This week was my first orthodontist appointment, and it went swimmingly. The orthodontist was very impressed with the surgeon's work, especially in regards to my bite. Apparently, he hit a home run, because my bite is almost perfect. Teeth aren't touching at all on the left side, but he said the teeth will settle over time, and the rest will be easy to fix. Everything else is in the right spot, so yay! I'm excited to see how long this will take. Before the surgery, he said we will probably remove the braces 4-6 months after the surgery, so I'm hoping we'll be closer to the 4-month mark (I'm assuming it's actually 4-6 months after we resume the orthodontic treatment though).
He removed the surgery wire with the million hooks, and it felt AMAZING. I can now close my mouth without shredding my lips, and it just feels like I have less metal in my mouth, which is nice. It's also easier to brush my teeth now, and less food gets stuck everywhere. He replaced it with a very simple wire and told me to come back in a month. I think he just wants to let my teeth do whatever they want, and then see what needs to be tweaked. I'm happy about that, because it means no more bands at all, not even at night! I emailed my surgeon asking if he still wanted me to wear some, but he said "nope", so I'm FREE!
Then, I met with my doctor for a follow-up on my iron problem. He actually agreed that the low iron, even without a full-blown anemia (my hemoglobin is borderline normal), could cause fatigue, so he told me to keep taking the iron supplements and we'll re-test in 6 weeks. That's about how long it'll take minimum to see a difference, maybe more. Still crossing my fingers that this is the origin of my fatigue. My fingers are getting tired from so much crossing...
Finally, I met the surgeon this morning. He was very happy with everything, once again. He looked at the inside of my mouth very quickly, and told me, as always, that it was healing very well. He said the only thing left to do is wait to see if the fatigue will go away. I mentioned the low iron, and he almost looked as relieved as I was when I saw the blood test results. He said "oh yeah, for sure this can cause fatigue, and it will take a few months to fix, too." So he told me not to worry too much, just eat better, take the supplement, and take it easy until my iron stores build themselves up. He looked a lot more convinced that this might be the problem than my GP, but I don't know who to trust. I tend to want to trust the surgeon because he probably deals with low iron constantly, given the fact that his job is to cut people's face apart and bleed them out 😉.
He also "cleared" me to eat harder stuff, but he said "you can try chicken and soft bread", and I was like "THAT'S IT?" I didn't say that but... Yeah. It doesn't seem like it really opened up my choices that much, hah! He said I could start ramping up, but it'll probably take another couple of months before I can eat things like hamburgers, sandwiches, etc. I figured he means biting into a huge chunk of food, so I'll just start chewing things that are a little more chewy, yet not hard, as long as I cut them in small pieces before. So chicken, thin-crust pizza, tomatoes, mushrooms, fries, cooked potatoes, thin sandwiches with deli meat, etc. I'm still staying away from raw veggies and fruits. I really need to start making smoothies again though. I'm getting very little fruits and veggies in my diet right now...
I'm seeing my surgeon again in one month.
Now before I go into the list of weekly updates, I thought I'd direct you to my brand new Photos section. I uploaded a bunch of before and after pictures, as well as the swelling evolution. Right now, the pictures are up to week 8, and I'll update every month until I reach 1 year. Looking at them, not much has changed after all. I see a huge difference in my smile, and I'm very happy about it. Maybe my face shape didn't change much, but that's OK. A lot of the problems I had did get better, and I'm convinced I just need more time to learn to love my face.
Honestly, this week has been an easier on that front. I think the process has already started, so that's good. I got a message from a sweet member of the archwired.com forum who told me that he had the same issues with his friends not noticing any change, and how he disliked his face at first. He said after 12 weeks he started to like his new look, but still had doubts every once in a while, until the one-year mark. Words of encouragement for all of us! It was so nice of him to reach out 😊. The thing is, no matter how much you read about other people struggling with this, no matter how much you tell yourself that you'll be patient and you won't judge your face until it's all healed, it's so hard not to. I knew all of this going in, but I still struggle. It's nice to have a time frame, even though it'll be different for everyone. Now I know I should reserve my judgment until at the very least 12 weeks, and maybe more. So if you are struggling with similar thoughts right now, hang in there. It happens to SO MANY of us. And if you've read my entire blog, you'll know just how much of a roller coaster this surgery is on an emotional level. It's normal. It's hard to be patient, but it'll get better.
Honestly, this week has been an easier on that front. I think the process has already started, so that's good. I got a message from a sweet member of the archwired.com forum who told me that he had the same issues with his friends not noticing any change, and how he disliked his face at first. He said after 12 weeks he started to like his new look, but still had doubts every once in a while, until the one-year mark. Words of encouragement for all of us! It was so nice of him to reach out 😊. The thing is, no matter how much you read about other people struggling with this, no matter how much you tell yourself that you'll be patient and you won't judge your face until it's all healed, it's so hard not to. I knew all of this going in, but I still struggle. It's nice to have a time frame, even though it'll be different for everyone. Now I know I should reserve my judgment until at the very least 12 weeks, and maybe more. So if you are struggling with similar thoughts right now, hang in there. It happens to SO MANY of us. And if you've read my entire blog, you'll know just how much of a roller coaster this surgery is on an emotional level. It's normal. It's hard to be patient, but it'll get better.
On to the updates!
Pain
Still no pain!
Swelling
When I press around my upper cheeks and on either side of my nose, it definitely feels swollen. There are still some pockets of puff around the middle of my cheeks (the "hamster" areas, as I call them). I'm excited to see what it will look like when it's all gone!
Numbness
Still improving noticeably! It feels weird whenever I touch any parts of the numb areas. I can feel hot and cold now, and I can absolutely tell if there's something touching because of the weird sensation it creates, as if my nerves get overstimulated (and this lingers even when whatever was touching is removed). Very happy about this! The only thing I can't feel is when I have a bit of water/food there, and when the touch is very very light. Still no painful shocks or anything like that. I mean, I get little electrical "zings" every once in a while, but it's not terribly annoying or painful. It honestly just makes me happy because it means the nerves are waking up.
Diet
Starting today, I'm hoping to incorporate more stuff. I kicked things off with a cheese pizza tonight. Sadly, the restaurant sort of burnt the underside of the crust a bit. Usually, it has a pretty soft, thin New York-style crust, but not this time (unlucky, yeah, but oh well, not a big deal). I just scraped the top and ate it, and I was a very very happy camper. I've been dreaming of pizza for a while. I also ate a bunch of white cheddar Cheez-It. I just let them melt in my mouth until they are soft enough to chew. It kind of helped with the chips craving!
Oh, and LOOK AT WHAT I ATE ON SUNDAY!
We went out to a restaurant for the first time since my surgery. I had amazing French toast stuffed with cream cheese and doused with maple syrup. It was heavenly. Everything was soft enough to eat without a problem, but I left the outer crust just in case, and didn't eat the strawberries. The bacon you see in the background was for my husband, of course, although I wish I could have bitten into one of these babies. Soon...
Fatigue
Same. Once again, see top of this post for more info.
We pretty much had the same surgery -- and like a day apart. Great BLOG! I am going through pretty much the same thing you are -- the continued numbness is pretty surprising though....Let's talk. Email me at Angeloa0a@aol.com
ReplyDeleteMy surgery was on 11/29/16
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