Recovery Week 8: December 21-27, 2015

I am now eight weeks out from surgery. Crazy when I say that out loud. Looking back now it feels like it has gone by really fast. My life has pretty much returned to normal at this point.

I am back to work, chewing as normally as I can, my hip area feels fine where the bone graft was taken, and overall I feel really good.

I still have some residual numbness in my chin, lips, teeth, and gums, but the surgeon said it can take three to six months for all those nerves to wake up and be back to normal.

I had an orthodontist appoint on Monday, December 28. They said everything was looking great as far as my bite is concerned. I now only have to wear a couple of rubber bands during the day, and a couple more at night. The best news is I don't have to wear that reverse pull mask anymore. I am convinced that is a tool of Satan.

This will be my last weekly post about the surgery as there is not much to tell at this point. I thought it would be fun to give you some interesting facts or things I learned about my surgery and recovery.

1. People tend to cringe when you tell them the gory details of double jaw surgery with a hip bone graft.

2. In some cases (like mine), they will attach wires (called skeletal wires) into your jaw during the the surgery for the rubber bands to be on. This will help pull on your jaw as the scar tissue develops and prevent the jaw muscles from messing up your jaw alignment.

3. If you have a bone graft near your sinuses, you cannot blow your nose for about four weeks.

4. In come cases (like mine), having your jaw, "wired shut"will actually be rubber bands that you can remove once a day for an hour to brush your teeth after eating...I mean drinking a meal.

5. When your lips, gums, and teeth are numb, you will drool and spit...a lot.

6. A kid tooth brush is not as effective as an adult tooth brush.

7. I lost a little over thirty pounds while on the liquid diet for the first six weeks. Doing my best to keep it off and lose more.

8. Being paid short term disability to stay home for six weeks and recover from surgery is awesome.

9. When you are told you are allowed to start chewing again, it is glorious news!

10. When you have chewed wrong for over thirty years of your life, it will be very strange to chew with a correct bite. I'm still learning and getting used to it.

Here are a few shots of my bite progression:

Before Surgery: March 2013 right after I got braces on and started the journey. 

Before Surgery: March 2014

Before Surgery: March 2015 

Before Surgery: October 2015 

After Surgery: November 2015

After Surgery: December 2015

Finally, here are some before pictures on the left from November 1, 2015,

and after pictures on the right from December 30, 2015. 

If you took the time to follow along on this journey with me, thank you! I appreciate all the the love and support I have received through this process. I am not all the way healed and will continue to wear braces for a while, but the hard part is over! I am looking forward to my new jaw, bite, and smile! As always, if you took the time to read my blog, I pray that God blesses you and your family.  

Recovery Week 7: December 14-20, 2015

This was a really big week for me. My life started going back to pre-surgery normal. I went back to work starting Monday (December 14). It was good to get back to work and get to see my co-workers that I missed. I was worried I would forget a lot of stuff after being out for six weeks, but it all came back pretty fast. I was pretty tired at the end of each day, but I am sure that my energy will be back to one-hundred percent soon. 

After work on Monday, I had an Orthodontist appointment to remove all the extra surgery stuff added to my braces. I still have to wear some rubber bands, and that darn reverse pull mask for a little while longer though. Not really excited about that, but means to an end, and after about a year I should be able to get my braces off.

Here are some before and after pictures of all the stuff they removed (the top before, and the bottom after).

 

 

Now, on to the the biggest news of the week, as of Monday, December 14, I was able to begin chewing again! NO MORE LIQUID DIET!!!

It was kind of strange learning to chew all over again with a correct bite. Another interesting fact is, that my teeth are still mostly numb. So, when I chew, I can't always feel it. Imagine you went to the dentist, they numbed your whole mouth, and then you had to eat a meal. It's kind of like that. Good times indeed!  

My recovery is not over yet, but I took some really big steps this week. Other than a little bit of swelling on my right side of my face, the numbness in my chin, bottom lip and teeth, I am feeling really good. Here are some pictures of my face. 

 

 

As always thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I pray that you and your family are doing well and that God blesses you greatly!

Recovery Week 6: December 7-13, 2015

I had a follow up with my Surgeon on Tuesday of this week. Everything continues to go well with my healing. During this visit they removed the skeletal wires from my top and bottom jaw. It was a very odd experience. It's didn't hurt that much, but there was a lot of pressure as they just yank them out. It made a strange popping sound as they came out, almost like a suction cup being pulled off a window. Those suckers were pretty deep into my gums and jaw. Oh, they don't use anything to numb the area like novocain. Here are some pictures of the skeletal wires before they were pulled and my gums after they were pulled out.

Some more positive notes, I can now brush my teeth & gums with a normal tooth brush (instead of a little kid one), blow my nose again, and I don't have to sleep elevated any more.

Everything continues to improve. I still have some numbness in my chin and bottom lip, but that continues to be less as more of the nerves wake up. I also still have a little bit of soreness and aching in my hip from the bone graft. Again, this continues to be less as I become more active and continue to heal.

Here are some pictures of my face as it continues to heal.

Thanks for reading and God bless!

Recovery Week 5: November 30 - December 6, 2015

I continue to heal well and feel better. Some numbness remains in my chin, bottom lip, and mouth. My hip and thigh are still a little sore from the bone graft, but getting better each day.

I felt like I had a lot more energy this week. I had no appointments this week with the Surgeon or Orthodontist, so this week felt more normal. Well, normal if I was on vacation from work, choosing a liquid diet, and to have my jaw rubber-banded shut.

I tried to be more active and do some normal and fun stuff. For example, on Monday, I took Uriah to Summit (the building formerly known as Brunswick XL). We bowled and played some video/ ticket games. Here are some pictures of Uriah bowling and with his prizes from the tickets.

 

 

On Saturday, Carmen had a tea party with friends (9 little girls 5-7 years old counting Carmen) for her birthday. Sarah did a great job planning and hosting. I played photographer it was a lot of fun. Here a a few pictures from the tea party.

Since I had more energy, I started some light workout stuff this week. I can't run yet or do a full workout, but I was able to do some brisk walking and light resistance work to get back in the habit of working out. I figured since I am losing weight being on a liquid diet, I might as well start some good habits again, so I can keep the weight off and be in better shape when I can start eating normally.

Anyways, not a whole lot to report this week. Here are some updated pictures of my face. 

As always, thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I pray that God blesses you and your family.

Recovery Week 4: November 23-29, 2015

My recovery continues to go well. I feel better and have more energy after every week. I had a follow up appointment with my Surgeon on Monday. He said everything is looking and healing well. I go back to see Him in two weeks.

As far as pain I really don't have any in my jaw or face, just an occasional nerve recovering that tingles. There is still a tiny bit of swelling left in my face (mostly on the right side), and still some numbness in my bottom lip and chin. The Surgeon said that it can take up to six months for all the nerves to recover, and all the numbness to go away, so everything is normal there.

My hip and thigh are still sore from the bone graft, but his is normal as well. The Surgeon and his Nurse told me that being more active and walking will really help with that. I was much more active this week and have noticed a difference.

Thursday was of course Thanksgiving. I hope yours was great! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It was cold and snowy here in Colorado Springs, but beautiful. Our family spent the morning at home, and the evening at my Parents house with them, and my Brother and his Wife. It was a good day!

One note about Thanksgiving. For my liquid diet, I have stuck with a lot of powders, soups, pre-made meal replacement shakes, yogurt, apple sauce, and the like. I have not really tried blending and drinking a "normal" meal. So, on Thanksgiving, I decided to give it a go. My Dad has a Vitamix blender, so in went some; turkey (white & dark), stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, gravy, cranberry sauce, a little riesling (a sweet white wine), and some water to thin it all out. Surprisingly, it tasted okay and did not make me vomit. It was very strange drinking my Thanksgiving meal, but I am grateful I was able to have it. Good times indeed. Here is a picture of me with my blended Thanksgiving dinner.

Want to try my liquid Thanksgiving dinner?

Overall, I am feeling pretty good. I am growing weary of the liquid diet, but I don't want to mess anything up or knock some of my teeth out, so I will stay the course. Hopefully, if all continues to go well, I will be able to start chewing food in two weeks. Here are some updated picks of how my face is looking.

You can see the right side of my face is a little swollen still compared to the left side.

Thanks to the many who have reached out with kind words, thoughts, and prayers for my recovery. As always, thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I pray that God blesses you and your family.