Jaw Surgery Journey with Sammi

 It has officially been a month since my surgery. It seems crazy that time has passed so slowly/quickly. Some days are longer than others especially depending on whether I am in pain or not.  This week has been busy with orthodontist appointments and surgeon appointments. Lets go over the key points from this week and then we will discuss the highlights. Orthodontist Appointment:     This lovely appointment on Tuesday was 2.5 hours. It was awful. Holding my mouth open for extended periods of time is still not easy for me, especially with someone jabbing around in it the whole time. I was able to get the surgical hooks taken off and new wires put in, which cleaned up the look of my teeth which I cannot complain about (other than the pain). They also put in a TP wire on the roof of my mouth. This is to make sure that my upper jaw that moved during surgery stays in its new position. It does effect my speaking somewhat, but is a ton better than the splint that was i...

  Hey Everyone! Yesterday I went to my surgeon and much to my surprise my splint was removed! It was very exciting. I also had my surgeon and orthodontist in the same room at the same time. Only something I have wanted for a whole year! What does this mean? The splint that was wired into my braces on my upper teeth that was also blocking most of the roof of my mouth was taken out. I can now speak so much clearer and do not drool anywhere close to the amount I was before. I would say my speaking is at about 90%, with the 10% to come back when my lips and face come back to life (because they are still numb). My orthodontist put spacers in between my back molars on my top teeth in order for her to put something new into my mouth on Tuesday. The great news is that my teeth touch! Look at the difference in this before and after photo. Please ignore my gross teeth (I am not allowed to floss and have been brushing with a baby tooth brush).           Before th...

I am officially two weeks out from my surgery. I remember praying for the days to go by fast so that I could have some relief from the misery of recovery from this surgery. I will say that since 10 days after surgery, I have felt about the same everyday with the exception of added exhaustion and some days with a little more pain than others. I truly have not slept for two weeks, so my Doctor prescribed me some medication to help me sleep. Last night was the first night in two weeks that I slept longer than a 45 minute time period without waking up. It was wonderful. Not getting sufficient rest is enough to make anyone miserable and truly has made me miserable on top of trying to recover. I saw my surgeon Monday and he said that he hopes to be able to take out the splint in my mouth (the one that is making me talk funny and drool constantly) by late next week. There are no promises in this game though so I am not holding my breath.  I am still on a liquid diet, but have moved from s...