One Month!

   Last Thursday was officially my one month mark! I had my second post op appointment two weeks ago and it went okay. I'm supposed to be able to open my mouth about 22 mm and could only hit about 13, and as of yesterday I can almost hit 30!
   There's not much pain, mostly just lots of clicking. My bottom lip and chin, my gums, and the roof of my mouth are still completely numb. I eat a lot of pasta, and have recently started shredding chicken from Raising Cane's and Chick-fil-A and am able to eat it (just no chewing)! This month I can start "barely chewing."
   This is my third week back at work and it's getting easier every shift. I've found ways to keep up my energy so that I don't tire as easily (naps are still needed sometimes though). For the most part my routine has returned to normal and I'm very excited about that.
   The swelling has gone down SO much, even since my last post! I'm slowly starting to get used to my "new face" as I call it. The swelling is mostly just around the bottom of my face, and I'll be very excited when that goes away! I have another post op appointment tomorrow, I will try to update shortly after :)

Day 36:

Pain: only on occasion

Nausea: none

Headache: occasionally

Emotions: normal

Tired: I can go without a nap!

Craves: no specific foods, I just miss chewing!

Day 16

It's Day 16 and I am so excited to say that I have minimal pain and just a little swelling! For the most part the bruising in my face has completely gone away, but I have a little left of my neck/chest. My chin is still completely numb, but I have a little bit of feeling in my bottom lip now. I'm completely off of my pain killers and have been able to reduce my Ibuprofen intake to just twice a day. I can open my mouth the width of my pointer finger, and can talk pretty clearly now. Eating has been a challenge still, but I'm adapting! I usually start my morning off with a smoothie; my favorite is peanut butter, banana, and strawberry with almond milk and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The rest of the day I eat small meals/snacks. I eat a lot of mashed avocados, mashed sweet potatoes, and noodles cut into really tiny pieces (so they don't require chewing), and chocolate pudding. If my mouth starts feeling sore ice cream and popsicles are amazing, since they're cold and they provide plenty of calories! I've been able to go out more, I just have to take it easy and not wear myself out, which is easy to do. I go back to work next week and I'm really excited about it! I'm ready to get back into a normal routine. I do still wear my medical mask when I go out just so I don't catch anything, being sick is something I'm trying really hard to avoid.

Day 16:

Pain: only on occasion

Nausea: not since my last dose of pain medicine!

Headache: Occasionally

Emotions: mostly normal

Tired: I can go without a nap, but I wear out easily

Craves: Whataburger, Honey Seared Chicken from Pei Wei, Pizza, French Fries

(when my mom is back from out of town I'll have her take pics from all angles)

Day 7

(Post was written 6/12/18, just had trouble posting)

IT HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN ONE WEEK!!!

One week ago today, I was undergoing surgery. Today, I was able to drink out of a bottle for the first time, I had friends and family come visit and was able to talk pretty clearly, and I also got to eat mashed sweet potatoes (not liquid)! The swelling in my face has decreased significantly, though it does have a nice yellow tint to it right now because of bruising. The inside of mouth is still pretty swollen, so it makes it hard to open my mouth to talk or eat. I'm also still numb on the roof of my mouth and my chin. Although I can't lift my lip up very far (due to swelling) I'm pretty sure they cut the little piece of skin that connects your gums to your lip. I brush my teeth with a little baby toothbrush and a (clean) mascara wand. I use prescription mouthwash instead of toothpaste right now, and I also use it to rinse. 

Alright! So, here's the foods and liquids I'm eating to keep up with my calorie and liquid intake:

-Ensure (it's way too sweet, I won't lie, I cry when my mom hands me a cup)

-Smoothies

-Whipped Potatoes

-Gatorade

-Ice Cream

-Fruit/Veggie Squeeze Pouches (the kind you give to little kids)

-Soup/Broth

Foods I plan on trying this week:

-Mashed Sweet Potatoes (tried tonight, my tongue was confused about the non-liquid texture)

-Mashed Avocado

-Scrambled Eggs

-Soup with very thin, cut, and overcooked noodles

Day 7:

Pain: not much, only when I laugh, and then I get some pain over night

Nausea: not unless I don't eat enough when I take medicine!

Headache: Occasionally, but usually only food related

Emotions: mostly normal

Tired: I can usually go without a nap during the day now

Craves: Pasta, Whataburger, Chinese food

Day 3

I thought about making individual posts for the days I skipped, but to be honest, I was either asleep or drugged through most of it. Yesterday was my first day home and it. was. awful. I wanted so badly to be back in the hospital with medicine on demand and have a bed I could control. But instead my mom woke me up every 6 hours for ibuprofen and randomly inbetween for food or other various medicines. Yesterday I used my pain killers throughout the day but today the ibuprofen has been good to me. My chin is still mostly numb, but I get what I call little "zingers," there's little shocks where the nerves are trying to heal themselves. The swelling isn't much worse today than it was yesterday, but there is new bruising. It's on the lower right side of my jaw and also across my chest. I was able to get up and take a bath today as well, which seems like a small victory, but it is a victory none the less. Eating is hard to keep up with, calories are hard to consume in liquid form but my mom and grandma are helping me a lot. I apologize for how unflattering the pictures are, but this is what I look like :)

I've made little charts of my various states so I'll include yesterdays as well.

Day 2:
Pain: 6-7, very annoying
Nauseous: Yes
Headache: Yes
Emotions: Sad
Tired: Extremely
Craves: Pico de gallo, chinese food, queso

Day 3:
Pain: 5-6, I can feel the nerves trying to heal themselves
Nauseous: Occasionally
Headache: Only on sides
Emotions: Frustrated
Tired: A couple naps were needed
Craves: Whataburger, Funyuns

Day 0

Hi friends! Sorry it's been a few days, but hopefully my moms Facebook updates have kept y'all satisfied until I could post again. Day 0 is the day of surgery, I'll post a couple pics from before I went in, but besides that I don't remember much. I remember coming out of surgery and being in recovery waiting for a room and my pain being an 8, and then I remember them giving me liquid Motrin which did not make me feel good but then my pain went to a 5/6. I was vaguely aware that after surgery my face wasn't as big as I thought it would have been, but I also remember feeling it getting bigger. Overall, surgery was a success, there were no complications and everything went according to plan!

This is going back to surgery, they had just given me my IV and I don't remember this trip at all.

Right out of surgery I started crying for my mom, and then when my mom got there I wanted my dad.

They finally switched my medications bringing me from an 8 to a 5/6 on the pain scale, and then we waited here until my room was ready!

My Story

Hi everyone! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Anya and I am 20 years old. I'm going to be using this blog to update y'all on my surgery and post-surgery progress. Before all of that, let me share some of my story and how I got here!

I got my braces and an expander put on when I was in the 8th grade. The expander stayed in for about 6 months, and when they took it out I had developed a pretty severe under bite. I remember walking out of the office crying because my bite wasn't the same and my teeth weren't touching correctly. We quickly found a new and highly recommended orthodontist who informed me that I would eventually have to have jaw surgery. I think my first appointment with Dr. Taylor (my jaw surgeon) was about two years later. We had my wisdom teeth extracted and had my first consultation with him when we were informed that out insurance wouldn't cover the surgery. Without insurance we wouldn't be able to afford it so I opted just to have my braces removed and work with it. Well, my senior year of high school I started working at Starbucks and was able to get insurance that would cover it! So the long process began and I had to go back and have my braces put on for another year, and then had to have another consultation with Dr. Taylor. I saw him at the beginning of April, and then at the beginning of May they told me they could do the surgery June 5th!! SO soon! Of course I am EXTREMELY excited and grateful that I'm able to even have this surgery but as it gets closer (4 days!!) I'm also getting nervous. A lot of factors go into making sure the surgery goes well and that the results are what we're aiming for. I'm going to try to keep this blog updated regularly so you can keep up with my journey, as well as see the progress I'm making while healing! Below is a picture that Dr. Taylor's team took to predict what I might look like after surgery, it's pretty cool to see the change!

(The left is me currently, the right is what they predict I will look like)