1 MONTH POST-OP! SPLINT OUT!

Hey!!! Sooo, yesterday my orthodontist took my bite splint out and it felt crazy weird. Of course, I got a little faint and the splint smelled disgusting but I still asked to keep it! LOL (Cleaned it super good) :( But, I was super excited. They changed my elastic pattern, said my bite looks pretty much perfect and said I possibly will be getting my braces off in 3 - 4 months and that is the best news yet! One thing I don't like, is that my molars are now open in the back. :(

I am super stocked about my results and I was really happy to see the shape of my teeth again! There are a lot of physical changes to my smile, my lips look completely different. (In a very good way - way more symmetry)

Here they are! They look so pretty, I am soooo happy with them. :)

2 WEEKS 3 DAYS POST-OP!

On Tuesday June 23, I had my two week post op appointment with Dr. Trites to get my elastics changed and it felt amazing!!! My jaw felt kind of weak though, and that was kind of scary. He said everything looks good, I have to wear these elastics 24/7 to train my muscle memory to conform to the new bite (bite splint). It was really awkward and an uncomfortable feeling when I put my teeth into the splint (my bite felt like it was being force forward and to the left slightly), but its starting to feel more natural.

Also, I've switched from my Ensure diet, I now eat potato salad, soft pasta and scrambled eggs. Mmm. I am so excited to be eating again. In two weeks (on my 1 month) I go back to get my splint out, so I am hoping my bite is right so I can actually get it out. Lol

In the spots where I am numb, it is about 60% numb and it feels weird. I'm still not used to it. When I tap my lip I have weird sensations, like tingling. Hoping all my feeling will come back, that would be amazing! I went back to work on Wednesday and it was tiring, my energy level is definitely not up to par. Haha.

Here are some pictures from today! :)

1 WEEK POST-OP!

Finally week one! Today has been very good for pain and discomfort. I would rate pain 0.5/10 and discomfort 4/10, right now. I'm super excited, in exactly one week I will be heading to my orthodontist for him to loosen my elastics which will be amazing! Eating liquid food is hard on the energy level and I would really love to eat some soft pasta and some potato salad. Mmm. Right now all I am eating is Ensure. I have probably 3 a day and try to eat some soup. My appetite isn't 100% back yet. I'm sure it will be when I get told I can eat soft foods again tho! LOL

As for my surgery, overall, I really like the way my bite and face are looking right now. The swelling is going away more and more everyday and seeing the changes in my face is fun! But it's still hard to imagine the final product. Though, I do love not having dimples in my chin every time I close my mouth, since it's been that way since I was a little kid (11 years old ish). One of the main issues I have now is just that my lips are getting way too dry, so I am going to have to remember to keep up on putting Vaseline on them.

I think I will start going on short walks soon, as I heard it will help move the swelling out of your system. Also, I have been using moist heat on my face and it's helped the tension more and more! My smile is still really crooked from having so much tightness in my cheeks but that should go away very quickly because all I do is smile. xD

Today is not a huge update, next week will be more exciting. :D

5/6 DAYS POST-OP!

My double jaw surgery was on Tuesday June 9th, and my surgeon did my upper jaw (getting rid of my open-bite/overbite/gummy smile), he also did my lower jaw (BSSO, moving it forward to meet up with my upper jaw), and he also did septoplasty to straighten my deviated septum a little bit. He decided to not do my chin because he felt my facial harmony would be perfect without it.

Day 1 -
Was pretty OK actually, I had little pain because of the shots of morphine (but OMG it hurts going into your arm). I got to the hospital at 6am, and my surgery was at 8am. They did all the pre-op stuff and I got changed into the lovely hospital attire. Next, I was led to the OR. They had to poke me four whole time to get that IV in though. :(

When I woke up I had a tube down my left nostril which made me feel like I was going to choke to death every time I swallowed (when they finally took it out, that was also awful, because it burned), I also had my mouth wired shut and my lovely splint in. When we got to the room, I found out that I had been placed in a free private room. Yay! When they got me onto the bed, I was actually giggling because I was so happy to see my boyfriend. He got to spend the night with me on a lovely cot, we both spent the first night just sleeping and waking up continuously.

Day 2 -
A little worse than day 1 because I could feel everything a little better, I could not get comfortable and my face was way more swollen. I really feel I looked like a square. Haha. Eating and drinking was perfectly ok tho. Had them ice packs on for forever, it was the only thing that really made the swelling feel better and at ease.

This day they took me down for my post op X-rays. I was pretty happy with what I saw in my X-rays despite not relating in real-life because of swelling. We both spent the night again, but this time I slept a little more, when I woke up I just stared at the clock wishing it would be time to go home.

Day 3 -
This was the day I finally got to go homeee! As great as that was, it wasn't great. It was a four hour drive back to NB and the NB highway ... is pretty bumpy.

Day 4 -
This day was bleh, the swelling was definitely the worst today, my mother said my face looked like it was going to explode. LOL. Not much happened today, slept on the couch.

Day 5 -
This was the worst day yet I believe, the swelling went down a lot but it was my mother's birthday and I was feeling really sucky from the Dilaudid, it really makes me nauseous. On top of that, the Dilaudid really didn't help that much, so the pain was still bad and I was extremely exhausted. We spent the day with me laying down and sleeping, I wish I had felt better so she could have had a better birthday. Also my bruising is pretty bad!

Day 6 -
Today is much better! The swelling has gone down A LOT. I feel a ton better pain wise also. The only thing that is really getting to me is the tension in my jaw from the elastics being so tight. My jaw isn't used to constantly being clenched so it's hurting pretty badly. I've been trying to do relaxing exercises for my jaw all day and heat and it's still clenching with the pain. I took two hot showers today, because they make me feel so much better. I am really looking forward to the 23rd. This is my next orthodontist appointment where he will hopefully loosen these elastics. This means I will be able to eat soft foods again and also my jaw can move again!!!! (BTW lost 6.5 lbs so far ... )

Here is my before and after so far:

I have to say, I am pretty happy with the results as of yet, my profile looks a lot more feminine and also I look a lot less angry! I am really looking forward to the rest of the swelling to go down. WOO!

7 MONTHS POST-OP!

Life with braces is super non-exciting right now. My very top back bracket on the right is sticking into my cheek ALWAYS. I have, literally, a hole in my cheek now. In October, I got my expander out, finally. My mouth feels amazingly spacious. I love not having metal on the roof of my mouth. The SARPE was totally worth every second of worry. :)

At my last ortho appointment (Tuesday Nov, 3rd), the orthodontist said I am approaching being ready for my next surgery, which will be my double-jaw. He says he'll give me 5-6 months notice when everything is in the right spot. I am really hoping the surgery will be in the summer time, so I don't have to miss any of third year in September.

I'm ... not very excited for this surgery though. Mainly because I have this really big fear about having metal plates in my face forever ... but I know they can come out when the jaw has healed. I will definitely make sure that this can happen before I go into surgery. 

I'll post some updated pictures soon. My orthodontist will be mad at me, I got my lip pierced. I did get bioplast tho, so it's not as damaging really. :P