I was going to wait to make a post next week after I saw my ortho, but a few house keeping notes from this week. First off, my nerves are going crazy. But, crazy in a good way. My chin has been driving me bonkers the last week or two, and then every now and then I get these sharp pains like somebody stabbed me with a needle with an electrode on the top of it and it just goes off for a few minutes. And then the itching!! Gggrrrr...the itching! These were the nerve zingers I was expecting the first few weeks post op again and didn't really happen much. Now we're a few days short of 10 weeks post op, and I am getting them. And everything is opposite. First time I got the zingers week 1-3 while still dead numb, and then slowly became less numb. This time I have gotten more feeling back faster, but it happened without the zingers and now the zingers are hitting. Weird. Oh well, at least it all seems to be coming together finally. Left side of my lower chin/lip is still tingly, but the kind where I am pretty sure I'm going to continue to get everything back on that side. And then the edges on my right side have the tingles like they'll shrink in too. I am cautiously optimistic that I am basically going to get all feeling back after this surgery (well, at least down to what I started with, which was a numb strip down my right side of the lower lip/chin). So, again, bravo to my surgeon. Another thing he did well with. I am pretty sure at my age in a revision surgery, there was a pretty damn high chance that I was going to have additional numbness, and it feels like I might get lucky on this one and get it all back. Woohoo! Huge bonus, as I was already at peace with the fact that I was probably going to end up with more numbness. Actually love having good surprises on this journey for once! Anyway, along with the other things coming back are my gums. Holy hell... hypersensitive again! My teeth are super sensitive too. I absolutely hate brushing my teeth right now. I've been cheating and brushing a little shorter, but it's all I can do to not go off a cliff over it!
And in other changes.... I am officially open 3 fingers!!!
And in other changes.... I am officially open 3 fingers!!!
3 fingers!!
"zomg, I can open 3 fingers!!"
I feel like I've been stuck a little over two fingers forever, and then in the last day or two-- bam. 3 fingers like a boss! My right joint flared up on me bad earlier this week. I was really worried again. Pretty certain it's the disc slipping out and once it starts, then it has to have it's little fit for a day before calming back down. So far no issues since, even when getting all the way open like this. Hopefully that continues to be happy and healthy from here on out, but I wouldn't be surprised if it continued to have little flare up the next few months of recovery.
And then.... then this happened:
And then.... then this happened:
first time biting clean in to pizza
I literally wept over this pizza!
It was another one of "those" moments. Not just for this revision recovery, but for the whole process to get to this point in general. Class II patients commonly complain about eating pizza. You bite in to it and drag ALL the cheese and toppings off in one bite. Half the time I just do a fork and a knife to eat pizza so I don't get pissed off not being able to bite clean with it. I was out at a concert with my husband the other night, and for the first time in my life, I bit clean through a piece of pizza. No mess, no fuss. This was on my list of wants after jaw surgery, and I got it. I've thought about that moment for years. So, even though I don't like to cry in public, I totally cried in public over this one. They were happy tears though! I even sent the bite picture to my surgeon and told him that so far the only undesirable surgical outcome I've had this time is getting a bite good enough that now all I want is greasy pizza that isn't good for my waistline! He got a chuckle out of it, I'm sure. Now next on the list is a sandwich or hoagie to bite through and get cleanly through the lettuce/tomato/etc in it without pulling it all out. Not going to happen quite yet (especially with my loose front teeth), but I know I'll get there eventually.
Speaking of my bite, I decided to snap a few pics of my bite since I am updating this post with some pictures. Of course I chose to take these after eating curry, but oh well. Don't judge. My teeth are still coming together nicely. Actually had to email my ortho and ask what I knew was going to probably end up being a dumb question, but I did it anyway and figured worst case they get a chuckle out of it. My bottom front teeth are hitting the back of my upper front teeth when I bite. Since I've never had my front teeth touch in any way before, I wasn't sure if this was good or bad, so I had to ask. Turns out it sounds like it's not an issue and the treatment coordinator who responded to my question did in fact think it was cute that I had to ask and got a chuckle out of it. A few notes-- my teeth are not perfect. My front teeth have some work left on them. They're all kind of tipped (not proclinated or retroclined, but actually tipped in the direction like if you were waving with your hand) and need to be righted. The loose tooth 7 needs to be extruded some more (you can tell it's shorter than the rest of the teeth), my ortho is still fine tuning my gum line, and my midline appears quite a ways off, but it's actually not that far off-- it's my nose that is crooked! I've also got a tooth size discrepancy thanks to my first ortho bonding my two front teeth in the wrong shapes (one is bigger than the other), so that is throwing it off too. So, hopefully that looks better after I get my deviated septum fixed and restoration done, but as it is now, I don't really care about it much in terms of the way it looks. As long as my bite feels good and is functional, then I am good!
Speaking of my bite, I decided to snap a few pics of my bite since I am updating this post with some pictures. Of course I chose to take these after eating curry, but oh well. Don't judge. My teeth are still coming together nicely. Actually had to email my ortho and ask what I knew was going to probably end up being a dumb question, but I did it anyway and figured worst case they get a chuckle out of it. My bottom front teeth are hitting the back of my upper front teeth when I bite. Since I've never had my front teeth touch in any way before, I wasn't sure if this was good or bad, so I had to ask. Turns out it sounds like it's not an issue and the treatment coordinator who responded to my question did in fact think it was cute that I had to ask and got a chuckle out of it. A few notes-- my teeth are not perfect. My front teeth have some work left on them. They're all kind of tipped (not proclinated or retroclined, but actually tipped in the direction like if you were waving with your hand) and need to be righted. The loose tooth 7 needs to be extruded some more (you can tell it's shorter than the rest of the teeth), my ortho is still fine tuning my gum line, and my midline appears quite a ways off, but it's actually not that far off-- it's my nose that is crooked! I've also got a tooth size discrepancy thanks to my first ortho bonding my two front teeth in the wrong shapes (one is bigger than the other), so that is throwing it off too. So, hopefully that looks better after I get my deviated septum fixed and restoration done, but as it is now, I don't really care about it much in terms of the way it looks. As long as my bite feels good and is functional, then I am good!
I took some pictures of my bite in the same spot 2 years ago. Actually almost two years ago to the day! This is what my bite looked like 3-4 weeks post op last time:
What a difference two years, a round of good revision ortho, and a successful revision surgery makes! Really sad looking at the bite pictures from the first surgery. So sad!!
Anywho. This was supposed to be a quick update, but those of you who know me or know me through this blog... you know my posts are never quick ;) I see my orthodontist in a week and Dr. Karas in two weeks. Crossing my fingers I can get out of rubber band jail a little finally! I think that is what is making my right side all pissed off-- or at least helping that along in that direction on top of the normal aches/pains of healing. We'll see!
Anywho. This was supposed to be a quick update, but those of you who know me or know me through this blog... you know my posts are never quick ;) I see my orthodontist in a week and Dr. Karas in two weeks. Crossing my fingers I can get out of rubber band jail a little finally! I think that is what is making my right side all pissed off-- or at least helping that along in that direction on top of the normal aches/pains of healing. We'll see!
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