8 Weeks

Yay! I can finally say i freaking finally made it 8 weeks into recovery. :D This has been a remarkable recovery for me. I can finally eat again and let me say it feels weird to chew cause i haven't used those muscles for 8 weeks so i can only imagine it will take some time to get used to. I saw my oral surgeon for my 2 month check up and had the surgical splint come out and i am no longer " wired" shut. I'll admit yes i did lose a lot of weight and i hope to gain a little bit of weight back on cause i look skinnier than normal. I really do love and appreciate everyone's love and support and concern during this time. I know everyone's been so worried about me which i understand. Now my grandma thinks i will start throwing up foods cause i haven't ate a normal solid diet in 8 weeks but nope i get a little nauseated but i don't throw up. Its been a learning experience and its been hard on my family especially having to cope with it but i will say it is 10 x harder on me. Its crazy how its been 2 months since i was brave enough to put myself through this surgery. I see my orthodontist next Tuesday and i don't see my oral surgeon till February 2018. It feels so great being able to talk more clear and be able to chew. I can open my mouth wide again but because of my surgery my two top teeth are a little lose which is to be expected after this type of surgery so it will take a little time for my teeth to tighten back up again. I'm just so happy to finally eat and believe me i ate like i never ate before. I've been having dead blood clearing out so yay i get to look forward to that for the next 3 - 4 months that's so fun right? LOL not even funny when all i can smell is blood in my nose. I am done with this part of the chapter. Here goes to the next part of recovery its going to be really fun if i ever fly on an airplane LOL! I am very happy with my new smile. I know i am not alone in this cause there has been others that had jaw surgery done. I am just one happy girl to finally eat again. I am basically done updating my Jaw surgery recovery blog for now. I can chew foods all i want but my top jaw still has a full year to fully heal itself. I really do encourage anyone going through this to consider getting your jaw fixed. It would be worth it. I am really happy with myself. I know i made the hardest decision in my life to get this surgery and here i am pulling myself out of it. I will wait probably a year before i can chew gum and eat salad and steak cause i want to be careful and let my jaw fully heal before i decide to chew gum or eat salad cause they are very chewy foods. I'm so excited for Christmas Dinner. Like no joke i can't wait to make up for a lot of the yummy food i missed out on for Thanksgiving Dinner. That's it for 2017 this is the last post for awhile. I will post a few more times in 2018. :)

Seven Weeks

I am seven weeks into recovery going strong and i have 14 days left to go till i can chew again. I can only pray and hope and stay positive that my top Jaw will be ready for me to chew on December 12th. It's crazy to think 2 weeks from yesterday this will be over with and i'll be able to eat normal again. So far about 6 random customers at work noticed and asked me if i broke my jaw in an accident. Hahaha sure if you want to put it that way but nope my oral surgeon broke it and fixed it all for me. People ask me how my jaw is doing? I guess its healing good so far i don't know what to say. It's healing the way we want it to so i guess that's what matters most. I don't have an x - ray system to look at it everyday and believe me i get so tempted to freak people out and tell them i have screws in my head. LOL! I do get sick of this insane liquid super soft food only diet too.

I can say if you end up having Jaw surgery done right around the holidays like i just did. Sure i had surgery before Halloween but i had to miss out on Halloween candy ( candy all together) I haven't had a candy bar since before my surgery and my Thanksgiving dinner was a little different i had to miss out on Turkey but i was okay with out eating turkey. I was able to still enjoy Thanksgiving dinner just with yams, mashed potatoes & gravy and cranberries ( i am not one for canned cranberries) and i also got to enjoy stuffing. I was able to enjoy pumpkin pie without crust and chocolate pie without crust. If you want turkey and like i was advised if i wanted to i could purify the turkey and eat it that way but it wasn't worth the hassle of trying to purify it.

I am excited to have my surgical splint taken out on December 12th it will be a good day to enjoy foods again. Christmas Dinner will be a big meal for me and make up for the foods i missed out on during Thanksgiving dinner.

1 Month

Its crazy how it is already been 1 month since I had my jaw surgery done. I saw my Orthodontist last Tuesday and he was very happy with the results and said Dr Viehwig did an amazing job. I am so very happy and i love the new results. Now that we are onto the 5th week in this i have about 3 and a half weeks left to go. I also saw my oral surgeon for a check up yesterday morning and my top jaw is healing and the numbness is now all gone so i can feel everything and since i know my oral surgeon went through my nose i know i can't blow my nose so i asked him when could blow my nose again? and he said i can blow my nose just very gentle and i can't block both nostrils at the same time because my nasal cavity tissue is healing he doesn't want me to blow to hard when i blow my nose. He told me in the next 3 to 4 months i will be experiencing some nasty stuff coming out of my nose too. So that will be fun to deal with as time goes by and i went back to work for the first time since October 9th 2017 and that was a nice welcome back. Everyone was surprised and they were happy to have me back. Some of my co workers had no idea i was having surgery so they all thought that i went on vacation. They asked me where did you go? did you go on vacation? hahaha yeah sure if you consider surgery a vacation. LOL! I go back to see my oral surgeon on December 12th and my surgical splint will come out and i am sure by than i will be back to chewing again. :)

I still looked cute before surgery but now i look 10 x better. You can tell i had surgery done and i loved my smile ever since i was little so when i lost all my confidence in my smile i ended up not liking my smile. Now i love my new smile and i have so much confidence back in my smile. I don't know how one simply enjoys this insane diet? i'm dying over here and yes i have lost some weight in this which is to be expected. I'm just glad not much longer to wait to have my normal food again.

Three Weeks Down

It is so crazy how 3 weeks went by and i had my check up with my Oral surgeon on Halloween. Things are going very well and he is so happy and pleased with the way I am healing and recovering. I couldn't be more happier with the results and I am loving my smile again. I can now brush my teeth but i have to be gentle of course. I can suck out of a straw i just can't use one with milkshakes or smoothies. I have 6 weeks left to go and with that i get to start eating again on December 10th. I will be honest nobody understands what this is like and of course nobody will understand cause they have never been through this. If i met someone that went through this i can only say i understand what its like cause honestly i know how it felt to go through this alone while my family tries to understand why i did this. I am a little on the lactose and tolerant side so I can tell when i have to much milk in my system cause i automatically feel sick to the stomach. I have to drink Vitamin D milk which is my choice over nasty skim milk. I honestly can't wait to drink 2% milk again when this is over with. I drink water like its going out of style. I have found i enjoy hot showers because i can't blow my nose so that hot water really hits good and really helps get things loosened up so it comes out easier. I am glad i have a love for drinking Gatorade because Gatorade is a big help in keeping me hydrated. Yeah this is a torture being on this crazy diet but i deeply enjoy it. I get to enjoy eating ice cream, yogurt, pudding, Jello, scrambled eggs, smoothies, milkshakes, cottage cheese, soups, mashed potatoes, applesauce and protein shakes. My mom has made a few dinners that she has been able to purify for me and some of them are a hit and some of them its like gross don't blend that ever again. My Thanksgiving dinner will be different for me i will only get to eat mashed potatoes and stuffing and hopefully pie. This has been a remarkable road to recovery and honestly it has helped me personally grow and it helped me learn that i can remain strong through other difficult trials in my life. I see my Orthodontist for the first time tomorrow since before my surgery happened and i am excited i can't wait till he see's my new results. I am going to shock everyone at his office tomorrow and it will be a  good one. :)

A lot Happens in Two Weeks

During the 2 weeks recovering i have learned i have my good days where i feel good like i can get a ton of stuff done than i have bad days where i don't feel so good and i feel like i will pass out or throw up. I've been advised since i came out of surgery to not blow my nose and that's driving me crazy right now not being able to blow my nose. Its impossible to not yawn and believe me its hard to not yawn with my mouth wired shut. I sneezed for the first time since my surgery and that hurt like hell. I can't brush my teeth right now so i just use warm salt water and a special mouth wash that was prescribed to me. I'll admit this has been super hard on me lately i really do miss my normal solid food diet. I know i am alone in this cause nobody i know has ever gone through this and i wish i could meet someone who went through Jaw surgery to help me get a better understanding in this. I had read a lot of other Jaw surgery stories as i went through the journey to my Jaw surgery and honestly i thought i was prepared for it and deep down i wasn't prepared enough for it. My mom hasn't been very helpful or supportive as she keeps saying to me " you expected this to happen after your surgery" well no duh! Yes i expected this but i didn't know it was going to be harder on me more than i expected it to be. I tell my mom i am still new to this and clearly its new to my mom and dad too especially when she says this is new to me too. I can tell that Jaw surgery is not a common popular surgery right now or else there would be books and even more information about it. I am basically learning as i go and i know i am not the only one who had this done. Until someone i know goes through this and has their mouth wired shut for 8 weeks than they will understand but for now nobody will never understand what its like. I'm basically purifying everything and i can't suck out of a straw till next week. I will say its not easy eating with a spoon and its challenging to eat with rubber bands in my mouth. I have a surgical splint in my mouth and it will becoming out in a short 4 weeks.
I am beyond blessed with all the love and support i have gotten through out this its been freaking amazing and i am sure loved. Now that i've been through this i can tell someone else what to expect if they have this done. 2 weeks down and i have about 6 weeks left to go so i really hope i can try and chew food again in December and i return to work in the middle of November so its going to be really good to go back to work and let everyone see me for the first time since before surgery. 

One Week After Surgery

I can't believe its been ONE week since I had surgery last Tuesday.😀 This was a traumatic surgery that I went through and I've had to adjust to this and I won't lie it is hard. I actually cried and couldn't believe that its been a week since I actually had food to eat last Monday. I had to give myself a pep talk like okay I can do this, I can make it through this. I am "wired" shut with rubber bands and that means I am "wired" shut for 8 weeks. I can't chew anything for 8 weeks my oral surgeon put me on a strict liquid soft food diet for 8 weeks. I am recovering for 2 weeks and it's going well. But it will take a good full 6 months or even up to a year for my top jaw to fully heal.

I had my one week post surgery check up appointment with my oral surgeon and he was happy with the way recovery is going for me. His staff was so happy to see how i looked and i got compliments like crazy and i am happy the results are showing, I got a new updated x -Ray done and i got to see the screws and plates in my top jaw when i looked at it on the computer screen. Yeah it was kind of weird LOL but so cool however it was weird for my mom to see the screws and plates in my top jaw and I'm sure its weird for her to see it especially since all she could ask was " are the screws and plates really in your top jaw?" as she would look at the screen. So i could tell it was weird for her. When my oral surgeon saw me he asked " Who beat you up?" and we both laughed. I get to go back on Halloween for another check up and i have a good feeling i will love the new results as i recover. :)

Getting to Go Home

My mom and brother showed up to take me home and i just finished breakfast and the nurse gave me a pain killer ( not knowing the effect it was about to have on me) I thought okay sweet we can get me dressed and ready to go home. I had my mom help me with getting dressed. I was doing fine than all the sudden i had to sit down my heart was racing super fast and i got hot. My mom kept asking me whats wrong? all i could say was i don't know all i knew was something wasn't right here. I suddenly started going really pale and had my head laying on the sink while my mom freaked out she had my brother get a nurse in my room as quick as possible.  I just laid there almost passing out.  I just wanted to lay down and sat there laying my head down on the sink. My nurse gave me a few minutes before i went and laid back down on my bed. I was able to stand up and walk to my bed and as the nurses got worried about me my nurse told me that it was the pain killer that took me through a loop and that she would give my oral surgeon a call and let him know what happened. Before i knew it i was hooked up to the IV again and my nurse came back in and told me they wanted to keep me for a couple more hours just to watch me and make sure i won't  almost pass out again. Lunch time came and my brother and mom had gone to get lunch.

I've had to use this awesome syringe thing to drink from and it hasnt been easy it comes out to quick causing me to swallow to quick. I've been trying to sip from a cup very carefully but i still have to use this cool little syringe thing.

Finally after my brother and mom came back from lunch. I was ready to go home i was able to get dressed and i also got my flu shot before i left the hospital. This awesome thing i had around my head is called a jaw bra hahaha i never thought it was called that. haha! I am just glad its over with and now i'm on the road to recovery. i cant wait to see the results as time goes by. i really do appreciate the love and support along with the prayers and thoughts i even heard my name was put in the temple. i am beyond blessed with some good loving people in my life.

Road to Recovery

So my surgery was a success and what was supposed to be a 2 hour surgery turned into a 4 hour surgery. I woke up crying and i guess i was struggling to breathe because the nurse started saying " okay Jessica i need you to start taking deep breaths or else you will stop breathing so i started taking deep breaths. I heard i did so good in surgery. When i woke up from surgery it was kind of funny i was burping like crazy haha. They transferred me to a room where i could recover and see my parents. I was still burping like crazy and i could hear my mom and dad saying wow she is burping a lot. My mom asked the nurse why is she burping so much? the nurse said it was a common normal thing after this type of surgery. I was so out of it i dozed off and woke up again and i looked at my mom and asked her what time is it? and she said it was 7:10pm and here i thought it was only 3:30 in the afternoon. My parents left for the night and i stayed over night at the hospital. I'm glad i stayed the night at the hospital because i got very sick to my stomach i was throwing up lots of blood all night and early morning Wednesday.  I was awake and responding to all my amazing and helpful nurses. I really do appreciate all the help from my nurses even though they had to see me throw up blood. I got to see my oral surgeon as he came into my room to check up on me early Wednesday morning. I was able to get some sleep even though the hospital bed was so uncomfortible and it was hard to roll over to my side with the IV in my right arm. I was mostly excited that i was able to go home after a long horrible night staying at the hospital and i was so hungry  i wanted food and i understand the hospital has to follow rules about giving patients food. I was finally able to have water and sprite. I had to get medicine to calm my nasuea since i threw up blood again and all i wanted to do was lay down in bed.

Day of Surgery

I was told to be at the Hospital by 9:45am on Tuesday to check in for surgery. So we arrived  at the hospital by 9:45am and checked in for surgery. I got my wrist band with my info and i got a buzzer so I knew when it was my turn and we were waiting for my buzzer to go off so we can go in the back where I'd be prepped for surgery. Finally the buzzer went off and we followed a blue line into the back

The nurse got my weight and height and got us into a room  where I'd be waiting to be prepped for surgery. I had my mom and dad with me while waiting in the room with me. I had to put a hospital gown on and put the socks on and after that I laid on the bed relaxing and waiting for my nurse to come in.

 Finally my nurse came in and helped get things started and I got hooked up to the IV. My mom asked my nurse so is her surgery at 10:45am since we were told to be here at 9:45am? and here I am already in a hospital gown and i just got hooked up to the IV. My nurse says let me check on that and she said it looks like it's scheduled for 12:45pm so we were kind of mad that we showed up 3 hours early when we could of arrived at 11:45am. We couldn't very well leave the hospital at that point and suddenly I started having a reaction to the IV I was trying to throw up in the process after being hooked to an IV and it caused me to cry for a few minutes wishing this was all over with. I finally  calmed down and watched TV and played on my phone. I haven't ate anything for 8 hours and I was getting so hungry but I couldn't eat anything and the IV was making me pee like crazy. I ended up not going into surgery at 12:45pm i finally went into surgery around 2:00pm and they took us upstairs to where the surgery room and waiting room was and Just before we went through the doors to the surgery room the nurse let my parents have a moment to give me well wishes and so my mom and dad did that and walked off into the hall that took them to the waiting room while I was waiting for my oral surgeon. I finally see my oral surgeon and I got to talk to him and he had me meet someone else that helped him during my surgery and I met the nurse. I never knew an IV can make you go to the bathroom so much until I was waiting to be taken into surgery. I was waiting patiently for them to finish up the other surgery and thought oh man I need to go again haha. I met my anesthesiologist Dr Summers and he took me into the surgery room and they transferred me onto the surgery table. I remember having a conversation with the anesthesiologist and he had me clean my nose out so he could put a breathing tube down my nose after that I was knocked out I didn't feel a thing and don't remember anything about my surgery or the breathing tube and I'm glad surgery is over with. :)

What I Get to Expect

As I undergo jaw surgery today this is what I get to expect during surgery:

● I will be in surgery for 2 hours

● I will be hooked to a breathing tube ( to help assist with breathing )

● how they will break my top jaw:
They will make an incision along my cheek bones and under my nose. They will break it and move it forward just a little bit and move it down. This will cause my bottom jaw to rotate and the results will be 10x better in a good way.

I appreciate all the love and support and prayers and thoughts that I'm getting from friends family and Co workers. :)

The Day Has Finally Arrived

This has been quite the journey to my jaw surgery and to think that i can put this chapter behind me and start a fresh new one. It hasn't been easy for me either I've been through it all the happy and crying times and there was times i felt like giving up and just living with this problem for the rest of my life. But there was one problem i couldn't go without thinking about having my jaw problem fixed for good i honestly couldn't go a day without thinking about having my jaw fixed for good so i can eat right again. I did everything i could to get here and like my oral surgeons team said we worked hard on getting to get to where we are and well now my journey to my surgery is now accomplished. Today is my day to have surgery and get it fixed for good. I will be able to eat right again in 8 weeks and i will miss out on Halloween candy and Thanksgiving dinner but it will be worth it to be able to chew on foods normally again in 8 weeks. I will miss work for 2 weeks as i recover. I'm not scared i'm just nervous which is a normal feeling to have and i am still new to this whole thing. I know i will be in good hands during surgery. I'm nervous and excited to have this finally all done. I've been nothing but positive and strong  in this and got a positive outcome in this and i look forward to having my braces off in 8 months. Here goes to 8 hours no food no drink and a 2 hour surgery and i feel this is all a dream.

Here We Go

The countdown to my Jaw surgery begins... on October 10th 2017 i will be under going surgery to get my top jaw fixed and moved down. I'm excited to finally have this chapter of my life end and put this behind me. I'll have a long road of recovery but it will be worth it once i can chew on food and eat again without problems. :) I see my Oral surgeon for my Pre-surgery appointment on Thursday and that means its officially 3 weeks left till my Jaw surgery. I can only hope if someone is going through something like this. I know how it feels and it sucks. I wouldn't want for anyone not even my worst enemy to go through this.

This is my Story: How it all Started

We aren't exactly sure how my jaw ended up like this or if I was born with it and I just didn't notice any problem until my adult hood and here I thought i was perfectly fine and my mouth was okay after i got my first set of braces off in 2010. My orthodontist told me i would need braces for the 2nd time and i didn't want to believe him and just ignored the idea of having braces again and that was until December 31st 2013 my mouth started giving me problems and it would lock on me for 1 hour and painfully pop and crack every time i tried opening my mouth and the pain was getting worse and it was scary enough that it took one hour for my jaw to unlock and it would release the pain right into my head, the back of my neck and also my ears. I had to do something and get help to ease the pain and saw my oral surgeon in February 2014 and just like that i was diagnosed with a case of TMJ and that's when my oral surgeon told me that my top jaw was not connected right and he said that might be the reason why i'm having trouble with my jaw. He showed me what my x - ray looked like and showed me where my top jaw was at and i couldn't believe how bad it was. He offered to fix it for me but the only thing was i had to get braces back on for it because he won't do it without braces. I have experienced every common symptom of TMJ and the symptoms still continue to appear. I had to make the hardest decision of my life either to live with this problem for the rest of my life or just get surgery done and have it fixed for good and for the better. I haven't been able to eat right or eat at all since this problem started on December 31st 2013 and i made the hardest choice of my life i went with getting it surgically fixed and no it wasn't easy either i cried over it and knew what I was about to put myself through and i had read other jaw surgery blogs that have helped me understand what to expect in this journey. I even went on YouTube to watch a little bit of the surgery videos for it. I have had dreams of going through the surgery.  It took me weeks to tell my family about the decision i made. My dad was hoping i wouldn't go for it but in honesty you can tell something is wrong with my jaw cause its noticeable and i had lost all confidence in my smile and i couldn't stand it and i LOVE my smile. I got braces for the 2nd time for the surgery so we can get this fixed and this hasn't been easy we originally had 15 months till surgery at the beginning of this mess 2 years ago and then suddenly my orthodontist wasn't comfortable with the plan of my jaw being moved forward so he talked to my oral surgeon about it and then last year they were able to work a better plan out for my jaw so now my top jaw will be moved down and my orthodontist gave it a green light for surgery again at the end of last year. I have been nothing but strong and positive through it all and yes i have felt like giving up in this but i kept my head up and knew it would all work out and i finally got my surgery scheduled and 2 pre-surgery appointments scheduled and my insurance accepted to pay for my surgery so i don't have to worry about paying for my surgery. I am very happy and excited and i can't wait to see the new results from this. :)  

Introduction

I wanted to be able to share about my Jaw surgery/recovery for my friends and family that want to know what Jaw surgery is like and how i am doing during recovery from my surgery. I know Jaw surgery is different for everyone with different circumstances and reasons but i know i am not alone in this. I have come a long way for this and i can't wait to see the new results and put this behind me for good so i can move on with my life without worrying about my jaw. I learned this Jaw surgery is a more common thing now days and i feel alone but i remind myself i'm not alone in this. I look forward to sharing my jaw surgery story and recovery. I decided i'd make a blog all about my top jaw surgery/recovery since my top jaw is getting fixed. :)