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
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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!

2-weeks!! (6/24/10)

surgery….t minus 14 days!

so for those of you who don’t know the story, here’s a recap:
diagnosis: maxillary and mandibular asymmetry and condylar hyperplasia…to break it down- the right side of my jaw is longer then my left causing my upper and lower jaw to be on a slant.

I wasn’t in any kind of accident or anything, it’s just the way I was made. I noticed the crooked appearance of my mouth when I was about 12, but it didn’t bother me up until about 2 years ago. I have constant pain, soreness, when I yawn I have to adjust my jaw so I can close it because it sometimes lock open, headaches, things like that. So I decided to find out what I can do about it, and the conclusion: surgery. There’s no other way around it. I also had to get braces…sooo awesome…what 23 year old doesn’t want braces? I’ve been sporting them since December 09’- they are on to align my teeth to fit with my new jaw position and will be on for an estimated 6 - 9 months after surgery.

I had my presurgery appt. today where I was informed on the details regarding my surgery and pre/post op. instructions.....
Some good news, my jaw won’t be wired shut, but instead they will be rubber-banned shut….for 6-8 weeks! I do get to take them off when I “eat” but I can’t leave them off for hours at a time. For the first 2 weeks, unless the doc. says otherwise, I can have milkshake consistency type foods, more like drinks. Then the next 2 weeks, if I’m healing normally, I can move to baby food and mashed potatoes type consistency. And 2 weeks after that I can move to softer foods such as pasta. I’m supposed to eat every 2 hours. I have to use a syringe (turkey baster) to eat… I feel like it’s going to take me 2 hours to try to eat with that thing. and I can’t use a straw for 3 weeks since I won’t be able to suck. Word is I’ll lose 10% of my bodyweight, which is currently 170…I’ll let you know. I won’t even have feeling in the front of my mouth for a few weeks so I have to use a sippy cup to help guide my drink into my mouth. I will get feeling in the top of my mouth before the bottom and there is a 2% chance that I could never have feeling again, so I’m hoping that the 98% is on my side that day. I have to rinse with salt water after every “meal” to help the healing process and each morning and night I have to rinse with equal parts of water, mild mouth wash, and hydrogen peroxide - yum. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to brush my teeth, but I can! with a soft brissle children’s toothbrush, which are way cuter anyways. I can shower normally, yet carefully. If I happen to throw up I’m told to just relax and let it happen…um okay. I can’t blow my nose for 2 weeks. My biggest concern is…what happens if I have to sneeze?! I guess I’ll let you know when I find out. During surgery I’ll have tubes up my nose to give me air which cause stuffiness afterwards, so to manage that I can use nasal sparys, humidifier and q-tips, bleeding may also occur. I’ll have some serious swelling happening and during the first week the swelling will remain unchanged, and I’m convinced that during this week I will resemble sloth. 6-9 months later I will still have 15% of residual swelling. I can’t do any heavy lifting for 6-8 weeks, really anything that would involve me clenching which could mean even picking up a gallon of milk. For the next 2 weeks I’m supposed to watch my clenching so I know what I shouldn’t be picking up after surgery. They gave me a list of things I could buy- food, med. supplies etc. even a cook book- I’m told I can purée anything, although the thought eating a blended up hot dog grosses me out, I’m sure I’ll get desperate enough to try. so that’s the jist of that….

The surgical procedure….so they are making my mouth symmetrical, to do that they need to shorten the one side and move some other things around and la di da. My jaw will be put back together using titanium plates and screws, not metal so I won’t beep at the airport! hey hey! I’m not sure how many plates will be in there yet, but I like surprises so it’s okay- I think. I supposedly won’t have any scarring and I’ll have those dissolvable stitches…I’ve never had any kind of stitches or broken a bone, besides a finger or toe, or had a surgery for that matter. I’ve never even “gone under”. When I had my wisdom teeth pulled, all local, cuz I’m a trooper…just sayin’. Something quite amusing I found out was that during my surgery (which will be done on the upper and lower jaw, if I hadn’t mentioned that) they’ll obviously be making cuts in my mouth including my upper lip. Today when the insurance coordinator was explaining everything to me at the end she says, oh and you may have a dot in the middle of your brows for a few days from where your lip is pinned. Ummmm…forget this dot, my lip is going to be pinned where?!? Apparently your face is elastic and once they make the cuts for the upper jaw portion of the surgery they need to put my lip somewhere, I guess my nose is too busy?? I asked if they could take a picture, because that would be an amazing site. Maybe I’ll look at it after I recover to avoid vomiting.

well that is all for now! I’m still not sure how to utilize everything on this site, so if you have any questions or comments or funny jokes…I hope I can laugh…you can e-mail me at

lobailey22@gmail.com. In order to subscribe or comment on my blog, I’m pretty sure you have to make an account.

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