1 month!

So it's been a month since my surgery and it's clichéd but time has flown by! I cannot emphasise enough to anyone considering double jaw surgery, do it! It has improved every aspect of my life. I have better self-esteem/general confidence, I breathe much more easily through both my nose and mouth - this has also improved my sense of smell & my jaw's new position puts less stress on my face and teeth (which used to grind.) I was lucky in that my bottom jaw suffered no nerve damage so I have full feeling in my chin/bottom lip/lower face. I have almost all feeling/sensation back in my nose, I can feel both sides of my face and only have a very small area of numbness in the upper left corner of my lips (which causes 0 problems as I hardly notice!). 

Currently I'm eating almost a normal diet; I'm trying to chew a little bit to make sure I exercise my jaw if not a little bit. I tend to cut all my chewy-ish meals into smaller, easier bites and if it aches at all I stop. This system seems to be working well as I was concerned about my weight loss/energy levels.

My advice immediately post-surgery

• Try to drink as much water/fruit juice as possible. Whilst milkshakes are fab and everything, too much of them will upset your digestive system and drinking as much as possible will lower your swelling.

• Sleep with one more pillow than usual; raising your head above your body is vital to make sure blood doesn't rush to your head and worsen swelling.

• I was sent home with only prescription paracetamol. If your painkillers are not sufficient, contact your NHS dentist. They will prescribe you something stronger and you avoid the mess that is A&E. (I had dyhydrocodeine which was enough.)

• Try to wean yourself naturally off of your painkillers after a week or so of recovery. Relying on them is unhealthy and your swelling will peak after 2/3 days and then improve anyway.

• Experiment with ice/heat packs every half an hour or so - it will lessen the pain externally too and is quite soothing.

• Know your limits the first couple of weeks after your op. Trust me, I wanted to go for walks and exploreeee and I had zero energy to do so. You lose a lot of blood during surgery and consequently it will take about a month- 6 weeks to get back to normal. I went to school 6 days after my op to do a Photography exam, but I was lucky in that I managed. (Naps were very common the first 2 weeks.)

• Invest in an irrigator to clean your teeth. When brushing (which you should as much as you can to avoid infection) using a hand held irrigator is super helfpul to remove debris from your meals. 

• I would buy a lot of comfy pyjamas to laze about in, you'll feel so much better.

• Showers are going to make you feel 100 times better.

• You may find that blood clots in your nose after surgery. It is so important that you don't blow your nose for at leaaast 2 weeks or so postop (and even then don't over do it in case you burst a blood vessel). It is possible to clean the clots out with cotton buds and warm water or saline spray to ease your breathing.

{this is my own personal advice and should be consolidated medically}

UPDATE PHOTOSSS

(My bottom lip still appears more prominent as my braces have been rubbing!)

 

3 weeks, almost 4!

Here's just a few update photographs and comparisons!

I've been continuing to eat what I can and soup of course! Luckily working in a café means I'm getting access to a lot of wonderful soup for lunches! So far the swelling has gone down significantly and I'm receiving a lot of positivity about my appearance! I can just about fit two fingers in between my jaw, unstrained - which I'm pleased with :-) Also, the new peach smoothies at McDonalds are amaaaazinggg!

Side profile recently! (A wee bit swollen due to sore cheeks from braces rubbing, also a bit tireddd)

Relaxed smile before, and after (I can't even remember it being like before but happy noww)

Bite before and after!

2 weeks! (Well just over!)

It's been just over two weeks since the op, and time has flown by!

Currently eating a diet of mainly soups, soft pasta/rice/potato dishes, brioche/soft bread and juice. Last week we realised I'd lost half a stone in the space of about 6 days, so I've been trying to ensure I maintain a steady (inevitable) weight loss that doesn't get too silly when I have days I don't feel like eating. I've managed to wean myself down to only occasionally taking paracetamol which seems to be working well! Last week I managed to go out with my school's art department for a curry to celebrate our final exams and managed to eat some rice and sauce (which was beautifulll.) I've generally attempted to slowly build in more walking, and interacting that I would do on a normal weekly basis. I had my second orthodontic and first maxillofacial post-op yesterday and they are impressed with how well my swelling has gone down and how well I'm generally doing! I'm continuing to wear elastics at my front hooks to align my front teeth more but this isn't a major thing and shouldn't take long! I have another check up for this on June 5th! I would have liked to update more but it's almost exam season so revision is mental at the moment, I will be recovering more after June 18th! 

Here is a comparison of before surgery, and 2 weeks after!

Elastics when I got them about a weeek ago!

Day 6!

I'm almost off my painkillers which I'm feeling fab about!

Went to school today for my first day of my photography exam, felt so lovely to see everyone and the swelling has gone down a fair bit, it's mainly old (green) bruises that remain.

I think my appetite is slowly returning, I'm managing to eat but very small portions still.

I had a glass of cranberry and a vanilla yoghurt for breakfast, I managed to get through half a tuna sweetcorn pasta pot from co op over break and lunch! It was quite hard to chew sweetcorn but I managed the pasta/tuna pretty well! I also had a chocolate milkshake that cheered me up as I couldn't eat biscuits like everyone else :-) 

Starting to feel better/more positive now my life is starting to seem a little bit more "normal." Although I think 5 hours of being up and about was enough because I almost crasheddd when I got into my bed! (Oooh also had a mocha earlier which was beautiful :-) )

Swelling update! (Bruises are more prominent than this but I was having a happy vain moment!)

Progress!

Currently I'm very happy with how it's all going!

It's.... Day 5, more or less! (I'm no good with countdowns) and swelling is much less prominent/uncomfortable. I've been alternating ice packs and heat to allow it to go down, on top of taking my painkillers and anti-sickness tablets - which are helpful to get to sleep, but not in the middle of the day! But sleeping has gotten easier, and I now sleep through the whole night no problem! :-) I've also been managing to do all personal aspects of my life on my own: showers, brushing my teeth, eating and combing my hair!

Showers: I would recommend having at least one a day, not just for hygiene purposes but it warms your face up, and makes you feel much more fresh and awake! Try not to over do the length of them - personally I have A LOT of curly hair, so this morning I sat down in my shower in order to comb it fully. (Baths I would say are nicer in order to relax and go to sleep.)

Brushing teeth: I'm currently using a chlorahexadine mouthwash that the hospital prescribed me, but it can be bought from most supermarkets (corsadyl.) I'm also using a baby teeth tooth brush, as it is much smaller than regular ones. Again, this not only prevents infections, but will help you to recover quicker by keeping your mouth clean and help reduce swelling!

I'm about to attempt to go out wit my Mum for some fresh air as I hateeee being stuck indoors, hopefully it'll give me an appetite as well! 

This morning I've had a small vanilla yoghurt, some water, and some orange juice.

Here is a two day comparison in swelling!

It happened! Day 4

I went in to hospital on Tuesday morning (6th May) at 7am for my surgery. I met with my anaesthesiologist and my surgeon/registrar. Everything was fairly lovely and I was just asked a lot of the same medical questions before walking to theatre at about 8:30am. I don't remember much of being put under, until I woke up at 2pm. The surgery had gone really well, I woke up without any elastics or splint and feeling pretty positive. I had my parents, my boyfriend and his friend visit me that afternoon; and my doctors seem to think I have been recovering amazingly well. As per the normal routine, I had to stay overnight. I had two drains/tubes on either side of my neck to drain the blood from my mouth. These were fine, except being a bit of a pain when it came to going to the loo. Which news flash, I didn't realise how much I'd need to go that first night with the amount of IV fluids they pump into you. The first night I would say is the worst in terms of nausea. This surgery is quite invasive and as a consequence you swallow quite a lot of blood, which naturally the body wants out of your system. I had to call nurses to throw up 7 times that first night, and got very little sleep. The second morning my surgeon and the maxillofacial team came round to see how I was doing and decided I had to stay another night :-( At this point I was very upset because I just wanted to go home/a change of scenery. I was on 2 paracetamol, an anti inflammatory, antibiotics, and occasionally anti-sickness tablets/oral morphine when paracetamol didn't cut it. When I finally got to go home Thursday morning I was very relieved. I still felt a lot of pain, my drains had been taken out which was a bit uncomfortable and my swelling had pretty much peaked. The good news is that during surgery, my nerves in my lower jaw were completely hidden and so I have all the feeling in my lower lip/chin! Which usually isn't the case! However I have little feeling/sensation especially in the right side of my face. Since coming home I have been very sore, I have mainly been using ice packs to numb my pain and the meds they gave me. Although I ate quite a lot the first few days in hospital, my appetite has pretty much diminished now. This only concerns me because I don't want to lose weight, and it may upset my tummy. Yesterday I didn't want breakfast in the hospital, at home I had a small bowl of baked beans, some jelly/icecream at lunch, and a small bowl of mushroom risotto at dinner. When I say small portions, I mean SMALL. I've been using a tea spoon to eat and cups that toddlers tend to use. I don't have much suction yet, but my doctors are impressed I've already been managing a soft diet. Also, frozen smoothie pops are AMAZING. I'm hoping I get an appetite again later because currently my stomach is quite sore. 

Pain: 7/10

Discomfort: 8/10

Swelling: 9/10

And it gets worseee

Received a letter this morning detailing that my surgical admission has been cancelled.
They have had to prioritize another surgery, which is absolutely valid. However, naturally I am very upset.
I'm hoping to hear from a consultant about rearranging for next week sometime, but it is most likely going to be 6th May. Trying to stay positive.