Asinine Acne---3 Weeks Post-Op

Okay, so Aunt Acne came to visit and she won't LEAVE!!!! I'm literally about ready to become a hermit. I have been using toner and prescription cream but looks like she's decided to camp out on my FACE for awhile. Hopefully this too shall pass. I can just feel the oil oozing out of my pores. I wonder what causes these oils to go into overdrive???

Anyway, tomorrow I will be THREE weeks post op.  My swelling is still sticking around but I'm starting to feel much better. My energy level is up and I just feel like I'm HEALING. My OS gave the okay for me to start back up my muscle relaxer at bedtime which has helped me sleep tremendously. I still sleep on four pillows. OS said I only needed two but I feel much more comfortable w/ four as I still have lots of swelling...and it's allergy season.

Not much new news...my nose is drying up. I'm still drinking a lot of my meals. I may blend one meal a day to "cat food" consistency but it's still a lot of work to eat that way so I do a lot of drinks. Still some drooling and talking still tires me out but I can tell it's getting easier.  Over the weekend we went to my favorite Mexican restaurant. It was HELL, but I ordered something and ate a few refried bean w/ salsa and got home and blended my chicken enchilada with some salsa and chicken broth. It was HEAVENLY. The best meal yet! :) I don't really like ice cream much but I bought some Haagen Dazs caramel ice cream and now I'm addicted. So, some things are looking up. Took some pics of Aunt Acne...Also some new pics of smile/profile. I still have quite a bit of swelling (more on the left) so there's some asymmetry. I even notice it in my nostrils. I hope that one nostril calms down. It looks a little too perky! lol!

I see my OS on Thursday and he may give the okay to see my Ortho....we'll see. Also, I found out some CRUSHING news. My OS isn't going to file a second appeal to my insurance as the exclusions are so strong that they think I don't have a chance. So, I guess I can say... We spent A LOT of money and even though it's money well spent (I can already tell it's helping my ears, energy level, breathing, etc.) I still feel guilty.  Uncle Sam better give us a pretty darn good tax deduction is all I can say!

Here's my profile a month prior to surgery and at three weeks post-op and I still have quite a bit of swelling in my upper lip and lower jaw!! It still amazes me. I just want to stare!  Sorry about the hair. I'm just trying to keep it off my oily ole' face! :)

Have a great week everyone and HAPPY FALL!!!! Maybe we should celebrate w/ a pumpkin shake or something??? Any good recipes??? XOXOXOXO

Splint Removal....CHECK!

So, the splint removal went much easier than expected. I didn't even need a local as I was still completely numb. It was attached to my upper teeth with wires that went around each tooth and connected to my braces wire. He used some little tool and it cut all the wires in only about 7 minutes. The only time I freaked out was when it was hanging by like one wire and I thought I was going to swallow it. I can talk much better without it. I feel like my saliva is still plentiful and I still "slurp" it. Eating's not much easier either. I guess I imagined removing the splint would magically make everything go away. I know I just need to be patient. *NOTE: This is not my splint but mine looked very similar.

Friday I got my hair trimmed (and a few bangs). It made me feel better but I think I overdid it on Thursday and I have felt pretty crummy the past couple days. My OS said everything looked great and I was healing nicely. I have another appt. next Thursday and he said depending on how things look then that he may go ahead and send me back to my Ortho.

I'm kinda anxious to see my Ortho. My back teeth don't touch, I still have a little cross bite and I feel like I still have an overbite. I'm curious on his opinion. I know I will worry about this as I'm a freak about my teeth. That's the only downfall to having the splint out. With it in I knew my bite was where it was supposed to be, with it out, I have NO IDEA. I still have two rubber bands up close on my teeth that I can take out to eat and brush. OS said my ortho will probably do some different band configurations to fix the cross bite. I think he wants HIM to be the bad guy! lol :) I don't blame him. He's such a nice guy!

Well, I didn't post any pics this time...sorry. I actually got really swollen after Thurs (from overdoing it) and I have totally broken out in zits all over. I have been cleaning my face as often as I can. After surgery my oil glands went in to overdrive and it's been crazy oily. Now, I'm just trying to get this teenage adolescence look under control. :( I'm emotionally at the bottom of the roller coaster today.

Sorry to be such a downer. Hope you all are doing well in whatever stage you're in. XOXOX

Make Like a Banana Smoooothie and SPLINT!!

Okay, I know I'm a dork. Can't help it, I was born that way. Well....big applause....today is two weeks post-op and I have survived! Things are still looking pretty good. Swelling is still going down. Just very slowly. No more nausea. Yay! And my mood is picking up. I am having issues sleeping and am actually in pain during the night, which is strange because I'm pretty comfortable during the day. I will ask my OS about this tomorrow when I get my SPLINT out!!!! I'm very excited. They called today and said I will be getting a local to numb everything (as if everything isn't already numb) and I can take a pain pill for my own piece of mind. My mom's taking me so I don't have to worry about driving.

I'm still drooling, and actually having a harder time talking, but I'm thinking all of this will improve tomorrow after I get that splint out. I have pretty much stuck to blended meals. I have tried some mashed potato texture type stuff but it only got me and my splint messy so I figured I could hold off until tomorrow. Can you tell I can't wait until then???? I'm getting very tired of this splint.

I've lost about 7 lbs and holding. I've done pretty well to keep my calories up. I could actually benefit to lose about 10 more lbs. but I'll def wait until I'm healed. Now is not the time to diet!

So, funny story...Yesterday was a beautiful day and my daughter, dog and I decided to take a walk around the block. We got almost all the way home when these two dogs w/ the electric fence collars were "harassing" us. It was no big deal, but the owner stopped to talk to us for a few minutes. I tried to hurry up as I really don't feel comfortable carrying on a convo w/ complete strangers at this stage. So we scooted on home and as we got inside and I passed the mirror I had a flashback of Dumb and Dumber. You know....where they were on the motorcycle????? It went something like this...

Remember that???? When he had snot hanging all the way down to his lips????? Well....there I was--in that same position. I am completely numb and had no idea I was sporting this look. I had to call my husband right away. He just laughed and laughed and said, "Well, at least no one SAW you." Um, yeah, I actually carried on a complete conversation like this, I guess.  Maybe that's why the dogs were barking at me? They were making fun!! lol. Nothing I can do about it now.  I'm sure I've embarrassed myself beyond this measure a time or two.

Well, that's about all the news for now. I'll post a new pic later after my splint comes out and I get my hair trimmed on Friday. I am still debating getting bangs. I'll ask my hairdresser what she thinks.

Have a great evening.  Prayers go out to June (fellow blogger friend) who is having her hardware removed tomorrow due to infection. We hope you have an easy recovery and you stay healed! XOXOX

  GOOOOOOOO CHIEFSSSSSSS!!!

Day 11 Post-Op!!!

Okay, I'm 11 days post-op. I can't believe I'm this close to two weeks. This will be my first full week of "back to normalcy" as I say. Eric is back to work full-time...house duties, bills, kids, etc are all back to my responsibility. I'm ready for it though...I need life to get back to normal.

I'm feeling pretty good for the most part. Yesterday we had my son's first soccer game and then had a family get-together at my sister's house. I played croquet and blended some zucchini casserole and some "vanilla" oreo's w/ milk (at separate times! lol) and got pretty wore out. I think my body wasn't used to that rich of food and of course being up and about all day so I'm a little lazy today. I did get up and go to church but I think I'm just going to eat soup today and lay low a little.

I'm getting more feeling in my face each day. I actually think I'm having a harder time talking (not sure why) but I get the splint out on Thurs. so I'm not worrying about it right now. Swelling is still going down. Slowly but surely. I posted a new pic. I don't really like this pic but o'well. I do still have swelling and of course I'm not wearing make up. I don't know when I'll go that far....My hair...is another issue. Because of the stress, and the change in diet I've been loosing ALOT. And let me tell you...I don't have alot to lose. There's nothing I can do about it though so I can't dwell. I do need to get it trimmed and it's funny...I think my hair looks different now that my face shape is a little different. I'm debating cutting bangs. I guess I'll wait another couple weeks to see what my face looks like then!

I'm still drooling some and I have got in a habit of making this "clucking" type noise as I suck the saliva back in my mouth. It was so funny...we were at my sister's house yesterday checking out the peacock eggs she is incubating. My other sis and I were leaning down real close to look in the incubator when I decided to suck my saliva....making the clucking noise.  She was like "what was that???" as she peered in to the incubator. I think she thought one of the peacocks were hatching!!! I sure hated to bust her bubble!

Really not much more news. I take my rubber bands out once a day and try to do open/close mouth exercises. I can open my mouth almost two fingers. Don't know if this is good or bad. I also finished my amoxicillin so I'm done w/ all prescriptions. Yay! I just pray I stay healthy and get NO INFECTIONS.

I've always had trouble w/ my ears getting very full and getting infected.  Especially this time of year...so far they haven't been. I totally believe that this surgery had helped (and will continue) to help my ears. I know the Dr's don't believe that this could help my ears but I seriously do. I also love my sister who is my biggest cheerleader. I know she is believing right a long with me! If you ever read this...Thank you Paula! XOXO

Welp, that's it for today.

1 Week Post-Op!!!!!

Hello all! I am still alive and I FEEL much more alive! Let me tell you something. Everyone talks about that Day 3 mark. Well, for me it must've been Day(s) 3-5 because those days all felt the same for me. They were the worst! Not just physically, but emotionally as well. I am now a week post-op and things are looking up! I have more energy and a much more positive outlook than originally. Not sure if the meds got me down or what but I'm off of everything except one more day of antibiotics and over the counter Ibuprofen. I think today I'll go get a humidifier and some natural sleep aid. I'm still sleeping on several pillows on my back and it's not the most comfortable.

I met w/ the OS yesterday. He took another pano. He said everything looked great and my swelling was very minimal (although my left side is a little more swollen than right). I scheduled an appt. for NEXT Thursday to get my splint taken out. I'm a little nervous b/c they asked if I was getting completely put out or a little sedated to have this done. I wasn't aware it was going to be painful???? I told them I wouldn't need anything.  Now, I've decided to take my mom along in case I become a baby and need some kind of medication.  Has anyone heard if this is supposed to be painful? Why would I need sedated? He said the wires aren't between teeth or anything.  OS also put some weaker rubber bands in so I can move my mouth a little more. Although, the bands are very close up front so I don't have alot of room if I wanted to use a spoon or something.

I'm "allowed" to have mashed potatoes and stuff but I'd rather stick to the blended meals. It's faster, easier and I get more "bang for the buck". :) I'm all about efficiency! I still have a lot of muscle milk, chicken broth and soups. I also have blended oatmeal and last night had a piece of fried (boneless) chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy mixed w/ milk and blended. It was the best meal yet! I also bought quiche to blend and chicken pot pie. Let me tell you... my Vitamix might of cost a lot but it has been heavenly!!!!!  My hubby was much impressed. He's been using it as well.

My other purchase that was much enjoyed is my Waterpik. I am allowed to use it on my teeth on the lowest setting. It has proven to be much more effective at cleaning my teeth/mouth than anything else. I also add salt water at times to help soothe my mouth. Very good choice!!! One more good purchase was the 'moist heat' heating pad. The first 24-48 hours you want to ice your face, but after that it won't help anymore w/ the swelling and the moist heat feels really nice...and aids in healing.

Well, I think that's it for today. I overdid it a little yesterday w/ my OS appt., then we went to Sam's Club and my sister's house for dinner. I'm a little tired this morning so I think I'll take it easy. It's my hubby's last day home so I'm going to take advantage. Thank you so much for prayers and encouragement. It has really helped me through those "dark hours". I'll keep all of you in my prayers as well. XOXOXO E

Day 6 Post-Op

Well, I must say things are getting better. With that comes wanting to "eat" and "talk" and all of those things that are frustrating right now. I still get tired pretty easily and very nauseous. Not sure why as I've pretty much stopped pain meds except for occasional Ibuprofen and the antibiotics they have me on. Maybe that's it? I see my OS on Wednesday so I'm going to ask about this. I also have a very dry mouth and lots of nasal stuff. Which I would anyway since it's allergy season. I'm concerned about my lips not closing. I know the OS said he had to cut a lot of muscles right there so maybe I just need to do some exercises to get it back? I tried to put my lips around a straw and can't. Hopefully that'll change. This is probably also why I'm drooling so much.  I'll ask on Wed. My swelling is going down some. It's still pretty swollen on my left side of face and I'm starting to bruise on my chin and even down my neck. But, things are improving! Thankfully! Eric is staying home Wed and Thurs and will return to work on Friday. He has a meeting tomorrow he HAS to attend so my wonderful neighbor is going to watch Emry for a few hours to help out.  Well, here are Day 6 photos. I tried to smile in the second one! lol!

Day 4 Post Op

I just noticed how I have drool all over my shirt and sunglasses on my head! I look like such dork! Oh well, I really haven't cared much about that these past couple of days.  Today seemed a little better. One big piece of advice I can give is to push yourself to actually drink from a cup. You get so much more this way than w/ the syringe. Also, I pushed myself to swallow pills instead of the liquid meds. These also seem to work longer/better. Then if you can do this you can also take a multi-vitamin.  I hope my swelling starts to go down soon. I had a little "variety" today. Muscle milk, an EAS shake, tomato soup, lots of chicken broth. It really helped w/ my nausea. I've been trying to get my mouth cleaned out. I just have this really bad taste no matter what I do. :( My kids are  coming home tonight. I'm so excited to see them. I know they'll raise my spirits. Eric is still home until Tues morning. Then it's all on me...my son will be in Kindergarten all day but I will have my daughter home w/ me. This has been making me nervous. I don't know what I'm going to do. Hoping that I can be able to manage and just nap when she does.

I can't wait to be at that place where you say...I'm sooo happy I did this! I know it will come. I'm just very impatient...and I'm a constant drooling mess!!!

Day 3 Post-Op Photos

Yesterday was day three post surgery. I had surgery Tuesday afternoon and came home Thursday night. Friday I was seen back in the OS office for a follow up. He said everything looked good and that my swelling was minimal. I don't feel at all like it's minimal! My eyeballs hurt because everything is so swollen and I can't breathe through my nose at all. I think I feel like such a freak that it's taking it out of me emotionally! I just want to get better already. I'm nervous around my kids, my dog, my husband! I just look and feel like a huge bloated fish!

I'm still taking pain meds and anti-nausea meds. I actually hadn't been nauseous until today. I also choke down chicken broth and muscle milk daily. I started out w/ Ensure but it was a little thicker than the muscle milk so now I'm drinking it. Doesn't taste the greatest but it has those calories and protein needed to heal...and I want to HEAL!!!!

I didn't sleep well at all last night. I have all the pillows propped up and can't breathe. I'm just hoping I can manage when Eric goes back to work on Tuesday. That's what's making me nervous.  I'm in charge of this house and I feel HELPLESS. :(

Elishia the Chipmunk!!!

just posting pics. i'll update later. Pretty swollem and doped up.  Surgery took approx 5 hours. Didn't even need the chin implant as my lower jaw came forwar 10mm,. That's one FULL cm.  I also went up 5mm on top and out 2mm. Can't wait for swelling to go down and blood clots out of nose. But doimg "okay" XOXO. Of course the one's w/ less swellimg is right after surgery. The other two are from today. Gotta get  back to bed!zzzzz