This week was the first one when I was allowed to chew again. This experience was very strange to say the least and it took a while to get used to again. After two days it felt normal to chew and I have slowly been starting to eat more and more “tough” food. For the first few days I ate the same kinds of food that I have been eating for five weeks and after that I started with more difficult things such as pasta and so forth.

I have also been using the new rubber bands that I this time received from my orthodontist. Two during the night and one on my right side during the day. The pain that I experienced from wearing the one on my right side when I talked have subsided a bit and it is not as big of a problem now. So I am happy of course!

After a few days of chewing I was able to open my mouth double the amount that I could before (about 4 cm). It is not as much as I used to be able to open my mouth but I figure that I will be back to normal, on that front, in a few weeks. This does mean that I am now able to open it far enough for me to brush my teeth like a normal human being so yay for that!

I also needed to update you on a very exciting fact! I am going to Paris in a few weeks and will not update on the 6^th of July because of this fact. Actually I will probably not be updating regularly as I have been for the last six weeks since I am not sure that I will have anything new to report. I will however update when and if I have something new to write about “the situation”. Plus the fact that I will update after every visit to the orthodontist or jaw surgeon (the next of these visits will take place on July 31).

I don’t think I have more to write about now so I will finish this post by wishing you a very nice summer and I hope that you will return to my blog to read my next post on July 31!

I am so sorry that I haven’t updated! I wrote this the day after the check-up and completely forgot to post it but as they say: better late than never!

So here we go again! This Tuesday was the date of my third check-up after the surgery. First I met my jaw surgeon and he took a quick look at the situation. After this he decided that I no longer needed to continue using the rubber bands! Yay! My happiness over this was short lived however (more on that later!). He also told me that I could start chewing once more but to start with soft food and work my way up. Basically this means that I will be eating the same things I have been doing for five weeks now with the addition that I now am able to chew it. My appointment was over in 10 minutes and I hurried to my next appointment with my orthodontist.

Firstly she removed about a meter of steel wire from my braces (and I am not even exaggerating!) and removed several of the small hooks. The hook in the middle of my lower jaw was left however since I may need to use it further on. I was a bit nervous, read a lot nervous, when she started working on my lower jaw but everything went smoothly. One thing I should note is that when she was finished and only had left to place one of the small rubber bands on each part of my braces it was necessary for her to hold my lower jaw in place since it was not as steady as usual. This should come as no surprise; my skeleton is after all not fully healed – not by a long shot.

Then I received the bad news. I was going to get rubber bands from her to hold my jaw together. Sigh! The ones I got from her were a lot more elastic and I did not need as many as before so I was still pleased. I have a so called “box” on MY right side during the day, to be removed before I eat, and I add a box in the front before I go to sleep every night. These will be changed for new ones after every breakfast and dinner (the other ones were to be changed only once every 24 hours).

This new rubber band is worse however. The ones I had before restricted my movement to such a degree that I could not open my mouth with them on and therefore did not put any strain on my teeth or my jaw. This new rubber band is different since it does allow me to talk and open my mouth almost as much as I am able to. This effectively strains my teeth by pulling them down or up (the teeth in my lower jaw are pulled up and vice versa) as you understand this is not completely painless. Hopefully this will stop somehow when my teeth become used to it but for now it is important that I remove the rubber band a while before eating anything since they feel sore otherwise.

Chewing has been weird. I have been so focused on not chewing for five weeks now that it goes against every fiber of by being to do so (or perhaps something a bit less dramatic). It feels very strange for me to chew and I have caught myself “chewing” by mashing the food with my tongue without even thinking about it. It is just easier for me now. I do know that it is important for me to “relearn” to chew so I make sure to do so as much as I can even though it is extremely strange and uncomfortable.

I will keep fighting and post another weekly update on Monday. Until then bye!

It’s the final countdown! Dundundundundun… One week left of non-chewable food and rubber bands (hopefully!). This was another uneventful week. Everything has been running smoothly. I can brush my teeth like a normal human being. Well almost normal. I still can not open my mouth wide enough for me to be able to brush my teeth completely normal but it works anyway. Right now my biggest problem is that my jaw is hindering me from opening my mouth as wide as I used to be able to do.

It is actually quite sad. My friends poke fun at me because of it. Now when I open my mouth as wide as I can, and it really feels like I am opening it as much as I used to, then it is only about 2 cm between my front teeth. However I have my suspicions that this will get better once I am allowed to start chewing. This should train my jaw enough to open further then the pathetic 2 cm I am able to do right now or at least that is my reasoning.

Other than that nothing has really happened worth noting when it comes to things concerning my jaw. I am making sure to eat a lot of mashed potatoes now since I usually try to stay away from potatoes altogether but now I have the excuse that it is one of the few things I can eat! (I am fooling myself!) Also I have a great tip when it comes to yummy things you CAN eat without chewing. CAKE! More specifically sponge cake (and carrot cake). I have been making, and eating, a lot of soft cakes since I love to bake and am only able to eat soft cakes (because you know this little thing that I am forbidden from chewing and must “split” all my food using my tongue.) For you in Sweden Princess-cake is wonderful for this purpose, AKA eating sweets without chewing. But make sure to save the best for last! (Only one of you will get that one and you know who you are :D)

Tomorrow I have three appointments at the doctor’s office! First with my jaw surgeon to check on my progress and then with my orthodontist and finally to get x-rays of my jaw once more. I hope to be able to get a photograph of them to post here! I also have a few questions for my surgeon that I will post the answers to here afterwards.  Among others about working out because I am not allowed to do so for 2-3 months after my surgery but since it is summer I need to make sure that it is okay for me to go bicycling and so forth.

I will also ask how much longer I need to use the rubber bands, when I can officially start chewing and if I need to start off with softer foods or if I can go right for the crackers and similar. :) That post will probably be up on Wednesday (17^th of June) or at least I hope it will! Until then bye!

I can not believe that it has been four weeks since my operation! Time really flies. All in all it has been a good week. I feel good and are now so used to the rubber bands that I do not even think about them. Good news! The puss officially stopped on Tuesday evening and I am very pleased that I can stop writing about it.

I feel like there is not a lot to talk about. Nothing has changed really. I have not been to the doctor’s office so there is no change on the medical side of things and nothing has changed when it comes to my diet. Last week (or maybe the week before?) I ranted about the importance of eating solid food instead of liquid because frankly a liquid diet gets old very quick. Therefore I do not need to go through that again so what to write about? That is the question. :) (I am hilarious!)

I am still not able to fit the toothbrush in between my teeth and therefore brushing my teeth take a while to say the least. However I am more used to it now and am able to finish faster than before. After brushing my teeth I also use mouthwash religiously to make sure that every single tooth is gleaming after my rigorous routine.

I do not know if I have mentioned this before but I keep a food journal ever since the surgery and it really helps to keep track of what you eat. Especially in the beginning when it is hard to eat the right amount of nutrients. Through this I can make sure that I, for example, eat enough protein. Carbohydrates are very easy to eat and you really do not have to worry about eating enough but eating protein when you are not allowed to chew is a bit more difficult. Also it is a great way to get food ideas! Simply check what you had for dinner two weeks ago and make it once more if you have run out of ideas. Personally I have 6-7 dishes that I rotate to make sure that I do not get sick of them.

Yawning and sneezing. Two things I usually do not like. Now I dislike them even more. Yawning is not a good idea when your jaw is clamped shut but I swear my jaw has decided to take on the challenge! I do not believe that I have every yawned so much in my entire life. Usually that only happens when I am really tired or bored but now it is like every second. (That is an exaggeration but you get the gist.) Okay, you say, but when your jaw is “free” then there should be no problem right? WRONG. Then my jaw is forced to open wider than it wants and that hurts… Sneezing is possible even with the rubber bands holding your jaw together but very uncomfortable. The end result is as if you spit without wanting to so make sure to have a handkerchief ready when you are ready to say “Achooooooo!”

The other day I had my first post operation sleepover which basically meant that I talked more than I have since the operation in one day. Do not get me wrong. I have had friends over before but that was not for more than a few hours which is a lot more than 24 hours of talking. It was extremely fun but after a while I started to feel pain in my temporomandibular joint (AKA jaw joint). This is most likely because of the fact that my jaw have been rotated as well as pushed inwards. Anyway, the reason to why I mentioned it is that I have a solution that does not involve painkillers. Simply reapply the rubber bands and since they restrict the movement then the pain should go away or at least that is what happened to me.

I must say that I am proud of myself that I wrote this much when I did not know at all what to write in the beginning. See you on Monday! 

If you are following my progress then you might have figured out my schedule now. I will try to update every Monday with how the week have been and after every check-up appointment (the next of which is on the 16^th of June for those of you who are interested).

This week started off well enough. I felt good and my recovery was well on its way and then off course everything started going downhill.  After my appointment at the doctor’s office my right cheek swelled up once more. Obviously my mouth was not happy that I decided to start poking there (since I now have a rubber band on the teeth on that side as well). This put a damper on my mood but it was not worse than that. I could learn to live with it once more.

On Friday and Saturday I felt very bad and on Saturday evening I finally gave in and took a painkiller. I am not fond of taking pills but I will take them when I can not stand it any longer. After this action had been taken my day, or actually my evening, took a turn for the better. That evening something a bit unpleasant happened… (This will be TMI I know but I promised myself to write the whole story without editing so here we go.) When I was putting the rubber bands back into my mouth after dinner (and brushing my teeth) then puss started to leak out of the scar on the right side of my mouth. I quickly grabbed the sponges I had gotten from the hospital and placed one in my mouth to get rid of it. After carefully disposing of the sponge I decided to use my dad’s antibacterial mouthwash.

This repeated itself after lunch and dinner the next day and I took the same precautions. The amount was smaller each time and after that first time at eleven pm on Saturday my swelling started to go down. So even though it was terribly unpleasant it brought with it a welcome change.

Speaking of mouth and dental hygiene. I ran out of my specially prescribed mouthwash after about two weeks and have now started to brush my teeth like a normal human being… almost. As I mentioned in my last “recovery-week” update toothbrushes are a lot bigger then you expect and I can not open my mouth very wide as of now. Therefore I brush my teeth just as normal except on the chewing surfaces or whatever you would like to call them. The whole toothbrush can not fit in between the teeth so I have to angle it to brush the chewing surface. Then I put the rubber bands back on my braces and finish with mouthwash. This takes me about 10 minutes which means I spend 20 minutes a day just brushing my teeth… But it is worth it in the end! :)

I do not know if I have written about this before but here we go. A tip! When you are restricted from moving your jaws then you have the reflex to bite down really hard and basically go about your day like that. Take it from me! It is uncomfortable. You might even do it without knowing it. Therefore I recommend that once awhile that you actively try to relax your jaw. This will make the whole situation much more pleasant and easy for you.

Finally I can not stress this enough! Do not try to eat all of your food through a straw and mix everything that otherwise will not fit through a straw because this tastes AWFUL! If you need ideas for things to eat then make sure to contact me and I will give you my list of eatable foods. I do understand that I am in a better position to eat things then someone who had double-jaw-surgery since I do not have to worry about being careful with my upper jaw. However mixed food, that is not supposed to be mixed together, is really horrible.

With that happy note I am done for today. See you on Monday. Bye!

NEWS! I just got back from the doctor’s office and there I met both my jaw surgeon and my orthodontist. They were both very satisfied with how my teeth looked and not much was changed with two small exceptions. Since last week I have had rubber bands on two places in my mouth that basically holds my jaws together in the correct position. The changes are that “the box”-formation, the two rubber bands in the front that makes a square, will now only be made up by one rubber band. Another change is that a “box” has been added on the teeth further in inside my mouth on my right side. This makes things a bit more difficult for me since it of course is more difficult to remove or once more place the rubber bands on the braces further in the mouth. But I am sure that, after I have done it a few times, it will all go smoothly.

I tried my very best to take photos of how this looks but none of the pictures turned out any good. Therefore if you want to get a visual of how it looks then I would recommend that you take a look at my post about my first check-up after the surgery. There I posted several pictures of how the front looks and you can clearly see the “box”-formation in the front. Just imagine that you take that shape and place it further in on the braces on the right side.

In my last post I failed to comment on the swelling. It has been declining and I passed the mark for when my doctor said I should look “normal”. However my face is still swollen. It is a lot better now and I can finally recognize myself but I am not back to my correct facial size yet. My cheeks are a bit larger than normal and I have a double chin… I do not usually have a double chin. (Sometimes I wonder what people think when they see me since I am quite thin and now I have a double chin. Two things that normally do not go together.) Now I have gotten to the point that I do not care if some random people see me on the street but when I was the most swollen (the first seven days after the surgery) I did not leave my house. But caring that much about some strangers opinion is exhausting and not worth it. Look at that! I even managed to bring you a love-yourself-message in this post! Without planning it. What can is say? Spreading wisdom comes naturally to me :)

That is that. Hope you found the information enlightening and got answers to some of your questions. Remember that I am more than happy to answer any additional questions you may have (to the best of my ability). All you have to do is go to the “Contact Me” page and fill in the necessary information in the boxes!

Until next time! Bye.  

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!

I have had a lot of questions about my operation, how I would feel after and so forth. These I therefore gathered together and asked my surgeon about to feel as secure and well informed as possible. I just got home from my first post operation checkup (I wrote more about that in the post before this one) and decided that it may be of interest for you to know the questions and the answers I got. However it is important to remember that these answers are pertaining to my case and may differentiate depending on what kind of operation you are going through and in which country the surgery is taking place.

First let us start with my pre operation questions:

Q: How long do I have to stay in the hospital after the surgery?

A: Usually one or two days after the operation.

Q: Will I be able to go through metal scanners after the surgery? (I thought I knew the answer to this already but I wanted to be sure.)

A: Yes, the screws that are placed in the jaw during the surgery will not set of a metal detector.

Q: How many rubber bands will I have in my mouth after the operation and how long do I need them?

A: Six rubber bands for six weeks.

Q: Will I be able to move my jaw after the surgery or will it be fixed shut?

A: The first week it will be free without restrictions and then the jaw will be fixed in place with rubber bands.

Q: Is everything that will keep my jaw fixed in the right position going to be inside my mouth?
A: Yes

Q: When will I look “normal” to someone that does not know me? (AKA when will the swelling be gone.)
A: The swelling will be the worst 2-3 days after the surgery and 90% of it will be gone after two weeks. However some will still be there until six months after the surgery.
 

Now for my post operation questions:

Q: When is it okay to start to brush my teeth as usual?
A: The teeth are fine to start brushing as normal right away but be careful with the gums and make sure not to disturb the

Q: Is it okay to drink hot beverages?

A: Yes, it is.

Q: What kind of screws do I have in my jaw?

A: See x-ray picture in the post that was posted before this one.

Q: How long should I continue to take painkillers?

A: As long as you see fit.

I hope that was helpful in some way! Bye :)

Yesterday I returned to the hospital for my first post operation checkup! My jaw surgeon was very happy with the result and after taking a quick look in my mouth, he proceeded to place four rubber bands on my braces. These brought my jaw into the correct position and are so tight that I am unable to open my mouth! It is a bit uncomfortable and it hurts a medium amount right now because my jaw is forced into this position. After the operation your body senses that something has happened and tries to “correct” the damage. It is of course not fun when you had surgery to fix your jaw and your body undoes it.

The rubber bands will prevent that from happening and I will wear them now for five weeks = until my skeleton is healed and my body has understood that this is the right position for the jaw to be in. I remove them three times a day, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, to eat and then put them on once more. The rubber bands themselves are stiff enough to be effective for about 30 hours and therefore I will change to new one’s every 24 hours more specifically after breakfast.

I almost forgot! Before the appointment with my surgeon I had to get x-rayed (which I love since I am basically Marie Curie’s biggest fan!) and I managed to snap a picture of the x-ray from the computer screen. The top picture is what I look like now and the bottom one is from before the surgery. Note that you can see the two places they cut the bone in the top picture + that you are able to see the amount of metal that now forever will be in my jaw.

The second picture shows the rubber bands placed in my mouth.

The third is a drawing of how the rubber bands are placed in my mouth and finally the fourth is a picture of what the rubber bands look like in the bag + the small tools I use to remove them from/put them back on my braces.

That is it! Until next time :) 

I have not been posting in a week now because of the fact that I did not feel all that great after the surgery. I think I am going to structure my story like a timetable almost and then write about my feelings and experience after that. My mom was absolutely amazing, as always XD, and wrote down when everything happened so that I would know all the correct times. So here is what happened:

05:45 am: Mom woke me and I had to shower twice with disinfectant shampoo and soap (for the fifth and sixth time…).

06:30 am: My dad called for a cab and we were driven to the hospital.

06:51 am: I arrived at my assigned bed at the hospital and are given a hospital gown… which I of course looked stunning in XD. They gave me a PVC (Periphal Venous catheter) in the right arm, I got three different kinds of pills to swallow (an antibiotic and two types of pain medication) and then I was wheeled of to the surgery.

07:30 am: I arrived at surgery room number 7 and then had to wait for approximately one hour and 10 minutes until they were ready for my surgery.

08:40 am: I was sedated.

10.50 am: As reported to me from my mom: My surgeon came out of the surgery to talk to my parents. Everything had run smoothly and they were able to make both of the incisions from the inside so I will not have any visible scars! + the fact that you heal incredibly well inside your mouth. Trust me, I should know after 6 years with braces.

11.20 am: I was brought into the recovery ward.

11:45 am: I got to wear a cooling mask on me that was filled with water (constantly kept at 16 degrees Celsius). Imagine it was quite as hassle to get this on me but I was still sedated at the time so I do not know.

12:15 am: I woke at approx. a quarter past twelve and felt very… swollen.

12:45 am: I felt sick and threw up only about one cl of liquid (TMI I know but since I am supposed to tell the whole story…). This was most likely because of the antibiotic I had been given since one of the side effects can be nausea. I received some medicine through my PVC to stop my nausea. :D

03:20 pm: I was wheeled back to my room after they were assured that everything was fine with me after my sedation (you have to stay in the recovery ward for three hours but I had to stay a bit longer because they could not find anyone to take me back to my room.) When I arrived I went back to sleep :)

04:10 pm: I received painkillers and an IV through my PVC. (I had gotten a new one in my hand during the surgery).

04:20 pm: My mom went home to get my bag that I packed over the weekend. While she was gone I threw up for real (still TMI, I know) but felt a lot better afterwards!

06:30 pm: My mom returned with my things and I slept some more.

06:45 pm: My little brother visited me at the hospital and when he left a half hour later took my father with him.

08:30 pm: Painkillers and new IV.

08:55 pm: Mom and I started to watch a DVD (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 XD).

10:00 pm: I had been so cooled down by the mask I had had on since 11:45 am that I was shaking and got more blankets to compensate. The nurses decided that it was time for me to sleep and we paused the DVD.

10:15 pm: I was asleep (according to mom).

12:00 pm: I got some antibiotics through my PVC.

NEW DAY

02:00 am: I got painkillers through my PVC.

02:05 am: The painkillers were already in my system so they removed it the tube from my PVC.

05:40 am: I woke up.

06:00 am: I removed the cooling mask to readjust it since the swelling had grown during the night.

08:00 am: Painkillers and antibiotics through my PVC.

08:15 am: My dad arrived.

08:20 am: My jaw surgeons and my orthodontist visited me. They decided that if I could swallow pills and drank more than one liter of fluid during the day then I could go home. I had a goal!

After this point I do not have any particular time stamps on what happened. I drank as much as I could and my PVC was removed at 02:00 pm when I showed that I could swallow a painkiller. The tricky part was that I could not drink, or do anything really, when I had my cooling mask on so I took small breaks from it from time to time. There is also the fact that it was extremely unpleasant to wear the cooling mask. But the mask was amazing at minimalizing the swelling so I suffered through wearing it until 07:00 pm when we packed up and went home. The swelling continued to grow until Friday and after that it has been slowly getting better but I am still swollen of course.

Okay let’s talk difficulties. First two smaller problems. Yawning and sneezing is impossible. Everyone out there that are able to yawn and sneeze, enjoy it! Because I know how it feels to not be able to do it and it sucks! + that moving my face is kind of impossible so you should not try to smile or anything because it will hurt. I also go around with my lips parted which makes for a very intelligent look as you can understand. This is because of the swelling. I literally can not get my lips to meet. That is why I know that the letters “B”, “F”, “M”, “O”, “P”, “W, “V” & “Y” are hard to pronounce. I can not brush my teeth either and have a type of mouthwash that I rinse my mouth with instead which is not at all satisfying. If that was not enough I have had some loss of feeling in my lower lip and down to my chin. My whole lower lip except for about 5 mm is numb and the sensation is the same in a square from my lip to my chin. I am staring to get used to it now so it is not as uncomfortable as it was a few days ago. Since I am seventeen there is a good chance that some of the feeling returns but it will be a while before that happens.

Of course we also have the big elephant in the room: You are not allowed to chew! Which basically limits your food options to liquids… or so you think! It is true that liquids make up the majority of my food intake right now but yesterday for example I was able to take part in a Saturday night family dinner when steak was on the menu! I took me a while to eat everything but I cut my steak in so small pieces that I could swallow them whole. Because a word from the wise: Food that has been mixed does not taste good! I also drink a lot of smoothies and milkshakes and eat chocolate pudding. Yum! Anything you can eat is fine since now it is not a concern that you are eating to many calories, now the challenge is to eat enough calories! XD That part I can honestly say that I enjoy.

But even though it may seem as though this week has been hell, and I am not saying that it was easy or that I particularly want to do it once more, but I am still happy with my decision to go through with the surgery!