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 :)