Week 6 and Week 7 update.

SIX WEEKS OF RECOVERY IS OVER!

First of all sorry for the delay in update. Last week was my first week being able to chew again so I was consumed about all the choices of food I could eat again. I was also just adjusting back into normal life again and enjoying food. 

So last Saturday marked six weeks since I had my surgery which meant I was finally allowed to chew again. As this was my first time chewing I still had to be very careful what I ate and was told just to try slowly chewing soft food first. So the first thing I ate was some mince. It was strange because I was so used to just putting food into my mouth and swallowing it without chewing. So the first couple of mouthfuls I just instinctively swallowed the food without thinking. After a couple more mouthful and a bit of concentration I was chewing my food again. 

It's a strange feeling chewing after jaw surgery. You get used to how your mouth use to work and now it works a little differently. As my front teeth now join I can bite food and actually be able to bite a piece off without it slipping through my teeth. Also because of the new position of my jaw. The very back teeth have a slight gap between them, so I can't really chew tiny pieces of food with my back teeth. It all felt a bit different and strange but I didn't matter because I could eat normal food again. 

For the next couple of days I stuck with soft foods like sandwiches, mince and finely chopped chicken. I was still quite scared of being too rough with my jaw so anything I ate I broke it up into tiny little pieces first before chewing it. 

I then went and saw my surgeon on the wednesday. He was very happy with how everything had healed and said that I was fine to start slowly chewing some bigger things and that I was allowed to exercise and go running again. He also said that I can start stretching my jaw open now to start using the muscles again and get it all moving. He explained it like having surgery on your shoulder; afterwards you have to try and stretch it out so it can get better. This is why I have to start stretching out my jaw so that it can slowly return back to normal. 

Now that my surgeon said that its all healed now and that everything should be all nice and solid I have started eating some bigger and harder food. I haven't had any problems chewing any food yet. The only thing that hurts a little is when I try to eat something a bit bigger and I have to stretch my jaw to try and fit it in.  The joints in my jaw get a little bit sore. That should get easier over time though and shouldn't hurt anymore. 

I have decided to go back to running next week as I enjoy exercising. I will only do a small run on Monday to start off with and hopefully my jaw doesn't get too sore. 

After a week of chewing I'm no longer scared that I'm going to hurt my jaw. I still know my limits and don't push it too much. It seems that the mind is quick to forget pain as it now feels like so long ago that I was sitting at home counting down the days until I could chew again. It definitely wasn't an easy road to recovery and there were times when I thought it was never going to end. However I look back now and realise it was only six weeks out of my life and things are all back to normal now and the pain and the frustration of it all is soon forgotten and the results were definitely worth it. 

Now the countdown until I can get my braces off begins. Lots of exciting things to look forward to. 

Week 5 Post Op- 1 week to go

profile shots 6 weeks post surgery

Exactly 5 week since surgery

Some photos from the past five weeks. As you can see after the initial swelling went down it has only been going down very slowly since then.

Saturday the 1st November marked five weeks since surgery. Only one more week before I can start chewing again! Week five wasn't that exciting and didn't bring that much change. Most of my swelling has gone down now; however the remaining swelling changes everyday. One day I will wake up and think that the swelling is finally all gone and the next day I'll wake up and the top of my lip will be puffy again. I think this all depends on how much I use my mouth. For example when I'm at work and  I'm serving customers and talking to my workmates all day I am using my mouth more. Also now that I can move my top lip more I am smiling more which will be using the muscles in my top lip so this may be effecting the swelling.  The swelling can also move. Sometimes the area between my top lip and my nose is swollen and other days the swelling is down each side of my nose. I'm thinking the way I sleep may also be effecting the swelling. 

On Wednesday I went to see my surgeon. He showed me the photos he had taken before my surgery and then took some after photos to compare them with. You can definitely see the change. I will try and get a hold of these photos to show you next week. The surgeon spoke about the process of getting an implant put into my gum on the left side and the dental bridge that will be put in on my right side.  He was happy for all this to be done and wanted to send me to the dentist where he sends his children as he feel I deserve to have the best treatment; his children receive nothing but the best and he thinks I should too. The finer details of these procedures will be discussed closer to when I'll be getting my braces off. 

When I was leaving the surgeons I asked the nurses about when I can start hewing again. She said that after six weeks I can begin chewing again but only on very soft food first and then slowly build up to better food. The way she described it is that my jaw is still like wet cement at this stage and I still have to be very careful and not cause too much movement of my jaw. If I to push it too much and my jaw moves I will have to have surgery again to correct it and I will be back to square one.

This week I was really starting to get over eating soup and I have now come to the stage where I think I have had enough of Alfredo, shock horror haha. So I decided to try and eat something with some more substance. I really felt like tacos but obviously because I'm still not allowed to chew that wasn't going to happen. So what I did was made taco mince and then put cheese on top which I melted with some garlic aioli and avocado. I manage to eat this off a spoon and then move it around my mouth with my tongue until I could swallow it without chewing. This actually tasted pretty good and was nice to finally be eating some meat. Dad had also made a roast chicken on the weekend so I broke off some of the breast meat and tore it into little pieces and ate that ( again without chewing.) This tasted so good and I can't wait until next week until I will be allowed to chew again. 

This week I will be going back to the orthodontist to have my surgical post removed. I'm excited for this as my braces are clear at the front so when I talk or smile you don't really notice this, but with silver surgical post it kind of defeats the purpose. My orthodontist will then put in my final wires to start getting my teeth ready to hopefully get my braces off in January, YAY! 

Now that the feeling is starting to come back in my mouth and my face I can feel it if I strain my jaw too much or lie on it badly. I don't have any other pain though in regards to healing. My nose and lip can get itchy though as it all starts to heal. This can be annoying but it doesn't last very long at all.

I'm am looking forward to this Saturday which will mark six weeks since surgery and I can slowly start chewing again and hopefully be able to start exercising again soon.  Once again if you have any questions feel free to message me on my Facebook page "The Story Behind My New Smile." I will update you all again next week :)