Day 7/ Day 8

Good evening bloggers,

Day 6

so... not much happened today except that I felt ill! Not even jaw-pain ill, just sick ill, and I was really worried about being sick, as I really don't want that when I can barely open my mouth!

Pain is minimal again which is good, and I've been on paracetamol and just 2 co-codamol tablets which is good.

I've been very stir crazy today as I've been bored and just wanted to sleep through the nausea and also feeling very sad and helpless as my 12 year old, seizure-prone cat, Biddy is missing, She wandered off and is generally very disoriented so she is unable to find her way back. I hope she's okay but I'm not full of confidence.

Day 7

I spent a good chunk of the day searching my neighborhood for my cat as those of you in the UK may have experience, we had horrendous thunderstorm, which woke me at 5 am, and all I could think of was the face that she's out in that - if she's still alive...

The doors I knocked on, those that answered, I could see them straining to understand me- my family have become tuned in to my clumbsy undefined speech but to strangers I found myself compelled to defend myself and blurt out 'I just had jaw surgery!' Most were understanding.

Today I had no jaw pain or discomfort when I woke, except a headache and I could feel my pulse in my gums where my stitches are.

Speaking of stitches.... I've found something strange! Where the stitches in my left side come over my gum where my wisdom teeth once were, there is a plastic like, cellophane kinda material just attached by stitches! I didn't notice this before as I didn't have enough movement in my tongue or mouth to feel that far back but I honestly have no idea if it's supposed to be there or not. I'm half expecting to be told at my check up tomorrow that they stitched some packaging in my accident!

So yeah, appointment at half ten tomorrow, hopefully they'll be pleased with my recovery and healing and they'll be nothing else that I have to have done.

Here's my latest on swelling and bruising - it's still very confined to the one side - which is irritating as I've just got rid of asymmetry and now I have it cause of this lol!

My chin is starting to regain feeling- it's very very itchy! my lip is going down now, and doesn't feel so poofy, but is still mostly numb.

Oh, and I've officially lost a stone now! I don't feel any different really.... ~I'll keep it up though! I needed this as a boost!

See you tomorrow, hope you're all well x

Day 6 - It gets better

It definitely gets better!

Yesterday I left the house for the first time since coming home from hospital, Tom and I took the dogs for a walk in the woods at 8pm so it was quiet and I didn't feel self-conscious.

 This was the first time I felt I looked normal, I'm still all lumpy, bruised and swollen but I have some definition to my jaw unlike all the previous days. 

Today I managed to brush all of my teeth properly- it was pretty gross! 

But I also found my stitches! They run along side my gums to the back of my mouth, and my right side has started to bleed a little- probably just due to the movement I can do now.

My jaw keeps locking- as it has done post-op, but until today I'd left it along as I'm scared I'll do some damage, but I'd had enough of the stiffness so I just cracked it.

Omg

The relief of being able to open my mouth a little wider was amazing. 

How I'm doing!

Pain

Pain in one way is at it's lowest today, as I slept right through until 11am, as opposed to waking to have my next pain killers at 6am as I have been doing. My stitches are throbbing today, and it kinda stings when I use my antiseptic mouthwash. despite this, I've only had two co-codamols and no ibuprofen inbetween, so it must be getting better.

Food!

I've eaten the most as of yet,
-half a slimfast shake
-1/3 wheatabix
-cups of tea
-soft bits of bread with houmus + soup
-and kind of a roast dinner with my family, which was mash potatoes, gravy, and cauliflower cheese 

I weighed myself and I've actually lost 11lbs since last sunday! Nice little bonus, I'll try and keep it up!

I have 2 appointments coming up, one next Wednesday, 24th July at the hospital I had my surgery at for a check up. Then on Friday 26th July at the manor- where I've been having my ortho work done.

Hopefully I can open my mouth wide enough for them to see in by then!

Right, Tom went home today so I'm gonna have an early night.

See you later!

Day 3/ Day 4 Recap/ Start of Day 5/ Medication and food!

Good afternoon guys!

As you can see, I'm posting a day late, a few days at a time. This is partly due to laziness, and because that way I get to post a more detailed account instead of half the day and what not.

Day 3
Wednesday 17th July

Bruising is still very dark today

So Tom arrived at my door today! It was so nice to see him again - and although I'd skyped with him in the hospital, so he'd already seen my face, today I was alot more swollen and I felt very conscious of him looking at me! He doesn't seem to mind though - he's pretty great like that!

I spent all day lying in bed with him, and watched a whole season of Sons of Anarchy! Very productive :P

Food

So I still felt pretty good this day, I had:
- a glass of slim fast banana shake
-half a bag of crushed Skips
-cups of tea here and there
-lots of water (I've peed so much lol)
-few spoons of cheese and potato pie from yesterday
-frubes x2

Pain Management

-I was given co-codamol for pain relief, 1 tablet x4 a day
-some gigantic antibiotic pill 1 tablet x3 a day
-and I bought some ibuprofen which I can take with the co-codamol, so I've been staggering the pills, taking the ibu half way through my dose of co-codamol, and it's been pretty good. 

The only thing which is very frustrating is my lips- they're not quite numb, just very tingly, and the corners of my mouth are a little torn and sore from being stretched so I'm smothering on vaseline. at the momment this is the most painful - which is good in the scheme of things!


Day 4
Thursday 18th July

 I'm sad. it hurts to smile today

So today was not so good
Although I've been sleeping from through until about 7am, then taking meds and mouthwash and then going back to sleep until about 12pm, I was exceptionally uncomfortably today.

If anything, it's more like what I thought I'd feel like, as I feel I'd been very lucky until now.

Main pain was my lips, and my throat, as it's very scratched and sore from having the breathing stuff down it for 2 hours! 

I didn't even try and eat today, 

Food

-I managed a few cups of hot lemonade and honey
-half a slim fast shake
-half a cup of soup - chicken flavor lol, it didn't hurt my throat

My throat was so sore I couldn't even manage a lot of water or yoghurt.

Oh, and probably the most annoying thing right now, is that my front teeth rest digging in to my bottom lip - which, although I can't feel it right now, its full of ulcers and will definitely hurt when the feeling comes back!

I even had a little cry from frustration but then it was starting to make my throat worse so I stopped.

Day 5 as of now

my poor lip! But I'm still crazy happy with my jaw results

I can smile today, feel a lot more content, and I ate some wheatabix and tea :)

The bruising is very yellow- which hopefully means it won't be around much longer

Really happy that Heather's surgery went well! We'll keep each other company through recovery :P

Bottom line - 
Still no regrets! and frozen peas work miracles! 

See you tomorrow :)

Day 1 Recap/ Day 2/ LOTS OF PICTURES + Shout outs!

Right! This is the last two days from the beginning, be prepared for a lot of photos!

So, as you know, on Monday 15th at 7am I checked in to Newcross hospital, and started what turned out to be a very long wait.

Surgery morning

I had a slight temperature (37.9) so they took some bloods and made me wait. then there were no beds free, so my wait continued, I was starting to worry that I would be sent home and would have to be postponed! But then luckily, at 2.15pm I was told to get changed into my gown and head down to theater. 

my converse match my gown :)

one last smile with this face :)

 I really got to the point where I wasn't nervous anymore. I don't know whether it was due to my long wait, or maybe I just figured, its gonna happen. whether I'm scared or not, so I might as well go in with my head held high and big-ass smile on my face :)

The staff were really nice, chatting away to me as they got ready. they took my temperature again and it was still a little high, but I litterally stressed to them how hot it was in the waiting room and that I felt fine - also hadn't been allowed any fluids since 6am!

The surgeon was talking to me about CSI and before I knew it, the room began to spin- they'd given me the anesthesia without me even realising and I was off to sleep :)

2 hours later - half an hour post op

I woke up at about 6.15pm feeling fine - I must really agree with being put to sleep - I feel like I've had a great nights sleep!

I asked if I could remove my oxygen mask, they agreed and then told me I looked really happy I was like I am! They cleaned up my hands and face, and then I raised my hand to feel my jaw for the first time. 

Already I could tell the difference - where my chin would normally be was nothing lol, it felt smaller, and yes, swollen, but already I felt really happy.

I was up and about immediately and didn't feel like sleeping or lying down. My parents turned up about 7pm, and the look of relief on my moms face was funny - apparently she'd been stressing about seeing me so swollen but was relieved when it wasn't too bad.

I hadn't seen myself yet - there were no mirrors in my room and I didn't have my stuff back yet, but my mom took these pictures.

 I can feel and see the difference in my chin length, and despite the swelling being uneven, I can see the symmetry already :) 

Now, my dad pointed out these bruises on my leg, I wondered if one of the surgeons had pinched me as they lent over me, but when I showed the nurse, she told me that it was from the pads used to 'ground' me as a current is used with one of the cutting devices! I'd just had a reaction to the adhesive.

My first night

I was dosed up with codine and paracetamol at 7.30pm, and when it came for my next dose at 11pm I had to eat something to line my stomach. I had this yogurt - it was amazing :) and I felt great still - no nausea or trouble breathing or anything.

 I managed to sleep from 12ish to about 4am, then was awake until now! I'm pretty exhausted, but it was annoying as there was no blind in my room so the sunshine kept me awake. 

Numbness

my left side, which was very swollen compared to my right, had almost complete numbness, and my chin and lip was numb too. 

My surgeon told me that they were able to completely avoid my nerve so there will be no damage which I was very happy about!

Day 2

I was a lot more swollen today- my throat is pretty swollen and that thing that dangles at the back of your throat must be swollen cause it feels like I need to constantly spit something out. 

I'm so happy to see my front teeth again!!! I've missed them. my bite is perfectly straight at the front, but my molars don't meet properly so I guess I'll have a fair bit of brace work after. 

 For breakfast I had a few spoonfuls of readybrek and some juice and tea which was nice. But I've mostly drank water - I'm probably more hydrated than ever before!

 The bruising is really coming out, on my left side and under my chin. I finally got discharged at 3pm, I've been so much happier at home!

Overall I'm so surprised at how well I feel - I feel I was very lucky and had a very smooth ride. I hope this will continue.
I'm currently lying here with a bag of peas on my face - it's really helped with the swelling. I keep getting a really itchy chin - but because its still numb I can't feel where to scratch it, it's driving me crazy!

Well I'm gonna try and get some sleep now, and I just wanted to say thank you to all of you, Amanda K, Corrinne, Ellie Fant, Cassie, Sarah P,
Heather - I hope all went well today!!! 
Natasha - I will definitely meet up with you when I'm in Peterborough! maybe the 28th??

Anyone I've missed  I do appologise - I'm fracking knakered!

Good night guys - It's all been worth it!!!! 

WAITING

Hey guys Thank you for all of your support, I'm currently waiting, I've seen my anethasist, and my surgeon but the bad news is I'm last on the list for today! I've been here since 6.45 and was told I was second. Now they say I'm last so it'll be late afternoon before I'm in theater! 

I'm gonna be so hungry.

But at least it's happening!

I'll keep you posted!

Surgery in 7 days!!/ Post-opp-Inventory?

So, this time next week, hopefully it will all be over, and hopefully despite the swelling and pain, I will be happy :)

I'm very nervous - I got very overwhelmed and cried on webcam to Tom the other night, but that's just between us okay?

But, thinking more logically now, I need to start preparing for post opp life

So, I know a lot of you after surgery posted a list of things you needed, used and didnt use during recovery and other than Frubes (cause they're delicious), I haven't really got anything yet!

Any suggestions?

I could very easily live off of these :)

10 Days to go...chat with surgeon in a few hours...can't sleep!!!

I think my post title is self explanatory,

I've spent the last few hours reading all your blogs and looking at footage of corrective jaw surgery - it's pretty gross lol.

I'm really tired..working nights since I was 17 has really screwed my sleeping pattern up, this surgery will get me some much needed rack-time! 

I think I'll upload a little video soon, cause I wanna get used to posting those as well as photos after surgery - it's nice when you can put a voice to a face :) oh, and I'll let you hear how loud my jaw cracks!

Right, I've procrastinated too much, off to bed, will let you know how my meeting with my surgeon goes tomorrow... or erm, today rather!

Good night!!

14 days to go!!!

So this time tomorrow, surgery will be over with- or maybe I'll still be under the knife, I'm not really sure how long its gonna take, but I have one last appointment come though with my surgeon for this Thursday 4th July where he will make any final adjustments and answer any last questions  I have, like how long will it take etc.

So, this is pretty trivial, but if any of you have seen my previous irrelevant posts, you'll know I love piercings. I have 19 of them, and worry about a few which I feel will heal up fast if left out - I have to practically re-pierce my nose if I forget to put it back in after work! I might be stating the obvious, but I don't think they'll even let me keep in plastic retainers whilst I'm in surgery - I know its for my own safety, and I'm sure I'll have better things to worry about, but when I come to, the first thing I'll wanna do is put my piercings back in!

I'm getting pretty nervous right now...I'm probably driving my family and friends crazy as I'm always talking about it. My boyfriend is being great about it too - he wants to come down immediately after I'm out of surgery, but I hate feeling vulnerable and I'm gonna look and feel like shiiiite so I don't know about that yet.

Bottom line is, I can't wait!

I'll post on thursday and tell you all what my surgeon has to say :)

Have a good week!

x

It's Very Very Real Now!!

I love getting mail, especially when it consists of letters telling me the time of my surgery!

First letter was titled notification of pre-admission, and is a pre-operative assessment for 9th July.

My actual surgery letter is 15th July at 7am. I'm instructed not to eat anything after midnight and drink only water up to 7am.

Both the assessment and the surgery are performed at my local hospital which is a 10 minute walk so I won't be travelling miles to the Manor Hospital where I've been treated so far, until after surgery where hes requested I see him every Friday for at least 6 weeks.

I'm so excited I just want to get on with it. I'm really scared I'll have terrible luck and get sick before hand! I can't afford to have this postponed so I'm gonna really look after myself!

It's so close I finally feel relief :)

*Raise's Glass* I'd like to thank all the bullies...

A post by blogger, Corrinne  got me thinking about how I used to feel about my face, and why I'm where I am today.

I used to be afraid to talk about my jaw, because if you talk about something, you give others permission to talk about it too- my family included. Kids at my school had enjoyed publicly humiliating me, a particularly bold class mate said my face was the shape of a foot, due to its asymmetry, and so kindly pointed this out to the whole class. Other significantly younger students have said my chin looked like a ..ahem, for use of a better word, penis! 

I never wanted to draw attention to my face, I think that's why I bite my nails - so that my hand is covering my mouth. I tried not to smile in class, and my eye contact, is STILL atrocious. I just felt like everyone was looking at it, everyone knew it looked weird. I couldn't bare to discuss this with my family because again, I was scared to have anyone else essentially agreeing with the bullies. 

Other than being referred to the Birmingham dental hospital for the TMJD (clicky, locking activity going on in my right jaw!) I hadn't addressed the cosmetic factor of my jaw, and always thought I'd never be considered an important enough case for surgery.

I have to thank one girl in particular, she found out her ex boyfriend liked me and she tagged me in a post on Facebook which said 'If I knew he liked it so much, I'd have grown a massive f**k-off chin like that.' If it wasn't for her harsh words, I wouldn't have had the courage to finally tell my parents how much this bothered me, and wouldn't have booked my first jaw consultation. Thanks again!

So here I am! - years away from the name calling of 2002-2007 and just 2 months away from having the courage to maintain eye contact with people because I'll have nothing to fear, but you know, even if I wasn't having this surgery, I wouldn't be afraid any more  You realise how childish people are as youths, and in the 'grown up world' it is (hopefully) very rare anyone would treat you that was just for looking slightly different.

Although it might not have began this way, I can happily say, that I'm having this surgery for ME and me alone, not to give them something prettier to look at ;)

It's about time!

I've had some very bad luck the last few months.

Firstly, after not receiving my next appointment when I was supposed to, I called the Manor Hosptial, and was told that my LOVELY Dr has left the department. When I asked 'so when will my next appointment be?' I was told very bluntly 'youll get one when you get one' followed by the buzz of the receiver as it was abruptly placed down.

Great.

But finally an my appointment has came, Im incredibly excited as this will be the one which decides whether my surgery is this side or Christmas or next year. I will have a number of X-rays and impressions taken and my braces finally changed.
My other disappointment came when I was turned down from the paediatrics nursing course I had applied for for next January due to it being FULL. But I think is is a blessing in disguise, as this means I will have more time to recover from surgery and can start the year after with a NEW FACE!

I'll let you know how it goes next week, more photos too! You are very lucky viewer!!! X x x

Couldn't Resist!

Not the prettiest of pictures, but I do want to record everything that goes on through out this journey!



 On the left here we have the deepest of my wisdom tooth excavation sites :), but aside from putting my phone in my mouth, this is as good as I could get.

Please excuse my unsightly tongue colour.

Now on my right is where I had my stitches. This freaks me out to touch, and I keep trying to brush it away when I clean my teeth!

So there they are, I couldn't manage a picture of my upper gaps, but you get the idea.

Hey theres something missing...Oh yeah 4 big fat wisdom teeth!!!

Hello! I've finally found the effort to turn on my laptop! Thank you for the lovely comments yesterday, my teeth removal went great!

Never been under anesthetic before, but I have to say, my experience was pretty sweet!

Woke up to my surgeon telling me to lie back down cause he needed to wipe the blood off my face, and with numb lips I think I thanked him... bit fuzzy there.

I was so tired when I woke, but I have to say I felt great! I just wanted to sleep but I made myself sit up and stay awake, after all, sooner I'm home, the sooner someone else can have this bed - they were crazy busy!

One of the lovely nurses' actually offered me a sandwich though. A sandwich right now? Really?

But no, all in all a great experience, only 2 stitches and no immediate pain other than jaw ache.

OH! and before I went in, I met with my surgeon, who'll be doing my corrective jaw surgery. He now is talking about doing my top jaw too?!?

Any one having bi-jaw surgery? Thoughts are REALLY welcomed!

x

6 hours to go!

I did plan to get an early night, but I think its fair to say that was never gonna happen!

In 6 hours I'll be on my way to hospital to have all my wisdom teeth removed. I've never been under anesthetic, but I'm not worried about the procedure, although I am little concerned as my mom says I'll have to wear one of those weird backless shirt things, and I just don't see why I have to take off my bra and T-shirt they're messing with my face nothing else! - its just so unnecessary!

But any how, the awkwardness of that aside, I can't wait for it to be over cause if I have to hear one more joke about how they should leave a couple of teeth in as I need all the wisdom I can get.....

So! Good night, and I'll be sure to post tomorrow!

x