4 Weeks Post Surgery

four weeks post surgery, Still cant quite smile properly

Before and After so far

Yay only two more weeks of recovery to go! This week I went to the orthodontist and got my false teeth put back in. I was so glad once I got them back in I was able to feel like myself again. My trip to the orthodontists also brought another happy suprise. My orthodontist told me that I could have my braces of by some time in January next year. This is so exciting because I was expecting to have them on for another six months or so. In two weeks I will be going back to the orhthodontist to get my surgical wires taken out, which will mean no more silver surgical post that stand out. Once I get these wires out I will then start getting my final wires in to start the process of getting them off. 

Now that I have a rough idea of when I will be getting my braces off I have to start planning for implants and a dental bridge. On my left side I will be able to get an implant with a false tooth on it. This involves getting a socket put into my gum which a tooth is then screwed into. Then on the right side where the cleft was I will have to have a dental bridge put in as there is not enough bone there to support an implant. This involves attaching a false tooth to the two teeth either side of it; the false tooth will have two "wings" either side of it which will be attached to my own teeth. 

This week I have gotten feeling back into my top lip although on the inside of my lip its still a bit tingly. I also have feeling back at the very back of the roof of my mouth. Most of my palate is still quite numb though. I can still feel a little bit of swelling at the bottom of my cheeks either side of my nose and still a little bit in my top lip. I was hoping the swelling would be all gone by four weeks but I can feel that each day it is getting less and less so I just have to patient. 

On other news I returned to work yesterday. It felt so good to be back into my normal routine and doing something other than sitting at home. I have four shifts next week which will keep me busy between my appointments. Life is getting back to normal now as I can speak much better again and returning back to work has made me feel more motivated.

Hopefully the next two weeks will fly by because I cannot wait to be able to eat again. I miss eating real food SO much! Oh well four weeks down only two weeks to go.

THREE WEEKS DOWN, THREE TO GO!!!

Exactly 3 weeks post surgery!

3 Weeks Down, Half Way!!!

Left side...Center...Right Side

THREE WEEKS DOWN, HALF WAY THROUGH RECOVERY!!!

I can't express how excited I was to reach this little milestone. Sorry for the delay in the update but I had a weekend away at my beach house which was nice to get out of the house for a little bit. Week three has been pretty good. Each day gets better and better. I have a lot of feeling back in the top of my mouth which is good. My top lip is also starting to get feeling back, although still a little numb and tingly in some parts. Week three didn't bring too much to report on in regards to progress of recovery. I feel like myself again and I definitely feel ready to go back to work. 

My weight is still a little unstable as some days I'm back up to 50kgs and some days I'm close to 47kgs but I think that is just normal. I can open my mouth about as wide as my thumb now, however I'm still not allowed to chew until the six week mark. My mouth does get a little sore as I get feeling back. This pain isn't anything bad though I would say at most a 2 on a scale of 1-10 where ten is the most painful. My nose is no longer runny which is absolutely awesome, I dont have to walk around with a tissues on hand 24/7. 

On a more exciting note I went to see my surgeon today for my weekly visit. He was still very happy with how everything is going and he said I no longer have to were my rubber band during the day! This means I can now start talking normally again, without having a rubber band holding my jaw tight. I do still have to wear it at night though. Also as I have said a few times in my previous posts, I get my false teeth put back in on Wednesday which I'm so excited for. So now that most of my swelling has gone down, I can now talk without a rubber band in the center of my teeth and getting my false teeth back I will be able to start returning to a normality. 

I have never gone this long without having my false teeth in; its a strange feeling. Now that my lip can move and you can see my top teeth, I find myself suprised when I catch a glimpse of myself. I'm not use to seeing my gappy teeth and it still catches me by suprise. I have become more confident with it though as I know my friends don't judge me for it  they are use to seeing me like this now. I am still a little conscious of it around people I don't know that well though. That's why I am so excited that I will have them back in before I start work, It will just bring my confidence back up just that little bit. 

I am now closer to the end of my recovery then I am to the beginning of it all. I feel like things can only get easier from now on, the end is getting closer. Thank you once again to everyone for all the positive feedback and support. It is suprising knowing how many people have actually read my blog. It is very humbling knowing that I can share this journey and help spread knowledge about cleft affected people and in particular, jaw surgery.

Day 18 Post Surgery Update

It has almost been three weeks since surgery now, which means I am almost halfway through the recovery period which is very exciting. I'm feeling like myself again although I seem to get tired a lot easier than usual. I say this would be a mixture of two reasons; one- because my body is still trying to heal itself and two- because body isn't getting the food that it is used to.

My feeling is slowly starting to come back in my face. I am still a little tingly around my nose, the top of my cheeks and my top lip. When I brush my teeth though, I am starting to feel the toothbrush when it touches certain parts of my palate. Hopefully it won't be too much longer until I have all of my feeling back. My top lip is still a little swollen with a tiny little spot of yellow bruising still left. My nose no longer bleeds and its no where near as runny as it was last week which makes things a lot easier. 

Unfortunately my surgeon is sick this week so I won't get to see him until next monday. Hopefully he says I am all fine to get my false teeth put back in on that Wednesday when I go to see the orthodontist; so I can look like myself again with out gappy teeth! I still don't have that much movement in my top lip though, so you can't really see my top teeth at the moment anyway. Also I seem to be maintaining my weight at a stable 49kgs not quite as heavy as I would like but at least I'm not loosing any more.

I have been speaking to some other cleft affected people who have already had jaw surgery. This has been great getting advice from people who have already gone through it. Not much else to report at the moment. From now on updates will be once or twice a week as changes are very slowly from now on. To keep up to date with when I post new updates go and give my Facebook page a like. https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Story-Behind-My-New-Smile/746686388700790?fref=nf 

You can also message me through this Facebook page if you have any questions or anything that you would like me to write about in my blog post. Thank you once again to everyone for all the support and kind words.  Here are some photos of what my face is looking like today.

Left profile

Right profile

Center

Little bit of bruising left

Trying to Smile

Smoothie Recipes and chocolate cravings

When you aren't allowed to chew for six weeks you tend to drink a lot of smoothies. I thought I would share some of the different smoothies I have made over the past couple of days.  I don't have the exact amounts of each ingredient in the recipes as I just put in what I feel looks to be enough. These are just to give some ideas of what different things can be made into a smoothie. Here are just a few of the different recipes I have tried. In each smoothie I also add in some LSA seed mix or chia seeds. I use a Nutri-Bullet to make all my smoothies which is great because it can blend most of the ingredients I put in it. Although some of the smoothies are quite pulpy because of the different fruits I put in such as pineapple and apples. This can be hard to drink because the pulp can get stuck in your braces. If this is an issue the smoothie can be put through a strainer to take out all the pulp.

Choc Banana Milkshake:

- 3tsp nutella

-1 banana

- approx. 500mls of milk

- 1 scoop of protein powder

Apple pie breakfast smoothie:

- One and a half finely chopped apples

- Vanilla yoghurt

- Small amount of breakfast cereal crunchola

- Small amount of rolled oats

- Coconut water

- Cinnamon sugar 

Tropical Smoothie:

- Frozen mango pieces

- Pineapple

-Pine lime icecream

- V8 tropical juice

Fruit and veggie smoothie: 

-Diced peaches

-Pineapple

-Mango pieces

- Pine lime icecream

- Spinach

- V8 tropical juice

( this would also taste good with some added frozen grapes and a little bit of cucumber for some extra veggies and even a little bit of carrot) 

Berry Smoothie:

- Frozen Blueberries

- Strawberries

-Frozen Blackberries

- Milk

- Yoghurt

- Protein Powder

Also some others drinks that I have made are some different hot chocolates. I had some friends buy me boxes of favourites which I cant chew yet. Looking at them in the fridge made me really want to eat one. So I decided to make a hot chocolate drink with them. I choose what flavour I would like. I breakup three bars of the chosen chocolate and put it in a coffee cup. I then fill half of the cup with boiling water and stir this until all of the chocolate has melted. fill the rest up with milk and you have a hot chocolate in any flavour you like. So far I have had a white chocolate, caramello, and mint bubbly hot chocolate. If you are craving chocolate these definitely help. Not the most healthy drink but its a nice little treat.

WEEK TWO POST SURGERY- Another week Down!

Day after surgery- One week Post Op- Two weeks Post Op

 

Right Side Profile- Center - Left Side Profile

Yay another week down! week two has been much easier, most of my swelling has gone down and I haven't had any pain at all. My nose has finally stop bleeding but is still a bit running from all the swelling that is going down. My face is still swollen a little bit in my cheeks, under my nose and my top left side of my lip is still swolen as well. I only have a tiny bit of bruising left which you can see in the picture above. The bruising is the yellow colour near my lip on my left side of my face. I have most of the feeling back in my face but some parts are still quite tingly and a little bit numb. These areas include my top lip, some areas in my cheeks and a little bit under my eyes. My palate in my mouth is still quite numb. From what I can see most of my stitches have dissolved now.

On Thursday I went to see my orthodontist for the first time since surgery. She was very happy with how everything was looking and said I was doing a great job with keeping it all cleaning. So I decided later on I will upload a video of what I have been using to clean my teeth. Also I am able to get my false teeth put back in two weeks which I'm very happy about. 

I have gotten use to eating soft food now without chewing, I'm not saying I like it but I am use to it. However I am really craving a meal like a chicken parmigiana or a crumbed steak. I'm even dreaming about food, I wake up and my mouth is chewing. This isn't good because I'm not meant to chew for six weeks. My diet at the moment consist of a fruit smoothie in the morning, Pasta for lunch, protein shake for afternoon tea, Vegetable soup for dinner and jelly and ice cream for dessert or a hot chocolate drink or something else. Last night I just felt like white chocolate. So I filled a coffee cup half with hot water, broke up some white chocolate and stirred it in until it melted; then I added some milk. It tasted just like white chocolate. Since I started using this new protein powder I have been able to maintain my weight. I currently weigh 48kgs which is 4kgs less than what I was before surgery but I'm not loosing anymore weight which I'm happy about.

I'm starting to feel more like myself again. I'm starting to go out in public again and I'm not spending most of my day in bed anymore. I'm hoping to return to work in another week which will be good to get back into a routine. At the moment I'm starting to enjoy my time at home as I'm doing some things that I have wanted to do for a while. Such as sewing and fixing some of my old clothes and I've redecorated the bathroom. Although I would much rather be outside going swimming or going for a run somewhere. I still have to be careful of what I do and not over do it too much. I'm still not allowed to blow my nose and I have to try and not sneeze which can be difficult at times. Also when I yawn I try and hold my jaw shut so I don't strain it too much. Sleeping has also become a lot easier now as well. 

I heard another girl who had jaw surgery say that once you pass one and a half weeks after surgery things start to get much easier. I definitely believe this as thing have gotten a lot easier. Thank you to everyone for all the support and kind words. Stay tuned for a video coming soon and more updates.

X- RAY VISION!

Side view of the screws holding my jaw in the new position with wire at the back

Front view of the screws, plates and wires

Today I went back to the surgeon for another one of my weekly visits. Everything was fine and in the correct place. He still wants me to wear my band at the front of my teeth just as a reassurance that nothing will move, even though this band has become a bit loose now. My jaw is perfectly aligned how he would like and is happy with how the swelling is going down. I also went and got X- rays today. In the pictures you can see the screws that are holding the plates in place that support the front of the jaw and the wires are holding the back of the jaw. This is all on top of my palate and on my top jaw I can't feel any of it. In the side view picture you can see that the plates are in a L shape. You can see where these plates are is where the top jaw has been cut and moved forward as bone is sticking out more where the plate forms the bottom of the L shape.

I'm going to see my orthodontist tomorrow So I will post an update to let you all know what they think of the new look. My face is still quite numb but is starting to become very tingly, kind of like pins and needles. Also I went out in public today as most of my swelling has gone down except for my top lip. I don't even think anyone really noticed that my face was a little swollen so that's good.

Also if there is anything in particular you guys would like to ask or would like me to write about feel free to post a comment or contact me through my Facebook page and if you haven't already go and give it a like to keep up to date with all new blog post.

 https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Story-Behind-My-New-Smile/746686388700790?ref=bookmarks

Numbness and Pain Update

 Each day the amount of my face that feels numb slowly decreases. Today only my cheeks, the bottom of my nose and my top lip are still numb. They aren't completely numb though they are starting too feel tingly. The top of my lip and bottom of my right cheek are starting to feel heavy. Hopefully that means I will have feeling back in them soon. Also on a positive note it doesn't hurt as much  to laugh anymore. Up until today, whenever I laughed it pulled under my top lip and it really hurt, I think that's because that's where the stitches are. Most of my face seems to have lost its swelling and returning to its normal shape except for the area between my nose and my top lip. This area is still puffy and it kind of looks lip a chimps lips. Also I have no pain and I have been off all medication since the start of the week.

On another note: Because my top jaw has been moved forward it means my profile has changed and the center of my face will no longer be as flat as it was before surgery. This also means that my nose has been lifted slightly. My surgeon also put some stitches inside my mouth under my nose to lift the tip of my nose up and hold it in place. So far I'm really liking how my nose is looking and can't wait to see it after all of my swelling has gone down. Because of my cleft palate repair when I was younger my top jaw didn't grow forward normally; this means that my nose didn't move as I grew. Also because of my scar tissue where my lip was repaired when I was younger it is less flexible as a normal lip and this restricts the top jaw area from growing forward as it is tight. This all contributes to my nose slowly getting flatter as I grew older, I know that for me and many other people who have a cleft this is something that can cause embarrassment and confidence issue . So now that my top jaw has moved forward my nose and the profile of my face will become more prominent, its exciting to see the changes each day as the swelling slowly goes down. 

before and after... So far