No More Braces!

Well, it's time for a braces update! Sorry it's kind of long-winded, that's just my way and you should know that by now!

Shortly after my last post, I woke up one morning to find that left molars were making just the slightest bit of contact. I was shocked, to say the least. We continued trying to pull them together until October, when my orthodontist agreed that it was probably as good as it was going to get, and it's getting to be time to take the braces off and just accept imperfect results.

I had another appointment in mid-November and I was so excited and nervous about whether he'd bring up removing the braces. At the very end, he said they were ready to come off any time, so I wanted the next available appointment! They actually had the next day but cautioned me I'd just had an adjustment so it's better to wait. In the end, I waited 13 days and those days dragged so slowly.

I was kind of hoping I would get a specific assistant at my removal appointment because she's always been so nice and supportive. She's been working on me since the very beginning. I remember she told me when I first got started in 2013 that they have some patients that they just know are going to have a really beautiful smile, and I was one of those people and she was looking forward to seeing my results. Fortunately, she was assigned to me for my removal so I was happy about that.

I'd read several blogs, talked to people I knew who had braces, and watched several videos about the removal process so I would be prepared. In the end, I felt like the process wasn't as bad as I'd heard. There were only a few moments of pain and they were over quickly. I had forgotten to take ibuprofen beforehand and I was fine.

When I finally got to look at my naked teeth about an hour after the start of the appointment, my teeth looked HUGE! I had heard other brace faces say that about their own teeth and I was convinced I wouldn't think that. I think it's just the shock of seeing so much unobscured white. Speaking of white, I was also shocked to see I had zero staining from the braces. I had always just assumed I would need to do a round of whitening afterwards because of how much black coffee I drink. I also didn't think I did that great a job of brushing, but the assistants told me I'd taken good care of my teeth. I do have one cavity, where one of the molar bands was.

I spent the rest of the day in Sarnia seeing people I knew and enjoying food! It was very strange eating my first meal sans braces, which I did very soon after leaving the orthodontist. It was just as weird as the first meal with braces, but the opposite feeling of weirdness, if that makes sense. It felt amazing. I love chewing without braces, it's still a novelty to me.

Two weeks later, I picked up my retainer, a purple Hawley (the kind with the wire). I decided to purchase an Essix (invisible tray style) to wear during the day because I have to wear a retainer 24/7 for the first year, and I am sick of having metal on my teeth.

Aside from that fun, I am still battling jaw pain and tightness, which I have been since the surgery. Some days are worse than others. Sometimes my jaw clicks relentlessly while I eat, and sometimes it doesn't at all. I would have to say that as far as TMJ symptoms, it become quite a bit worse since surgery. I probably need to go back to my physiotherapist and start actively working on stretching my jaw more.

So after all this, things aren't perfect. My left side still doesn't make contact other than my canine and my second molar. I think my surgeon should have tilted the left side of my jaw down since I have a slight cant. The right side of my lip lifts up noticeably higher, making the cant look worse. I will post a photo that shows both of these things. I am a little disappointed by these things and I do think I should have gotten a second opinion before I had the braces taken off. I don't regret not getting another opinion, but it will always be a "what if" in my mind.

Overall, I am happy I went through everything and I am happy despite falling short of the expected perfection. I am a little self-conscious of my wonky lip but I honestly doubt most people will ever notice it. Mostly, I'm just glad to be done. So. Freaking. Glad. I just want to get back to a place in life where I'm not thinking about my teeth all the time. At this point, I've spent considerable time thinking about my teeth every single day for three years. One could argue that it's not emotionally healthy to be so focused on something like that for so long.

The very first no-braces selfie I took!

My new friend, Hawley. We'll be going to bed together every night for the rest of my life.

Retainer smile.

Here's where you can see that my lip isn't symmetrical, worsening my slight cant. It wasn't from surgery; it's been like that for years.

Before and after

And here's some of the garbage I went through to get where I am now:

The day I got my RPE installed, but before any treatment had actually begun. RPE = hell. This is THE "before" photo!

Hey Jaime, The Gap called...

Two days post-op from double jaw surgery + sliding genioplasty

Trying really hard to smile two weeks post-op.

Elastics prison.

Now you'll find me staring at my teeth in any reflective surface I can find!
I did two vlogs recently as well. One right before I got my braces off, and one the day after. Here they are:


If you're reading this in the future, feel free to ask my questions about SARPE, braces, and/or jaw surgery. I'd be happy to answer your questions.

I also recommend acquainting yourself with ArchWired which has been an invaluable part of this process for me. Check out the Metal Mouth forum while you're there. You may even run into me on there, I'm still an active poster and probably will be for awhile.

25+ Months of Braces & 13 Months Post-Op Double Jaw Surgery

I haven't written about my braces stuff in awhile as it's been mostly boring and annoying.

Yes, that's right, I STILL have my braces on! When I originally went for my surgical consultation in 2013, they said I would have to keep the braces for 6-12 months after surgery. I'm now 13 months post-op and will have the braces until at least September at this point.

If I understand my orthodontic appointments, it seems like everything is good to go EXCEPT that my left side still doesn't make contact. We tried with elastics last year from July to November and if there was any movement, it was minimal. We gave up trying when my overjet relapsed and focused on that instead. Now that overjet is fixed, we're trying again to close the left side. I asked my orthodontist if he's ever seen a case where the second attempt at elastics worked after a failed first attempt. He said, "I've never seen it not work the first time." Ugh.

I had an appointment on Tuesday and I was so certain he'd agree that it wasn't improving, and I could tell him to forget about it and just remove the braces. However, he seems to think the bite IS closing a little bit so we're going to continue trying for another 7 weeks.

It was the first time I left an appointment trying not to cry. Sure, it's great that maybe the bite is closing (I disagree that it is) but I've been feeling DONE with this for a long time. At this point, I feel like I'm being dragged unwillingly to the finish line. I just want it to be over. I don't care anymore.

As mentioned, I'm 13 months post-op. I saw my surgeon in February and again in June. As far as he is concerned, everything looks really good. He did recommend I go for physiotherapy to help with my ROM, and I have been going since late April. At the start, I could only open 30-33mm (I forget), but I'm now up to 40mm which is the low end of normal, but it's as far as my physio thinks I can do with my small mouth.

Eating has gotten much easier now that I can open my mouth more. Chewing has also been slowly improving, although I'm not back to 100%. I suspect it'll be a couple of years after the braces come off that it'll really feel strong again. I have had a steak which did hurt my mouth a bit, and carrots are still a no-go.

Swelling is all the way down and stays down now. It really does take a year for it to stop fluctuating. My nose seems bigger now that the swelling is completely down, which sucks. I really enjoyed how small it looked immediately after surgery.

The roof of my mouth behind my front teeth is still numb but I generally don't notice. Occasionally this results in me accidentally spitting food out if I'm eating while socializing. I'm not sure if it's the braces or the numb palate, but I am still kind of a sloppy eater. The only way I've actually noticed my chewing has improved from all of this work is that I can take nice clean bites with my front teeth. That really is an amazing feeling that most people are totally oblivious to.

The front of my chin still has reduced feeling but is verrrrrry slowly improving. I think my upper gums are numb but it's hard to tell. SARPE left me with some nerve weirdness over my right canine and bicuspid.

Overall, I'm annoyed and it's been difficult to keep a positive outlook. It's a big part of why I haven't updated my blog. Just writing this stuff makes me angry. Two of the people I met online who also had double jaw surgery last June still have their braces and even though I think we're all pretty frustrated, it is SO good to know I'm not alone. Whenever I google something like "1 year post-op double jaw surgery," almost everybody has their braces off. If I didn't personally know others going through the same thing, I think I would be in a much worse place mentally.

I did vlogs every month for a year, and here is the latest one:

8 Months Post-op Double Jaw Surgery & Sliding Genioplasty

It's been three months since I made an update about my jaw, so I figured I would write a new post.

I've been keeping up with my vlogs on YouTube every month because it's easier to make a video than it is to type up an entry, take photos, and then upload said photos. So check out my channel here.

Numbness:
The inside of my mouth feels completely normal now. The nerves in my palate right behind my front teeth might be damaged, but I can't really tell. I don't know how sensitive it was before the surgeries or if that part of the palate is just dull for everyone. For instance, if I rub a finger along that spot, I don't really feel it. But I'm sure I would feel it if I was poked with something sharp.

Swelling:
It continues to go up and down. I looked really swollen in my 7-month post-op video and I have no idea why. I don't notice the fluctuations unless I've made a video or taken a photo and compare it to old ones.

Chewing:
This continues to improve slowly. Still can't chew raw veggies. I tried to bite into a slice of grilled carrot in January and it made me sore for a few days. If something is difficult to cut with a butter knife, chances are, I will struggle to chew it. But I don't feel too restricted anymore...the only things I consciously avoid are raw vegetables, steak, and crispy bacon.

Ortho Appt:
I had an orthodontist appointment last week. To my dismay, I am back in class II triangle elastics because my overbite has relapsed again. I've been extremely frustrated for months because it seems I've gotten no closer to getting my braces off. My ortho and I had a good conversation about it, and he actually admitted that I am not progressing properly. He is "puzzled" about why my bite won't close on the left, and why my class II keeps relapsing. I also still have limited ROM in my jaw; I can't open as far as I should be able to, nor can I move my jaw forward or side to side.

Two days after my appointment, I got a call from the surgeon's receptionist saying he wanted to see me, "ASAP." Ugh. I am going on Monday to get another x-ray. I hope I get some answers as to why things aren't going well. I've relaxed now but for a few days I was petrified I was going to need another surgery.

Other:
I do have some good news that sounds like bad news. In December, my TPA wire started bothering me all of a sudden one day. I called the ortho's office and they had me come in immediately. The right side of the wire was embedded in the tissue so my ortho removed it and said it can stay out unless necessary. I was thrilled. It still feels weird to have my tongue rest in my palate completely. I am still super aware of my palate all the time but it's getting better. I no longer have a lisp when saying K sounds which is great. I will admit that now that it's out, I realize it really wasn't that obtrusive.

Photos:


Not sure why the quality of this photo is so bad, sorry.



Swelling pretty much gone.


I love how I look from the side now, big improvement.

And in case you forget what I looked like pre-surgery:




I still have some lip incompetence.


Open bite.


Latest Video:

Advice and Tips for Jaw Surgery Patients

I apologize for not writing this yesterday, but Anthony was in town for the weekend and we kept ourselves pretty busy yesterday!

This is an entry I've been meaning to write for awhile! Jaw surgery is pretty terrible for the lack of information you receive as a patient through "official" channels like your orthodontist and max fax surgeon. In fact, my ortho actually told me before I went through all of this that jaw surgery isn't much worse than wisdom tooth removal. Wow...excuse me while I pick myself up from off the floor, I was laughing so freaking hard at that absurdity.

Anyway...here are my top tips if you're going to get jaw surgery. This goes for SARPE as well as Lefort I, BSSO, etc.

1. Read blogs and or watch vlogs! If you're reading this, you're already doing a good job preparing yourself. There is no way your surgeon or ortho can possibly provide you with the level of detail about recovery that a blog can. Read as many blogs as you can to see the wide range of experiences of jaw surgery.

2. Join a website like ArchWired.com or any of the other jaw and cosmetic surgery forums around. Getting real-time advice can be very helpful, as well, you'll read more experiences. I was fortunate to have a group on ArchWired of others who had jaw surgery in June and July. Relating your experiences with people currently in the same boat as you makes you feel far less alone in this process.

3. Figure out a way to sleep upright well ahead of surgery. Do not leave this until the day you come home from the hospital to sort out. I still very much recommend the bed wedge I used, but a comfy recliner or something similar will be the difference between sleeping well and barely sleeping at all. Personally I used the wedge with a down pillow, then rolled a towel up and put it behind my neck for support. I did this for 30 days after surgery.

4. Get yourself a squeeze bottle or something else that makes it easy to get water past your gigantic, numb lips. Some people like the little Dixie cups because they can bend them, some people like square whiskey tumblers, but I was a fan of the sports squeeze bottle.

5. Netflix, Hulu, Shomi, Amazon Prime Instant Video, your DVD collection, Tivo, etc: they are godsends. I watched ungodly amounts of Netflix after surgery and you know what? It was great. It's distracting enough to keep your mind off jaw surgery, and there is so much to pick from. I ended up giving myself a bit of classic film education. I would switch between watching Netflix on TV to carrying on with a movie/show on my laptop in bed.

6. Everybody will say this to you and I certainly learned my lesson: do not skip meals after surgery! I made myself very sick on days 3 and 4 because I wasn't eating. I was weak, I was nauseated, I had bad breath, I vomited, I was dehydrated. On top of being a swollen, numb mess, I was completely miserable and felt like I wasn't getting better. In my case, I just wasn't hungry and eating was a hassle. You might feel the same, but don't use it as an excuse not to eat. Food helps you recover and digest all the medicine you'll be taking.

7. Don't try to do this completely alone without help. It is almost imperative to have somebody assist you even a little bit, even just the first couple of days. Some hours/days will be harder than others to get through.

8. Your experience with jaw surgery is going to be different from every single blog and story you read.  There are so many variables that no one can tell you for certain what your recovery will be like. I have to roll my eyes when I read things like, "You won't sleep after surgery!" or "You'll be able to eat soft food at week 3." Any time you read a definitive phrase like, "you will" or "you won't," replace it in your mind with, "you might." The sleep advice is particularly true for me. Everybody says your sleep sucks for the first few weeks, but I slept just fine right from the start. In fact, I slept 11 hours the night of surgery!

9. Ask your orthodontist and/or surgeon lots of questions. Don't be too shy; you're paying them (or your government is paying them) a lot of money, and you deserve to have all the answers before you go under the knife. I used to bring a list of questions each time I saw my surgeon and he would always say, "I like when my patients ask me lots of questions!" Sure your health care providers might be busy people, but they want you to be invested in and informed about your treatment.

10. Keep in mind that people might make negative or ignorant comments about your jaw surgery. I've seen several people online get very upset that someone didn't recognize them after surgery, or that somebody told them, "You're crazy for getting jaw surgery! I wouldn't!" Don't be blindsided by this if it happens. You are doing this for you, your health, and your confidence. People tend to get very opinionated about any procedure that affects your physical appearance, forgetting that the surgery is for your health! Get your gallbladder out and everyone is supportive; get your jaw fixed and everyyyyyyone wants to tell you why it's a bad idea. Ignore the noise.

11. Take photos and/or videos of yourself before and after surgery. Sometimes it can feel like nothing has changed, but photos will usually show otherwise.

12. Eat all your favourite foods before surgery. The harder, crunchier, or chewier, the better.

NaBloPoMo Day 11: 5 months post-op double jaw surgery + sliding genioplasty

Today is 5 months since my surgery so I'm doing my monthly update.

Numbness: My palate has really improved this month. Right behind my front teeth and the left side just above my teeth feel numb, but everything else is good.

The fleshy part of my chin is still about 90% numb. At this point, I kind of doubt it's ever going to go back to normal, but such is par for the course with sliding genioplasty. I imagine it'll improve a bit but probably not completely. I'm okay with this. I barely ever notice it, and I've gotten used to constantly feeling my chin for food/drinks/drool when I'm eating in front of others. It does feel weird wearing my hockey mask because I'm still not used to my chin actually sitting in the little chin pad thing!

My chin muscles still feel very tight, too. This part does bug me a bit and I hope it improves.

Swelling: Today I feel like I look a little swollen, but I spent a lot of time with my face pointing downwards so who knows. It's still slowly coming along. The photos below were taken the other day, FYI.

Chewing: Progress with chewing has slowed down, but it's still improving. Small bites of food are the only thing I can manage, but I can make it through ham, sausage or chicken now, as long as it's thinly sliced. Biting into things is getting better but it's still much easier to just cut everything with a knife and fork, especially since my jaw ROM is still limited to about two finger-widths.

Bite issues: My left side is still open. The "Cathy" elastics didn't do much as far as I could tell. However, when I last saw my ortho, he said my overjet was relapsing so I'm in class II triangular elastics now. They are fun fun fun (note the sarcasm)! The nice thing about the elastics is that they are correcting my midline right now as well, which you'll know has been an issue these past 5 months.

My ortho doesn't seem to be too concerned that my bite still isn't right 5 months after surgery but I am getting frustrated. I'd like to feel like I'm actually getting closer to a debracing date instead of just treading water.

Anyway...overall I'm still happy. I still think about my jaw a lot during the day but it's getting easier to not be so focused on it.

Photos:







Pre-surgery, I'm even wearing the same sweater!



Pre-surgery



Video:

16 Weeks After Double Jaw Surgery + Sliding Genioplasty

Hey everybody!

Today I am 16 weeks post surgery, which in English is "just shy of 4 months." October 11th will be 4 months but I am going to be busy that week so I'm updating now.

Overall, things are still slowly improving.

Numbness: The front of my chin is still mostly numb. I say mostly because I can tell when something is touching it and I can feel when something cold touches it, but it's very reduced. The numb area is about the size of a quarter or a loonie.

Parts of my palate are coming back, but most of it is still numb as well. I get funny sensations in it sometimes, usually a cold twinge.

My gums are coming back more and more as well. I think I can feel my gums at the front of my mouth (top and bottom), but I'm not 100% sure. I realize that makes no sense but oh well.

Swelling: I feel like at this point, the swelling is mostly gone, like 95%. I'm sure I'll continue to see small improvements over time, though.

Chewing: Getting better every week. I find that I can chew a few strong bites but then fatigue and pain quickly set in. I have not attempted any chunks of meat or salads yet.

Issues: The left side of my bite is still not closed at the back and not improving whatsoever. Every time I see my ortho, he asks if my tongue sits in the space. I think he thinks I'm tongue thrusting, thus preventing the space from closing. I'm not tongue thrusting and I am 100% compliant with my elastics, so something is obviously wrong. The elastic is hooked onto a tooth that has the TPA attached to it, so I'm wondering if the elastic isn't strong enough. The TPA is literally an anchor that's supposed to stop your molars from moving, so maybe that's why.

Words cannot convey how frustrating it is to go through all this trouble and still have bite issues. From the start of the consultations until the time you get surgery, everyone is promising you that you're going to have perfect results and it's going to solve everything.

On top of all this, I have had really bad pain in my right TMJ. I've had pain in it since right after the surgery, but it's worse now since I can only chew on that side. Sometimes it's so bad, I can barely open my mouth. The other day I had to take one of my Percocets to ease the pain. Although I had TMJ pre-surgery, I never had joint pain. The pain should ease off after awhile but there's no guarantees.

Even on a good day, I can still only open my mouth 2 fingers wide which at this point, isn't good. Granted, I'm not able to practice opening because of the elastic trying to pull my molars down.

The one positive I've noticed since surgery was when Anthony and I went on our honeymoon. Before when I flew on airplanes, I would get intense pain in my eustachian tubes. When I say intense, I mean on a scale of 1 to 10, the pain was a 12. This time, I had a little bit of pressure on the flight to Newfoundland and none on the flight back. When the wheels touched down in Toronto, I looked at Anthony and said, "Oh my god, we just landed and I barely noticed!" Normally I am acutely aware of the entire descent because of how much pain I'm in.

I only have 2 photos this time because I'm sick and also lazy.

11 Weeks Post Double Jaw Surgery & Sliding Genioplasty

Greetings, earthlings.

Thursday marked 11 weeks since my surgery. Wowzers!

My apologies for my lack of posts. I am not planning to do weekly posts anymore since things go slowly now.

Things with my face and teeth have been going well. I'll keep up with my organized benchmarks except for those that are no longer factors.

Pain: Generally none. Chewing and running can make my jaw muscles sore but it's not bad.

The main thing that bugs me is what I believe is a plate and screw under my skin next to my nose. The thing is, if it is a plate, it's higher than what it looks like in the x-ray. I also don't feel the same thing on the right side of my nose. I don't know what else it could be besides a screw. It aches sometimes if I wear sunglasses too long, and the whole area tingles often. Either way, it's strange.

Also, I can feel where the new bone growth is along my chin because it aches sometimes, too. Overall, these things are very minor.

Swelling: Same as usual, just slowly going down. I can see I'm still swollen when I look at myself.

Numbness: I'm happy to say it's steadily improving. There's only a small spot left on my chin that is still numb, my lower lip feels completely normal, the back half of palate has come back a bit, and the other day I noticed the right side of my upper gums is tingly to touch.

Muscle movement: My chin feels pretty tight and I still feel like my smile looks terrible. I can open my jaw slightly more than 2 fingers at this point which isn't great, but not terrible. My mouth is pulled shut all the time via elastics so I can't work on opening my mouth too much.

Eating/drinking: I can eat most things now, as long as they're not hard, crunchy, or chewy. Biting into stuff has gotten easier, too. I had pulled pork on a bun last week and I ate it like a real live, normal adult! It's the little things that make a jaw surgery patient happy, trust me.

Weight loss: I'm about 3lbs down from where I started. I'm a higher weight than I normally am so obviously surgery didn't do me any favours. If you're preparing for surgery, be prepared for everrrrryooooneeeeeeee to comment on your weight for awhile. It's very annoying.

I'm back to running now but taking it easy as I slowly progress back up to where I was. Running after being off for so long is soul-crushing and requires a lot of patience.

Braces: I read on ArchWired that everyone with braces hits a point where they're just done with braces. I'm there, that's me. I'm in my last months of braces but still have a ways to go. I don't mind wearing my elastics and I am extremely diligent with them, but I just want all of this to be over soon. I'm sick of the TPA wire, I'm sick of my cheeks being cut up, I'm sick of having chunks of food hiding in my mouth all the time. I was estimated to get them off sometime between December and next June.

Well, that's about it. I will probably post again around September 11th, which will be 3 months since surgery.

Photos:


Sorry about the crappy image quality; the light isn't the greatest in my apartment




My nose looks so different now!


I got sick of having long hair.


This was taken today and the one above was the other day. You can see I look more swollen today.

7 Weeks Post-op Double Jaw Surgery & Sliding Genioplasty

Hey there!

I am making this post because I didn't get a chance to do a 6 week update last Thursday. In my defence, I was out of the house all day Tuesday and Wednesday and then on Thursday, my grandmother passed away and go figure, I didn't really feel like posting or taking selfies. But just for the record, if I did take a selfie, it would have looked like this:


                                       source: Hyperbole and a Half

My grandma passed away in her sleep; she was 92. She wasn't sick, just old, and her body decided she had lived long enough. I personally think it's pretty much the best death you can ask for and in that way, it's hard to be sad. I think I am more sad that I was a lousy granddaughter. I never visited her, and I only rarely called or sent cards. It was always something I would get to later. There was always something else, some other way to spend a weekend that wasn't driving out to Toronto to see her. I figured my procrastination would bite me in the ass like this and there is nothing I can do about it now. That's where my thoughts have been the past week; not so much on my jaw.

---------------

Appointments:

But anyway. Last Tuesday morning I saw my surgeon for my 6 week appointment. He said I didn't need to keep wearing the elastics holding my midline straight. He said everything else looked great and since I appear to be progressing normally, my next appointment is currently scheduled for May 2016!

On my drive home from London, I noticed my midline already seemed to have relapsed but I more or less forgot about it as I was spending the day with friends. By the time I had my appointment with my orthodontist in the afternoon, I forgot about the midline issues and begged my ortho to take my surgical hooks off, which he did. He gave me a heavy gauge elastic to pull my left molars together and it has already made a difference. The next day my midline was still off but because of me being out of town and the ortho's office being closed for a week, I didn't get in again until yesterday. I was dreading the thought of getting any surgical hooks put back on because they're awful. Fortunately, he slapped an elastic on me which you will see below, and I am happy enough with that. It's already doing its job. It did seem crazy to me that after only 6 weeks, 29 years of muscle memory would just be magically fixed. I go back to see my ortho in 3 weeks and I kind of doubt that by then it'll be fixed.

Benchmarks:

Energy: Normal.

Sleep: 30 days after surgery, I removed the wedge and started sleeping normally again. It was uncomfortable at first but I've adjusted now. I'm back to work now so I get varying amounts of sleep!

Pain: None really, except that I ate some chewy brownies two days ago (and then one day ago and then today...) and my right side has been aching ever since. I've been taking 400mg of Ibuprofen twice daily to fight inflammation. Also, sometimes where one of the plates is on my lower jaw hurts like @^*# but goes away quickly enough.

Swelling: Going down slowly still.

Numbness: About half of my chin came back! The numb area was about as wide as four of my fingers. A finger-width of feeling came back on either side, leaving a spot about two finger-widths that is still numb. Nostrils are now 100% back. Palate and upper gums still totally gone. Lower left lip is improving, but still isn't back to normal. I haven't really had much tingling at all.

Muscle movement: I sound normal when I talk now, which is nice. Using a straw, smiling, and opening my mouth are still difficult.

Eating/drinking: I'm officially allowed to eat soft foods. I've had mac and cheese, brownies, White Castle (!!!), scrambled eggs, home fries...you guys, solid food is amazing. I mainly eat canned beans, homemade potato soup, and Spaghetti-Os. Still drinking an Ensure every morning for the nutrients since I've been otherwise living off sweet, sweet carbs. 

Weight loss: I've gained 5lbs back, so I am now at 7lbs lost total, which is what I had put on in anticipation of the surgery. Meaning I am back to usual weight, and now trying to be careful since I've been eating like crap!

Other: Skin is improving, and it's become much easier to wash my face.

Photos:

Resting face this week (7 weeks) vs 4 weeks post-op...swelling has noticeably gone down!

Profile

Pre-surgery profile

Toothy grin this week (7 weeks) vs 4 weeks post-op

Toothy grin pre-surgery (note how far down my upper teeth were compared to now, as well as compare the relationship between my front teeth and my nose...much straighter now)

Closed lip smile this week (7 weeks) vs 4 weeks post-op

Closed lip smile pre-surgery

Frown this week (7 weeks) vs 4 weeks post-op

Not-so-subtle elastic.

From the archives: embarrassing photos of my teeth long before I started treatment...

August 2013: the day before I started my weight loss efforts (I've maintained a 25lb weight loss!)

Obviously alcohol played a factor in this awful photo. But you can see the extent of my class 2 malocclusion here.

Video from last week:

One Month (4 Weeks) Post-op Double Jaw Surgery & Sliding Genioplasty

Hello party people!

Yesterday I hit 4 weeks post-op and tomorrow marks one month since the surgery. I say this everywhere to anyone who will listen but holy crap has the time ever flown by! Not being at work is like living in a time warp. That said, it has felt like it's perpetually Saturday or Sunday and I've had a hard time keeping track of what day it actually is.

But anyway!

I mention this in my video below but this past week, the main thing bothering me are the brackets and surgical hooks digging into the inside of my lip. It ends up giving me a feeling like the inside my lip is raw, which as you can imagine is pretty unpleasant.

Let's just do the benchmarks so I don't end up repeating myself:

Energy: Consistently good as long as I get a good night's sleep.

Sleep: 8-9 hours, sleeping well. Still on my wedge, not sure when I'll transition back to horizontal. I lied down normally for 2.5 hours a week ago and when I woke up, I was noticeably more swollen and I had a new numb spot on my cheek that was previously fine (and it took a few days to go away).

Pain: Not much pain anymore, except when my jaw randomly spasms and the joint aches afterwards. Also, every now and then, the left side of my chin is like, "Whoa nelly, I'm broken here! I don't know if you noticed Jaime, but holy crap, I am not attached to the rest of your skull!" My chin was reattached via 2 screws at the bottom/centre of my chin, and so I guess the rest of the bone is trying to heal.

Also, instead of the usual tingling that most people get when nerves are regenerating, I've been blessed with stinging...a lot of stinging. Non-stop stinging.

Swelling: It's been up and down all week. I think I look more swollen today compared to last week, actually.

Numbness: My lower eyelids are back but everything else is the same.

Muscle movement: It improves a little bit each week. My mouth moves when I talk now so it's less embarrassing to go out into public.

Eating/drinking: Same as last week. I tried some soft pastas this past week (despite doctor's orders). Canned ravioli was easy to eat, Spaghetti-Os were okay, and mac and cheese was difficult but doable. I also tried mozzarella sticks but it was too difficult. I'm technically not supposed to try chewing until week 6 so I doubt I will keep trying pasta.

Weight loss: still 11lbs.

Other: My skin has been super oily and I've been breaking out around my nose and on my chin like crazy. Using witch hazel and washing my face wasn't working so I've gone back to rubbing alcohol a few times a day. The pimples are finally going away, phew.

Photos:


Swelling this week vs. last week (I think I looked better last week)


Right and left sides of my face this week


Smile this week vs last week...coming along but still awful looking.


Closed lip smile this week vs last week...pretty much the same.


Trying as hard as I can to frown


The bruise is pretty much gone.


From the archives:

A good photo of my smile pre-treatment (2011).


My smile in 2013, before any treatment! (The metal you can see is my RPE.)


Just for fun, me one month post-op from SARPE.

Video: