4 Years Post Op

Hi everyone! Not sure if anyone will read this but I realized that Its now been 4 years since my surgery. I will always remember the date June 3rd haha.

I can’t believe its been four years as I still remember the anticipation and fear and the whole process seems like months ago, not years.

I am still happy with my results and still love that feeling of being able to cleanly bite into things. Its weird seeing old pics now of my old crooked jaw as I’m so used to my ‘new’ one.

Mostly I’m happy and proud of myself for going through this whole thing and I think it made me stronger. A lot of times I talk about changes I want to make to my life and don’t follow through, so I’ll always consider this a great accomplishment.

I hope everyone is doing well! Appreciate everyone who took the time to read my blog 🙂

One Year Post Op!

Hello!

Today is one year since I had double jaw surgery! So hard to believe – time really flies. I just keep thinking about this time last year my entire world was consumed with jaw surgery
and that’s practically all I thought about, and what those first few days were like right after, and thinking that its now a fairly distant memory is pretty amazing to me. Especially thinking that a year ago today, at this time, I was completely out of it, unable to eat or speak, throwing up blood and congested and miserable. In a way it feels like it didn’t even happen.

Not much has changed since my last update, I’m still seeing my surgeon and orthodontist for follow ups (every 3-4 months) but they are super quick, in and out appointments. My chin is still partially numb, although I don’t notice it unless I think about it. So looks like that will take some time.

The other thing I’ve been noticing is I still can’t quite open my jaw as big as I used to. I notice it when I bite in to a burger or large sandwich, I can do it but I feel a pressure as my jaws try to open that wide. This doesn’t really affect or hinder anything but just something I’ve noticed.

I’d say overall I’m pretty happy with the result. I’m pretty happy, although I think I was expecting a more drastic result than I ended up with. My face has changed in subtle ways, which is noticeable to some people.

I think most of all I’m just proud of myself for going through with it and coming out stronger. I know that if I didn’t do this I would have regretted it forever. So today I’m definitely congratulating myself on the one year mark 🙂

Braces Off!

Hi!

So after almost two years of braces and 6 months after double jaw surgery I got my braces off right on schedule on December 18th. I wanted to share a few pics:

 

I’m still going back and forth about whether I’m happy with the finished product. My smile still seems to be a bit crooked/lopsided but I think that’s just a result of part of my lower lip still being numb. Either way it feels unbelievably amazing not to have braces! Such a wonderful feeling. I’ve been getting a lot of compliments too which has been really nice. 

I now have permanent retainers (wires) wires on both sets of teeth and also a removable one which I wear every night and will indefinitely. That and my residual chin numbness are really the only signs left of this whole experience. I still can’t believe its been over 7 months since surgery. Time has really flown.

Overall I am so glad and proud of myself for going through with this. It was really hard, really time consuming, and expensive. But its something I’ve been wanting to do for over 10 years and I finally did it. And looking back the whole process wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected it to be.

I’ll put up some more before and after photos one of these days for comparison. I’ve been meaning to post about getting my braces off since it happened, which has been almost a month now. Life has definitely returned to normal as for a while jaw surgery was the centre of my life.

Thanks to everyone who has checked out my blog!

 

 

 

5.5 Months Post Op

Hi All! 🙂

I just realized I haven’t updated this blog in almost two months so I thought I’d post a quick update.

Its so strange to me how I barely think about my jaw these days. For a while it was all I thought about, and pre surgery everything to do with jaw surgery was my obsession. Now its so far in the back of my mind it doesn’t even feel like I had surgery.

My chin is still partially numb, which is one of the biggest reminders. The feeling seems to be coming back in patches, its a weird tingly feeling whenever I touch my chin, as part of it has feeling and part doesn’t.

I saw my orthodontist last week and got some wonderful news: I get my braces off December 18th!!! I cannot wait. I am so tired of having braces. I think because for so long it felt like everything was leading up to surgery (even though I always knew there would be 6 months of post surgery braces), so once the surgery and recovery was done I felt so ready to be done with the whole process.

By the time I get them off I will have had them 1 year and 11 months, which isn’t that long, but Its still hard to remember what its like to not have braces – I can’t wait! I keep thinking how nice it’ll be to eat without a ton of food getting stuck in my teeth.

I go in on Dec. 2nd to get my permanent retainers put in. I also have an appointment with my surgeon the same day I get my braces off, I think that will be my final appointment, but not sure exactly how it works. I think they do a final set of xrays too which I hope to get a pic of (and the before xrays) to hopefully post on here.

Speaking of pictures I don’t really have any new ones, I think I look pretty much the same as the last ones lol, but I’m sure I’ll have pictures galore after the big day.

Thanks for reading! Hope all is well with everyone both pre and post op 🙂

 

Day 114: No More Elastics!

At least for a bit! I saw my orthodontist today. And she said I don’t have to wear elastics at all (not even at night :)) until my next visit! Woohoo. Its been almost 4 months since surgery and I’ve been wearing elastics night and day since then. I enjoyed my day elastic free and it kind of felt like I was doing something wrong. It was weird (in a great way) not having to take them off to eat. I know it’ll feel weird not putting them on before going to sleep.

So good stuff at the orthodontist. The reason for the break from elastics is because I guess there’s been too much pressure on those teeth, which has made them loose (looser than they should be), but they didn’t seem too worried about that. Overall my bite is looking great, my front teeth are still a work in progress but everything else looks pretty great. I go back in 3 weeks and I might need to start wearing the elastics again at that point. But for now I’m happy and enjoying the break! I’m told I’m still on track to have braces off in December. I’m still feeling paranoid that they’re going to tell me at some point “oh you’re not ready yet, 6 more months!”. I’m so tired of having braces.

Otherwise things are pretty much the same now. Chin is still mostly numb. I can fit three fingers in my mouth slightly more easily. Overall good stuff.

Still not all the way back to normal with eating, although I can eat 99% of things.  Recently I was at a restaurant and eating a side of mixed vegetables which included cooked carrots. They were cooked pretty lightly though and I got to one of them which was very undercooked (softened but barely) I tried to eat it but no way, wasn’t happening. It was one of those “oh ya I had jaw surgery” moments, since these days its usually not on my mind. I also ate my first post-surgery steak with that meal, which went fine, so yay 🙂

 

 

Day 93: Seeing the dentist.

Hi All,

Its day 93! So I’ve passed the 90 day/3 month marks 🙂

I saw my dentist today for a regular cleaning, first since surgery. I was nervous about going because I was worried it was going to be really uncomfortable or that I’d have a bunch of cavities.

It ended up being pretty fun though because the hygienist was so sweetly enthusiastic and excited about my surgery results. She was practically gushing. That was a total confidence booster and made me feel great. I left there in a great mood. 

As for the actual experience it wasn’t too bad. My jaw did get a little tired of being open for so long but I think that’s good exercise for it. And they were gentle. One small cavity 😦 could have been way worse though.

All in all a good day. I feel like since May I’ve been going to non-stop teeth related appointments, with the orthodontist, surgeon and regular dentist. I can’t wait to be back to normal and just visiting the dentist every 6 months.

No other progress or changes really since last week. Its really bizarre to think that surgery was three months ago. Its weird when something you’d been planning for for so long is over. I’m sure the next three months of braces is also going to fly. It’s hard to believe its been almost two years since I started this process. But I’m so glad I did. I feel happier with my results every day.

take care all 🙂 thanks for reading 🙂

 

Day 87!

Hello!

I can’t believe I’m almost at 90 days/3 months post op. I felt like I would never get here.

Progress is very slow at this point but its still happening slowly but surely. For instance, significant feeling is coming back to my lower lip! I’ve been having tingles and such for weeks but now it hurts when I bite my lip (which happens all the time when I’m eating but it hasn’t hurt since surgery and now it does) good kind of pain cause its progress 🙂

As for the rest of my chin there are signs of feeling coming back. When I touch it I feel…something…its hard to explain, somewhat of a tingle like my chin is registering that its being touched but it doesn’t feel like the normal touch sensation.

I’m able to open my jaw quite a bit wider now. This was August 11th, where I was jsut fitting 2 fingers:

And today I can kind of, sorta , almost fit 3 lol:

 

So not completely normal yet but getting there! I would guess in about a month I could be back to a normal opening.

This means great things for eating as I can now eat most burgers and sandwiches without having to tear/cut them into small pieces. I had my favourite Subway sandwich, Sweet Onion Chicken Teryaki, yesterday and it was so great being able to bite into it and eat it pretty normally.

I’d say I can now eat 99.9% of foods. The only things I haven’t tried yet (and don’t really feel ready to try) are really hard things like raw carrots and nuts.

The annoying thing about eating is how food gets stuck in my braces so horribly every time I eat. It was never this bad before surgery. I had assumed it was because of the surgical hooks but those are long gone and it hasn’t gotten any better. Of course food would get stuck in my braces before surgery but its 10x worse now and its making me avoid eating with people because its so gross and embarrassing. I wonder why its gotten worse since surgery, maybe because I’m chewing differently? Who knows.

Hmm what else. I saw my surgeon today. Another short visit and everything is still looking great. I’m still finding it way easier to chew on one side over the other and he said that is normal. I’ll see him again in a month.

I’m going to the dentist on Tuesday for a cleaning. First time seeing the dentist since surgery. I’m a little nervous about it for some reason but I’m sure it’ll be fine.

Well I think that’s about it. Take care everyone 🙂

 

Day 72 Post Op: Another Orthodontic Visit

Hi All,

Saw my orthodontist today for another adjustment. It was painful and annoying. Not as bad as last time though. Felt like it didn’t last as long.

They said I still have to wear the elastics during the day for now, once some more of the gaps close in my teeth are closed I’ll be able to wear them only at night. So this means at least another 6 weeks when I have my next appointment. Maybe more.

I also asked whether  I am still on track to have braces off by December. She said I am. But I’ll believe it when I see it. However, December would be wonderful, right before the holiday, I am really hoping this is what happens.

That’s it for now 🙂

Day 69 Post Op

Hello!

Its day 69! Took me a while to figure that out. I think that’s one of the signs that you’ve come a long way, when you no longer immediately know which day post op you are. Tomorrow will be 10 Weeks since surgery!

Its been a couple weeks since I last posted and lots have things have happened.

I went out of town last weekend and saw a bunch of family and friends that I have not seen since before surgery. I was kind of hoping I’d get a lot of “omg you look so different” reactions but that didn’t happen. However I am feeling like I can see a bigger difference myself these days. I’m feeling pretty good about it.

While I was there I also watched my friend’s wedding video which I was briefly in. When they first showed me I kind of cringed like “omg my jaw” then I realized that, oh ya, that’s not my jaw anymore! The crookedness of it was so obvious and prominent in motion. Moments like that make me feel really good that I decided to do this.

I saw my surgeon Dr. Tocchio again on Tuesday for my 5th post-op appointment. This visit took about 90 seconds. He said everything still looks great and that I can go ahead and resume all normal physical activities now. I’ll see him again at the end of the month.

Its funny how I keep kind of forgetting I had jaw surgery. Well not really forgetting but its just not on my mind like it was for the first 6 weeks or so. I was at a barbecue last weekend and I got a big cheeseburger on a bun and was about to try to eat it when i remembered that I definitely would not be able to bite into it. I ended up eating it in smaller pieces.

Currently I can open my jaw wide enough to fit two fingers (a normal person can fit 3 fingers) so I’ve got a ways to go with that. So I can’t bite into larger things yet but as long as I can cut things up into smaller pieces I can eat pretty much anything. With some things I have to take my time but I can still manage almost anything. I still haven’t tried anything very hard like raw carrots. Definitely don’t feel ready for that.

I had a facial yesterday which felt very strange, to have someone pushing on my face (especially my still numb chin) but it was really nice.

Other than that not much new. My chin is still completely numb and I’m still wearing elastics all the time (Except to eat and brush). My surgeon says the numbness will take months to go away and that the elastics are up to my orthodontist now. I’m really hoping that at some point soon I’ll only need to wear the elastics at night. I really have them lol.

I see my orthodontist on Wednesday for another adjustment. I really hope that my braces come off on time in December. I’ve got this bad feeling that I’ll end up having to wear them longer. My teeth still need some obvious orthodontic work. I’m really tired of having braces.

I think most if not all of my swelling is gone (yay! :)). A couple people reminded me that I haven’t posted pics in a while so here are a bunch:

 

 

8 Weeks Post Op

Hi All,

8 Weeks post op – woohoo 🙂 not much has really changed. Progress is very slow at this stage.

I’m eating more and more things. I can eat almost anything now. Some things I have to cut into small pieces or chew really slowly, but I can manage for the most part. I had chips for the first time on Friday – that was pretty great 🙂

The only things I’m really still staying away from are really hard things like raw carrots and nuts, and anything that’s too big to bite into like a big burger or sandwich. Right now I can open my jaw wide enough to almost fit two fingers. So I’m making progress with that 🙂

I’m still wearing my elastics all the time, except to eat and brush. The past week or so I’ve been being kind of bad about putting back them on after eating, sometimes leaving them off for a few hours. I’m going to try to be better about that.

They seem to still be the thing people comment on the most. My five year old nephew was visiting this week and one of the first things he said to me was “why do you have lines in your mouth?” (meaning the elastics) – I tried to explain what they are for but didn’t really succeed lol.

So I’m not sure how much longer I’ll wear them, possibly until my braces come off. But I’m hoping at some point before then I’ll be allowed to wear them only at night.

So I’m feeling pretty normal these days. Before it was like I was always thinking about my jaw or it was always in the back of my mind, but now I only think about it a few times a day, when its time to eat or when someone tells me there’s drool on my chin (its still completely numb lol).

I see my surgeon next week and my orthodontist again in two weeks. Don’t expect much to change between now and then but who knows.

That’s it for now – thanks for reading 🙂