Well guys looks like it's physical therapy for me. 2-3 times a week for about 4 weeks. I asked the doc if it was okay for me to just take a break for a couple of weeks and he said yeah and gave me some jaw exercises to do. I mean it does seem kind of early to start PT doesn't it? Other than that he said everything looks good. I can open to 12mm and he said that was normal. He said the reason he wants me in physical therapy is to loosen up the muscles so I don't clench which makes sense I guess. Clenching equals pain. The muscles in my face do feel really tight but I think that's normal too isn't it? So anyway that's it for today, thanks for the comments and continued support. I really do appreciate it.

Day 15

Sorry I haven't posted in so long but look at these pictures I almost look normal. If you didn't know me I would look normal. Well, the pain hasn't let up much. That itchy feeling has finally gotten better and now where the itching was is burning and sharp pain like little needles poking me. My jaw joints are still very tender. Inside my mouth is still pretty swollen and it hurts to eat cold things. The stitches are slowly falling out and they are kinda gross. The skin on my face is really dry so I'm constantly putting lotion on. I know Leah said her skin was oily so I guess it's different for everyone. I'm still not sleeping well at night and still wake up several times, I'm sooo tired. I lost about 13 pounds and gained 5 pounds back. I asked how I was able to gain weight when I'm only taking in about 1000 calories a day and he told me that my body has gone into starvation mode so I will gain weight. So, I wonder if my body will get used to it and realize I'm not starving. I saw my orthodontist on Tuesday and he gave me some elastics to wear only if they don't make my jaw hurt. I think I was able to wear them for a couple of hours before I had to take them out because my face started to hurt pretty badly. But, I will try again in a couple of days and see if I can tolerate them then. My od said I should be out of braces in about six months maybe less depending how things go. Tomorrow I will see my tmj doc and he will determine if I need physical therapy for my jaw. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I won't need it. I'm tired of appointments and doctors and running here and there. I would like a couple of quiet weeks now to recuperate without a freaking appointment to worry about. But, anyway, I am going to go now and will let you know how tomorrow's appointment went. Thanks for listening to me vent...

Day 10

Day 10

So what do you think? I think the swelling has gone down a lot. The pain is very slowly getting better, though not fast enough for me. I over did things today and am feeling lousy at the moment. My own fault but I learned my lesson; the pain isn't worth it. I spent the day at the camp ground with my family. Most of them haven't seen me since before the surgery and can't believe how different I look with all of the swelling. So, I showed them pictures from a week ago and they all agreed that I look much much better today lol. I have this itching/burning/tingling/pain on the right side of my nose and cheek and it is driving me crazy. It itches but it hurts at the same time. I scratch there and it doesn't itch on the skin, it feels like it itches inside under my skin. I am gonna call my doctor and find out what the heck that is. My joints are also very achy. Anyway, you get the picture, I feel yucky. So, I am going to say good night to everyone. Have a great weekend!

More pictures

Day 7 Post op

These pictures were taken yesterday after my post-op appointment with Dr. Danielson. The steri-strips are gone and you can barely see the puncture mark on each side of my face. The swelling is slowly getting better and so is the pain. I'm so jealous that Leah doesn't have much pain but I guess every one's different. Anyway, my post-op went well, he took more x-rays and I was ecstatic with the result. My jaws are straight!!! I actually have a copy of the x-rays taken but I don't know how to download it yet, but will continue to try. Hopefully you'll get to see what it looks like. My doctor said everything looks great and he is pleased with the outcome. He said the pain will slowly get better and any numb spots that I have will start coming back slowly as well. He gave me an irrigation syringe to clean inside my mouth where the toothbrush can't reach or where it's just too sensitive to brush just yet. I find that it's a very helpful tool, kind of like the water-pik, but not as hard or as much water. I did ask if I could use the water-pik but he said it would be too much force at this point. I'm just glad to be able to brush and "irrigate" and keep my mouth clean. I have to go back to see him in two weeks. In other news, I saw my orthodontist today for my post-op with him. They said that I will need to wear elastics for awhile to finish pulling my bite together. He couldn't do anything today because there is just too much swelling so he just kinda peeked in there and said everything looks good. I go back next week for the elastics and get the surgical hooks off. I was wondering if wearing the elastics is going to cause more pain or if it's just more of an annoyance than anything? So, that was it for that appointment today. Now it's late so I'm going to say goodbye for now. Will talk to you again soon.

One week down...

What a tough week it has been. Last Wednesday I was in the hospital drifting in and out of consciousness...I would like to recap last Wednesday for you finally. My check in time was 6 a.m. and we did all that. I got my little "bay" if you will (it consisted of a sorta nook with a bed 3 walls and a curtain for a door), where I changed into my hospital gown and patiently awaited the nurse to start the I.V. So, he got the iv started and everything started happening at once. The nurse (who started the i.v.), Dr. Danielson (OS), anesthesiologist, and OR nurse all came to explain what would happen and take my history one more time. The anesthesiologist said she would give me something to help me calm down and I said why do I look scared? and she said yeah a little, next thing I know she said she gave me Versed (sp?) and I don't remember much after that. My husband said my last words to him were I love you and see you on the other side. I woke up 4.5 hours later in recovery with the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. Leah described it right when she said it feels like a huge weight on your face. Well you know what I looked like. I also woke up with the catheter in and remember thinking I was peeing my pants and asking the nurse if she would help me to the bathroom. She said hon you have a catheter in and your bladder is empty. I said well how can my bladder be empty if I feel like I'm peeing myself? And when can I get this thing out? She said as soon as we get your pain under control we'll take it out before we move you to your room. Four hours later the pain is under control and the catheter is removed (hallelujah), seriously it wasn't too bad. I wanted to be as independent as possible so I could go home the next day. I was brought to my room (private) where ice packs were immediately tied to my head and a morphine pump was set up and a clicker put in my hand along with a suction tube to remove blood from my mouth (which I used through the night and the next morning when the bleeding stopped). The nurse looked at me and said now don't try to be a hero if it hurts hit the button. I said well I don't plan on being a hero, this clicker is going to be my friend for the night. Then we got out the zip and squeeze bag and I asked the nurse for ice water. They had never seen the bags and thought they were just the greatest thing. So I gave them the website and they said they would look at it. I fell asleep after the nurse brought me the water and woke up every single hour to go pee. By the way, I didn't have a lot of nausea throughout this whole thing, phenergan took care of it. So anyway, every hour I had to hit the call button and have a nurse help me get up to go to the bathroom. They must have been clapping when I left the next day. I kept apologizing to them but they were like no, we understand, the i.v. does that to some people. The next day I gave myself a sponge bath (the LNA offered to wash my bottom if I couldn't...I declined of course after blushing profusely) and that went off without a hitch; I dressed myself too. My nurse came by around 1 pm and went over the meds I would be taking and I was discharged at around 1:45 pm. The ride home was a little rough because there is a lot of road work going on and some of the roads are just plain rough. Plus it just seemed so long because we live an hour and 10 minutes away from the hospital. We got home around 3:30 and I went straight to bed. You pretty much know the rest so I'll end it here. I have more pictures to post from today but I'm tired so I post them tomorrow. Well, I'll talk to you tomorrow, take care.

Six days Post-Op

Well, not much to say at this point. I'm tired all the time so I sleep a lot. Today is a bad day pain wise so this post will be short. For some reason the swelling in my upper lip is getting worse. Gotta go for now will post later.

DAY FOUR POST-OP

Swelling is worse!

I didn't think it was possible for the swelling to get any worse but it has. I am in constant pain and I can't sleep. Time for me to complain now I'm due. Seriously, though the swelling can't get any worse can it? I called my Dr. to see if it should be this bad and he thinks it's bad because I'm not sitting up enough. Well, I can't lay down because I swell too much (I told him this or rather my husband did) and the dr. said if I don't see any improvement by tomorrow he wants me to go in to see him. Also, the pain should be letting up some too he said and it's not; it keeps me up at night and isn't well controlled yet. So the dr. called in some more pain meds for me and we'll see how it goes. Anyway glad to hear from Leah and that she made it through ok. Way to go Leah! I hope she doesn't feel as bad as I do right now. Although, when my mom came over to see me I did feel better, something about mom's touch no matter how old you are. Take care everyone; will post more pics soon.

And here are today's photo's. You can see the bruising a lot today, more swelling and more pain today (you were right Shontell). Today has been a terrrible day for pain and swelling. I'm ok as far as food goes; I'm not hungry anyway so all I want to do is drink. I am probably just going to go to bed after I write this post. I didn't realize how tired I was going to be. I really don't like it but oh well it'll pass too. Have had a little bit of a fever all day, low grade 100.2 most of the day. So anyway, take care everyone and will talk to you all again soon.

These are yesterday's photo's. The steri-strip on each side of my face is where he screwed in the hardware to hold my bones together. So yes, I do have two small puncture wounds on my face.

UPDATE

Thanks for the support ladies. Holly in answer to your question that is me and the staff at the hospital said the same thing you did, that I looked like Angelina Jolie, but the swelling in my lips has gone down a lot don't you think? Michelle, the name of the cream is Triamcinolone Acetonide Ointment USP, 0.1% and I use it every eight hours. It is a steroid cream to help with the swelling and believe me it has. My lips really hurt but feel so much better than they did. I also wanted to let you know that they gave me a lot of antibiotics by I.V. (8 bags) and I ended up with a yeast infection; just wanted you to be prepared, they gave me meds for it and the itching has stopped but not exactly something I wanted to deal with. Anyway, just glad that it's dealt with and one less thing to worry about. I am really tired so I'm gonna go now, will continue to keep you posted on my progress. Again, thanks for the support I love hearing from everyone.

I'm Back

The top four pictures were taken the day after surgery. The next two were taken in recovery.

Hey girls, I'm back! My hubby didn't get a chance to follow through on the posting, so very sorry for that. I am very very sore. I got home yesterday afternoon and went right to bed. I have been taking pictures...I've gotta warn you it doesn't look like me very much. My lips are very swollen. I was in recovery for 4 hours because the swelling and the pain was so bad. I have already lost 5 pounds cause I'm just not hungry. The doctor was very pleased with the outcome of the surgery. He said my bite was perfect. Of course I can't tell yet. Right now I could care less anyway, the pain is awful for me. I can feel everything...that's good right? So far the only numb spot I have is on the right side of my nose. The pain meds so far don't help as much as I'd hoped they would. He put me on hydromorphone 2mg, take 2 tablets every 3-4 hours. I also take 750mg tylenol every six hours, 300mg clindamycin (antibiotic) every 6 hours, phenergan 25mg every 6 hours as needed for nausea, peridex rinse 3 times a day (this stuff really soothes my mouth, I love it) and a steroid cream every 8 hours for my lips ( this stuff is awesome too, very soothing). So, if it seems like I'm babbling I probably am and sorry for the mistakes or anything that doesn't make sense to you in this post. So anyway I wanted to say that I'm sorry for keeping you in suspense for so long and my husband apologizes for not posting. I will give better updates when I'm feeling better and more like my old self.

Here are my before pictures:


Well, tomorrow's the big day. I need to be at the hospital at 6 a.m. and my surgery is scheduled for 7:30. We decided not to spend the night in Burlington so that means I have to get up at 4 in the morning. I am very nervous and excited but mostly nervous. I just got back from the orthodontist and my surgical hooks are in place. They really aren't that bad except food gets caught in them more so than the braces, in my opinion anyway. My orthodontist said I'll only have them in for a week. Not so bad right? My jaw is sore today but I'm more tense than usual so that doesn't help. My bag is packed and I'm ready to go. I will try to post tomorrow morning before I leave but I can't be sure I will. My husband will post for me after the surgery to let you know how it went. Guess that's it for now. Take care everyone.

Three more days! I'm pretty excited. My party yesterday was awesome; everyone had a great time. It was nice having everyone together. I was a little upset that my younger sister didn't show up but I pretty much expected it anyway so I wasn't surprised (*sigh* long story). Other than that though everything was great. My dog Lucy was the star of the party. She is just a sweet animal and everyone loves her. My kids really enjoyed themselves too.

I also wanted to say thanks to all of you for your support through all of this. It is greatly appreciated. Makes me feel better knowing that other people know what I'm going through and being able to talk to people who understand.

I tried to download picasa for pictures and my computer doesn't like it so I'm just going to have to try again. I will post pictures no matter what though. Well gotta go for now will post the day of surgery before I leave.

6 more days!

Okay, only 6 days left...I'm getting more excited and less nervous as the day draws closer. I've decided to throw a party on Saturday the 10th so I can relax and have a good time with my family and friends. Also, almost everyone I know can cook very well and I'm looking forward to good food before surgery. I also don't drink much so am looking forward to having a couple of beers. I asked the nurse who did my hospital pre-op if it was ok and she said as long I didn't drink alcohol 24 hours before surgery I was fine. So, I had three pre-op's this week and everything went fine; got my clean bill of health and go ahead for the surgery. Now everything is falling into place. Hopefully my son doesn't spread his cold to me. I went around the house yesterday and sanitized all the surfaces he had touched and sprayed the house with sanitizing spray to kill any airborne germs. I know it sounds obsessive but I have waited almost two years for this day and do not want anything bad to happen. I have also been drinking DanActive hoping to give my immune system an extra boost; don't know if it works but we'll see. I'm not sick yet, but I don't want to jinx myself either. I plan on sanitizing the house until he isn't sick anymore. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't get sick. In other news, I haven't heard from the OS's office about my surgery time. So, I don't know what time I have to check in to the hospital. I am going to take some before pictures and post them soon if I can figure out how to do picassa. I plan on having my husband take pictures of me in the hospital and showing him how to post for me and give you an update. He's a hunter and pecker when it comes to typing so the post will be short and sweet, lol. As soon as I am able I will give you all the gory details and hopefully lots of pictures. That's it for now...

NINE DAYS LEFT! I can't believe May 14th is almost here. I am ready to get this over with. I have been trying to stay busy so I don't think about the surgery much but at this point it's hard not to think about it. Everyone around me is getting sick with a cold that's going around and I am praying that I don't catch it. I am eating to my heart's content and have gained 5 pounds (ugh). As the weather gets warmer my jaw gets less and less achy; although last week it was cold and rainy so my jaw ached a lot more than normal for this time of year. I haven't been wearing my splint all the time either; I'm sick of wearing it. I have been wearing it for 5 years now. The oral surgeon said I will not have to wear a splint after my jaw surgery. You don't know how happy that made me. I have my pre-op appt. with my primary tomorrow and the hospital will call me tomorrow for their pre-op appt and instructions tomorrow as well. Hopefully I will find out what time I need to check in next Wednesday and what time the surgery will be. I guess that's it for today. It's a beautiful day outside and I plan to enjoy it...take care everyone.