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

insanely invasive surgery worked for me!

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!

recent me

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

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.

pho attempt

well, i basically only ate the broth with a few noodles, but it was still excellent.  in addition, i've managed to eat the following since i first broke the seal with that mac and cheese: over-easy eggs, pancakes, mashed potatoes, cheese omelet, more mashed potatoes, oatmeal.  so awesome.  bring on the weight regain - i heart food!

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