4 more sleeps!

Christmas is almost here! yay!
In jaw news......so I had my ortho. appt. earlier this month and everything looks great, he said just a few more tweaking and straigtening left, probably won't get the braces off next appt. but the one after. Eh so I was a little bummed because normally my appts. are 8 weeks apart...another 4 months of braces for just tweaking? but then when I went to the receptionist she said he wanted to see me early January! so according to my calculations my appt. after that will be early February....so maybe just maybe I'll be metal free!
I also had an appt. with my surgeon last week who I haven't seen in about 4months! I took an x-ray, he said everything looks great! Then when he saw my teeth he said, "when are you gonna get those things off?" I told him about my eye and how it still doesn't raise etc. and he said it's because of the incision he made, it stretches the skin when he sewed it back up, so bascially that pulled the skin from my eye/forehead area and made it all crazy. So he referred me to a physical therapist so get my face moving properly. That should be an interesting appt. blinking excersises? My next appt. with my surgeon is in 6 months! so things are going well :) Have a great holiday everybody!!!

oh yea...I also had a teeth cleaning yesterday, which I was nervous about because when I brush my teeth my top four front teeth are really sensitive, but surprisingly I didn't feel anything when she was cleaning and scraping because they are numb. weird!

Twitching EYE!

So it's been a while, I know I know. Nothing really exciting has happend! I have my next ortho appt. on Dec. 1st....so hopefully he can give me an estimate of when I am getting this metal off! I'm used to it now, but I'd really love to brush my teeth...thouroughly....ya know? Otherwise, these braces are just another part of me, I've grown to love them...something like that. Dec. 8th is actually my 1 year mark of having braces! crazzzzy! I have my next surgeon appt. on Dec. 17th, I haven't been to him in like 4 months! So I'm excited to see what he has to say etc. I'm trying to get a picture of my ct-scan up here somehow so you can see all my plates, but they don't have digital...whatever they need to put it on a cd, I asked and they can't...so I don't know if I can scan and ct-scan on the computer? seems dangerous. and I haven't been putting up pictures...obviously....I'm sorry! My skin has just been out of control, I don't know if it's just random or it's linked to the surgery...that's what I'm leaning towards, but I've been to the dermatologist and got some meds so hopefully they work!
As far as progress....um my right eye still doesn't go up! but it hasn't even been 6 months....geeze it feels like forever ago I had this surgery. But currently I feel it kind of twitching..or pulsating randomly....maybe it's the nerves trying to reconnect?
I'm still a little puffy, and the front of my top teeth are still sensitive and numb in some parts. The right side of my face also has numbness still. Other than that, I can eat almost everything, even though some things I eat are still hard/awkward to eat I still eat it....I haven't mastered almonds yet. and I don't have an easy time tearing food with my front teeth, so most of the time I have to use a fork! That's all I have to report for now....Have a great Holiday Everyone!
and Happy Birthday Michele! :)

so people are really reading this!! :)

OK OK OK........so it's been .... 15 weeks and 2 days! I had my first ortho appt. since surgery last Monday! I got new wires upper and lower. My mouth doesn't look as crowded anymore because I had surgical in between each bracket..but with the new wires they are all gone! So the ortho. said I was looking really good, and as far as my teeth straightness he said good but not great, and he doesn't like taking braces off of people who had surgery before 6 months post surgery. So technically...I could have these braces off by January! but I'm not getting my hopes up, can't you tell? I'm down to 2 rubberbands now, 1 on each side, I was wearing 5 before. My next appt. with him is early Dec. and with my oral surgeon is mid Dec.

so omg! how am I doing?!?

My right eyebrow still won't raise up! wahh. I still have swelling on the right side and nose area..and still have some numb spots. I'm not in any pain, but a lot of times when I wake up I can feel the swollen-ness of my face because it's been smashed in a pillow all night.

I have been eating A LOT and I started eating veggie's! Like green pepper and cucumbers, harder veggie's like that, I just have to cut them up small and use a fork. It's not the easiest to chew, but I try and usually succeed!

My upper teeth are still sensisitve when I brush, so I just squint my eyes real tight and think of how great I'll feel when it's over and the sensation is gone!

So I feel fine, pretty much used to the numb/swelling feeling in my face. The hair/sideburn is growing back slowly but surely! My incision feels funny, like if I'm laying on the side of my face and it pulls, it makes me feel a little nauseous! as if it might rip open or something? but that's healing nicely, no one ever notices it, unless I point it out, then it's like an amazing discovery.

so yay I'm still alive! and eating :)

thanks for everyone's continued support! here is a semi-recent picture of me and my cutie nephew!

eh not so bad?

Also...I tried to do an e-mail update on my mom's ankle surgery but it wasn't going through, so here it is....She was done with surgery about 1. Then went to the recovery room at 2 and is now in her room. She got there at 3:30 yesterday. Dr. said things went well and look good. She will be able to move her ankle and shouldn't be in pain after she is healed. Rach said she is awake nauseous and can talk.
Luckily...she doesn't eat through her ankle...so her diet will be better than mine was post surgery.

What I'm looking like these days!

Hey everyone! 10-weeks post surgery!! So I've been slacking on the picture taking because A. I don't have a camera besides my phone and B. I'm not loving myself in pictures...o well, I'll show you anyways!



Right side:
So this is my incision side, you can't see it, but I have a subtle line along the front of my ear. My sideburn is growing back! (shaved during surgery). Still a little puffy and numb on this side.

Left side:

This side...not as puffy, not as numb, looks pretty normal, side burn still in tact.

The front:

This is a little scary and why I don't like taking pictures! Holy bags under my eyes, I haven't even noticed that since I've been wearing my glasses ever since surgery. But as you can see my mouth is straight! My chin is a little off to the side, but that's just how it's going to be...I'm okay with that. I still can't raise my right eyebrow, you can kinda see that in the picture. My smile is still coming along since the right side isn't all there yet. and still very numb above my top lip/under my nose.

My upper teeth are super sensitive, when I brush them it's super uncomfortable..like this tickling weird sensation. So I brush the bottom teeth with my electric toothbrush (I find that works better with my braces) and a baby toothbrush for my top teeth. My jaw doesn't really hurt its more my mouth, esp. the top since that part was taken off and put back on. If you ever put snorkle gear on, like the mouth piece part, and you know how the top pushes on the top part of your gums? Thats how my mouth always feels, it doesn't bother me I just notice it. My gums/teeth are pretty sore though, I think it's because of my rubberbands constantly pulling my teeth together when I open, for talking or eating - and chewing is probably a factor. Speaking of chewing I ate grapes yesterday for the first time, a little hard to break through the out skin but I did it. I'm trying new things as much as I can to see if I can tolerate it, I'm doing pretty well- just staying away from chips, crackers, hard bread, pretzels, nuts...stuff like that.

I've been going to Dunkin' Donuts every morning for like 3 weeks to get a medium skim latte, because supposedly it's a "filler food" and I need all the full feeling I can get. The scary thing is...I'm a regular now, so they know my drink when I come! I wish they had some kind of preferred card.

Next appt. scheduled for Oct. 4th with my orthodontist. and Decemeber 17th with my oral surgeon. I might go in sooner since my left side is bothering me a little :( maybe I need a rubberband adjustment?

TTYL :)

Busy as a B!

So my rubberbands tend to break in my mouth mid conversation a lot! awkward.

Food update:
Still on soft foods, chewing is still awkward.
I ate pita bread and hummus the other day, and the next day...boy was my face sore...too tough for me! boo.
I ate some mixed veggies tho, cooked of course.
I eat pb&j uncrustables and yogurt pretty much everyday.
I can eat watermelon!
sorry I haven't taken a picture for this post but I have been super busy! I started school this week so that's has been crazy AND coolest news ever.....

Rachele and I have become Representatives for Avon & mark. So I've been busy with the business!
If you are interested in Avon & mark. products...you probably have received an e-mail from us, but if not......you can e-mail us at BaileyBizRL@gmail.com for any questions, comments, orders, request a catalog, if you want to become a Rep. too! anything you want. We also have an eStore: www.youravon.com/laurenbailey we are trying to get Rachele's name on the page too, but Avon is weird like that if you sign up with another person under 1 acct. 1 has to be the primary and then their name goes on everything, but we are working on getting Rachele's name too to avoid confusion. So yea, Rachele and Lauren are working TOGETHER. and lastly, we made a facebook page...so please check it out and "like" it. here is the link:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/BaileyBiz-Avon-mark/145240158843072

Thanks so much for continuing to read my blog! and I just want to say thanks to our Avon & mark. supporters so far! You guys are great :)

Food!

guess what I ate yesterday???

Grilled Cheese - sans crust (too hard) :) (that girl looks kinda creepy) I also had little fat potato fries. I still had to fork and knife everything and make it small, but I was able to eat it! half chewing half ...I don't know just doing what I can to swallow it. My teeth feel very awkward when they come together. I was wearing my rubberbands while eating so that might've been why. I'm scared to take them out and chew...eeks! I don't want my jaw to fall off!

I survived my first week back at work!

6 week anniversary tomorrow, by the way!

So last Monday I started the 9-5 once again, not too bad....just tired for the most part, not used to waking up so early. I had a bout of some intense nausea last Tuesday morning, I think it was because of a mixture of eating a lot of dairy the night before (strawberry shake, yogurt), steamy shower in the morning, and not enough sleep. Lately, in the morning I still feel a bit nauseas, nothing serious but just enough to be annoying, so I take showers at night now, and I'm starting to eat a bit more since I wake up earlier and am awake for longer, so I think I'm "eating" too much (which is not a lot) which makes my tummy hurt!

This is my face as of last Friday....

Yea...kinda dark...I'm working with a camera phone though, so bare with me. I'll post more pics of my progress weekly with a real camera now that I don't have to go back to my oral surgeon for 4 (yes, FOUR) MONTHS! crazy right? wait...I'm getting ahead of my appts. here, so yesterday was the first time since I've seen my orthodontist since my surgery...bascially I was there for 10 min. all he did was add another rubberband in a triangular form (one rubberband attached to one hook on top and two hooks on the bottom) on the right side. He liked how my mouth was looking, we chatted for a few and I was on my merry way. He said he didn't want to tighten or make any adjustments because my bones are still healing etc. and that would just add more discomfort...and I was fine with that! So when I see him in Oct. he will start working his magic.

Today I had an appt. with my oral surgeon who I haven't seen for 2.5 weeks now (the longest I've gone w/out seeing my grampy surgeon) I showed him my newly added rubberband and he said that's fine, and my ortho would be taking care of my rubberbands and adjustments from here on out. I did a couple of open and bites, he thought things also looked well. He then asked me how my chewing was coming...and I was all like "what chewing?!? I'm starving..scrambled eggs everyday is not cutting it!" (p.s. as of this morning I am 153 lbs, according to my calculations that is a loss of 14.5 lbs in 6 weeks) so anyways, he's all like I want you to start chewing soft foods now and in 3-4 weeks start getting into the other foods. **ahhhhhh** (angel voices) so that's pretty great news..well kind of...so now I'm thinking well what should I eat? what is soft? .....pasta.....I'm already eating pasta...now I get to chew it instead of swallow it. So then my excitement went down a bit, but I just thought how this is good for my muscles...it's steps to chewing the real deal :) but THEN my excitement went up again because I was like heyyyy..french toast is soft! which lead me to think of grilled cheese, which lead me to think of pizza bread.....so I'm all about the carbs for now, basically..actually I've been that way..everything I have been eating has a lot of carbs in it....baby food is a big one. so that's my great news :) yayyy food! I had an uncrustable pb&j today...I'm able to eat that with out chewing, so toward the end I tried to chew it...very weird...something to get used to for sure. It will probably be easier without rubberbands in, but I was at my desk at work...I didn't want to make a big fuss over something I could eat without chewing it, and I have no idea how good of a chewer I am, I don't want to look like a cave woman who just discovered....well...semi-solid food! So after some practice, and assurance that I won't choke, I'll start chewing in public.

and then the doc. said, as I was saying before, "I'll see you in 4 months" so December is my next check up...kinda cool, that means things are really going well!

hmm...what else....
-the oil on my face has decreased in production. awesome.
-I've been off meds for about 2 weeks now. trooper.
-I bought every flavor of yoplait yogurt from those commercials that are all like mmmm boston creme pie etc. so I try a new one every day....red velvet cake, apple turnover, white chocolate strawberry are winners.
-the right side of my face....still ehhhh numb and stiff.
-still a bit swollen....obviously.
-everytime I go to the surgeons office, there is always a different tech. person, and they all think I'm under 18. (I'm 23) I was even carded to cash my winning scratch off lottery tickets.
-I made my own oreo pie, at Jewel they have Oreo pie crust and Oreo Jello....Bakers Square Oreo pie takes the cake.....or the pie...hehe.

that is all for now :)

How much longer?

only a few more weeks?....these are questions I'm hearing quite often, and I'm not even sure what the specific question is. I'm still a bit swollen which could take 6 months to a year to completely go away. I'm still pretty numb, esp. on my upper lip area right under my nose, because that is where 4/5 plates are, I'm also numb on the roof of my mouth, but only in the front part - like that little area right before the roof sort of caves in. and I'm still really numb on my right side, it's numb but sensitive, it's sore to the touch. My incision is looking pretty good, feels weird sometimes though, like if I move my face a certain way I can feel it, like it might rip apart if I continued with the face motion...yeeks. Anywho...the numbness can last for up to a year too, everyone is different. I hope it doesn't take that long, but I'm not going to really worry about it until 7/7/11. My right eye is pretty amusing though, I can't wink with it, still can't raise the eyebrow, that's why I've been wearing my glasses instead of contacts all the time because sometime it looks lazy or something (sloth-like), and it randomly gets puffy, it feels like a bruise around it, but numb at the same time. I was trying to put on eye shadow the other day for the first time since surgery and normally I can just shut one eye and apply the shadow, but since I can't close my right eye and keep my left open I literally had to hold the eye lid down. As far as my rubberbands, I have no idea how long I'll have them on, I've never used them before I had surgery, but I know people with braces do wear rubberbands to correct whatever needs to be corrected so I could be wearing them as long as I have my braces.



I had a doc. appt. last Friday. Everything is still looking good. When I bite I touch on the right side first, so he moved my rubberbands around, 3 on the left and 1 of the front/right, to even out the bite. Oh and I asked about my oily face, I was hoping it was a normal symptom...uh no, the only thing he said was maybe it's from the medicine. So hopefully that's it. He also gave me the OK to drink from a straw! sooo much more convenient than a syringe! but still no chewing. I'm not sure when I will be able to, I'm just taking it 1 appt. at a time..and my next one is Aug. 17th. I also have an my first orthodontist appt. since my surgery the day before that. I'm a little nervous, I hope if they tighten my braces it doesn't bother me too much. So to answer the question.......I have no idea how long, ask me in a year :)



Since my rubberbands are more bunched together I'm able to open my mouth a little wider, which has been cause for my rubberbands to snap in my mouth! It doesn't hurt it's more of a surprise, hopefully I don't swallow one. I SNEEZED for the first time since my surgery on Saturday! Wasn't bad at all, it was actually less intense of a sneeze than I normally sneezed. I've sneeze 7x since that day too, getting back to my old self by the day! I also drove my car, didn't forget how to do that! It's been an eventful weekend!

yummy!! (minus the brain freeze)

Happy Monday

So Friday I went to the doc. and I laid back in the chair and he said, as his hands are on my mouth, "open, bite. open, bite.....dynamite!" ha! he was pretty excited to see my bite coming along nicely. It was a short visit, he said everything looked great, he kept my rubberbands where they were and he said I could go 1 whole week till I see him again..which is pretty cool because this will be the longest amount of time without seeing him.



good news: I can eat cheese ravioli! -cut up really tiny of course but yay!



I went to Woodfield with my sisters on Saturday...my first big outing...I was pretty excited! I had jamba juice through my syringe in the Nordstrom shoe dept. Then we ate at PF. Changs...which wasn't really great for me because there wasn't anything on the menu I could eat besides the dessert..which was delish! There were 2 women sitting near us and very obviously kept looking at me, like one of the girls had to turn around to catch a glimpse of the zoo animal! It was really weird..I was obviously drinking water from my syringe..but that was it..I eat fairly normal..and I'm a little swelling, but I could just have a fat face ya know? I mean they were not skinny at all...it was just rude, my sisters were getting upset. Even when they left I made eye contact with her for 5 sec. like wtf?! do you want?!? ask a question, take a picture then ... yeesh!

So my face is still super oily...so gross! I don't know if this is normal or what..I really need to ask my doc. about this. I feel like Tim Allen in "The Santa Clause" when he shaves his full beard and it grows back in 2 sec. I'll wash my face, do a mask, then astringent...5 min. later my entire face is oil, like I poured cooking oil all over my face, I wipe it off, it comes back.....really annoying! Maybe those ladies staring at me could see their reflection in my face, hence the constant stares?

Nichole went to the zoo today and sent me this picture...

I really am a zoo animal!

2 weeks post op!

It's been 2 weeks and this is my face! It shows up well in photo's but I still have noticeable swelling in real life and am anticipating I will for a while. I'm still numb and my right side is still more numb than my left. Yesterday I had my doc. appt. and where it was all good news! I was worried because last Friday at the doc. he said since my bite wasn't lining up he thought he would have to do another surgery - to adjust the plate that is to the left of my chin and add a plate to the right side of my chin because my jaw was further back than it was supposed to. So I had my second surgery scheduled for tomorrow, but thankfully my rubberbands (aka my physical therapy) have been really working and improved my bite! My doc. was really excited and said I'm not "home free" yet, but he doesn't want to do the second surgery because the bands are obviously working, so hopefully they continue to work and everything will be all good :) So he repositioned my bands, I have 5 and they are all in the front of my mouth, so when I eat I have to take some out and I have to changed all of them every 2 days, but I go back to the doc. on Friday so I'm sure he will change them around again.

and this is currently my smile...and me raising both my eyebrows...poor right side. Kathy came over today and brought me a slice of oreo pie! :) love it!

So it's been 2 weeks since I've driven, drank coffee, put on makeup, worn contacts, sneezed! (I've had 3 urgers since surgery but nothing..thank goodness!), and lets not forget..ate solid food.

This great picture is posted by request..and changed to black and white to make me not look so bad..but lets face it, it's horrible. This was day 2! my sisters thought it would be funny to all be straightfaced since this was the only face I could make! and that's an ice pack on my head.

:)

IMG00461.jpg

Oreo pie 2 nights in a row! Yummmm.
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oh the possibilities...

so last night Rachele and I went over to my sister Nichole's and hung out with the kiddies. We took a late night stroll to McDonealds for ice cream but we stopped by Bakers Square first so I could get a slice of oreo pie because I had high hopes that I'd be able to eat it. We brought my pie to McDonalds and I drooled over the pictures of the cheeseburgers. Everyone else got ice cream and we sat in a booth and I pulled out my baby spoon form my purse and proceeded to eat the pie. The bottom part is like an oreo crust that I thought I wouldn't be able to eat so I didn't try to at first, I just ate the creamy whipped pie middle. However, I noticed how easy the oreo crust part was breaking up so I put some in my mouth and ::AHHHH:: it practially melted! I was able to successfully eat my favorite pie to it's entirety :) it was heaven.
This morning my mom made me eggs and I was able to eat those too! I'm finding all these things I can eat, it's making me so happy. I would kill for a piece of bread though...I love bread.
My teeth are really sore today, I think it's from the bands. My lips are still pretty fat, along with my cheeks. I've been putting hot wash clothes on my face every so often, but then get cold so fast.
I'm still doing my open and close exercise although it's a bit tougher with the new band position..but I'll do anything to get recovered.
I've lost 9 lbs as of today. My mom thinks I'm dwindling away. I know when I can eat again I'll gain 20 that day.
My face has been super shiny ever since my surgery. My conclusion is that my pores have expanded from the swelling and are producing more oil than normal. which sucks because the majority of my face is numb and sore and it's really hard to wash. Michele just got me this l'oreal 360 face wash this that little rubber face scrubber buffer because I feel l can't get a deep cleanse with my hands and I got this shine control mask I'm going to try today...so I don't look like a greasy Angelica Pickles anymore! :)

Oooh yea also the doc. pulled out the stitches that were under my top lip. That stung a bit. Going back to see him on Tuesday. He wants to keep a close eye on me he says....
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oh Boo Hoo to me.

I have the hiccups! not cool.

so this morning I took a shower and tried to avoid getting my bandage by my ear wet...I basically failed. I had my doc. appt. today and I got some news I'm not too excited about so I'm going to refrain from posting it just yet, because I don't want to jinx it. the doc. repositioned my rubberbands and lets just say ...ouch. I mean he's touching my face in every possible way, trying to add these hooks that they didn't have the correct tool for so someone had to go to the hospital to get the tool and it's just so much pressure pushing on my braces to get this teeny tiny hook on. and now my bands are on and my opening isn't as big as it was yesterday, so I was nervous that I was back to the basics with liquids only--but luckily my mom fed me mashed potatoes with a baby spoon and then fed me apple baby food with a baby spoon. Next time I do it I'll need to use a mirror. My rubberbands are on the top front and the bottom back, because my bottom jaw is too far back, so the new position brings it forward where it needs to be. Hopefully it stays there.

Today was my last day of antibiotics which is glorious because it was nasty! Gotta refill my pain meds though..because the pain is def. still there.

ta ta for now.... :)

TWINS!

What a great day!

Today I had my first doc. appt. since my surgery! The doc. said I don't have as much swelling as expected and I'm the first person in his entire career to cut their wires! I ruined his streak....oops!

So he took my splint out...which was all brown from all the chocolate Boost I've been drinking...gross. and he re-rubberbanded me in a not so tight way, so I have more movement and I can TALK! not the greatest but I can still talk..no more humming my way through conversations. My jaw feels super weird now that I'm able to move it a bit. I'm supposed to practice moving it up and down. I have 2 rubber bands right in the front middle that I can remove when I eat, but have to replace right when I'm done. Which means.....get ready for it........I can eat MASHED POTATOES!! yaya!! and I did and it was a success...soooo good, never been happier eating mashed potatoes. I also had some yogurt and macaroni & cheese- 1 noodle at a time. I can't have anything I need to chew, so it's babyfood and pudding for now. I'm glad I can eat more than chocolate boost every meal though...whoot whoot!

The doc. also took the stiches out, they are all bandaged up now. The right side of my face is pretty numb still, my left side moves a lot better. When I go to raise my eyebrows only my left eyebrow does and when I got to smile only my left side smiles! and my lips are unporportionly huge..along with my cheeks. Rachele and I decided that I look like Angelica Pickles from the Rugrats. We tried to take a picture but you can't really get the full effect.

My next doc. appt. is Friday, he has to add more hooks on my braces to add more rubber bands. The rubber bands help guide my jaw into the correct position. I honestly feel like if they weren't there my jaw would just fall off. It's going to take a while before I get used to my "new" jaw. I just hope I get the right side of my face back soon!

some Pictures...

flowers from my family


"talking"



plant from the doctors





getting bandages off!

my stitches!

swollen! not so bad...

marguartia night!

I can't smile :(

ready to go!

rollin' out

rubber bands

eating...snickers is hungry too.

Edward and I....no big deal.

playing Care Bear "Go Fish"

Ashley and I

Brushing my teeth!

Day 2, 3, 4, 5 !!

Hello Hello Hello!! Sorry it's been so long since I've wrote...I've been busy with drooling, sleeping, trying to eat, trying to burp...I'm basically your standard infant.



so where did I leave off...



After the the Docs. rubber banded me I was basically wired shut again. I also had this head wrap thing on after surgery that they took off too. Rachele helped give me a bath which I thought would be awkward but I guess when you have surgery on your face and you feel like shit, you just don't care. My Dad came around lunch time, right when I got my lunch...jello on the side, he ate it this time. I spent most of the day in my bed watching Home Improvement on my green T.V. Michele came a little later and brought marguarita's with her. She doesn't get to go out much because of her children, so any opportunity to drink, she takes...haha kidding (kind of). My parents left and Nichole came...so it was the 4 sisters getting trashed in my hospital room. No, I didn't drink - I did not want to throw up again. Michele painted my finger nails then Nichole and Michele each had one of my feet and gave me a 20 min. foot massage...it was pretty great and Rachele was really jealous and voiced that she wanted jaw surgery. Michele and Nichole left around 10. Around 2 am I had to go to the bathroom, 30 min. later my nurse came to give me meds, 30 min. after that my IV bag was beeping, 30 min. later the nurse came to make it stop, and hour later it was beeping again because it was empty and she came back to turn it off and unhook me from it. Then at 6 am Dr. Fullmer came to check on me and soon after that the cafeteria person came to drop off my "breakfast". so Rach and I didn't get too much sleep. My mom came around 9 then we left the hospital around 2...I was going home--yay!

My Dad picked us up and I was getting car sick so I closed my eyes most of the way. We stopped at CVS to get my meds then when we got to my house I passed out for a few hours. When I woke up I smelled this amazing smell from the kitchen. I looked at my computer and saw a menu for Hooters was open. Tony brought it over after work. They tried to hide it from me..but that didn't work out. Nichole and Clare came over later. Clare wasn't too scared of my crazy face. She made me a bracelet too. We played some sharades then Clare was trying to roll her tongue or something and then everyone was showing what they could do with their tongues, then my mom leans over and looks at me like its my turn.........and all I could do was stare at her blankly.

Saturday I went to Bed Bath and Beyond with Rachele...my first outing! I didn't get too many scared stares. Just going to the store and back was enough to make me tired. I haven't even really been on facebook that's how much energy I don't have..it's crazy. Michele came by later and said "The Dr. is in" and she was holding this life size card board cut out of Edward Cullen....I was laughing as best I could. So now I have Edward staring at me everyday, not so bad. Felicity came a little later and was pretty amused with my situation. She did say "I'm sorry you can't talk Auntie Lauren, but you write down what you need and we will get it for you" then she would draw a picture and tell me to say "Wow" and I would just try and mumble the words "I can't" and she would pause and be like "oh yea, hahaha", then after dinner she said, "You can't eat and I can because I don't have braces or surgery, so you can't eat -- sucks right?" She's right...it does suck!

Sunday my friend Ashley came over. My first friend to see my new face! She pretended not to be scared. Michele came over and made me this banana chocolate peanutbutter shake. All I've been drinking is basically Chocolate Boost, Water, Apple Juice. So I wasn't too excited about this shake, it wasn't bad, but it's just the same thing a little different.

Monday I woke up with horrible horrible indegestion..because most of what I'm drinking is apple juice. I was also really really weak and in a lot of pain and at my peak swelling. Not a good morning at all. Rachele called the doc. about indegestion and he said I could just take pepto. It has been helping a little but it's still there. and I haven't been drinking enough fluids thats why I was feeling so weak and the doc says I better drink enough or he'll have to stick a tube up my nose. It is just so hard "eating" the same thing. I started drinking Vanilla Ensure too, and now I want to stay away from fruit drinks because of the indegestion. So since I don't want a tube up my nose I just keep drinking as much Boost and Ensure as I can because it's the most filling. I had some cream of chicken minus the chicken too. I'm just eating to not pass out at this point. I can't worry about the flavor. My mom put some baby food in a syringe to see if that would work but it just got stuck in my cheek...too thick. So I'm hoping at my appt. on Wednesday my splint will come out so I'll have more eating room....more eating room equals more eating options.

Basically it's been a rough first 5 days. I take meds every 4 hours, I'm supposed to eat every 2, most of the time my energy is low, my face is still pretty swollen and very sore, I'm always tired, but I'm hanging in there! so sorry I haven't been updating this daily, it's harder than I thought. my Family has been such a great help too :) love you all....posting pics now...eeks!

Day 1

oh where to begin.

I've been so sleepy, but I'm home now..took a nap and had a chocolate boost so I thought it would be a good time to get everything down before I forget. I'll post pics later, my sisters and mom took plenty.

so what day is it..Friday that 9th....

ok so Wednesday the 7th was my surgery.....
I got to the hospital around 11:30, signed some papers about my living will that I don't have..and just hoped for the best :) since I have so many valuables....
after that I went into a room where I changed into my gown and laid in the hospital bed and hung out with my parents where I met the anesthesiologist team, Dr. Kallal (my primary surgeon), Dr. Johnson (another surgeon that assisted Dr. Kallal who also works at his office), and Dr. Fullmer (a resident at Northwestern). Obviously I met Dr. Kallal before this day, but everyone else was really nice, made me feel really comfortable before going to the O.R. then one of the nurses gave me some sleepy drugs and I remember hugging my parents before they wheeled me away. Then I remember being in the O.R. and it was really cold..but then I was out and woke up in the recovery room with a nurse (maybe someone from anesthesiology) saying my name, I remember waking up, but really tired, and since I couldn't talk I went "mmm hmmm" and gave her a thumbs up then went back to sleep. I woke up again and I made a motion with my hand trying to tell her I was nauseas after she took the oxygen mask off of me and she tried to calm me down, I just went back to sleep. I heard her saying to some other nurse that they changed the room I was going to and she didn't know why and that she was coming with me until my nurse got there because my mouth was wired shut and I was nauseas and she needed to be there in case I threw up to cut the wires. Hearing this I was confused because I was told I'd be rubber-banded shut, but I was too out of it and couldn't say anything if I wanted to so I just closed my eyes. I remember getting to my room and my family wasn't there yet, but I was so tired it didn't faze me. Then Rachele, Michele, Tony and my parents came in and woke me up. No one told them about my room change, so they were in another room for 30 min., they weren't too happy about that. My surgery ended up being 3 hours and I was in recovery for another 3. I was in and out the rest of the night..mostly out. I was told I might wake up with a plastic splint in my mouth after surgery depending on how my bite lines up, I was fitted for this 2 weeks before surgery just in case. I do have it in my mouth, it's not bothering me too much, I'm sure when I get it out it will feel better. I think it's making everything I drink taste plasticy which is kind of gross.

Dr. Fullmer came in to check on me that night and I asked about why I had wires instead of bands and he just said that with my right side lagging and the splint in, it was better for my mouth to say in position. (I think that was the reason). I heard him talking to my family about what they did. I have an incision along the right side of my ear. I have 4 plates on my maxilla and one on the bottom left of my mandible, 5 screws in each plates...so 20 screws! The doc. said I only lost a little more blood than someone getting their wisdom teeth removed, so no blood transfusion. :)

My mom stayed overnight with me the first night, when everyone left I wanted to go to the bathroom, and when I sat up I felt like I was going to throw up. Ever since I woke up from surgery I felt nauseas and once I sat up there was no stopping it. My nurse was being a little slow so I was "yelling" at her the only way I could with a lot of "HURRY UP" hand motions, I might of even mumbled it. I remember my mom telling her she was going to throw up so cut her wires, and she was like trying to wait for the last possible second to cut them, then she got a bucket...I'm like come on! I'm going to throw up - it's coming! She cut 2 of the 5 wires and it came. It was actually only a little blood, it didn't hurt so much, but I felt so much better after that. and I obviously ruined the wires.

I have to sleep reclined because it's hard to breath. I had oxygen tubes in my nose down my throat during surgery. So my nose was semi bloody and stuffy and my throat was sore from the tubes and I can't blow my nose...so that sucked. I used nasal spray to try and clear and loosen anything. The worst was the phlemmy coughing, since there is no where for the phlem to go. I was horrified I might taste it and make myself gag..and throw up again, but I've been able to keep it down..thank goodness. Sorry that was gross.

The first night I woke up like every hour to pee. I eventually managed to go my self after a while, I didn't want my mom to keep waking up. I had these leg warmer looking things on my legs that would compress every 10 sec. to keep my blood circulation going. So everytime I got up I'd have to take them off.

The next morning (7/8) I was served breakfast...apple juice, chicken broth, tea, and jello. I laughed at the jello on the inside. (I can't make any facial movements), and the reason that is so funny is because I can't eat jello! hello! Well at least a lucky family member got a snack. I can only have liquids through a syringe with a catheder attached to the end which goes in the left side of my cheek. The right side is too tender right now.

My sister Rachele came back in the morning and Dr. Fullmer and Dr. Johnson came to fix my wires. I have two in tact on the sides still and the replaced the 3 that were cut with doubled up rubber bands. So it's pretty tight, I have no opening in between my teeth at all. I have my first post op. appt. on Wednesday where they will see if I still need the splint and change my bands.

ok I'm getting sleepy, I will finish tomorrow, my pain isn't so bad, but everything below my eyes down to about my throat is very sore to the touch. and I just noticed my right eye doesn't blink because it's more swollen higher on that side from the ear incision. Kind of amusing.............ta ta for now :)

thanks again for all the messages..love you all!

I'm alive!

Miserable, but alive. I don't have a lot of energy to write but when I do ill update you on all the gory details. Just wanted to say surgery went smooth.

Thanks for all the messages!
Lauren
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

7/7!!!

Today is the day!! I'm leaving soon, surgery is at 1 and is about 4 hours long. My nerves are starting to kick in a bit..I just hope I don't freak out at the hospital. I don't know if I'm late with this, but apparently I'm going on the same diet as 50 cent! wow! well not exactly the same diet.. he went on a 9-week liquid diet and 3 hour a day treadmill walks for the movie "Things Fall Apart"...that's dedication. It doesn't even look like him I can't get over it, he went from 214 to 160. I'm at 167.5 as of this morning...I won't be walking on any treadmills...yeeks!

Well I wanted to thank everyone for your love, support and prayers so far, I really appreciate it :)

I'll see you after surgery... with a very swollen symmetrical face!

....no more sleeps!

Peace Out Asymmetrical Jaw

wow..only 1 more sleep. I'm not even nervous right now because it like hasn't hit me yet. This is my 3rd attempt at this surgery, (the first 2 times didn't work out due to lack of communication with the first surgeon I was working with), 3rd times a charm right?

I am scared though, I'll admit that. I just hope everything goes well during surgery and after of course. I can't even really imagine what I'm going to go through. I'm prepared as I'll ever be, but all the post surgery pics of others, all the food and tools and supplies I have, all the reading I've done, there's nothing that can really prepare you for this. It's like childbirth...but in your face. haha...no I can't even compare that, I've never given birth. But when I told my sis Nichole I'd be in the hospital for 2 days she said "oh, the same amount of time you get to stay for vaginal birth"....excellent.

I actually found quite a few people who had jaw surgery who also wrote blogs and I contacted this one girl who had a similar surgery a year ago and she wrote back so I'm pretty excited I'll have someone to talk to who went through it.

19 more min. till midnight...currently drinking water and just ate some strawberry waffles, I got hungry okay? I still have to shower and remove my nail polish & brush my teeth like I've never brushed them before...that is a luxury I'm sure I'll miss. I mean I still get to "brush" them, but yea...what is "brushing" anyways.

I'm all packed (thx for the bag Sandy!) got a few items including a dry erase board (thx CP), interview with the vampire (thx JMC), some slippers made by my Mom....and that's pretty much it because I'm not sure what else is there to bring..and my family is pretty awesome so I'm sure if I need something, they'll get it for me :) thanks in advance.

Inspirational convo of the night:

L: there is a dying moth on my floor

J: aww

L: i know
L: i think it died or its sleeping

J: awww

J: hah
J: sleeping
J: death is sleeping

L: crap
L: i hope I don't die
L: it's not my time

J: it will be if you die

L: i suppose

J: but I'm hoping you won't either

L: holy shit the moth started moving!
L: i'm taking that as a great sign :-)


True Story Folks!

and this is me peacing out to my asymmetrical jaw. in my awesome sunglasses...in my room, so what if this isn't myspace. and that pic behind me is a one of a kind Suzy Jamina..I'm sure you'll hear of her in the future.


Love & Hugs
Lauren

The Last [solid food] Supper...for a while anyways.

My mom took me out to dinner today, and my request was pizza. classic choice, I know. and of course I had to take the smallest corner piece because I always feel bad for it. I also had a garden salad, and breaded mushrooms - which I ate way to many of.

I'm uncomfortably full right now and am trying to enjoy the feeling. I was told to eat a light dinner the day before but the surgery isn't until 1 pm and I can't have anything, not even water, after midnight.

oh, pizza...we will meet again....maybe in blended form though...sorry!

America's Next Top Model?!? So Fierce I know!

When I say my jaw is crooked and then point it out..most people say o wow I never would have noticed if you hadn't pointed it out...it's not that bad etc. Let's take a closer look. Yea...that's really my face. Little more puffy then usual due to my grill (braces) !

Kindergarten Smile!

Open Mouth

Right side of my face...the long side!

Left side of my face..the shorter side!

Right side smile...aka...my bad side.

Left side smile...aka...my better side!

In pictures, 90% of the time you can find me on the left side of people. 10% of the time you will find me on the right side because I didn't have time to switch sides..or I'm taking a picture with Kathy on her birthday and since we both have the same "good side" I have to let the birthday girl have her way. or we compromise and do a "prom" pose.

I realize these pictures are really flattering :) ...but I swear I only put them up here for my own documentation and so you can see what's really going on here...words only do so much.

p.s. thanks Michele for taking my "before" pics at the Sushi restaurant.

No Forks, Spoons, or Knifes!

I got the tools I ordered in the mail yesterday...hope they work out :)

...5 more sleeps! =-o

BUSY DAY! (6/29/10)

This is my arm from where I donated blood, the picture doesn’t do justice..there is a nice bruise there. I have tiny veins and I just had lab tests done the day before and they took blood from that arm. I went to lifesource today to donate blood to myself and the used the same vein because apparently I only have one, she sticks the needle in and nothing, no blood. So another lady came into help and wiggled the needle around..ouch. Finally blood came rushing out..half a bag later it slowed down a lot, so I had to continuously squeeze this ball in my hand, my fingers were getting so tingly and my arm was killing me, but in the end I managed to fill up the bag!

This is a pic of my nails I got done today with my mom..Perky Purple! However, I just found out I can’t wear polish during surgery, word is that they need to see your finger nails because if you aren’t getting enough oxygen your nails turn blue. Bummer. but I’d rather have oxygen then perky purple nails. plus my mom said she’d repaint them after…what a gem!

…..8 days..wholey moley!

HOW MUCH STUFF DO I NEED ANYWAYS? (6/28/10)

I went to Costco today..what a crazy store…the carts are huge, I can’t even push it and it’s such a hassle to get around people with their giant carts, and the main thing I went there for (Ensure) they didn’t even have…lame. So I got a mini 10 pack of Naked juice and this Yoplait smoothie mix thing. I had other items on my list like chicken broth, but I wasn’t sure if I would need 12 cans of it…so I headed to Walmart, where I felt super strong pushing their dinky cart. I got my Ensure, Blistex, a cute tiny humidifier, SOME chicken broth, vanilla ice cream…well here’s a pic:

oh yea and the V8 fusion stuff…it’s a fruit juice that also has veggie’s but supposedly you can’t taste the veggie’s because they are hiding in the fruit..which is great for me because I’m really not into drinking vegetables, but I gotta get them in my diet somehow! shot out to Michele for the babyfood! can’t wait till I get to eat that!…and I’m serious because that means I’m at stage 2 which is closer to 3 which means I’ll be eating food again! Oh, and this is that tool they gave me to feed myself with…

that red thing is a tube that attaches to the end of the turkey baster, I’m supposed to cut it so it’s not really that long. but yea…I think what I ordered will be much better.

I had my lab tests done this morning and I’m donating blood to myself tomorrow..just in case I lose blood in surgery they can give mine back to me. In the afternoon my mom is taking me to get my nails did and then dinner with Rachele…yay! Wednesday morning I’m going the dentist to get my teeth cleaned one last time before the big day. Dr. Kelly is the best dentist ever so if you need one- go to him … http://www.chicagodentistonline.com :)

…..9 more days. and yes I’m freaking out inside. So I guess that means I’m freaking in.

ZIP N SQUEEZE - YOU WOULDA BEEN PERFECT! (6/27/10)

ugh. So I'm on a hunt to find something better than a turkey baster to feed myself and these zip n squeeze bags woulda been amazing!

but they don’t make them anymore! what a tease. The next best thing I found was this wash bottle.

she looks like she’s having a great time. I just ordered 3 of these, 3 feeding syringes, 1 cleaning syringe (high power so I can better clean my mouth - ick), and 1 head wrap that I can put hot packs inside to reduce the swelling of my lips and face.

Going to Costco tomorrow to stock up on Ensure and other liquids and soup and blistex.

….10 more days!