Hi all! Gosh, I've been a horrible blogger! I had every intention to post regularly but got busy with work, etc. I only have a few minutes to type right now but wanted to give a few updates and post some pictures (posts below this one).
To answer a few questions . . .
I'd say the second week was probably the most difficult. The first week was a haze of sleeping and drugs. It was definitely difficult ("eating" your meals through a syringe is such a weird concept) but the second week was more emotionally challenging. That's when reality set in and so did my anxiety. The headaches were also really bad. Fortunately, the anxiety and headaches decreased sometime in the third week. From everything I've read, that is normal and I just had to get through it.
I'm no longer wearing bands. They were putting too much pressure on my teeth so my surgeon decided it was better to go without them. That helped a lot with the headaches. I still can't open my jaw very wide. It's funny how you don't even realize it. When the surgeon first asked me, I thought I could open wide. Then he measured and it was only 10 mm. The low-end normal is 35 mm. So, I'm working on my jaw exercises. Such a weird concept.
I'm still on a no-chew diet and will be for another few weeks. Kind of boring but I'm getting used to it. Lots of soup. My new-found soft food is polenta. I've always loved it, but it's fabulous now that there are so few good options. Add a little marinara sauce and it almost seems like a normal meal.:) I still haven't been released to run yet -- that'll be another several weeks. But, I did learn this week that I can try pilates in a few weeks as long as I'm careful. Running is such an emotional stress relief for me. I'm hoping pilates can help with that a little until I can run again. I'm not very coordinated, so it should be interesting.:)
I go back to work next week. I've been working from home for the past two weeks are so. I'm excited to get back to the office, but also nervous. I'll keep you updated on how that goes.
Anyhow, I hope everyone is well. It's great to see how many people have May surgery dates (it'll be here before you know it!!!) and it's great to see how everyone who has already had his/her surgery is recovering so well. I love our little jaw surgery blog community!
Hope everyone is well!
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Did you have a splint in post-surgery?
ReplyDeleteHi Shaye!
ReplyDeleteI can't belive that it is already 1 month post op for you! You look fabulous, and I so happy to read that stess, headaches and anxiety is more of the past! Keep us posted on your progress!
Cheers,
Brent
U look great Shaye!! Wow! I hope my results are as positive! Couple questions for you, if you don't mind:
ReplyDelete1. How many mm was your maxilla impacted?
2. Did you have lower jaw surgery too? Moved forward, I presume? How many mm?
3. Genioplasty?
4. Did your surgeon use an alar stitch to reduce how much the nose widens due to the impaction?
Thanks! I wanna see how similar my surgery is going to be! I am being impacted by 5mm, my lower jaw brought forward by 5mm, possible genioplasty, and my surgeon says he plans to use an alar stitch.
Happy recovering!!
Hi guys! Thanks for the questions and well wishes!
ReplyDeleteI did have a splint for about 2 weeks. Initially, I thought I was supposed to have it longer, but (long story) got it off earlier than expected. It was one of the weirdest sensations to get it off. I stayed on bands after that for awhile. I was off the bands temporarily but am back on them right now. Not getting as many headaches as I did with them before, so that's good.
My upper jaw was moved up about 7 mm (more than initially anticipated) and tilted forward. The tilting made it move forward about 2 mm. I only had upper jaw surgery, so nothing to the lower jaw and no genioplasty (I questioned that a bit, but he said it wasn't necessary).
Not sure about the alar stitch. My nose widened a lot. I had a pretty narrow nose before the surgery. Right now, it's not at all as wide as it was right after the surgery and he said it'll get better, but it's still one of those things that is weird to see and that other people notice (one friend/coworker commented that it looked "stretched"). One side seems to be healing faster than the other, so my nose isn't symmetrical right now. I'm hoping that will get better. One side of my face is still a lot more numb than the other so I assume that has something to do with it.
The weirdest thing right now is probably still the numbness. I have a crooked smile and it always feels like there's a hair or feather brushing across my lip. But, I'm starting to get sharp pains coming through that area so I'm hoping that's a sign the nerves are healing.
One final thing . . . I started back to work today. As odd as this sounds, it was nice to get back to the office and some sort of normalcy. But, boy, am I tired now.:)
Let me know if you guys have any more questions. Thinking positive thoughts for everyone's surgeries and recoveries!!!
Thanks for the info, Shaye! You look great! I feel like because I am having so much done, I am going to look like a whole different person. Totally weird!
ReplyDelete