp and I talk quieter (not sure why) but I didn’t really think about that much before. For dinner my mom cut up some garlic cheese bread (something I’d been craving!) and I had it with some fettuccine pasta. It was so yummy!
June 18th 2015, 11PM: day 9 was uneventful! Played some xbox, cuddled my dog during a thunderstorm (she's scared of thunder poor thing), and ate some new things today! My mom went to Chipotle today and got me some of their yummy cilantro lime rice along with some chicken (cut up into very small pieces). It's frustrating not being allowed to bite and chew things, but the rice and chicken was yummy and a change for me. Also I ate a popcicle, which was also yummy and meant that I had to take my rubber bands out (I'll take any excuse I can - lol). While at the store, my mom bought me a kitty coloring book, which I've spent the past hour coloring an incredibly intricate cat drawing with colored pencils. It was surprisingly entertaining!! Also, my swelling has gone down to only a small bit of chipmunk-cheekednes, which means I should be getting close to what the final result will be! Yay!
June 17th, 2015 5PM: 8 days post op and I'm feeling great! I woke up at about 11 today and had a smoothie with cut up banana pieces for breakfast and then spent most of my day playing Xbox and playing with my dog by tossing around her favorite squeaky ball. Today I've only taken one Hydrocodone pill (I was taking two pills every 4-6 hours, we've been weaning me off of them) at 8AM and then two Advils when I woke up and two Advils when I ate lunch (white sauce pasta) around 3. The pain is a little bit more than I had when I was on the hydrocodone, but it feels like a mild braces tightening if that makes sense. There's pain, but it's not that intense and it's easy to forget about. About a 2 or 3 on a 10 point pain scale. My swelling is going down and I've had no nosebleeds today. Also, I was able to walk downstairs and get myself some juice for the first time! I was somewhat winded from walking up and down stairs but considering that a few days ago I was weak from just getting up to go to the bathroom it's an improvement!
June 16th 2014, 8PM: First whole week after surgery!!! This time last week I was chillin in a hospital bed with blood drainage tubes out my mouth and an IV pumping me full of medicine and painkillers! Today has probably been the best day so far, with zero (!!!!!) nausea or headaches and an amazing appetite. I've been lying in bed playing Xbox off and on along with sudoku pretty much all day. My neighbor came to visit and brought me a couple of magazines as well as a puzzle book (how nice!!) Also, today I've started a new steroid my surgeon prescribed to reduce my swelling since apparently most of my pain is coming from my swollenness pushing on my nerves (the pill is small but it has a horrible taste!) Speaking of pain, a new sensitive spot has started to bother me right at the corner of my right nostril. I'm not sure if it's a stitch or a plate/screw that's hurting but hopefully that'll go away soon because it's pretty annoying. I've had a humidifier running next to me all day due to the horrible nosebleed I woke up with this morning, which has helped considerably seeing as that was the only nosebleed I've had today compared to the 3-4 I've been averaging the past few days. I ate the same elbow macaroni spaghetti I had last night for lunch today, as well as having fettuccine made with the same noodles for dinner (it was so yummy!!!!) Hopefully the rest of my recovery will go like today!
June 15th 2015 10PM: Wow these sure aren’t the prettiest pictures. I just put on my rubber bands for the night. Only one on each side. In the first picture you can sort of see my upper stitches: those are dissolvable and should fall out at some point (I’ll document that) The bands are somewhat tight, which is mildly uncomfortable, as well as them interfering with my pre-surgery habit of keeping my jaws slightly open to hide my underbite.
(click on the pictures if they're not showing properly)
June 15th 2015, 8PM: Today I got my face stitches out!! You can see where they were on the second picture. These stitches were from the incision they used to screw in the screws/plates on the sides of my jaw (I'll try to find yall an x-ray at some point). They did all of the other surgery and moving stuff from the incisions in my gums, but the incisions on my face were for the screwdriver, cuz I guess you can't turn a screwdriver from the side like that, haha! The removal didn't really hurt; it pinched a little when they were cut but I had taken my pain meds about an hour before so I was too drugged to care, lol! The nurse said that I've been brushing well and that everything looked fine. My surgeon came in and took a look and decided that I needed to wear rubber bands to train my bite to its new position, since although all the bones are in the right place, my muscles are still acting as if I still had an underbite. So the rubber bands guide me to bite down in the correct position! I'll take a picture once I put them back on, since I took them out so I could eat. They're not very restrictive, like I can speak with them in and open my mouth a normal amount, but they make it difficult to maneuver a spoon into my mouth. Anyway: today was a great day for food for me. On the way back from the surgeons office, we stopped by Wendy's and got medium chocolate Frostys (which is so much bigger than the small size omg). I couldn't eat it in the car because the spoons they gave us were too big to fit in my mouth (I have to eat with baby spoons) so I spent half an hour eating it in bed while watching Love It or List It. After that I got a headache and took a two hour nap (which is gonna lead to me not being able to sleep tonight :')) and woke up when my mom came to ask me what I wanted for dinner. She was planning for macaroni and cheese, but since I wasn't feeling cheese at the moment, I had the pasta with spaghetti sauce. It was the best thing I'd eaten since the surgery. My mom cut up elbow macaroni noodles and put red sauce with parmesano cheese on it and I ate small mouthfuls without chewing (cuz I'm not allowed to chew or bite down on anything yet) as well as a small side of very small bits of shredded chicken (for protein). It was a very good meal for almost a week (6 days) post-op.
I am so weak!!! I can hardly walk down stairs without being exhausted. My mom had to drop me off on a bench while she parked because I can't handle the walk
June 15th 2015, 12PM: today I’m going to the surgeons office to get my stitches removed. Last night was mostly sleepless, since I took long naps yesterday. Today I’ve put my contacts in and plan to put on makeup for the first time in a week. So far I’ve lost between 5 and 10 pounds from the soft food diet and I can’t say I miss them. What I do miss, however, is solid food and my boyfriend. My dog has been keeping me company and making it difficult for my mom to change the sheets on the bed (she just wants to sleep!!). Yesterday when I was loopy from pain medicine I was Convinced that my dog was communist and out to steal my mashed potatoes (as an example of how weird the pain medicine makes me) Today I’m looking forward to getting the stitches removed and eating a Wendy’s Frosty!
June 14th 2015 11pm: Today has been overall sorta ehh. I took two hour long naps and ate some soup and ice cream. I’ve felt moderately nauseous throughout the day and my stomach has been upset as well. The swelling seems to be going down, and my mother has me on a 5-hour schedule for pain meds to wean me off as well as preserve the few pain pills we have left.
omg did it hurt alot? how old r u? how long did u have to have braces??
Hi rperfume! Well I've been pretty drugged up so while I do feel some pain, it's mostly controlled. I'm 17 and I've had braces since the summer after 8th grade (I'm in the summer after 11th grade now)
