12 Days post op

Pain: 1
Inconvenience: 7
Weight: 168.0

Yawning is obviously not advised when ones jaw is being held together by rubber bands.  But how do you stop a yawn?  Yep, that and sneezing is ill advised.  But my body didn't get the message.  It doesn't.....hurt.  But rather, feel uncomfortable.  Ahh well, enough about that boring stuff. 

I ATE GRILLED CHEESE AND TOMATO SOUP FROM THE BLENDER TONIGHT.  And guess what, it was good!  Crazy?  Maybe borderline.  But it wasn't mashed potatoes or cream of wheat, so I was down for trying it.  I'll be eating that again soon.  What is next in the blender.... Pizza perhaps?  :)

And today, I had my appointment with the Clinic for Bleeding and Clotting Disorders.  And I don't know how it happened, but apparently ultrasound tech at Fairview Wyoming misread the ultrasound.  I have blood clots still yes, but they aren't in a superficial vein.  They are in the deep vein.  So I've been sitting at home doing warm compresses for the last week for a DVT with no medicinal therapy.  Between that and the fact that Fairview Southdale didn't even entertain my complaint about my leg hurting before I was discharged from the Hospital makes me think that.... Well I don't know, but not good.

So now, this evening I started my Lovenox (shots) and coumadin (oral) and I have my first INR appointment on Wednesday.  fyi, Thank you Mary Sheets for support in the Lovenox area.  ;)

I also have a follow up at the Oral Surgeons office on Wednesday to make sure I haven't done anything to make the hardware loose or move.  I've broken a few bands when I'm eating, but nothing painful, I hope everything is fine!  And I go back to work on Thursday.  I need to start thinking about what I am going to bring for lunch!  Well, I'm tired, here is a new picture and let me know if you have any recipes I can use!

Thanks!

Jennifer

One week post op

Pain: 1-2
Inconvenience: 7
Weight: 170

I had my one week post op appointment today.  The surgeon thinks everything is looking great!  I actually have way less bruising than most double jaw surgery patients at this time post op.  Still no straws, side sleeping, chewing, blowing my nose.... All those lovely things I took for granted once upon a time.

But he is very concerned with the results of the ultrasound from my ER visit on 10/4.  I have blood clots in my right lower leg.  They are in my superficial vein which is better than my deep vein because they are less likely to break off and move to places such as... My heart, lungs, brain, etc.

But the pain has sort of, migrated.  He doesn't think it would be smart to wait until my Monday Hematology appointment, so I'm going to try to get in to get an ultrasound done again tomorrow.

Even at one week post op, if anyone would ask me if I would do this again, my answer is absolutely. 

Here is today's picture :) 

5 Days Post Op

Weight: 171
Pain: 2-3
Inconvenience: 7-8

I tried sleeping in bed last night.  It worked for a little bit, but the longer I was in bed, the more I wanted to roll and sleep on my side.  So when Jeff and Taylor got up for the day, I decided to move out to the couch and slept for a few more hours. 

I've been trying to get a hold of my doctor all day today because I've been having calf pain in the right leg.  It is something that has been happening on and off since Friday.  No redness, no swelling, no hot spot.  But I'd rather be safe and see if I should get it checked out.

Alright, I think I might get a cat nap in before the family gets home.  By the way, did you know that there are A LOT of commercials on for food.  Whether it be fast food, rolls, etc.  In general to many food commercials!

4 days post op

I have to say, that even though sometimes are better than others, even the bad times aren't terrible.  Uncomfortable, yes.  Seeing as how I haven 't blogged since surgery, let me catch you up..

My parents brought me to the hospital at 11am, surgery was at 1pm.  Started all of the pre-op stuff, getting blood test, my weight taken, gown, etc.  I will say that the hospital has this FABULOUS thing called bear paws I think, the best invention EVER.  The gown has air passages throughout the entire thing, so they hook up a heater machine to the gown and it fills up with warm air.  I need one of those at home, seriously.  Anyways, so in pre-op apparently my blood pressure was a bit on the high side, so they had to give me something to help with that.  I remember getting some "calming" drugs in pre-op, I remember leaving my parents and being wheeled into the OR, they asking me to help them slide myself onto the operating table.  Then, I remember waking up in the recovery room.  The nurse came and talked to me right away and let me know that they did not have to wire my mouth shut.  I still had the NG tube in, (which they did eventually pull while still in recovery).  I asked for a mirror to look at my face, and even though I don't remember seeing myself, I remember starting to cry.  Such an emotional thing for me.  Having this underbite for my entire life and what seems like a blink of an eye, it's gone.

I was wheeled up to my room I think around 7pm.  That entire night is a little blurry, but I do remember having nose bleeds, many nose bleeds.  Having some visitors and my husband and my daughter visit, and my daughter afraid to come sit by me until I called her over.

I spent two nights in the hospital and came home on Friday.  In those two days I started swallowing pills, stopped the IV pain meds and worked on my clear liquid diet. 

Now that I am home, I'm sleeping on the couch, have my mom coming to help make me meals (while my husband works), taking all of my meds to make sure I do not have any pain issues.

My weight on day of surgery was 178lbs, today I am 172lbs. 

And here are current pictures.  :)

Before Surgery...

Today is the day.

This day came fast, but it also has been a long time coming.  My nerves haven't made me want to puke...yet.  I still have to bring Taylor to school, run to my doctor's office and pack for my hospital stay.  I wanted to leave myself with enough to do today so I wasn't sitting, staring at the clock.

I met with one of my surgeons yesterday to go over a few things and make sure my splint fit.  For those who don't know what a splint is (I didn't know either until yesterday), it is similar to a retainer, but sits on top of your teeth when you bite together.  (I think).  We went over the risk and benefits of the surgery, I won't have any feeling in my top gums or the roof of my mouth for about a year.  The feeling in my face, like around my nose and my cheeks will take 2-3 months to come back, same with lower lip and chin.  I do have a 20% chance of permanent numbness in my face somewhere.  That is definitely a risk I am willing to take. 

He also said that it is going to be very odd at first looking into the mirror.  The changes in my looks will be drastic enough that it will take some time to get used to it.  I am excited, I am scared, I am happy and sad.  Such a broad range of emotions.  Thank goodness my jaw will be wired shut for a week, or I might drive my husband nuts.  :)

I look forward to posting pictures post op and sharing my experience with everyone.  I thank all of you for the support and love you have given me and I will post again once I get home on Friday.  :)

6... well almost 5 days until surgery!

This is my daughter and I.  Like I said before, she also has an underbite.  I do plan on getting her braces, head gear, etc to see if we can make sure her underbite isn't as severe as mine, or maybe no underbite at all!

Surgery is around the corner.  I have faxed FMLA papers, (even though I don't qualify for it because I haven't been at my job a year yet), called the hospital to check on parking for my family and looked up a few recipes for me to try for post op (But always interested in more!!). 

Getting more and more nervous!  But I know everything is going to be okay.  I have sooo many great friends and family supporting me through all of this.  I just found out today that my friends at work chipped in and purchased a one hour massage for me to have before surgery!  I have stress reducing C.D's and my cousin is sending me some MP3's to help with pain management.  I'm blessed to have such great friends and family.

I have one more appointment before surgery, and that is my splint appointment.  Does anyone know what that entails??

10 Days Until Surgery

Profile with biting down.










See how far back my upper teeth are?









Profile closed mouth, not biting down.









Smile. :)







This is what I've been wanting to do for years.  But it doesn't help nerves.  10 days from this life changing surgery.  Yikes.  I look forward to hearing any advice anyone might have.  About post op food, surgery, etc.  I have two weeks off of work following surgery.  Hopefully that will be enough time to heal enough to comfortably talk for 8 hours. 

I'll be posting some other pictures of my daughter and I.  As mentioned before, she also has an underbite. 

About me

I am a 29 year old from Minnesota who has been physically and emotionally been dealing with the difficulty of having a class III malocclusion aka underbite.  I have a pretty severe case which requires surgery to fix, the moving of both my upper and lower jaw.  I'll post some pictures soon so you can see.

In middle school is when the teasing started.  Jay Leno, Beavis, moon face.... I've heard it all.  All I can say is kids can be cruel.  Still to this day I find myself trying to cover the profile of my face when I'm around people I don't know. 

As of the last few years, I've also started having pain, crazy popping and cracking of my jaw joints.  Very uncomfortable to say the least.  Also, I'm sick of looking like a crazy person when I go out to eat.  Having to tear mozzarella sticks with my fingers or cut them with a fork, taking a bite out of a deli sandwich and taking all of the meat out of the sandwich with one bite, etc. 

I have a 9 year old daughter who unfortunately is tracking to have the same underbite I do.  I plan on having braces put on and head gear tried in efforts to make sure she doesn't have to go through what I still deal with on a daily basis. 

In the next few months, I will share with you my journey into correcting a problem I've had to deal with my entire life.  In 11 short days, I will be having a procedure done that will ultimately change my life forever.  Double jaw surgery aka orthognathic surgery.