13 weeks after surgery... BRACES OFF!!

So today marks 13 weeks since I had double jaw surgery! I was going to post at the 12 week mark but, my surgeon said he wants my braces off at 13 weeks.... I just thought I may as well wait until now! 

My braces are off, finally! And it feels great!! It was weird when the orthodontist was taking them off, lots of pressure and a bit of pain... But it wasn't too bad. It just went through me, like nails down a chalk board.. 

It's weird looking at myself in the mirror.. Probably because I've had braces on for so long!! Here are some photos anyway. Before braces, before surgery and now :) 

                              AND FINALLY......

8 weeks post surgery!

I know I haven't really update this in a while but I thought that 8 weeks after surgery would be a good time to post something.

Everything is going really well and the 8 weeks have flown by! Most of my swelling has gone down now and I do feel a lot more normal and back to my old self. There is, however, a bit of swelling around my top lip and nose. I think I read somewhere that most, if not all, of the swelling will go down after 3 months. So only 4 more weeks to go!

I can now eat everything but I still have to be careful with hard and crunchy food. I have been able to go the the gym everyday in the past 4 weeks now and so, I didn't put back on the weight I lost which was in total around 9-10kg (1.5 stone).

In terms of appearance, I feel as though not much has really changed,  which is good. I think I was expecting something dramatic. However, occasionally people will say that I look really different - maybe I don't feel that way because I see myself everyday in the mirror. Even if I do look a lot different though, this was the way I was supposed to look because my jaws are perfectly aligned now hahhaa.

Placement has been going really well and I'm currently on my planning placement which is very interesting. The uni work load has increased though and it's getting to be quite stressful!!

Here are a few photos taken a few days ago:

4 weeks after surgery

So after starting placement on Monday I do feel a lot more tired, but that's probably because of the early morning! 

I'm not swollen anymore but my face is 'puffy'... Still in the same places but the feeling is coming back. 

My gym workouts have been more intense and I feel quite tired afterwards, but, my healing is coming on well and my trainer is amazing. 

I went to the orthodontist today and she has given me tighter elastics to wear at night so my mouth is even more closed (I can't even fit a straw through). She also said that I can start chewing!! Thank god! So when I was finished I called up my friend Rich and went for a mcdonalds :) I had a bigmac meal - very nice!! 

Everything is going well though. Here are some photos: 

                    McDonalds 😁

Excuse the nakedness - I'm off to sleep :)

3 weeks post surgery

Yesterday was 3 weeks after my surgery and the past week has gone quite well. 

On Tuesday I went out for a meal, seeing as I can't chew, finding something from the menu was quite difficult. Luckily we went to a Thai restaurant so I had noodles! It was quite nice. 

For the past two days I have been attempting to chew soft things like overcooked pasta, it felt really weird an I couldn't really do it properly - but at least I tried! 

I have another appointment next week to mark 1 month since surgery so I'm goin to ask about chewing and eating then. 

I'm still swollen around my nose and upper lip... Also my right cheek. 

I still don't have any feeling in the roof of my mouth or upper teeth so brushing my teeth is really weird and I'm still feeling tired. 

I start placement properly again on Monday so hopefully will be able to find some food that's soft enough there. I also have a new trainer at the gym who specialises in recovery, so it's all looking up! 

Weekly updates

Not much is really happening so I'm going to start doing updates every week. Probably on Thursdays since it was a Thursday when I had surgery. 

Day 10 - 15

In the past few days the swelling has gone down even more and I'm able to smile(ish) without any pain. I am eating soft foods but losing weight pretty quickly... I went to the gym on Wednesday (day 13) and weighed myself. Since surgery I've lost just over 13lbs(6kg) so it was like a pound a day.... My body is still healing and so, I still get tired easily, making my trip to the gym shorter than usual. 

On Tuesday I wet to see my orthodontist and she gave me very strong elastic bands to put around the hooks on my teeth to keep it closed... There's a picture  below.

 I'm going back into placement a week on Monday so hopefully I'll be able to talk properly by then... not much has happened really apart from the swelling and that I have loads of uni work to do. 

So here are some photos: 

Day 7 - 9

This is just a quick update really... 

Everything is going well and the swelling has gone down a tiny bit, I just wish it would go down around my nose because it looks really turnt up and I look like a pig hahaha! It doesn't hurt anymore when brushing my teeth and I've finally been able to shave!! 

Shaving with no feeling in your face is such a weird sensation (I only trimmed it with clippers). I don't think I'd want to use a blade on my face because I can't tell how hard or soft I'm pressing - it could end badly! 

Apart from everything going alright, I just want to eat food! I have moved on to solid food now but it's cut into tiny pieces and I can't chew it. Chewing is something that I never thought I'd miss... It's weird because chewing is something we take for granted and I can't wait to be able to chew again. 

I've also managed to have a haircut... My nose still bleeds every so often but not as bad as it was. I'm seeing my orthodontist again on Tuesday and I'm pretty sure that she's going to wire my mouth shut fully because last time she said that it's a bit too swollen to get the wires at the back of my mouth. 

Here are some more photos:) 

Day 4-6

On Monday I went to see my orthodontist, I assumed it was so she could wire my mouth shut but, she said I was too swollen for that. She asked how I'm finding brushing my teeth ad that it would be best to buy a small, baby toothbrush, so I bought one and it's MUCH easier! Brushing your teeth with a numb mouth is the weirdest feeling.. 

I've been pretty much the same though, I went to visit my surgeon today and there was a stitch in my cheek that he removed. He said one of two things (it's hard to hear because my hearing comes and goes an he has an accent). He said either that something happened during the surgery which caused my jaw to break in the wrong place and they had to fix it or that my jaw already had a break and they fixed it for me. Either way, it's fixed now. 

I've been eating soft food the past few days like scrambled egg... I've had a few smoothies and lots of soup and yoghurt! 

The pain has pretty much gone now, it's just a dull ache and throbbing but it's not too bad. I'm still swollen and starting to get yellow bruises, but even that has gone down quite a bit. Hopefully it will hurry up and go down! 

I'm in Manchester for a few days, so if anyone wants to pay me a visit send me a message:) it would be nice to see some people. Anyway, here are some photos: 

My mini toothbrush!

When I first woke up, my eye seemed to really small and weird.... It's back to normal now. 

Day 1 - 3

Straight after surgery, I didn't feel too bad.. I could talk and seemed to be eating alright (what liquid diet?!). Then once I was home ad after my first sleep, it all seemed to go downhill. 

One of the doctors had mentioned that swelling will get worse but I didn't want to believe him. It got a lot worse. The swelling and numbness is from my lower eyelids and goes all the way down to where my collarbone is and there is painful areas within that space too! My nose is constantly blocked because of the frequent nosebleeds and I wake up every hour or so needin a drink of water because my throat and mouth is so dry. 

My diet has mainly consisted of water and protein shakes but yesterday I had soup and today I'm trying scrambled egg (very very scrambled). All I want to do is sleep... I bet my mum feels like she has a baby again! I am currently eating using a syringe which is weird at first but I'm getting used to it! 

I'm trying to talk but it's just coming out like gibberish... So I've been using a whiteboard to communicate with. Everyone in the house has been so helpful and understanding, so thank you! Here are a few more photos:

Surgery day

So yesterday was surgery day. I had to be here for 7am bit didn't actually get taken in until 12:55!! Not good when you're nil-by-mouth since midnight the day before! It was nice having my mum with me though - she comforted me and made me laugh. She had a stressful day too though, me in the hospital as my sister awaiting her results (Well done Lauren by the way!). 

I got changed and then went to the anaesthetists room, I had a canula put in and then some pain killers. She have me an oxygen mask and then started talking to me about random things whilst injecting the general anaesthetic! I was out cold. 

The next thing I remember was waking up and kind of demanding to see my mum (it was 1830 now, I was worried she'd be lost, if you know my mum you'll understand my worry). I was finally taken to the ward at 2000 and my mum was there waiting. I then discovered that I had a few more drips...

Although the surgery went well, I have had a few complications during recovery. My nose bleeds around every 20 mins and I was desperate for a wee but just couldn't go. This led to the nurses sorting out for somebody to fit a catheter. For those who don't know what it is, a tube is put up the hole of the penis and the wee comes out!:( 

Thankfully I managed to go for a wee before this and so it wasn't required. 

The staff have been amazing here, I have feeling in my lips an I'm not too swollen (apparently), but I have been told it will get worse... Here are some photos anyway, pre and post surgery: 

Thanks for all of your support and a special thanks to Nic - driving my mum to and from the hospital! Much appreciated! X

Night before surgery

So it's the night before surgery and I feel great! I honestly thought that I'd be really nervous... 

I've just come back from my actual last meal for a while with some great people and my mum! I don't know what I'd do without them, so thanks! 

I'll try to post daily with photos :-) 

Good night x

Weirdest thing happened....

Well it might not be the weirdest thing... 

Before people have jaw surgery they usually go to see their orthodontist about a week before to have hooks put onto the brace. When my date of 21st August was set, I informed my orthodontist and she made an appointment for the 18th August to have the hooks fitted. Then my date changed. So I called the orthodontist up and the receptionist had no idea what was going on and told me to email - so I did. 

Time went by and 2 weeks later I still hadn't heard anything, so I tried calling again but couldn't get through. 

Then yesterday (6th August) I had to meet with my surgeon again and in the room I saw my orthodontist (pretty handy)! So, I said "hi, did you get my email?" She looked at me as if I had just asked her to lick my foot. She responded with "umm... Who's your orthodontist?" I looked at her and said "errr... You...." 

I couldn't believe she didn't know who I was! I had only been seeing her for the past 2 years! 

She started laughing and asked which orthodontist I go to... So, I told her. 

It turns out that the woman standing in front of me IS an orthodontist but she was only the twin sister of my orthodontist... It was so weird (for me anyway)... What are the chances? 

Anyway, she said that she would put my hooks on and inform her twin (my orthodontist) when she got home... Still though, it was pretty weird. 

Here are the hooks anyway - quite small... I thought they'd be painful but you can hardly tell they're there. 

New date... :-|

In my last post I said that the date would be 21st August... It's changed. Again. 

I had just had all of my moulds done again and some pre-op assessments, I had spoken to the surgeon and everything was great. Then, on the way back home I received a phone call asking if I could come in a week earlier to have the surgery. I'm happy that it's earlier but it's annoying that my date keeps changing! So, the new date is 14th August! 

Anyway, I'm in Egypt at the moment enjoying my last bit of summer! My next update will most likely be the night before the surgery. Unless anything else happens. 

Update

I haven't updated this for a while but I've been messed around quite a bit. I assumed that my surgery was going to be taking place in May... But, that didn't happen (I had a 'last supper' with my friends and everything). 

After calling and emailing and being referred to most departments in the hospital, I finally got through to the right person! She informed me that my surgery will now take place in August!! 

She then gave me a few follow up calls and booked my some appointments for pre op, moulds, etc. 

On the bright side, I can enjoy my summer break AND I have a date (21 August 2014). I'm pretty excited to get this done now!! 

Dentist Update

So last week sometime I ha a dentist appointment... I honestly thought I was  getting my date for the surgery - turns out that this comes in the post. As nice as my orthodontist is, last week she filled my mouth with even more metal :( 

I think it's instead of the elastics but now I have extra wire all over my teeth! They just occasionally stab me in the face and make me bleed a lot... Pretty painful but getting better!! 

I should receive my surgery date between now and my next appointment on 6th May! But I'll keep it posted. 

I've also just started organising a 'last supper' with all of my friends... Should be fun! Hahaha 

Update

Just thought I'd post a quick update.... I don't have any news about the surgery since I last posted but have been reading a lot of other blogs in the meantime. Weight loss seems to be a massive thing that stands out in all of them so that should be interesting to see. As for the orthodontics - my next appoinment is on the 18th March, so hopefully I can post something then and maybe take some more photos.

This blog is more for myself and seeing how I get along during the surgical journey I am undertaking. It will also give me something to do during recovery but if you have any questions or comments please let me know :)

Have a good day!

So far....

So, so far, I have had braces on for about 3 years now meaning that I am very close to having my surgery- 3 months in fact!! 

During the time I had braces - they had to move my teeth around because they were slightly offset to one side. I had a screw put in and then each tooth moved one by one. My mouth was so gappy!! This was last year. So here are my teeth after a year....

Try to excuse the nakedness... I was getting ready to sleep! 

Introducing myself...

Hi, 

My name is Joe, in 21 and I am currently waiting to have double jaw surgery! I went to my dentist when I was about 15 because I had an underbite which was causing pain when chewing and talking. So, as you can imagine, it's been a long wait! 

In the past few months I have been reading blogs written by people and have found they they have all really helped me to prepare for the surgery and so, that's what I want to do for anyone who is thinking about going through the surgery or are waiting for it like me...