Blogging life

Hello friends,

I was thinking about the fact that my jaw surgery adventure is coming to an end.
It feels so bittersweet. This blog has been my friend that has always been there to listen.
I shared my joy with you guys, I shared my pain, my frustration, and all my ups and downs.

I was thinking that it's time to start a second blog, a general blog.
I don't want to lose the ability to go to my blog and post what I'm feeling or whats going on, and I can't post everything on a jaw surgery blog forever.

I'll share the new blog once it's up and running.

Meanwhile I want to say thank you to all of you.
It's been so good having so many people to share stories with and to hear me out.
I feel blessed.

Jaw surgery related
I got my drainage tube out on Monday morning. Not sure if I posted yet.
Well it came out really easy, they cut the stitches and pulled the tube out.
Then I was left with the hole in my face. So I have a hole in the upper incision line that leads into my sinus. I don't understand anatomy and therefore can't explain why this is but if I drink water and hold it in my mouth, it goes up the hole and out through my nose. Hopefully this is a temporary side effect and this whole thing will close up soon.

Good news is the infection is gone and the swelling is going down. I have had one swollen cheek for over 3 months now and finally I can say my face is getting symmetrical.

I am so happy with my face and the whole outcome. I am so comfortable with myself that I don't even care about makeup anymore. I never left the house without makeup before! Now I put on some foundation and mascara and I'm out. Sean is loving it because it used to take me an hour to get ready and now it takes me 5 minutes. I also stopped straightening or curling my hair. I'll still do it on special days but most of the time I just don't care. It's so nice having an extra hour of sleep in the morning.

I haven't had migraines!! Still very happy to say that my jaw related pain is gone, the surgery was a success. It's so good to be post op. I still have a hard time recognizing myself to an extent. I think I look really different but in a good way. I sort of look like I used to when I was younger.

Surgery # 2

Hey guys, I wanted to post quickly about my surgery yesterday.
As you may know, I've been having post op complications for 3 months.
I've been having fluids draining from my incisions and a sinus infection that won't go away.

Yesterday I went in for day surgery.
I had something removed from the sinus or the cheek, not sure. But something was in there from the jaw surgery that was causing my body to go into defence mode and try to kick it out.

I went under at 10am and woke up after 11.
I have a drainage tube where they went in that leads into my mouth. It's a pretty big tube compared to what the nurses described.

I had a lot of bleeding yesterday but this has stopped today. I've had some blood come out of my nose, but that's about it.

I'm on torodol, codeine, and clyndomycine.
I'm sorry I think I've spelled those all wrong.
The painkillers are a big help because they wore off over night and I was in a lot of pain this morning.

I'm on my FOURTH round of antibiotics since jaw surgery!!
I hate this antibiotic because i have to take it every 6 hours and I'm not allowed to lay down for 30 minutes after taking it, therefore, no waking up and going back to bed. And it has to be taken with food.

Hopefully this will be the last of it, until gum grafting that is.

My cheek is pretty swollen but I'm happy to be post op. It's almost sad how used to the IVs I've become. Being put under doesn't scare me anymore either. It's actually pretty nice.
I lay there thinking I feel so awake I wonder when I'll fall asleep and then I'm awake in a different room.

I wish I could take that stuff every night.

I'll upload a video soon.

No blowing my nose, no sneezing through my nose, soft chew, liquids, a lot of the same post op stuff as before.

You can sort of see the drainage tube. I'm not suppose to lift my lip so I couldn't get a better picture. 

Post op timelines

Hey readers,

I'm sorry I haven't been actively posting.
I just wanted to update on what my post op has been like.

I had my double jaw surgery and genioplasty on October 5th 2012.
The first week was horrible, I was in a lot of pain and had a really hard time keeping liquids down. I threw up a lot and wasn't sleeping until I got prescribed a sedative.

Week two I developed an infection in the left cheek and this area continued to swell.
My surgeon opened the incision to allow draining and put me on antibiotics.
The infection cleared and I went on with recovery.

The area continued to bother me on and off over month one and two.
I was on a liquid and no chew diet for a pretty long time. I started taking in real food around the two month mark. Just in time to go away to Australia.
While away my cheek continued to bother me and my incision continued to drain, slightly.
I emailed my surgeon but tried to keep it under control.

I got home on NYE and during the early morning of Jan 1st I woke up with a very sore and swollen face. I got up to check it out and noticed that my incision was draining a decent amount. I decided I should call the surgeon emergency line right away. I had an antibiotic prescribed and I started taking it for a week. I saw an alternate surgeon on the 2nd who advised me that my surgeon believes he needs to surgically fix the issue and resolve whatever is causing the ongoing infection.

I finished my antibiotic yesterday and I already notice the area getting worse again.
My surgeon booked me in for oral surgery next Wednesday morning.
He believe there is bone fragment in the sinus cavity and my body is reacting to it.

I can't wait to have this fixed! My sinus is so sore and I have this constant flow of infection dripping down the back of my throat. It tastes awful :(

This sinus fluid has been the worst part. I can't wait for it to clear up.

Surgery next week

Hey guys,
So I Saw My Surgeon today and he wants to do surgery next week to open my incisions and remove bone fragment. I've had an ongoing infection for the past 3 months and I am more than ready to have this issue fixed. I'll be under for the surgery and will probabl
be swollen. This is uncommon but of course I couldn't get off that easy. I really wanted to start this term with no issues, so hopefully this will be the last of it for a while.

Antibiotics day 4

Hey Guys,

So it's day four of this round of antibiotics for the infection in my left cheek.
I have to admit that it doesn't feel like it's gotten any better.
The drainage area is releasing a lot of yellow opaque fluid.
All I have to do is lift my lip and a ton of fluid comes out. I keep rinsing but it just happens again.
I'm thinking I should call my surgeons office again today to see what they say about this. The incision sight is really sore. I can hardly move my face on that side.

It's sad because my healing was going so well.
The swelling was down and I was eating normally and feeling really good.
I just really hope that by some miracle this thing clears up.
In reality a month ago my surgeon thought there was still something going on in that cheek, maybe the sinus.

My sinus on that side keep getting congested but when I blow my nose nothing comes out, I can taste the infection in the back of my throat though.

Has anyone had anything like this happen to them?
Could this be because of the titanium? Does anyone know what the signs of the body rejecting the metal might be?

I go back to uni on monday and the last thing I wanted was more jaw issues.
While I was in australia I had to email my surgeon to let him know my cheek is still being "funny" and he told one of the other surgeons that he's probably going to have to go in there and fix it.

Jaw infection update

So I went to my surgeons office yesterday to have my infection checked out. My surgeon wasn't in but the surgeon I saw said that my surgeon was talking about possible going back in and cleaning everything out. I guess something is going on in my face that keeps causing this infection. Im on antibiotics but feeling really shitty still. I have to take them every 6 hours and im not allowed to lay down for 30 minutes so that means no going back to bed or taking them right before bed. My face is really sore and I have a huge hole in my  upper gums that is draining the infection out. This is so not fun.

3 month infection

Hey bloggers
I just had my surgeons office call in a prescription for the infection which has returned in my cheek. The left side is swollen again and puss is coming out of the incision lines. What a new years eve. First we had to call 911 because my grandmother's blood sugar dropped really low. Fortunately they treated it and she didnt have to go in. The paramedics left minutes before the countdown.  Then I woke up at 5:30 and noticed that my cheek was really swollen abd sore and I checked and the infection is back. I called the surgeons after hours and fortunately they were able to call in my prescription.  Oh and we got home from australia yesterday.  Anyhow im happy to be on something for the infection so fast. Hopefully it clears up for good this time. 

Happy new year

76 days post op and Australia pictures

Hello Bloggers,

I haven't posted on here in a while, been pretty busy with travels and haven't spent much time online.
Some of you are on my facebook so you'll see all the pictures I've uploaded, actually I got lasy and have a lot more to upload.

On a jaw surgery note I'll give you all a good update of my situation and add some photos.

The swelling has really gone down, I have to say that for the first time since surgery I think my face looks normal. I'm really happy with the surgery now and with the way I look. I'm chewing a lot better now, I'm still limited to what I can eat and most things have to be cut up into little pieces but it's a huge improvement. I can have things like veggie burgers but I have to cut the whole thing up to eat it, bun included.

I'm still having issues with my sinus, I wake up with a horrible taste in my mouth from my sinus draining. It's probably a little infected still. The swelling continues to go up and down on that side, some days worse than others. I've starting to put weight back on from the surgery. I found this pretty hard at first but I've just been enjoying a lot of food and now my clothes are fitting better.

I'll be in Australia until the 30th, and will then be heading back to Canada. I miss my little shih tzus a lot :(

Australia is beautiful though, we've been spending a lot of time at the local beach. I've gone swimming in the ocean a bit but I haven't really done anything exciting otherwise. My surgeon said to be careful and not to do anything where I might hit my face so surfing has been out of the question. I did get a spring suit though which I'll keep for next time.

We went to the Taronga zoo, manly beach, downtown sydney, wollongong, a wine tour in hunter valley, and some other places. It's been a really good trip so far, hopefully christmas will be a nice day and we can head down to the beach.

Jaw Surgery Roundup (Before and After)

Dear Readers,

First off I want to say thank you to everyone who reads my blog, who messages me, who added me on facebook (send me a fb message if you're adding me to let me know you're a jaw buddy) and to everyone who has been blogging. Without you guys I don't know how I would have gotten through this.

I am happy to say I am almost 8 weeks post op. I had an appointment with my surgeon today and first I will update on that...

He took a look at everything and he said that I still have a lot of tightness in my lower gumline which is impairing some of my movement and probably some of my feeling. He told me to eat spicy food, chew cinnamon gum, and keep making kissy faces, he said all those things help stimulate the sensory nerves and bring feeling back. He also wants me pushing my tongue down behind my lower lip to stretch it. I'm also allowed to massage my chin to help get feeling back. Otherwise he said everything is looking good. I still have more swelling on the left side than on the right. I picked up my xrays today to send to the insurance company. It's amazing to see how different my face is and all the screws. I have 26 screws and 5 plates. I can feel one of the screws just under my eye.

Clearly the after picture is a little closer but you can also see how narrow my nose used to be. Now my nose looks huge in comparison. 

My nose is straighter now though. I don't have as much of a dorsal which is nice. It also doesn't droop as much. 

Here you can see that my chin is shorter and its more square than pointy.  

Overall I feel like I look really different when I look in the mirror.
Personally I think I could live with what the surgery has done to my nose but I'll probably change it.
I've never had to think about making my nose narrower before because it was so narrow but I'll probably take it in a little and have the bone shaved off and broken to give a softer side profile and to get rid of the dorsal. I'm still adjusting to the new chin. I do miss my pointy chin but I appreciate the more feminine chin. I think I look less manly now lol

I know it makes no sense that I have these issues with my nose, but we've just never been good friends.
I can't wait to get these braces off as I can't wait to whiten my teeth. My pre braces pictures show me with a glowing white smile, and after 2 years in braces and jaw surgery that smile is not so white anymore.

GOOD NEWS!!!
My surgeon says my bite looks really great and that he usually allows braces to be removed from 4 months and on after surgery. Well I'm going to see him in February and that is 4 months post op so I might get the okay to have my orthodontist remove the braces!!

I mean I do love my braces, we've been through a lot together and they have really changed my smile, but I can't wait to look like an adult again.

Well we're leaving for Australia on Sunday so I'm hoping to do an update video before that. I'll try to update while I am away. I'll be gone for almost a month so hopefully by the time I return the remaining swelling will be gone.

I'm starting to be able to make faces again. Although it hurt a lot to make this one.

My very last 6 week video