Day 14: Back to work

Today is two weeks since my surgery and my first day back to work. It went well, it feels good to have a purpose in life again! I didn't get tired, my jaw was just a little achy at the end of the day. I'm not sure if it was from talking or because I'm starting to get feeling back near the incision sites. Not a lot of feeling, but everything feels tight in that area now and I didn't notice it before.

My new favorite meal is grilled cheese with tomato soup. I'm still drinking ensure and making a protein shake for breakfast. For the past three days I've been craving pizza. I miss pizza more than anything. Pizza and cheeseburgers! I've already decided my first real meal will be Five Guys since it was my last meal.

Nothing new to report. Swelling has stayed down but I still have just a little more swelling on my right side. A small amount of the numbness has gone away and my bite keeps shifting throughout the day.

Days 11 & 12

Happy 4th of July everyone! Not too many changes over the past two days so I will probably stop posting as often.  The only pain I have is joint pain at night when my jaw relaxes into it's new position. So far the last two days my jaw has started to shift into that position for an hour or two at a time. I sincerely home it stays there since right now only my front four teeth touch.

Last night I had a hard time falling asleep because my nerves must be waking up. My chin and lip were tingly all night and felt like something kept touching my face. The worst part is you can try to scratch the itches but it doesn't do anything since it's numb.

I went to a family cookout today and there was a lot of food I could eat after mashing it up. It just takes so long to eat anything that I usually just quit after one plate and still end up being hungry. Deb and Mark brought a pudding dessert and cheese puffs when they came so that made my day since I can get those down fairly easily.

I go back to work Monday and I am so excited to get back to my normal routine. If I watch any more tv, or read any more books my head might explode.

Below are some pictures of my new side profile. I'm happy with it! I don't think I look that different but people have told me it's a pretty big difference. I even had someone not recognize me yesterday, which is pretty crazy. I still have some swelling and it will continue to fluctuate. How my face looks after 6 months is how I can expect it to stay. After a year whatever numbness I still have left I will most likely have for the rest of my life. I'll just be happy to get feeling back in my lip. I can live with a numb chin.

Day 12

A shot of the new bite! Some of my teeth moved when they took out the springs so that needs fixed again, but overall I'm happy!

Days 9 & 10: 10 Day Appointment

Days 9 & 10

Overall pain: 1

Discomfort: 1

Swelling: Same

Weight loss: 8 lbs

Yesterday I actually did things that a normal person might do. I grocery shopped, took my car through the car wash, and had ice cream for three meals. I finally decided that if I'm on this diet, I might as well be happy about it!

Today was the big 10 day post-op appointment! We left at 6:00 AM and hit the usual Squirrel Hill tunnel traffic. The check up went well. Since Dr. Ochs is on vacation and Dr. Parker is off to bigger and better things, I saw his new resident. He said I looked good for 10 days and was surprised how minimal my swelling was. He took my face stitches out, checked my incisions and told me everything looked good. He looked at my bite and said it's right where it's supposed to be. I asked why my bite keeps shifting and he said that's normal. He said at night my jaw rests in its new position (Where all of my teeth touch). During the day the muscles are reverting back to where they're used to being and it will take time for them to settle in to the new position. Good enough answer for me.

Still no chewing, but I can have things like flaky fish now. I can go for walks (which I have been doing) but I cannot do anything strenuous that would disrupt the muscles from reattaching to my bone. That's a convincing enough story line to keep me from even trying to do anything strenuous. I can go back to work Monday but I absolutely have to take it easy and cannot over do it. I can do that.
My next appointment is the 6 week check up where I should be released to a normal diet.

We stopped at Dean's Diner on the way home and I attempted to eat sausage gravy and biscuits, scrambled eggs, and blueberry pancakes. It was a nice change from what I have been eating that's for sure.

I had to stop at my orthodontist's office on the way home to drop something off so I got to see him and his staff. They asked about the surgery and were impressed that I was doing so well. I won't go back to him until the 7 week mark to finish up my adjustments. At that point I should have 6 months to a years worth of treatment.

When I got home Kier and I showed Grandma how to use the juicer that's been in the box for a month. We made Joe Cross' Mean Green Juice and then Kier made a Pineapple smoothie that was also good. Dinner tonight is tator tots since I'm full from everything else I had today.

I also accomplished another milestone today and finished the Stephen King book, Revival, that Ken got for me. I can't say how it ends or what I thought about it in case he sees this since he is reading it too.

Day 9

Day 10

The next three pictures sum up my two weeks off. Basically just the cat following me around the house while I do three things. 1. Sleep 

2. Read

3. Eat. (I can smile and show teeth now but with a numb lip it's best not to.)

Day 8: Unbelievably Hungry

Days 7

Overall pain: 1

Discomfort: 2

Swelling: Same as last 2 days

Weight loss: 8.5 lbs

I miss food. I can't get on Pinterest or watch commercials because everything looks so good. I could eat 3 cheeseburgers right now if I were able to.  Liquid and soft food food diets are not filling at all, especially once you start to feel good again. I just have to keep reminding myself that this is only temporary and I can do this for 6 weeks. 

I did try watermelon today at Nancy's house and it wasn't the easiest thing to eat, even mashed up. It would probably be good blended though. It was nice to get out of the house for a little bit just to do something different.

Maybe tomorrow I will try grocery shopping. 

Here is a good example of my end of the day underbite. I can't wait to get to the bottom of this weird occurrence. 

Day 7: I made it!

Days 7

Overall pain: 2

Discomfort: 3

Swelling: Slightly decreasing 

Weight loss: 8 lbs

I can't believe it's been a week already! I feel a lot better than I thought I would at this point. Swelling was about the same today and joint pain either wasn't bad or I'm doing a good job of ignoring it. I'm only taking Tylenol through the night now. I think everything is still numb because the stitches don't bother me either. I can't feel any of my lower teeth, chin, or lip.

I accomplished two goals today. I finished  season 7 of Parks & Rec and went for a walk with Kier and Kathleen. It's weird going from intense boxing workouts to just walking, but I have to start somewhere.

I called Lori, the patient coordinator for Dr.Ochs today and she was surprised with how well I could talk. I wanted to check to see when I can go back to work and she said they may clear me for next week depending on how I am when they see my Thursday. That was exciting since I have never been so bored in my entire life. 

The only new culinary adventure for the day was white rice with milk, sugar, and cream of wheat to thicken it up. My Pap used to eat rice and milk so it's a weird thing I picked up from him but tastes  good when warmed up. 

 One week down!

Days 5 & 6

Days 5 & 6

Overall pain: 2

Discomfort: 3

Swelling: Slightly decreasing 

Weight loss: 8 lbs

I'm happy to say that the swelling has really started to go down and my face looks somewhat normal. Bruising has started on my chin and under my jaw line but it's not too bad yet. Penny and Tana came to visit last night and that was a lot of fun. Laughing hurts more than anything so being around my entire family full of comedians is hard! 

Santana graduated from college on Friday and I had to miss it, so that was hard. I'm very proud of her and how hard she has worked the past two years! 

I'm feeling pretty good today. My energy level was a lot higher today and I didn't have to take any naps. I felt more alert and pain and discomfort was way down. I can tell where my bones were broken now since the swelling is down and it's tender on my jawline. 

My biggest complaint is still the joint pain.  I've been applying heat 3-4 times a day and that helps. When I wake up my teeth are all in the correct position (as I believe I've said before) but by this time every night I have an underbite. I think it's from swelling but I will definitely ask about it at my next appointment. I thought maybe I was talking too much and causing myself this pain but I barely talked at all today and experienced the same results. 

Eating isn't too hard now, it's just that I'm already tired of my options. So today I made scrambled eggs for breakfast instead of oatmeal or cream of wheat. For lunch I had ravioli and a banana smoothie, and dinner was homemade chili, ice cream, and Metamucil. 

 

My goal for tomorrow is to go for a walk if it's nice out. I think tomorrow is the only day this week it's not supposed to rain. 

Saturday Morning. 

Sunday Morning. 

Day 4: Spoke Too Soon

Day 4

Overall pain: 4

Discomfort: 6

Swelling: Slightly Worse than yesterday 

Weight loss: 7 lbs

Well, I spoke too soon! I did not sleep well last night despite taking the "good" pain killer. I could not get comfortable and I woke up twice with a terrible pain in the joint on my left side. I've been sleeping in a recliner but moved to a bed last night in hopes that would help. 

For breakfast I had an ensure, orange juice, and oatmeal. Oatmeal was a nice change. 

Lunch was an ensure, a cup of blended chicken soup, pineapple juice, and banana baby food.

For dinner I got a little crazy and made some green beans that I mashed up and ate with instant potatoes. I also finished the pudding from yesterday, ate some apple sauce, and I'm currently drinking another ensure since they don't taste terrible. 

Protocol after eating is to apply more heat to my face since the process usually wears me out and makes my face ache. The pain is a little worse today because of the joint pain. I just feel like my joints are really stretched out and swollen and not resting properly. Actually, I know this is the case because by the end of the day the swelling is so bad I have an underbite. I usually wake up with all of my teeth in their proper place, if only for a few minutes. So for about 1.5 minutes each day I get to experience the joy of all of my teeth actually touching, which does makes me happy since for 28 years this was not the case. 

Extreme boredom has already set in. I don't like free time and I would go back to work tomorrow if I were allowed. This would be problematic since I spontaneously fall asleep several times a day. Surgery really does kick the crap out of you. So I've spent my waking hours reading, watching Parks & Rec, and listening to basketball podcasts with Kierstyn. I've also been trying to figure out the dynamic between Ruby and our kitten Alezae. They spend most of their time harassing each other and doing things they aren't supposed to. 

They're currently both behaving.

The awful, awful, swelling! My face is very square right now.