Ortho Update!

Hey Y'all!


I had an orthodonist appt. on August 1st, this was the first time I had gone since I had my braces were removed! and everything is great! :) He did a quick look at my dazzlers, checked my retainer and I took some very flattering pictures and I was done! I don't have to go back for another year, I don't have to see my surgeon for a year, as far as physical therapy that has been done...blah what a waste of money! So it's been over a year and I'm doing well! My teeth and jaw work great! I'm a happy camper! So I probably won't have any more updates about my jaw any time soon, unless my jaw falls off or something else amazing like that happens! Thank you all for reading and caring :) until next time....

XO/LB

7.7.11 - 1 Year Post Op!!!

madness! It was already 1 year ago that I had a face of an obese person and a body of an anorexic. I can't believe it's been 1 year! yay!

I had my 1 year appt. with my oral surgeon a few weeks ago. As I waited for him the nurse or tech. or whatever was asking me how I was doing since the surgery and if there were any issues I was having and I told her that my eyebrow on the right side still didn't raise and that Dr. Kallal knew this was an issue before and it still doesn't completely raise. She was so confused by this statement and asked me what I meant, and I repeated myself. and then I said see...and I raised both eyebrows and of course only the left side raised, and she still didn't get it. She's like wait do it again, and then she see's it and she's like you can't raise the other eyebrow? Like she thought I was kidding or something it was really awkward. So then Dr. Kallal comes in, and I tell him the same thing and I told him that I went to physical therapy and he just said "Yea, it might not come back" ...so whatever...it is what it is. I'd rather have a pain free jaw. Then I had to get some x-rays and pictures taken and he told the tech. to take pictures of my eyebrows raised. So during that photoshoot she said, okay raise your eyebrows, and 1 raised...obviously. and she said..."You can't raise the other one at all?" ummm NO! wtf?!? like this is the whole point, why would I bring it up if I could raise it...it was soooo weird! anyways so I took a picture of my xray shown below! My 5 plates and 20 screws! (4 on top, 1 on bottom left..but bottom right in the picture) and my permanent retainer shows up on my bottom teeth too! So from now on I get to see my surgeon 1/year for the next 5 years, unless some issue happens and screws start falling out of my mouth :/ and I'll see my orthodontist in August...first time since my braces have been removed! so yea, still going strong! pain free! happy as can be! Thanks for all of your support and love during all my jaw drama! love you! :)

11 months and 1 day POST OP!

WOWZERS, almost 1 year! I like forget I had surgery until someone brings it up, haha. So my jaw is feeling spectacular, the pain is really gone, sometimes it gets a little sore on my left side from eating something hard but it's nothing compared to the pain I used to feel :) I'm still numb in my upper front teeth!

I finished physical therapy for my right side facial movements a few weeks ago, it's not all back to normal, but it has improved and all I can do is keep practicing my exercises and massaging my face....hopefully one day I'll get there!

Here is a recent pic of Ashley and I at a 1920's party! so much fun :)

More PT & first cleaning with no braces!

Soooo, I'm still in PT until the end of May. There is improvement when I raise my eyebrow, not sooo much but it will take time, the fact that's it's even moving a little makes me feel a lot better. I just have to keep practicing!

I got my teeth cleaned a few weeks ago and I was a little worried my teeth would hurt, but I didn't feel any of the scraping or cleaning or flossing on my top front teeth because I have no feeling in them! Which is fine, who wants to feel that anyways! My dentist Dr. Kelly says everything looks great :)

I'm really happy with everything I have no pain! just some nerve glitches for now. :D

Physical Therapy & 24!

So I had my first appointment for my lack of movement on the right side of my face specifically above my right eyebrow. My PT is so nice. I did some fun facial expressions so she can see what's going on, and she said she does see some movement, the nerves just need a little help to wake up! and it turns out it's not just my eyebrow/forehead area, it's also a little bit the right side of my nose, right side of my mouth, right side of my cheek, and right side of my neck! so everything on the right side is a little off, but nothing serious. Will be focusing first on my eye area. She just massaged it a bit and then used the virbrating tool that moves in a circle to massage the area also. So my at home stuff is to raise my eyebrows and scrunch them together 10x, 3x/day. So I'll see her next Wednesday and go from there!

My bday was last week and I was sooo excited Ashley came in to surpise me! & I met Lady Gaga! ...something like that :)

NO MORE BRACES!

WOAH! I got my braces off yesterday!! so crazy!! so exciting!! ahhhhhh! whata journey!!

and they are so pretty! I had no idea what to expect with the removal process of the braces, so I took some advil before hand just in case! so literally it took my orthodontist like under a minute to take my braces off, it was nuts, I didn't even realize they were off. Pretty aggresively he takes these clippers and (this is what I think he's doing at least) clipping the wire in between each tooth, then he goes to my back teeth where I have the braces around the entire tooth (it's on each of my last teeth for those who never had a brace face) so he yanks on those, I thought he pulled my tooth out from the amount of pressure, but they are still there! so he pulls all 4 of them off, then he's like "go brush your teeth, there is still glue on them but we'll get it off" so off I go, and I look in the mirror and my braces were off! I had no idea he took them all off! like in one clean swoop! so he wasn't cutting the wire, because my braces were still intact, it's pretty amazing. so I'm like holy crap my braces are really off! HELLO HUGE TEETH! are my first thoughts, damn I look like a horse! but I was trying to relax...just gotta get used to them (and I am now :) ) after the brushing I had a permanent retainer put in my bottom front teeth, on the inner side (again for those of you who never had braces). then I took some x-rays, then I got the glue off my teeth with some crazy drill, again pretty aggresivley this dude is just going to town on my teeth. I have water all over my face and the smell of a bowling alley ball return in my nose (from the burning glue). then he buffed it all out? or something? he told me my gums would be swollen for a few days, and yes they were and a little bloody. and then I took some pictures, then I got fitted for my retainer I have to wear at night...almost forgot that, good thing I'm writing this now...and it looks like invisalign, and it's not annoying to wear or anything. Then I left and came back a few hours later to pick up my retainer and I got a PINK case for it! then I spent the rest of the day licking my teeth...super duper smooth. I feel like they aren't my teeth. Michele says they are too perfect and look like veneers. So that's fine with me :) I don't have to see my ortho. for another 16 weeks. I do have a physical therapy appt. for my eye that just won't raise! wahhh! so we'll see what she says and I'll keep whoever is reading this updated. so far so good! my jaw feels good, my teeth feel good, my maxilla is still numb and some parts of the right side of my face. My scar is almost invisible. and yes I'll be 24 on Thursday! whoop! :)

6 Months Post Op!

Happy New Year!
It's been 6 months since I've had surgery! Crazy!!! I went to the orthodontist on Wednesday and he did a little tweaking and said "We just need to close this space and you're done!" and...I don't even know what space he's talking about, so it can't be that big, which shouldn't take too long to close then right? It's somewhere on the top though, he put a power band (I think that's what it's called) on the all of my top teeth, its bascially a rubberband that stretches across your teeth and pulls them in close and tight! So I'm a little sore from that. So my next appt. is on 2/2! There is a very good chance my braces will be off then! That's going to be weird! I don't even know the process of braces removal, that's kind of freaking me out...it probably hurts. and I have no idea what kind of retainer I will have...permanent? that clear invisalign-esque one? or that metal one with the pink stuff in the middle that looks like a sliver from a strawberry? do they even have those anymore? Not sure. But I did make an appt. to get my teeth cleaned immediately after my braces are off...hopefully there isn't too much discoloration. I just can't wait to FLOSS awkward-free! My top teeth in the front are still very numb. I haven't made an appt. with the physical therpaist for my eye yet, because I'm trying to make it work myself and save some money! :) ok I think that is all for now.....I got a new camera for Christmas so I'll put up pics...eventually :)
tata for now!

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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