The second week of recovery
This week has been pretty uneventful when it comes to things related to my recovery. This Tuesday I had my first post-surgery check-up and you can read more about that in the post I wrote the day after. The first day with the rubber bands to hold my jaw in the correct place was… not very comfortable to say the least. The pain was completely gone after two days though and then I had time to adjust myself to not being able to open my jaw and so forth. When I first woke up the day after the check-up the sensation of not being able to open my mouth was unpleasant but I have now gotten used to it. One thing that I noticed however is that because it is harder to pronounce words when you can not open your mouth you simply do not talk as much. Which is a huge difference for me since anyone who knows me will tell you that I like to talk… a lot!
I was finally able to stop taking my antibiotics after Wednesday which was extremely nice. Now I am able to sleep longer in the mornings without being waked or having to stay up when I want to go to bed because I need to take a pill at a certain time. I also stopped taking my painkillers at the same time. I do not think that I really needed them after the first few days, if even that long, but since I never take pills otherwise I decided to continue with them for as long as I took the antibiotics (which were 10 days in total). I have had some pain after that but not enough for me to feel the need to take a painkiller. I do have a pretty high threshold for pain, that is pain in my mouth anywhere else and I am happy to stop it, because of my braces so I guess I am just used to it.
When it comes to food I think I mentioned earlier that drinking mashed food through a straw was not my thing. Basically I eat almost everything now. For breakfast I eat two scrambled eggs and drink a glass of smoothie or I eat porridge. Lunches are pretty much dominated by fish dishes. Soups are of course always a good meal but I also eat meat sauce. Mashed potatoes are always nice. I do not eat all that much for dinner but for the majority of you these ideas might be better for an afternoon snack. For dinner eat bread for example. To be able to do this I make chocolate milk (yum!) and, after cutting the crust of my bread and splitting it into 1,0x1,0 cm pieces, then I simply soak them in the chocolate mink for a while and eat them. As I am writing it down it sounds disgusting but it really is very good.
A good tip I would like to pass along would be to eat with a fork. It may sound stupid but I eat everything with forks. They are a lot easier to get into your mouth than spoons + they are great for mashing food. When I eat soup I have my fork and a straw. If it is a thicker soup you might even be able to eat only with the fork even if it sounds ludicrous. Otherwise you use the straw for the liquid “part” of the soup and the fork for whatever pieces there might be in it.
Let us focus on dental hygiene. A tooth brush is actually a lot larger than you think it is and in the beginning it will be hard to open your mouth wide enough to brush your teeth like normal. But of course dental hygiene is very important especially after a jaw surgery. I use a combination of a special mouthwash I received from my doctor and interdental toothbrushes. If you have had braces, and before going through a surgery like this you have to have braces, then you probably have a few of these at home already. They come in different sizes and are supposed to be used to clean the space between your teeth or in the case of braces in between your teeth and the braces. Since they are so small they are perfect to use to brush your teeth after the surgery. Because of their size it will take a bit longer to brush your teeth but on the other hand you have extra time because you do not have to go to the school in the morning. :)
That is all for today! Tomorrow or on Wednesday I hope to post something about my second check-up (I am going back to the hospital to meet my jaw surgeon and my orthodontist tomorrow). Until then, bye!