10th Week Post Op!!!

Hard to believe that its been over 2 months since I had surgery. Time has flown by. Its hard to believe that a couple months ago I was hating the state I was in. Its been a crazy roller coaster ride from the get go. I am looking forward to the 6 month time frame. Im told it is at that time that I will have a good idea if there would be any permanent numbness. So far things have been moving along. Every time I drink something cool or cold, it feels like something cold is running down my chin. Its a very strange feeling. Im am told this is a good sign. The feeling on the left side of my lip is gaining for feeling. So I can finally feel things there now if only the rest of my lip will catch up.

I keep my schedule on my phone. On sundays I like to look at the week to see all the things I will need to do. Well on wednesday I noticed that had a follow up with the oral surgeon at 8am and a dental cleaning at 10am.

During my last follow up with the oral surgeon he stated that I only needed to see him if I had trouble with my ROM or if I was having pain and complications. I wasn't having any of those but I did want him to check up on me just to make sure. I check in and make it to the exam room. I didn't have to wait long for Dr Edwards. He smiled and remembered me and asked how things were going. He took a look at my ROM and my bite. He was surprised at how much ROM I had and was also surprised at how quickly I am gaining feeling. I was like this is slow LOL He said it takes about 6 months to get most of the feeling back. My main concern was my bite with my molars. My bite finally closed on the right side but its open on the left. He said it actually looks good and that the elastics will move everything quickly. He said when surgery is performed in the lower jaw, the metabolism of all the structures is sped up so my teeth will move quicker. Which is good news. He asked when Dr Brust (ortho) said I would be done which was 4 months from my last appointment and he agreed. Dr Edwards said he doesn't feel I need another follow up unless I have any questions, concerns, or complications. It was a strange feeling to think that this portion of my treatment is done. All the people I met in the oral surgery have been really nice. As I walked to the check out counter, some of the fellows and docs recognized me and asked how I was doing. One of which said I looked great. I left in a great mood

I grabbed breakfast then it was off to the dentist. I checked in and nearly waited 30min to be seen. I am growing sick of waiting for these appointments LOL Everything went well. I was worried at being banded up for 5 weeks after surgery but looks like Ive done a great job because the hygienist said things look great and that I have been doing a great job. She only had to scrape one spot and I think it was the small gap where I was drinking all of my nourishment through back in august. LOL But it was minor. So a quick floss, polish, and rinse and I was done. Then it came time for fluoride. I do not like a lot of flavors so I always opt for mint as I love peppermint. Well they were all out of mint and I had to choose from grape, cotton candy, orange, and banana. Banana sounded disgusting so I opted for orange which was fine. My regular dentist was off on vacation which I was bummed about. Her name is Dr Sud and she's a cute Indian lady. She was the one who convinced me to get started in all of this and I wanted to show her my progress. But the cool thing is by the next time she sees me I will have my braces off since I go back in april. Another dentist takes a look and said there is no signs of cavities. She asked about my surgery and I said things are well as I just saw the oral surgeon. She was worried about my numbness but I and the hygienist tell her its normal which freaked me out a little. I wouldn't think a dentist would know every surgical procedure but should know about the process regarding this type of surgery as it is fairly common nowadays. Oh well.

I leave the office and now feel good about my teeth. I guess it pays off to be anal about cleaning my teeth. LOL

Alls well....

Nothing really new to report. My bottom lip is in a constant state of feeling like its asleep and I still get the random tingling around my chin and lip. As stated earlier, I have feeling slowly coming back on the left side of my chin and lip which is encouraging. Can't feel anything on the right. Eating is going well although I get weird shots of tingling through my lower jaw that goes all the way to my chin/lips when I bite down with my molars. I think that is a good sign that there wasn't much (if any) nerve damage. *crosses fingers*

Update

Well its strange when something new happens. It always come as a surprise. So after surgery the tip of my tongue, my lower jaw, and bottom lip were numb. It took 4 weeks to get the feeling back in my tongue. All of the swelling is now pretty much gone and I can actually feel what I think are the screws and plates in my lower jaw. So now all there is left is getting my jaw inline and hopefully getting all of the feeling back. Last weekend I received a nice surprised. I usually shave every 2-3 days so during my routine shaving last saturday, I felt the blade on my chin. I couldn't believe it. I immediately touched the area and noticed I could feel my finger (barely) on the left side of my chin. Its still pretty numb but I can feel around that area. I also noticed that I can feel a little bit more of the left side of my bottom lip. While this isn't a milestone, its nice to know that the feeling is actually returning.

Well another surprise after surgery was I noticed that I could not only feel the inside of my bottom lip. Even weeks later, I noticed I could not feel the inside of my cheek and my gums. Well today during brunch, I noticed something. I felt the food on the inside my cheek and lip but only on the left side. I ran my tongue down the area and was surprised to feel in that area. It is so weird at how random the feeling comes back. I really do look forward to getting the feeling in my lower lip and chin. I could live without feeling in my chin but it does suck not feeling liquids run down your chin. I just hope that my body continues to heal well. The good news is that my bottom lip and chin have the feeling of being "asleep" and I also feel random tingling, shots of pain, and spasms in the numb areas

A New Plan, the Test, and "Bummer"

A New Plan

Well I have been documenting the pain of rubber bands for quite some time. It is this pain that has forced me to see my ortho after just seeing him for a week. So on friday, I saw him. I go to check in and as usual, I am greeted by the receptionists. Well there is one whom Ive known the longest who didn't see me last week. Immediately she says, "Didn't you have surgery?". I laughed and said yes. Then she says, "Wow you look really good". I don't think she realized I am over 7 weeks going on 8. I get called in by one of the techs and she is also amazed at how good I looked. She comments on how a girl just left who had surgery before me and who is still quite swollen and sore. The girl is a teenager. Poor girl. I empathize with her but am glad that I heal pretty well. She asks how I was doing and I inform her of all of the problems I have. Some spacing issues, open bite with my molars, poking archiwires, an incisor tipping, and of course the dreaded rubber band at night. She looked everything over and agreed. The ortho makes his way over and he spent quite a bit of time looking everything over and agrees with my complaints. He recommended a change of my archwaires with some minor adjustments on the wire for some of my teeth, power chains for gaps, and a new rubber band set up. All of which he informs the tech to correct. I have a class II bite in my molars. Just like last week, he stated that I am almost done with braces and that everything looks pretty good. Just my midline of my lower jaw is slightly off. I can't believe how stubborn my jaw is. But I will say that it is getting in line. Just very slowly. The bad news is I still have to wear rubber bands. 2 on each side in the shape of a triangle and of course the dreaded band in the front which I will wear only at night when sleeping. The good news is I was given rubber bands with less tensile strength. I was told the one I was using was the highest strength which is ironically called "Bummer". LOL The new rubber bands are called "Bill". After this appointment, I feel so much better. My teeth were pretty sore but mentally I was so much happier. The tech did say that with "Bill" it would take longer for my jaw to shift. But I didn't care as I rather have less pain.

The Test:

So night time rolls around and its time for bed. Just in case, I took some Lortab before putting on the new rubber band. I needed a full nights sleep. I placed the new bands on and everything was so much better. I had some pain but no where near the pain I had before. I woke up with some minor TMJ pain on the right side. Saturday night I was extremely exhausted but didn't want to take any chances just yet. I again take some Lortab and placed the band. Overall, it was just as good as the night before and in the morning I realized that I was in less pain than before. So there is a glimmer of hope after all.

"Bummer"

Well I have come to pretty much hate the "Bummer" rubber bands after all they have created much havoc (in terms of pain) in my life. But I have been wearing them on each side with no problem. So today (sunday, 2 days after my ortho appt on friday) I have the day off. I decided that I will do some much needed laundry and some cleaning up of the apt. Since I am going to be home for most of the day, I thought I would band myself up like I would do normally when sleeping. I put on the bands and noticed that "Bill" wasn't shifting my jaw anymore. It just wasn't strong enough as I think my jaw is actually shifting now. I was shocked. So after staring at the bag of "Bummer" I finally decided to give them a try. Normally I would have taken some Lortab but I had already taken ibuprofen prior to placing the "Bill" band. I am not one to overdose on meds so I decided not to take any Lortab. I place the "Bummer" band on and looked in the mirror. As usual it shifts my jaw a little past the midline. Now I would just wait for the pain to kick in. It usually takes anywhere from 15-30min. After an hour of cleaning, I realized that I wasn't in any pain. I was shocked. It only took 2 nights for me to handle "Bummer". Wish I would have started off with "Bill" then I wouldn't have had to endure all of that pain. LOL Now I have all of these bags of "Bill" bands. Well knowing my jaw, I might need them tonight. I just hope that I can now move forward with Bummer which in turn means that there will be no more delays in my progress.

Yup...Still In Pain

Its funny how when I was first received braces, I was intrigued spacers. When I read the testimonials regarding them I was glad that I didn't need them. As time progressed, I learned about rubber bands and wondered if I would ever be in them. As the one year mark passed, I realized that I probably wouldn't need them but they still intrigued me. Well lets just say I am absolutely no longer intrigues by them. LOL They are wonderful tools but they hurt like no other. Well everyone says they have a high pain tolerance. I don't think I do but doctors and nurses have said otherwise. I didn't need any pain meds after knee surgery and I didn't use much pain meds after jaw surgery in the hospital nor at home.....well that was until I was rubber banded. My right TMJ was in a tremendous amount of pain that lasted about 6 days. Well I will not get into that again since I have already documented that horrible time. LOL

Well now I have 4 rubber bands as mentioned in another post. All of the bands are fine except the one at night. I have tried advil, alieve, tylenol different nights at varying amounts and to no avail, I still had intense pain. Suddenly I thought about the bottle of Lortab thatI still had from the jaw surgery. I barely used any so I had this full bottle left. I thought that if this didn't relieve the pain then I am done with this band. So on the first night of Lortab, I still felt the intense pain in my ear/R TMJ but the difference was the Lortab took a little bit of the edge off. I was even able to sleep thanks to the meds. Then I realized that I am not sure if it might not be a good idea to be on these pain meds every night just for these bands. But I needed to try something since this would help shift my jaw. I was able to sleep for 8 hours. The second night, I wasn't so lucky. I made it a whopping 15min until the intense pain started. I took off the bands and threw it off the side of the bed. LOL

So I was fed up. Something has to give. I decided that since I already had 2 poking archwires that I might as well go see my orthodontist and explain to him what was happening. I wanted to wait to see if things would improve but they haven't. And not sure if they worsened but sometimes when I chew I get this weird feeling in my ear/TMJ like something isn't in place. I even feel it when I am talking. I will give it another try tonight but I am having my doubts. I go from being so curious about rubber bands to hating them. I guess its like how I can't look at canned soup nor Ensure/Boost the same way.

Oh the Pain....THE PAIN!!!!

So for the most part these rubber bands have been uneventful....UNTIL LAST NIGHT. So I have one band on my right side in the shape of a triangle which is helping to lightly shift my jaw during the day. At night, I am supposed to place a band in front of my teeth that go from the upper right to the lower left at night when I am sleeping or when I am just sitting around at home and not talking. So when it was time for bed, I replaced the band on the right and put on the band in front. I am really tried so I go to bed. An hour later I am awaken due to this intense pain. I toss and turn and even sit up trying to endure the pain and attempt to fall asleep. Impossible. This pain resembles the same pain I had when I was first banded that dreadful day out of the hospital. After spending 30min in bed trying to endure the pain, I am forced to remove the central band. Sadly that didn't remove the pain. The pain lasted for quite a while so I took a couple of Alieve and headed off to bed in pain until I feel asleep.

Well in the middle of the night I woke up again to go to the restroom. I decided to give the band another try. Maybe this time the pain wouldn't be as bad since my midline is set with the one band on the side and the Alieve in my system. WRONG! I put the band on and things look and feel good. I lay down for bed only to be awaken 30min later in intense pain. It was unbearable. I then decide it will be impossible to wear this band at night. So I decide that I will just have to wear this one band at this point for the next 6 weeks. Maybe I will try again but at this point I can't endure the pain and I can't be on Lortab every night for these bands. Id be a mess everyday! LOL

First Ortho Visit Post Op

Well I have been looking forward to this day. I haven't seen my ortho since mid July and I have been wondering what would be next in my treatment. I knew that my stubborn lower was still not matching up with my upper jaw so I knew that would have to be addressed. I also have some small gaps and of course the issue of my small open bite on the left side of my molars. My appointment was too eventful. So the first thing was the removal of those horrible and dreaded surgical hooks. The funny thing is I was a bit nervous of receiving them but once they were put on, I was ok with them until the second day. They irritated my mouth and wrecked havoc on my mouth after surgery. So I enjoyed every single hook being removed. As the last hook was removed, the tech noticed a broken bracket. I thought I escaped surgery without a broken bracket but no. The lower canine on the left was off and replaced. After everything was removed, my ortho came by and checked everything out. He was really happy with the results. Said everything looked great. He wanted to address the midline issue of my lower jaw and start work on the open bite. Three hooks were added and 4 rubber bands were placed on. 2 of which will work on the open bite and the other 2 with work on shifting my jaw. I am to wear one most of the day and at night. The other I am to wear only at night. I recalled all the chaffing people complained about rubber bands and thought there wouldn't be a problem.... That is until I ate my first meal. The insides of my poor jaw was chaffing. After about 9-10 hours, I had to take it off. Hopefully I will last longer as the weeks progress. I will go back in 6 weeks.

At the appointment, we looked at the before pics. It was surprising to see how bad my teeth looked before I started orthodontic treatment. It was kind of embarrassing. It is really encouraging to see what a 1.5 years of treatment could do. My ortho says if everything goes well, I could be completely done as early as 4 months! I can't believe I am nearing the end of this whole process.

I still have complete numbness in my chin and bottom lip. I also realized that the inside of my lower lip and the front of my lower gums are numb too. I think I am starting to gain minor sensation at the left corner of my lip and when I brush on the left molars I feel a tingle that goes from that too all the way to my chin. I hope this is a good sign to show that the nerve only had a small amount of damage and will heal properly. Only time will tell. Until then, I will continue to enjoy the joy of eating.