Three Months!

I meant to make a post between the 2 and 3 month mark and life just got in the way. Things are going great! Yesterday was my 3 month post op mark, which means I'm officially healed. My jaw is supposed to be as strong as it was pre-surgery, so I guess I can start living on the edge again! For me I think that just means walking through the gym and not being afraid of basketballs hitting me in the face.

Numbness: About 3 weeks ago feeling returned to the left side of my lip and chin as well. So now I can feel anything that brushes against my face. I can also differentiate between hot and cold. Numbness along the gum line is the same. It hurts when anything touches it, and the front four teeth are still numb along with the inside of my lip. At the 6 month mark I'll have a better idea of how this will all play out.

Range of Motion: I'd say I'm close to having my full range of motion back. I can eat burgers now without it being a chore.

Swelling: I think it's mostly gone, but I probably still have some residual swelling. At 6 months all of the swelling will be gone.

Eating: I can eat whatever I want at this point, but some things are still difficult. Today was the first time I've had an APPLE in 3 months. I haven't even tried carrots or celery yet. I'm still regaining strength in my jaw and learning to chew with my new mouth. It's been a process that's required patience.

Energy levels: I've been back to myself for a long time now. I finally hit the point this week at the gym where I feel as good as I did pre-surgery. I'm still trying to get my cardio levels back up but today at boxing I felt like I got through the workout without slacking off as much or stopping.

Overall thoughts: I would do it again! It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The first two weeks are the worst and then it gets better. I had a lot of reservations about the surgery and I'm glad I didn't back out. Just the small changes so far have been enough to make me extremely happy. It's so nice to be able to bite through things.

A lot of people have commented on how different I look. It's fun to see people I haven't seen in a while. Some of them just look at me funny like they know something is different, but can't tell what. I didn't have the surgery because I was unhappy with my appearance, but I like my new jawline. So that was a pretty cool bonus! I really couldn't tell much of a difference until last week when I was watching my form in the mirror at the gym then I realized how much my face had changed. Pretty cool!

Because I can't say it enough, THANK YOU to everyone who brought me food, supplies, and books to read during my down time. I have great friends and family and I couldn't have done this without you. It was truly a humbling experience. I've come to appreciate life a lot more after sitting on the sidelines for 6 weeks. I even kind of enjoy running now!

I need to make a post of just before and afters and some kind of flip-a-gram thing of my swelling stages, but for now I'll just post what I have.

Thanks for reading!

Two weeks ago before the WVU game! 

Tonight after boxing. 

Two Months!

I have some small changes to report at the two month mark. I have more feeling back on the right side of my face. The right half of my lip and chin has a lot more feeling now but when something touches it, it gets that tingling sensation you feel when your arm or foot is asleep. Needless to say, I do not like things touching my face! Also, air conditioning causes it to freak out and signal to my brain that my face is being attacked by winter. I walk around holding my chin to make this stop at work, thus looking like a big goober. I also have some feeling back along my gum line as well. My gums also hate being touched by anything so brushing my lower teeth is oddly discomforting. I think it's what it would feel like brushing your teeth with a wire brush. 

The elastic configuration the ortho has me wearing moved my teeth around a lot already so my back teeth don't touch right now. I know this will be corrected over time so I'm not worried, but it's making it hard to chew. Eating food is an exhausting sport. It's similar to how I feel at the gym right now. I'm giving it everything I've got, but I'm just not 100% yet. 

Other than those few complaints I think everything is going well! It's been fun to see people I haven't seen in a while. About half can't tell I had surgery, but anyone I'm close with is like "Wow, your face looks so different!" 

Free check ups at the Carl's! Joe was amazed by the results. I'm not sure I trust his medical opinion though! 

8 weeks: Back to boxing

After two weeks of "warming up" at the gym I finally felt good enough to go back to boxing class on Monday. It was great to be back, I've really missed the workouts and all of my fellow alternative fitness crazies! I am however very sore today since I haven't used those muscles in 8 weeks. 

Nothing new in the jaw world except that I've noticed my face looks even thinner now. There must have been more swelling left than I realized. Numbness is the same. I can touch the right side of my chin and feel tingles but still nothing in the left. I'm back to a normal diet now minus anything crunchy or hard to chew. 

Here are some recent pictures. We went kayaking and hiking this weekend and it was a lot of fun. Summer has been pretty dreary but we had a stretch of some really nice days and took advantage of it. 

Kayaking!

Post workout on my first day back to boxing. I survived! 👍🏼

7 Weeks: Good bye surgical hooks!

I had my surgical hooks removed at my orthodontist appointment yesterday and it was liberating! They were bulky, trapped food, and dug into my cheeks so I was glad to see them go. The excitement was short lived when I got a power chain on the top and new bends in the wire. I also have to wear elastics again to close the 1mm gaps that were left for the surgery. I was very sore and had a massive headache by late last night so I took some of my leftover painkillers from the surgery. I have a pretty high pain tolerance and I was miserable by midnight. I forgot what adjustments felt like since I haven't had any since maybe March. 

The orthodontist appointment was just an odd experience since my lower teeth and gum line are still numb. I have gotten some feeling back in the right side of my chin. It tingles if I touch it and sometimes I can tell if water runs down the right side. Still no feeling in the lip or left side. 

Eating real food is going well. Last week I had burgers from Five Guys, Burgatory, and Ruby Tuesdays! Needles to say, I really missed good burgers. They're also easy to eat. I tried salad but still can't chew most of the things in salad but it was a nice change. I had to buy more soft foods since my teeth are so sensitive after the adjustment but it doesn't bother me. I know the worst is over and after a week I'll be back to eating again. 

The gym time is going great. I already feel stronger and I'm up to a half hour of more intense cardio. Maybe the surgery weight loss will stand! So far so good! 

My first burger last week! I ❤️ Burgatory! 

My 6 week present to myself. Getting to see Cervelli live! 

Goodbye surgical hooks!

The jawline is looking pretty good!

6 Weeks = Freedom! Well, kind of...

Do you know what the six week mark means? REAL FOOD! This weekend was our family reunion so I got to eat a lot to things I haven't had in a while. Chewing is starting to feel more natural, but my jaw strength isn't great so I don't push it. I was most excited to eat pizza so far. Tomorrow is the day I've been waiting for since June 22nd… Burgatory! Crystal and I are going to stop there before the Pirates game and I can't wait to eat a cheeseburger. If I get to see Cervelli catch tomorrow, eat a good burger, and spend time with Katie & Dex it might be the best day of my summer! I'm not getting my hopes up about Cervelli though. J.A. Happ is making his Pirates debut tomorrow and I'm not sure who will catch for him.

I went back to the gym Saturday and it was fun, but not easy. I only did 15 minutes of cardio and felt like I had ran a half marathon. It's amazing how quickly you get out shape. I lifted upper body and was sore on Sunday. Today I did legs and 25 minutes of cardio so we will see how I feel tomorrow. I'm only lifting light weights, but I feel good about being active again.

As far as the jaw goes, I think everything is the same. No pain, the swelling has stayed around the 15% mark, and I have more tingling in the numb areas that I did before. My bottom front teeth are also sensitive to hot and cold foods now, so I'll take this as a good sign.

Day 38: Now I know how toddlers feel

I've spent the past two days trying out my jaws and now I know how toddlers feel. I'm basically learning how to eat all over again. Before the surgery I could only chew with my back four molars so I would grind down food in a side to side motion (like a cow or horse I think haha!). My jaw doesn't even move that way right now. I can actually chew food in an up and down fashion, that I assume is how the majority of the world eats. It's weird. I've never in my life ate food this way and I'm not used to all of my teeth touching anyways, so I make some pretty interesting facial expressions while trying to eat my mac and cheese. It's a very odd process because I have to consciously think about not biting my cheeks, numb lip, or chew too hard and hurt my healing bones. I'm enjoying it though. Last night I had a meal that I didn't have to cut or mash up. I made haddock, green beans, and tator tots and it was fantastic. I work at the Curve tonight so I'll just go with the protein shake dinner since it's easy.



I'm going back to the gym on Saturday. This should be hilarious since I haven't worked out in 6 weeks and I was in pretty good shape prior to surgery. I've lost around 10lbs from the surgery and I think it's mostly muscle mass. I'm just going to start from the beginning and go back to lifting lighter weights and less time on the cardio machines. If you were wondering how running is going, see the meme below from my favorite TV show, Parks & Rec.

5 Week Appointment

This afternoon was my 5 week check up with Dr. Ochs. Neil was able to come with me again and got to see my X-rays and how cool my new bite is. Let me just say how much I love Dr. Ochs and the staff I've dealt with at Pitt Dental. I have nothing but good things to say about them. I've been going to Dr. Ochs for over a year now and he has done both my wisdom teeth extraction and my lower jaw surgery.  He's kind, explains things well, and is a top notch surgeon. I'm thankful that I was able to have this all done at Pitt and what an awesome experience it has been. I recommend him to anyone considering this type of surgery. When I first met him he told me he did over 80 of these surgeries a year and I took comfort in knowing that.

All good news today. He said my jaws lined up exactly where he wanted them to. I realized that last week when all of a sudden my back molars touched and for the first time in my life, ALL of my teeth touched each other. It's hard to explain this to people with a normal bite, but just know that it made me feel very happy and extremely grateful to have been able to have the surgery. Eating is necessary for survival and when you can't eat right not only is it hard but, not at all enjoyable. I couldn't chew food the whole way because I had to eat so slow and more often than you would think, ended up choking. Not anymore! I can't wait to pulverize things with my new choppers!

Following the diet he put me on helped ensure the jaw stayed put post surgery. Everything has been healing okay, the bite hasn't shifted, and I didn't fracture anything. I still have about 15% swelling near the breaks and he said that fluid will start to dissipate as I begin chewing again. On that note, I can chew food again! I still have 1 more week of the very soft food diet, then another week of soft foods, and after 3 weeks I can start building back up to harder foods. He DID say I could have a good tender steak and pizza without the crust so I'll be taking that green light next week!

It's still too soon to tell what's going to happen with the numbness. It hasn't budged much. He poked my face in the numb areas to check and said that after 6 months I'll have 90% of my feeling back (that could just end up being a small area) and after a year whatever I'm left with is what I'll have the rest of my life. He thinks I'll get feeling back in my lip and I'll count that as a victory if I do. I knew this was one of the risks going in, and I'm fine with it. The benefits far outweighed this risk.

 No contact sports for 2 more months but I can start exercising and lifting again! I just can't strain myself or clench my jaw during activities. So now I'm trying to plan my embarrassing return to boxing class (NON-CONTACT). I think I'll wait until next week and maybe try to get some running in this week to make sure I don't die on Monday at boxing.

So overall, everything is good! I don't have to go back for 3 months and he gave me a note to take to my Ortho to resume treatment. He said I am a good patient and told Neil that if every patient was like me no one would have to worry about gray hairs! Great man, love him! I got to see Katie and Dex for a little bit to before heading back home. Now that I can play again, I can't wait to spend time with my buddy Dex the cutest kid in the world (I am partial).

Now, without further ado…. The before and after x-rays!

First x-rays before braces in April 2014. You can see the wicked overjet
and small lower jaw.

This was taken 10 days post-op. It's amazing! It looks like a whole different
person!

April 2014 - Before braces and wisdom teeth extraction.

10 Days post-op. My favorite part is that you can see the screws, 4 on each side and the gap in the bone where
the breaks are. Oh… and look how straight my teeth are!