Day 16- Talking...

Another short day at school made today go by very fast. I've been talking a lot more now, even though I still can't really say "s" or a few letter combos. People keep saying that I'm talking great, but between my plugged up ears and my numb face, I really can't say that I believe them. I can talk a little better when I take off my bands, but I don't want to jeopardize my healing process.

My front teeth are really starting to hurt now. It feels as if they are being pulling out because of the 4 rubber bands all located up front. My jaw is still moving and my only gap is just about closed. It's amazing how something like that can get fixed in just a matter of days! I think most of the moving occurs at night, because I move my jaw around so much during the day talking.

I had some sirloin tip roast blended up today. It tasted great, but now I have a stomach ache. Maybe it was too rich for my "virgin" stomach? :-) I guess I'll just spend the rest of the night curled up in a ball on my chair...

Day 15- SCHOOL!

Today was my first day back to school. I e-mailed my teachers 2 days ago to tell them my current situation and I brought in a copy of the email just in case they didn't get it for some reason. My teacher was very understanding and the day went by really fast (all 3 hours of it!) It's just a pain because I have to get a note for every teacher, so I have to do this 4 more times before everyone understands what I'm going through...

My face is feeling so much better. I'm getting a lot of movement back in my "cheek" area so moving my mouth and talking are becoming easier. I also have feeling back in my nose and around my eyes. The same goes for the tip of my chin. I guess it really is a shrinking circle of improvement. My bottom lip is still annoying me just because I can't feel where the glass is when I'm drinking. I'm sick of thinking that I have the glass in my mouth and then I get a bath of juice/shake all over my lap.

I'm sorry about not posting pics- I've been religious about taking them, it's just that they're in my camera right now and I keep forgetting to upload them. I'll do it tomorrow...

Day 14- Another Appointment

It's been 2 weeks since my surgery and I'm healing as expected. Today I drove 30 miles to see my OS and he removed most of my stitches and put some new bands on. I now have 4 extra strong bands right in the front of my mouth. At least before 2 of them were hidden! Now even at the slightest crack of my mouth you see a large mass of bands... Hopefully they will come off next week. On a better note, my OS also said that I could start eating soft foods, like hot cereal and scrambled eggs. I don't think I'm ready for it yet just because I'm afraid of using my new jaw! When he took the bands off to change them, he told me to open as wide as I could. My jaw kind of plopped down because I have no strength in it anymore. It feels really stiff when I open about an inch or so. I guess with everything, it'll just take time before I can open all the way again.

I'm eating like crazy right now and for some reason I'm not gaining any weight. I've been throwing back blended healthy choice soup, squash, applesauce, ice cream, blended turkey, and my usual shakes. My syringe is getting so much use that it's starting to fall apart (really!) I think tomorrow I'm going to try something new that involves a little more than just drinking it down. Maybe some cream of wheat or oatmeal if I'm careful.

My teeth feel as if they all have cavities. They really ache and sting all at the same time. It kind of feels like post ortho adjustment/paper cut between the teeth. If I breath through my mouth for any reason, they REALLY start to hurt. I know I don't have cavities so I can only imagine that the nerves are growing back. My teeth have been very clean lately because I've been brushing 3-4 times a day and I've been taking the rubber bands off to do so. This is like a 15 minute process every time I do it, but I think it's well worth it if I can have squeaky clean teeth.

Day 13- Getting Anxious

I'm getting nervous about school. It's coming up in just 2 days and I still feel like I just had surgery. I have e-mailed all my teachers telling them of my situation and asking for their sympathy. I think I will be OK, it's just that I haven't been out of the house much and have been kind of hiding from the real world. My family says I look fine, but it's hard to just act normal when you have metal poking you everywhere and half your face is numb.... I'm sure I'll be back to normal once my face starts cooperating.

Swelling is always the same now, and only decreases a bit when I use my ice packs. I have been eating a ton lately which is good. Today I had blended squash with butter and brown sugar, cream corn, mushroom soup, 3 strawberry shakes and the rest of my antibiotics :-) I've also been drinking a lot of natural juices, either fresh from the garden or natural store-brought. I've been "de-banding" daily now to brush the inside of my mouth and to work my jaw a bit. I can feel myself healing because when I walk around, my jaw doesn't "creak" anymore (Before day 10 or so, I could really tell that my bones were held together by nothing more than screws and plates!).

One more day of being a lazy bum and then it's back to life-

Day 12

Nothing new to report today- I pretty much just sat at home and did a few things. My face is constantly tingling which is really starting to bother me. I know it's just part of the healing process, but it can get annoying pretty fast. I think my swelling has gone down a little more just because I've been using my icepack more and more. Other than that, just another day behind me...

Day 11- Out and About

Today I finally went for a drive. I took my kid brother to my grandparents house and spent some time over there for a few hours. Then I made the 25 mile trek home without any problems. I know they say to be careful when your on meds but I guess that only applies to lightweights. It really doesn't affect me at all.

For dinner tonight I had some fresh blueberry juice, sweet potatoes (through a syringe!) and a strawberry shake. I also had some canned soup beforehand and the salt in there just burned the inside of my mouth. It makes me wonder what I put into my body when I'm healthy and oblivious to those things.

I think there is some feeling coming back into my face, even if it is taking forever. I can now drink out of a cup and I can swish water/mouthwash around in my mouth. Before today, my mouth felt "dead". I've also been taking my front 2 rubber bands off to brush my teeth on the inside of my mouth and my tongue. That felt great when I finally did that the other day! I put the bands right back on, so I doubt anything negative should come of it...

Day 10- Sleepy

Today started as a normal day but as it wore on, it just got to be really "blah" feeling. It's really hot and humid around here so going outside is kind of out of the question for me. I spent most of the day inside trying to eat as much as I could. I spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping....

I think one cool thing that happened today was that I ate a whole can of cream styled corn. I usually am not crazy about the stuff, but I figure anything but another strawberry shake! I blended up the corn and nuked it, put it in my giant syringe and pryed my mouth open. The tip on the syringe is pretty big, so it was a squeeze (I'm still wearing 4 rubber bands) That felt so good going down and for some reason I got a little lightheaded.. Things started spinning for a while which was kinda weird- It wasn't THAT good, so what's the deal? I guess my body is really starting to crave food!

Swelling is the same. Numbness is the same. At least I have a full stomach!

Day 9- A Queasy Feeling

Today was going great and I was looking forward to seeing my cousins who were coming over to visit. At about 3:00pm. however, I came down with a severe case of stomach pain. I was literally hunched over when my visitors came. The humidity around here is at 100% with all the rain/flooding we've had going on around here and when I went outside I almost threw up! I quick ran inside and went into the bathroom. It was weird, because after a while and a dose of pepto, I felt ok for the rest of the night.

My Aunt gave me a whole quart of Trader Joe's natural homemade tomato basil soup. I first thought I wouldn't be able to eat any, because it was pretty thick. Well, as of right now, that whole quart of soup is almost gone and in my stomach. Wow was that good! That was my first big "meal" post-op and it felt good to get some warm liquids in me. It came at a good time because I was really getting sick of my ice-cold shakes...

My swelling seems like it has plateaued and everything still feels pretty puffy and numb. I guess you can say that it does get a little better each day, but I'm starting to notice ALOT less progress. I guess now comes the long haul, day 1 of 6 months until everything returns to normal.

Day 8

I had the most incredible night of sleep last night- it was just amazing! :-) I woke up at 10:30AM which put me at a new post-op record of 10 hours of sleep. I actually had trouble getting up to take my meds, because I was so relaxed. I don't even think I took my pain killers before bed, maybe they are the culprits keeping me awake at night? I know whenever I take them, I have a very slight feeling like my head is spinning or my brain is working overtime and not really thinking about anything. It's a weird feeling...

I'm been spitting out stitches and chunks of skin as my palate continues to heal. It feels so gross, especially since I can't see in there. I'm just glad I'm healing and I'll leave it at that.

Day 7

Yeah! It's finally been a week!

Today went by pretty fast, however I felt kind of weird today. I don't really feel sick but more like I'm right in the middle of "the post-op naseau" and the "get on with your life" phase. I was up today more than I was sitting down, so that's always a positive. I've also been eating right around 1200 calories a day these last few days. I figure this is perfect because 1.) I'm not doing anything too physical all day, so most of those calories are just going toward the healing process. 2.) It's just below my tolerance for "syringing" mililiter after mililiter of horrible vitamin drinks down all day. 3.) My weight hasn't really fluctuated.

My mouth has also been feeling really weird, because of all the pressure and numbness going on. I have pins & needles all over my face and it almost hurts it's so intense! I feel so much pressure on my face, it kind of feels as if my skin doesn't belong to me. My palate is also starting to swell up right in the middle. I take it this is where he broke and expanded my jaw. I hope it's just extra fluids waiting to be absorbed and not an infection...! Swelling hasn't gone down anymore and is almost comical right now. I kind of look like a gorilla with the bottom of my face all puffy and sticking out.

On a side note, yesterday I happened to notice that my chin looked a little crooked (I guess there's a lot of that going on around here...) My concerns led me to take a pencil and use it to line up my nose, top 2 teeth and bottom 2 teeth to see if they were inline. I have to say I'm VERY pleased to see that they line up almost perfectly. Then I went to my chin to see what else the problem could be. I took a closer look and noticed that the swelling was like 1/2" on the crooked side of my chin and this continued on past my normal jawline. So I guess it's just a rediculous amount of swelling and I feel stupid for doubting my surgeon...

Well, I gotta go sip some liquid poison (those meds taste nasty!)

A Shorter Night

I'm really happy about how fast I'm recovering. This night I only woke up once and that was because I had to take some meds (antibiotics). I turned on the tv to fall back asleep and woke up 4 hours later! My mouth also seems to be more mobile this morning. Back on day 3, I couldn't get the smallest tube in my mouth for my syringe. Now, I can open well around the tube and actually bite down on it.

I think I'm going to take this bandage off before I go into my appointment today. I'm going to look like a complete fool with a 7 day old rectangular beard on my chin... I don't see why my surgeon would be mad if he said he was going to take the thing off anyway. I guess I'll give him a call before I go in just to make sure.

Just Sitting Around

I've been enjoying the day as much as possible. I've been trying to do a few things around the house and then my big chair seems a lot more inviting! I've noticed that if I lay down for too long I start to get really hot and light headed. I kept thinking it was the meds, but after I sit up and walk around for a while, everything goes away!

I actually took a bath this morning and it really felt good to just soak in some warm water for a while. I was getting so stiff and I think it really helped to loosen me up. I tried to keep the water off my face as much as possible, but it keeps me wondering why I've been told to wear this big strip of tape on my face for so long. I haven't seen anyone else like this. I think I'll be getting it off tomorrow which is great because it really doesn't seem to be doing anything-

Well, time to take the dogs out-

Patrick-

Day 4

Well this morning I thought this day would never end. It was like 5am and I had been tossing all night. I managed to sleep a little more during the day and what fo you know, it's almost 10pm! I'm really just counting hours right now because tv is already getting really boring (How many times in a day can you repeat the same show?!!)

I've lost 10 pounds already (190 down from 200lbs.) I'm getting kind of worried about that because although I'd like to lose some extra weight in the process, I don't want to be force-fed or something like that to get my calories up. I drank some tomato soup, melted ice cream and some ensure. Not nearly enough but at least I'm hydrated!

I'm really impressed with everyone today- You are all such troopers!

Patrick-

Day 1-3

I got out of the hospital on Friday night after a 3 day stay/ The pain was a lot more than I expected- I just can't seem to get a hold of myself, because I can't talk or swallow right and yet everyone keeps saying," What?" or "just drink this!". I CAN'T! My mouth is still totally numb and I really hope I can start forming words soon. This puts a whole new meaning to what you all went through!

A horrible side-affect that I've developed is not being able to bend my arms all the way down to my sides. They are so stiff! I think it is just extra fluid but it keeps me up at night and just shouldn't be.

I'll post some pictures later- I have to go lay in bed all day-

Patrick~

Stepping Over

My time has finally come and I'm stepping over the line of no return. It's 4:30AM, pouring rain and thundering. Now's the time where things can start to get a little spooky!! I talked to my surgeon at HOME yesterday, which was kind of cool since he's such an important guy and all, but he answered all my remaining questions and spent a good 15 minutes talking to me. I really feel like I'm in good hands! I'm going to take my final shower right now and pack my remaining things. Thanks for your support!!

I'll see you on the other side-

Patrick-

Lost in the Flow...

These last few days have been very weird for me- I've been doing TONS of work around the house, just because I won't be able to in a few days. My room's as clean as possible, chores are done, yard is in order, I just got done painting our garden trailer, I've cleaned my turtle's pen, fixed minor engine problems on my car and now I'm getting DVD's ready for when I get home and feel like resting all day!

I had carrot/apple/raspberry juice this morning- first and latter fresh from the garden! My juicer is working up to par and will really come in handy these next few weeks. I still need to get some Ensure and liquid breakfast drinks, but I'll leave that up to my mother.

Aside from the copious amount of housework that I've done, I have also been going to necessary pre-surgical appointments DAILY! I had my physical, molds, X-rays, general cleaning, molds re-done and finally, my blood work. I've also had my impressions re-done because the first ones didn't turn out! I just hope that everything goes smoothly here-on-out because so far quite a few mishaps have happened.... On a side note, I've never had so much trouble getting molds taken before! I honestly had them taken 5 times on top and 2 times on the bottom!! The molds would stick to my braces and then pull apart in my mouth before they could be removed... Probably the 2 most annoying hours of this whole journey!

I'm getting more and more nervous, as to be expected with this whole procedure. I keep telling my friends and family about the whole thing and most can't get over how long it's going to take(roughly 7 hours). I also feel like I'm repeating myself over and over again because of how many times I have to explain it to EACH and EVERY person. I guess it's not their fault- they just love and care for me!!

3 more days!

Physically Fit...

I went to Elmbrook hospital today for my required pre-op physical. Everything checked out normal as far as my health was concerned. My oral surgeon, Dr. Mark Kortebein also wanted me to get some blood work done. So I headed down to the blood lab where they took 2 vials of blood and performed a clot test. I couldn't believe how primitive this test was! They literally cut my arm with a razor blade and dabbed up the blood for about 4 minutes.... Kinda weird that they don't just have some machine that will tell you how many platelets are in your blood. Anyway, I passed the clot test and will get my blood results next Friday. I'm starting to get nervous now, not only because of the surgery, but I still have to register for my fall classes!

11 more days and counting...

New Bracket For Number 7

I called my orthodontist today because Thursday is the only day they are open at my location. I told them that I had swollowed a bracket and was told to rush over in 20 minutes! I guess they had an open spot and I was just the person to fill it. I arrived at 3:10pm and was out by 3:21pm. Pretty fast work by my skilled orthodontist! Dr. V told me that I was in perfect standing for my surgery and wished me the best of luck...

12 more days and counting!!

With Wires Comes Happiness...

My journey began on November 23, 2005. My life had taken a drastic turn when I got the news that braces would not correct my bite and that surgery was in my distant future. I entered the tourture chamber where I sat down for the first of many appointments. I remember my orthodontist- Dr. Francisco Villalobos putting on all my brackets with that nasty cement that cures with UV light. Time crawled and my nervous/excited nature turned to fear. I could feel my teeth contorting with the new wires pulling them unwillingly. Finally, the assistant gave me a mirror and let me gaze at the monster in front of me. I felt so uncomfortable and my mouth felt so foreign to my body. I think I was scared because of how the wires were bending up and down in my mouth. Little did I know that the bendy wire would disappear as my teeth straightened.

I went to work the next day and could only remember telling people, "I got braces!!" with total disgust. I worked with many customers and felt as if I told everyone of them that day, just because I thought they were all staring into my mouth! I told myself that I would never get through this and I would never get used to this thorn in my side...

Time managed to creep by and I almost forgot I had braces within a few months time. Life began to go back to normal as I fell into my routine. I began anticepating my upcoming adjustments, just because I loved to see the progress! With the progress always came the 3-day-stretch of achy teeth, but I knew something was happening for the good. Pretty soon the wires were getting replaced with bigger, stronger wires and the pain was soon subsiding. My teeth were reaching their pre-surgical point, and only fine-tuning was needed.

About a month ago, I got my kobayashi ties put on (those little twisted wires that seperate the dentoalveolar segments from each other) I was supposed to have my surgery on July 16th. 2007, but it got bumped to August 14th because my insurance didn't cover the first hospital (Even though I was told by the receptionist that it was...) I recently swallowed a bracket from my rear molar and am wondering about what I should do. The wire isn't poking me, but I need to know whether I need it post-op or not.

So now that we're up to date, I'll continue my journey on more public circumstances... :-)

Beginnings....

Although my pre-surgical preparations are almost complete, I thought that I should give some background information on how this evolved into the situation at hand.