i noticed that i am still getting quite a bit of traffic to this blog, but as you can see, i stopped posting on my one year surgi-versary, and now i'm at 3+ years! if you have a question for me, you can email me at
mycrookedjaw@gmail.com
because i'm not checking the comments here regularly, though you're still very welcome to leave one. i'm glad my story is still helping some people figure out things about their own crooked jaws!
:D keep smiling, and best wishes to you!
Monday, February 9, 2015
Sunday, October 28, 2012
one year later!
Today marks exactly one year since my surgery!
Updates:
I still have some numbness in my gums and my chin on one side. It's normal to me now. Not concerned or bothered.
I don't have any residual pain. No grinding that I can tell. No joint pain, no headaches. No infections! :)
My teeth were in really bad shape at my dentist cleaning at about 6 months post-op - lots of build-up and tartar. The hygienist said it was probably due to the liquid diet coating my teeth and not brushing well because of my sore joints. Luckily last week at my one year cleaning she said it was an entirely different mouth and I got a clean bill of health.
I can't think of a darn other thing to say! Except that I have no regrets. Taken today:
PS. The procedures were BSSO and Lefort I. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Updates:
I still have some numbness in my gums and my chin on one side. It's normal to me now. Not concerned or bothered.
I don't have any residual pain. No grinding that I can tell. No joint pain, no headaches. No infections! :)
My teeth were in really bad shape at my dentist cleaning at about 6 months post-op - lots of build-up and tartar. The hygienist said it was probably due to the liquid diet coating my teeth and not brushing well because of my sore joints. Luckily last week at my one year cleaning she said it was an entirely different mouth and I got a clean bill of health.
I can't think of a darn other thing to say! Except that I have no regrets. Taken today:
PS. The procedures were BSSO and Lefort I. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
q & a
for some reason blogger is being stupid and not letting me reply to comments so let me respond to some questions that were posed to me in comments here:
who was your surgeon?
my surgeon was dr. gary warburton. he's with the university of maryland medical center and dental school. because he's a professor, he is also teaching maxillofacial surgery residents. i know you might get nervous about residents, but they were totally amazing, caring, competent, and professional. i got to know them well and will actually miss them. i had not one complaint! i would whole-heartedly recommend dr. warburton and his team. http://www.umm.edu/omsurg/team.htm
did you have surgery on both jaws?
yes i did. my bottom jaw was more crooked than my top, but both were off kilter. to have them line up the best i had to have both. now, just my lips are crooked! :)
how much did your surgery cost?
without insurance coverage, it would have been about $51,000. this is the main surgery itself including anesthesia, hospital stay, etc. it does not include pre-surgery appointments or post-surgery check-ups, or my second surgery i needed to have because of my infection.
why did you not have braces?
i first went directly to dr. warburton (the surgeon) with my problem, after some online research, just for a consultation. i did this because i'd been tossed around in referral process for several months - when i would present my problem, no one seemed to know exactly who to refer me to. i ended up once at an ear nose and throat doctor, for example. dr. warburton did confirm that my issue was something that was sometimes fixed with the type of surgery that he performs. before anything else though, he sent me to his orthodontist colleague (dr. steven seigel in glen burnie, md) to check me out to see if ortho could fix my bite issue without surgery. i already had like a decade of ortho when i was younger but they didn't address my asymmetry problem, or if they did, it didn't work. my mom doesn't recall them really mentioning working on asymmetry, rather they were trying to widen my jaw. in fact, my previous orthodontia may have contributed to worsening my asymmetry.
anyway, i did have nice straight teeth. dr. seigel took a load of xrays and molds and concluded that my problem could not be fixed with orthodontia alone and it would require surgery. he also decided that it would be an option for me to choose to have braces or not. with braces, he said, i would get a more perfect result. the main reason being, things could be tweaked post surgery to line it all up perfectly. but he felt that braces would not be required and i would get a good result without them. i was lucky in this way because my teeth would still line up well after the surgical movement. i think this is because of the axis on which they moved my jaws (up and down) is different than those of you that have over and under bites (forward and back). based on the cost of braces, time involved, and pure annoyance and vanity factors, i chose not to. also, i figured i could have braces later in life if i was dissatisfied with the placement. my teeth are slightly on a slant now in my mouth, because my previous braces as a teen made my teeth straight on a crooked jaw, but it's not super noticeable and it's not bothering me.
who was your surgeon?
my surgeon was dr. gary warburton. he's with the university of maryland medical center and dental school. because he's a professor, he is also teaching maxillofacial surgery residents. i know you might get nervous about residents, but they were totally amazing, caring, competent, and professional. i got to know them well and will actually miss them. i had not one complaint! i would whole-heartedly recommend dr. warburton and his team. http://www.umm.edu/omsurg/team.htm
did you have surgery on both jaws?
yes i did. my bottom jaw was more crooked than my top, but both were off kilter. to have them line up the best i had to have both. now, just my lips are crooked! :)
how much did your surgery cost?
without insurance coverage, it would have been about $51,000. this is the main surgery itself including anesthesia, hospital stay, etc. it does not include pre-surgery appointments or post-surgery check-ups, or my second surgery i needed to have because of my infection.
why did you not have braces?
i first went directly to dr. warburton (the surgeon) with my problem, after some online research, just for a consultation. i did this because i'd been tossed around in referral process for several months - when i would present my problem, no one seemed to know exactly who to refer me to. i ended up once at an ear nose and throat doctor, for example. dr. warburton did confirm that my issue was something that was sometimes fixed with the type of surgery that he performs. before anything else though, he sent me to his orthodontist colleague (dr. steven seigel in glen burnie, md) to check me out to see if ortho could fix my bite issue without surgery. i already had like a decade of ortho when i was younger but they didn't address my asymmetry problem, or if they did, it didn't work. my mom doesn't recall them really mentioning working on asymmetry, rather they were trying to widen my jaw. in fact, my previous orthodontia may have contributed to worsening my asymmetry.
anyway, i did have nice straight teeth. dr. seigel took a load of xrays and molds and concluded that my problem could not be fixed with orthodontia alone and it would require surgery. he also decided that it would be an option for me to choose to have braces or not. with braces, he said, i would get a more perfect result. the main reason being, things could be tweaked post surgery to line it all up perfectly. but he felt that braces would not be required and i would get a good result without them. i was lucky in this way because my teeth would still line up well after the surgical movement. i think this is because of the axis on which they moved my jaws (up and down) is different than those of you that have over and under bites (forward and back). based on the cost of braces, time involved, and pure annoyance and vanity factors, i chose not to. also, i figured i could have braces later in life if i was dissatisfied with the placement. my teeth are slightly on a slant now in my mouth, because my previous braces as a teen made my teeth straight on a crooked jaw, but it's not super noticeable and it's not bothering me.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
scar tissue
one hour before surgery - a marked woman (to confirm which side)
one day after surgery - a bit bloated and crooked again
now eight days out, my wound appears to be healing nicely. stitches are starting to get loose and i cut one out myself tonight because it was bothering me. while i was doing that, for the very first time, i noticed all the scar tissue from the first surgery around the perimeter of my mouth where my gum meets my lip and cheek tissue.
i hadn't really examined it before, i guess because that area was tender for so long, i avoided it, even just looking at it. it has spidery white webs in it, some parts are thicker than others, some parts are higher and lower. when you stretch it out (like by pulling out my lower lip) it becomes even more apparent that it is super webby scar tissue. it's freaky looking and grossed me out.
i guess i was suprised to discover how irregular/unnatural it looks in comparison to the way that meeting point between the lip and gum did before. and although of course i did know this already, it also is showing how the entire rims of my mouth on top and bottom were cut open. it's clear that anyone who examines my teeth/mouth in the future will be able to tell i had something hardcore done!
now eight days out, my wound appears to be healing nicely. stitches are starting to get loose and i cut one out myself tonight because it was bothering me. while i was doing that, for the very first time, i noticed all the scar tissue from the first surgery around the perimeter of my mouth where my gum meets my lip and cheek tissue.
i hadn't really examined it before, i guess because that area was tender for so long, i avoided it, even just looking at it. it has spidery white webs in it, some parts are thicker than others, some parts are higher and lower. when you stretch it out (like by pulling out my lower lip) it becomes even more apparent that it is super webby scar tissue. it's freaky looking and grossed me out.
i guess i was suprised to discover how irregular/unnatural it looks in comparison to the way that meeting point between the lip and gum did before. and although of course i did know this already, it also is showing how the entire rims of my mouth on top and bottom were cut open. it's clear that anyone who examines my teeth/mouth in the future will be able to tell i had something hardcore done!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
adios, uno placo
today i had just one plate removed! they didn't want to do any more "invasion" than necessary and since i had only had problems with the one, that was the decision.
i'll be pissed if i get problems in another one in the future, haha, but this makes my recovery easier! and i'll still be able to go, "hey feel my creepy plate" as a stupid human trick in the future.
unfortunately i could not keep or see the plate (i asked) because it is a biohazard thing and had to be sent off for testing because of it being "colonized."
the incision was about 3cm, everything went well, and they scraped out some infected tissue around the plate.
the cool thing seemed to be that they checked out my bone healing while they were "in there." my bone cuts apparently healed awesomely and they said you could barely tell i'd had a BSSO. i've got bone-healing SKILLZ. :D
have some pain (duh) and some swelling (also duh). it's cool though! much less scary than last time:
i'll be pissed if i get problems in another one in the future, haha, but this makes my recovery easier! and i'll still be able to go, "hey feel my creepy plate" as a stupid human trick in the future.
unfortunately i could not keep or see the plate (i asked) because it is a biohazard thing and had to be sent off for testing because of it being "colonized."
the incision was about 3cm, everything went well, and they scraped out some infected tissue around the plate.
the cool thing seemed to be that they checked out my bone healing while they were "in there." my bone cuts apparently healed awesomely and they said you could barely tell i'd had a BSSO. i've got bone-healing SKILLZ. :D
have some pain (duh) and some swelling (also duh). it's cool though! much less scary than last time:
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
leap day
am mid-air enroute to baltimore. oh the technology. reminds me of the fantastic louis ck bit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk&feature=related
so my report time is 8:30am tomorrow for my little procedure. i don't have much info about it like how long it takes, details about recovery, diet, etc. i guess being the seasoned veteran that i am now i just wing it.
hey, i just realized because today is feb 29 and my original surgery date was october 28 - FOUR MONTHS now. woooo. this means nothing really, except that time keeps on tickin into the future...faster and faster.
my moomoo is coming to baltimore again! she is driving by herself again from detroit as i type this. i heard it's raining a lot so that sucks. she is such a good mommy!! dear readers, please trust i am an adult and am capable to handle my business by myself. but she insisted to come keep me company and i can't say i don't appreciate it. the plan is that as long as i'm recovering well we will be tourists in baltimore. this will be nice.
so my report time is 8:30am tomorrow for my little procedure. i don't have much info about it like how long it takes, details about recovery, diet, etc. i guess being the seasoned veteran that i am now i just wing it.
hey, i just realized because today is feb 29 and my original surgery date was october 28 - FOUR MONTHS now. woooo. this means nothing really, except that time keeps on tickin into the future...faster and faster.
my moomoo is coming to baltimore again! she is driving by herself again from detroit as i type this. i heard it's raining a lot so that sucks. she is such a good mommy!! dear readers, please trust i am an adult and am capable to handle my business by myself. but she insisted to come keep me company and i can't say i don't appreciate it. the plan is that as long as i'm recovering well we will be tourists in baltimore. this will be nice.
Friday, February 24, 2012
i'm a hot mess
could it be related to my infection that i've had mega stomach flu-ish symptoms for almost 48 hours? also i have some sort of sty or clogged duct in my eye. AND, i got rear ended at a pretty decent speed this evening and now i have whiplash aching in my neck and back. dude.
my infection thing is stagnating. i think it was a good thing to expedite the surgery!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
clockwork
preparing for my trip from el paso to dc and getting back and forth from dc to baltimore is a piece of cake now, i feel like i've done this soooo many times! :D
i forgot to mention that my surgeon told me that the recovery from this procedure is not nearly as bad as some of the stuff i read on the internet. you evil internet! i will go home the same day of the operation and i should be well recovered in a couple days. of course you never know blah blah but this makes me feel so much better about going under the knife again.
my present infection is still there, i can see it a little myself but other people don't see it cause they don't know what normal looks like. you can feel it if you touch my jawline. (i forced my coworker to do it haha, because i wasn't sure if i was feeling it from the outside or inside myself, if that makes sense.) but i am assuming in the next couple days the antibiotics should bring it back down to "normal."
what my surgeon said was that really the infection doesn't go away, it remains on the metal plate, when i think it's gone. and that's why it keeps coming back and i need to get the plate removed. the removal date got moved up because the infection came back quickly. it is logical that it's not good to be on antibiotics and having a continual infection for an extended period of time.
having gone through such an intense experience for the previous surgery, and after hearing about the much easier recovery for this one, i'm super "meh" about it. a walk in the park! am a little stressed at having to schedule all the logistics last minute but everything will fall into place as everything eventually does.
i forgot to mention that my surgeon told me that the recovery from this procedure is not nearly as bad as some of the stuff i read on the internet. you evil internet! i will go home the same day of the operation and i should be well recovered in a couple days. of course you never know blah blah but this makes me feel so much better about going under the knife again.
my present infection is still there, i can see it a little myself but other people don't see it cause they don't know what normal looks like. you can feel it if you touch my jawline. (i forced my coworker to do it haha, because i wasn't sure if i was feeling it from the outside or inside myself, if that makes sense.) but i am assuming in the next couple days the antibiotics should bring it back down to "normal."
what my surgeon said was that really the infection doesn't go away, it remains on the metal plate, when i think it's gone. and that's why it keeps coming back and i need to get the plate removed. the removal date got moved up because the infection came back quickly. it is logical that it's not good to be on antibiotics and having a continual infection for an extended period of time.
having gone through such an intense experience for the previous surgery, and after hearing about the much easier recovery for this one, i'm super "meh" about it. a walk in the park! am a little stressed at having to schedule all the logistics last minute but everything will fall into place as everything eventually does.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
it ain't over!
the saga continues...
i got a second infection in the same plate area.
the infected area didn't get super big and visibly swollen, but i could feel it growing and feeling the same way as last time. based on the previous infection i was able to recognize it much earlier than the first one when i was like, durrrrrr what's this swelling, i'll just wait and see, it will get better, i'm sure... :)
since i'm long-distance from my surgeons, i was able to communicate via phone and email and get some antibiotics which helped the infection go away. my surgeons are so helpful!!! it's really lucky for me because it could potentially be very difficult being so far away, but they are very responsive and willing to help me a lot.
so at this point, we're looking at the plates coming out. yes - a second surgery! in the process of scheduling it now and making plans.
i did some online research that indicated the plate removal can be as intense as the original surgery in terms of swelling and numbness, and even worse bruising. that seems kind of bizarre to me, because they're not doing nearly as much mucking around up in my face, just small incisions, grab the plates, in and out. so i'm hoping that is not true.
at the least, my jaw function won't be destroyed by this procedure; that was the longest and most difficult part of recovery by far.
otherwise i'm doing well. i can open my mouth pretty wide, seems normal now, just kind of feels like a good stretch. eating really crunchy stuff like hard chips and nuts feels sort of weird, slightly unpleasant, but otherwise i can eat everything including chewy stuff. things are still sensitive in my mouth, i jabbed my gum with my toothbrush by accident and that was OW! also i can't use my electric toothbrush, it feels like a jackhammer.
still numb in my gums and one part of my chin, but i will take it. even if it's permanent, it doesn't really bother me and the aligned jaws is worth it!
i do have lip incompetence still, which is the fancy way of saying my lips aren't closing and meeting together properly. i think my top lip is the problem. to close my lips i have to strain the bottom lip up, which causes "pruney chin."
so that's my report for now! i'm glad that me showing my case to the online world is helping other people looking for info about their same problem!
i got a second infection in the same plate area.
the infected area didn't get super big and visibly swollen, but i could feel it growing and feeling the same way as last time. based on the previous infection i was able to recognize it much earlier than the first one when i was like, durrrrrr what's this swelling, i'll just wait and see, it will get better, i'm sure... :)
since i'm long-distance from my surgeons, i was able to communicate via phone and email and get some antibiotics which helped the infection go away. my surgeons are so helpful!!! it's really lucky for me because it could potentially be very difficult being so far away, but they are very responsive and willing to help me a lot.
so at this point, we're looking at the plates coming out. yes - a second surgery! in the process of scheduling it now and making plans.
i did some online research that indicated the plate removal can be as intense as the original surgery in terms of swelling and numbness, and even worse bruising. that seems kind of bizarre to me, because they're not doing nearly as much mucking around up in my face, just small incisions, grab the plates, in and out. so i'm hoping that is not true.
at the least, my jaw function won't be destroyed by this procedure; that was the longest and most difficult part of recovery by far.
otherwise i'm doing well. i can open my mouth pretty wide, seems normal now, just kind of feels like a good stretch. eating really crunchy stuff like hard chips and nuts feels sort of weird, slightly unpleasant, but otherwise i can eat everything including chewy stuff. things are still sensitive in my mouth, i jabbed my gum with my toothbrush by accident and that was OW! also i can't use my electric toothbrush, it feels like a jackhammer.
still numb in my gums and one part of my chin, but i will take it. even if it's permanent, it doesn't really bother me and the aligned jaws is worth it!
i do have lip incompetence still, which is the fancy way of saying my lips aren't closing and meeting together properly. i think my top lip is the problem. to close my lips i have to strain the bottom lip up, which causes "pruney chin."
so that's my report for now! i'm glad that me showing my case to the online world is helping other people looking for info about their same problem!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
pre/post
i'm three months minus three days post-op. already hit 12 weeks last friday.
i thought it would be good to post some proper before/after pics, and the main reason i'm doing this is because i see from comments and blog traffic data that some other people with asymmetry have been hitting this blog. these pics are certainly not flattering (neither the before nor after haha).
not long ago i was googling madly to try to find someone that had the same issue as me, to help me figure out what was wrong with my jaw and chin. i couldn't find anyone that had such left to right crooked-ness. it was kind of depressing, in that i thought i was a bit of a freak of nature. so maybe this will help somebody identify their own problem and a potential solution, and maybe also just help in knowing that they are not alone with their wonky jaw. :)
i actually had to ask my mom to return my "before" pics to me; i had sent them to her during my investigation phase because i wanted her to show my childhood dentist about the problem and ask whether he had noticed it getting worse. i deleted those pics off my hard drive and from my email promptly after i sent them. this shows how much i didn't like keeping evidence of myself at that angle.
luckily, the before/after comparison shows that my glasses are the only thing more crooked now. :D
i thought it would be good to post some proper before/after pics, and the main reason i'm doing this is because i see from comments and blog traffic data that some other people with asymmetry have been hitting this blog. these pics are certainly not flattering (neither the before nor after haha).
not long ago i was googling madly to try to find someone that had the same issue as me, to help me figure out what was wrong with my jaw and chin. i couldn't find anyone that had such left to right crooked-ness. it was kind of depressing, in that i thought i was a bit of a freak of nature. so maybe this will help somebody identify their own problem and a potential solution, and maybe also just help in knowing that they are not alone with their wonky jaw. :)
i actually had to ask my mom to return my "before" pics to me; i had sent them to her during my investigation phase because i wanted her to show my childhood dentist about the problem and ask whether he had noticed it getting worse. i deleted those pics off my hard drive and from my email promptly after i sent them. this shows how much i didn't like keeping evidence of myself at that angle.
luckily, the before/after comparison shows that my glasses are the only thing more crooked now. :D
 |
| insanely invasive surgery worked for me! |
Saturday, December 31, 2011
reflection
i am very glad i had this surgery.
two months out, i don't regret the stress or suffering a darn-tootin' second! (despite all my boo-hooing on this blog.)
it is so wonderful to have my bite be straight and to have my teeth touch down nice and even on both sides. it used to be clamping hard-pressure on one side and gaping nothingness on the other side. this is hard to describe poetically. it's fantastic, but not something you would appreciate or notice unless you were inside my head or had dental training. :D
also i am quite happy to not have my jaw slope down a lot on the one side; it makes me feel less self-conscious. over the past years, i developed the habit of cracking my knuckles up against the lower side - which actually started with me trying to "push up" the jaw and bring the open bite together. now i'm trying to rid myself of that pointless behavior, but when i do it, i am pleased not to feel a chin bump anymore.
i'm eating more and more like a normal person. i was a bit overzealous and indulged in a massive amount of chewy bread last night and am paying for it with sore joints today. but, am really getting there back to regular old existence.
i should be doing some firm massaging to loosen up where my chin and my bottom lip meet and the place where my top lip and my upper gum line meet (the scar tissue at the suture site is tight which restricts my lip closure). i'm also supposed to do some stretches to make my mouth open wider. the places where my jaw was broken have begun to re-fuse together and will continue to grow stronger, but i will remain blingy with my metal plateing unless i develop more infection.
it's so crazy to think about what all happened to my lower skull....
this year i had some big changes, namely a move across the country to a place where i didn't know a soul, a new job requiring a lot of skill set development, and of course this major facial surgery.
i an extremely appreciative that i had the means and support to make it all happen. these changes will improve my life for the rest of my days!
happy new year everyone!
two months out, i don't regret the stress or suffering a darn-tootin' second! (despite all my boo-hooing on this blog.)
it is so wonderful to have my bite be straight and to have my teeth touch down nice and even on both sides. it used to be clamping hard-pressure on one side and gaping nothingness on the other side. this is hard to describe poetically. it's fantastic, but not something you would appreciate or notice unless you were inside my head or had dental training. :D
also i am quite happy to not have my jaw slope down a lot on the one side; it makes me feel less self-conscious. over the past years, i developed the habit of cracking my knuckles up against the lower side - which actually started with me trying to "push up" the jaw and bring the open bite together. now i'm trying to rid myself of that pointless behavior, but when i do it, i am pleased not to feel a chin bump anymore.
i'm eating more and more like a normal person. i was a bit overzealous and indulged in a massive amount of chewy bread last night and am paying for it with sore joints today. but, am really getting there back to regular old existence.
i should be doing some firm massaging to loosen up where my chin and my bottom lip meet and the place where my top lip and my upper gum line meet (the scar tissue at the suture site is tight which restricts my lip closure). i'm also supposed to do some stretches to make my mouth open wider. the places where my jaw was broken have begun to re-fuse together and will continue to grow stronger, but i will remain blingy with my metal plateing unless i develop more infection.
it's so crazy to think about what all happened to my lower skull....
this year i had some big changes, namely a move across the country to a place where i didn't know a soul, a new job requiring a lot of skill set development, and of course this major facial surgery.
i an extremely appreciative that i had the means and support to make it all happen. these changes will improve my life for the rest of my days!
happy new year everyone!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
eight weeks!
today marks eight weeks from my surgery. thank goodness i'm feeling great now! i'm starting to actually officially chew my soft foods with my actual official teeth - and even chomping some christmas chocolate. :) also i can brush all the planes of my teeth with a normal size toothbrush. you know how my joint pain was bad on the one (left) side, well interestingly now its the other (right) side that hurts when i open my mouth too wide. perhaps it's a no pain no gain situation.
slowly but surely i'm definitely getting closer to normal. it's so slow that i sometimes think i'm stagnating, but then i realize there is steady snail-pace improvement. yes yes y'all.
still definitely a ways to go. i tried to eat veggie chili with a lot of beans in it but the beans were too tough and big for me to handle. also i ate some cold tofu salad and then like 12 hours later dislodged a whole piece of tofu that was hiding in back of my mouth. i was like WHAT IS THIS? i guess i don't have all my sensations inside my mouth back yet either. still numb in the one part of my lip and chin, and my upper gums.
my spirits are gay, tis the season. :D
slowly but surely i'm definitely getting closer to normal. it's so slow that i sometimes think i'm stagnating, but then i realize there is steady snail-pace improvement. yes yes y'all.
still definitely a ways to go. i tried to eat veggie chili with a lot of beans in it but the beans were too tough and big for me to handle. also i ate some cold tofu salad and then like 12 hours later dislodged a whole piece of tofu that was hiding in back of my mouth. i was like WHAT IS THIS? i guess i don't have all my sensations inside my mouth back yet either. still numb in the one part of my lip and chin, and my upper gums.
my spirits are gay, tis the season. :D
Friday, December 16, 2011
the fame monster
so i was looking at the stats for this blog and saw people are getting directed here from google images. my warped countenance is now found under keywords "crooked jaw" AND "swelling of jaw rejection of metal plate." (who the heck googles for pictures of that latter term? only me, lmao!) my ticket to stardom is finally here. i shall be immortalized as CROOKED JAW GIRL!
long time no post
to any faithful blog readers, i know i left you high and dry for a while. today is seven weeks post-op!
in the past 10 days i basically did not feel like writing. so i didn't. this was my selfish vehicle to start with so i can selfishly not write too. :P
but, here i am, alive, and much closer to well!
during my absence, i have been struggling with my infection, fighting those pirates hard. but the past two days i've been really feeling better. my writer's block has ended and i am optimistic that recovery waters are SMOOTH from here on out!
i'm eating soft food regularly, which is very enjoyable. mostly the same things, oatmeal, mashed potatoes, eggs, and pasta. AND milkshakes. not the healthiest, but hey it's temporary. counter intuitively, i am noticing more weight loss on my soft food diet than the liquid. i theorize this is because i eat the soft food kind of slow and deliberately cause my jaw is lame. thus don't end up consuming so many calories as drinking stuff, which is easier going down the hatch. i just can't take the ensure and soup anymore!
feedback indicates i'm looking much better in the face. and i agree. took this last friday (six weeks post-op). it's blurry but gives you an idea.
in the past 10 days i basically did not feel like writing. so i didn't. this was my selfish vehicle to start with so i can selfishly not write too. :P
but, here i am, alive, and much closer to well!
during my absence, i have been struggling with my infection, fighting those pirates hard. but the past two days i've been really feeling better. my writer's block has ended and i am optimistic that recovery waters are SMOOTH from here on out!
i'm eating soft food regularly, which is very enjoyable. mostly the same things, oatmeal, mashed potatoes, eggs, and pasta. AND milkshakes. not the healthiest, but hey it's temporary. counter intuitively, i am noticing more weight loss on my soft food diet than the liquid. i theorize this is because i eat the soft food kind of slow and deliberately cause my jaw is lame. thus don't end up consuming so many calories as drinking stuff, which is easier going down the hatch. i just can't take the ensure and soup anymore!
feedback indicates i'm looking much better in the face. and i agree. took this last friday (six weeks post-op). it's blurry but gives you an idea.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
pho attempt
still run down fighting my infection but i'm gonna kick its butt soon! i better anyway. what we hope to avoid is having the metal thing become 'colonized' with bacteria, which means it gets so saturated with infection that it creates a protein force field that makes it immune to antibiotic intervention. (clearly that is my loose paraphrasing of what the surgeon said. i picture the bacteria as pirates taking over the metal ship.) presently, i have to keep the incision made on friday open, so it can keep draining, by sticking a pointy syringe in it and irrigating it with this medicated mouthwash i have. blurgh! :P
Saturday, December 3, 2011
some screws loose
screw removal was far easier that i was fearing. i did get local anesthetic so that was a big relief. all i felt was a little sensation of movement, no pain. and of course there was not blood streaming out of the wounds like i thought haha. the inside part of the screw is actually much shorter and thinner in diameter than I had anticipated from the outside part so the wounds aren't too big. evidence exhibit A:
yea, sorry a bit gross, those are my actual screws with little bits of me on them. so screw removal was all fine and dandy, but the swelling on the side of my face had continued to get bigger in the last day and it was clear there was something going on. it was actually perfect timing that i had this appointment. because it turns out i do have an infection.
although the first suspicion of infection was in the left joint where i had the severe pain, the infection is around the metal plate that is holding the two parts of my lower jaw together on the right side. in the worst case, i will have to get my hardware removed once my bone re-fuses together. apparently sometimes peoples' bodies just are like, "heck no i do not accept this metal as part of me." i am in the lucky 4-5% who get such rejection-infection.
so i also had another procedure where my surgeon cut the inside of my mouth at the infection site (with local) and forced some of the pus out. holy schneikies that hurt so much. it was agonizing cause he kept pushing on the swelling from the outside with his hand pretty hard and it was so tender (couldn't anesthetize that). but obviously it had to be done and my swelling is a lot better. i asked the nurse how much pus they removed and the official measurement is "a lot." this is a pic of me post-procedure.
now i'm on antibiotics and will go back again on monday for follow-up. i hope my body will surrender to the metal without more fight. the thing i'm happy about today: i slept last night sans rubberbands (obviously as i no longer have screws) and i woke up with only mild pain in my left joint as compared to that crazy searing pain i've experienced on the other attempts. woooooo!!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
my crooked jaw again
mac&cheese maverick
three items of interest (to me anyway)
1) tonight i experimented and made some specialty kraft mac and cheese - parmesan alfredo flavor. my back up plan was to blend it up with some milk to drink but i had another idea in mind: tasting some solid food! i was able slide in one or two macaroni pieces between my teeth at a time, mash it with my tongue against the roof of my mouth, and then swallow. it was absolutely fantastic tasting and my stomach was very happy. technically i should be on a liquid diet through december 9 (6 weeks from surgery) but the reason for the liquid diet is to keep me from chewing and overusing the jaw. so i think it is ok i cheated because i wasn't chewing. :)
2) i was doing my over-curious googling again and found that the procedure to remove my screws is done without anesthesia (no general nor local) and using a SCREWDRIVER. whattttttt. nasty nasty. i will endure this barbaric act on friday.
3) in better spirits and in less pain today. if you sent me positive vibes, it must have worked!
1) tonight i experimented and made some specialty kraft mac and cheese - parmesan alfredo flavor. my back up plan was to blend it up with some milk to drink but i had another idea in mind: tasting some solid food! i was able slide in one or two macaroni pieces between my teeth at a time, mash it with my tongue against the roof of my mouth, and then swallow. it was absolutely fantastic tasting and my stomach was very happy. technically i should be on a liquid diet through december 9 (6 weeks from surgery) but the reason for the liquid diet is to keep me from chewing and overusing the jaw. so i think it is ok i cheated because i wasn't chewing. :)
2) i was doing my over-curious googling again and found that the procedure to remove my screws is done without anesthesia (no general nor local) and using a SCREWDRIVER. whattttttt. nasty nasty. i will endure this barbaric act on friday.
3) in better spirits and in less pain today. if you sent me positive vibes, it must have worked!
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