Pre and Post Surgery feelings

So it's been quite a while since I updated you all. Since my last post I have had my Maryland dental bridge on my right side put in. I have also had the surgery done to prepare to get my implant put in on my left side where I was also missing a tooth. This was just a simple day surgery. The surgery involved my gum being cut and the base inserted into my gum. I can't remember what it is called but basically the way I explain it is like the nut that a bolt screws into. So that part was inserted into my gum and then stitched back up to heal. This then has to heal for four months before the crown ( tooth ) can get inserted into my gum. For this to be done I will have an anesthetic put in my gum and it will be cut open and the tooth will be inserted. While this all heals I still have to wear my plate but no too much longer now. it will be finished before my 20th birthday so I'm happy about that.

 

I thought with this post I would talk more about how surgery and hospital visits make me feel. First of all I'll talk about hospitals. When I was younger I didn't mind having surgery. It meant I got time of school and got to eat lots of ice-cream and jelly and watch cartoons all day. I got to go on a big plan and fly to the big city. However as I got older that novelty started to wear off as I started to realize what surgery actually entailed. It meant lot's of doctors visits, needles, smelly gas, noisy machines in hospital and recovery. I think as I got older I started to know too much of what was involved in surgery.

 

Jaw surgery was probably the most nervous I felt before surgery. Because I knew all the possibilities. I knew all the things that could go right but I also knew all the things that could go wrong. I knew that recovery was going to be a very long, slow and painful process. I was so excited for the end result but at that point in time right before surgery I could only think of all the bad things to come. I'm normally quite a positive person but going under the knife now is something that can get me quite down. My Mum doesn't like sitting with me anymore before surgery as she says I'm just too cranky and moody. Another thing that puts me off surgery is just before I fall asleep in theatre everything goes blurry and my ears go funny. Everything becomes really loud but kind of crackly, it sounds a little bit like a static TV but louder. It makes me feel all funny and a bit sick.  

 

When I wake up I can be a bit cranky because I cant do everything I normally can do for a little while. I like to be a independent person and don't like when I can't do things for myself. A good example of this is when I had my bone graft when I was about 8 years old. After surgery I got sick of having to wait for the nurse every time I had to go to the toilet. I watched how the nurse unplugged my drip and then how to plug it back in and turn it on so from then on I did it myself and went to the toilet by myself without having to wait for the nurse. This also meant that the nurse wasn't there to push me in the wheel chair. So I practiced walking with my saw hip a lot more and I was able to walk on it a lot quicker. Because of this I was actually discharged from hospital the next day as the doctor was surprised how well I was doing and also because I didn't have as much swelling and bruising as they were expecting.

 

I have another post planned where I would like to talk more about growing up with a cleft lip and palate and how it can effect your confidence a little and self image. I know what I would like to say I just have to think about how I'm going to say it. will trying and do post more regularly but can't promise to much as I have limited internet connection.

 

Thanks again to those who read this and hope you can relate to it a little bit. I added some photos to this post so you can all see the results now that it all healed well. most of the photos a with no make up or very little. Will be posting again soon :)

4 Months Post Surgery

Sorry that I have been absent from the blogging scene for a while. I thought it was probably about time I updated you all on what has been happening. So I got my braces off just before Christmas which was the best Christmas present I could ask for. I was so excited even more than I was when I got my first set of braces off. I now have to wear a plate for a little while until I can get my implants and my dental bridge put in; otherwise I would look like a redneck with missing teeth. Sorry I should explain that more. My plate has two false teeth on it that fill in the gaps where I'm missing teeth.

 

I go back to see my surgeon on the 8^th February and that is when we will start planning the next step to getting my implants put in. I'm so excited to get my implant and bridge put in because I wont have to wear a plate anymore. Even though I love that my orthodontist puts in so much effort into making my false teeth look so real; wearing a plate means my speech is altered a little bit. Honestly though I have had to deal with worst things so it's really nothing to complain about at all.

 

I have also been using a whitening kit at the moment. Ever since I started all my orthodontic work its something I have always wanted to do. I was so incredibly happy when I got it. It finally hit home that all the major work and appointments and all the fuss with seeing doctors and stuff is finally coming to an end. Its not over yet but the road is coming to an end. Its so nice to have people compliment on how great my teeth look. I was always conscience of how my teeth looked but now I just want to show them off all the time haha.

I am so glad that I had jaw surgery done but if you asked me to do it again I would most likely say no. Its not that it was terribly painful it was just a horrible feeling. With your face being swollen for so long, not being able to eat proper food and just sitting around doing nothing during the recovery period it drove me crazy. Although I have realised that your body quickly forgets pain as it now feels like forever since I had it done.

Anyway just a quick update to show you all how it's all gone post surgery and because everyone loves to see photos here is a photo I put together of before and after surgery.

Week 6 and Week 7 update.

SIX WEEKS OF RECOVERY IS OVER!

First of all sorry for the delay in update. Last week was my first week being able to chew again so I was consumed about all the choices of food I could eat again. I was also just adjusting back into normal life again and enjoying food. 

So last Saturday marked six weeks since I had my surgery which meant I was finally allowed to chew again. As this was my first time chewing I still had to be very careful what I ate and was told just to try slowly chewing soft food first. So the first thing I ate was some mince. It was strange because I was so used to just putting food into my mouth and swallowing it without chewing. So the first couple of mouthfuls I just instinctively swallowed the food without thinking. After a couple more mouthful and a bit of concentration I was chewing my food again. 

It's a strange feeling chewing after jaw surgery. You get used to how your mouth use to work and now it works a little differently. As my front teeth now join I can bite food and actually be able to bite a piece off without it slipping through my teeth. Also because of the new position of my jaw. The very back teeth have a slight gap between them, so I can't really chew tiny pieces of food with my back teeth. It all felt a bit different and strange but I didn't matter because I could eat normal food again. 

For the next couple of days I stuck with soft foods like sandwiches, mince and finely chopped chicken. I was still quite scared of being too rough with my jaw so anything I ate I broke it up into tiny little pieces first before chewing it. 

I then went and saw my surgeon on the wednesday. He was very happy with how everything had healed and said that I was fine to start slowly chewing some bigger things and that I was allowed to exercise and go running again. He also said that I can start stretching my jaw open now to start using the muscles again and get it all moving. He explained it like having surgery on your shoulder; afterwards you have to try and stretch it out so it can get better. This is why I have to start stretching out my jaw so that it can slowly return back to normal. 

Now that my surgeon said that its all healed now and that everything should be all nice and solid I have started eating some bigger and harder food. I haven't had any problems chewing any food yet. The only thing that hurts a little is when I try to eat something a bit bigger and I have to stretch my jaw to try and fit it in.  The joints in my jaw get a little bit sore. That should get easier over time though and shouldn't hurt anymore. 

I have decided to go back to running next week as I enjoy exercising. I will only do a small run on Monday to start off with and hopefully my jaw doesn't get too sore. 

After a week of chewing I'm no longer scared that I'm going to hurt my jaw. I still know my limits and don't push it too much. It seems that the mind is quick to forget pain as it now feels like so long ago that I was sitting at home counting down the days until I could chew again. It definitely wasn't an easy road to recovery and there were times when I thought it was never going to end. However I look back now and realise it was only six weeks out of my life and things are all back to normal now and the pain and the frustration of it all is soon forgotten and the results were definitely worth it. 

Now the countdown until I can get my braces off begins. Lots of exciting things to look forward to. 

Week 5 Post Op- 1 week to go

profile shots 6 weeks post surgery

Exactly 5 week since surgery

Some photos from the past five weeks. As you can see after the initial swelling went down it has only been going down very slowly since then.

Saturday the 1st November marked five weeks since surgery. Only one more week before I can start chewing again! Week five wasn't that exciting and didn't bring that much change. Most of my swelling has gone down now; however the remaining swelling changes everyday. One day I will wake up and think that the swelling is finally all gone and the next day I'll wake up and the top of my lip will be puffy again. I think this all depends on how much I use my mouth. For example when I'm at work and  I'm serving customers and talking to my workmates all day I am using my mouth more. Also now that I can move my top lip more I am smiling more which will be using the muscles in my top lip so this may be effecting the swelling.  The swelling can also move. Sometimes the area between my top lip and my nose is swollen and other days the swelling is down each side of my nose. I'm thinking the way I sleep may also be effecting the swelling. 

On Wednesday I went to see my surgeon. He showed me the photos he had taken before my surgery and then took some after photos to compare them with. You can definitely see the change. I will try and get a hold of these photos to show you next week. The surgeon spoke about the process of getting an implant put into my gum on the left side and the dental bridge that will be put in on my right side.  He was happy for all this to be done and wanted to send me to the dentist where he sends his children as he feel I deserve to have the best treatment; his children receive nothing but the best and he thinks I should too. The finer details of these procedures will be discussed closer to when I'll be getting my braces off. 

When I was leaving the surgeons I asked the nurses about when I can start hewing again. She said that after six weeks I can begin chewing again but only on very soft food first and then slowly build up to better food. The way she described it is that my jaw is still like wet cement at this stage and I still have to be very careful and not cause too much movement of my jaw. If I to push it too much and my jaw moves I will have to have surgery again to correct it and I will be back to square one.

This week I was really starting to get over eating soup and I have now come to the stage where I think I have had enough of Alfredo, shock horror haha. So I decided to try and eat something with some more substance. I really felt like tacos but obviously because I'm still not allowed to chew that wasn't going to happen. So what I did was made taco mince and then put cheese on top which I melted with some garlic aioli and avocado. I manage to eat this off a spoon and then move it around my mouth with my tongue until I could swallow it without chewing. This actually tasted pretty good and was nice to finally be eating some meat. Dad had also made a roast chicken on the weekend so I broke off some of the breast meat and tore it into little pieces and ate that ( again without chewing.) This tasted so good and I can't wait until next week until I will be allowed to chew again. 

This week I will be going back to the orthodontist to have my surgical post removed. I'm excited for this as my braces are clear at the front so when I talk or smile you don't really notice this, but with silver surgical post it kind of defeats the purpose. My orthodontist will then put in my final wires to start getting my teeth ready to hopefully get my braces off in January, YAY! 

Now that the feeling is starting to come back in my mouth and my face I can feel it if I strain my jaw too much or lie on it badly. I don't have any other pain though in regards to healing. My nose and lip can get itchy though as it all starts to heal. This can be annoying but it doesn't last very long at all.

I'm am looking forward to this Saturday which will mark six weeks since surgery and I can slowly start chewing again and hopefully be able to start exercising again soon.  Once again if you have any questions feel free to message me on my Facebook page "The Story Behind My New Smile." I will update you all again next week :)

4 Weeks Post Surgery

four weeks post surgery, Still cant quite smile properly

Before and After so far

Yay only two more weeks of recovery to go! This week I went to the orthodontist and got my false teeth put back in. I was so glad once I got them back in I was able to feel like myself again. My trip to the orthodontists also brought another happy suprise. My orthodontist told me that I could have my braces of by some time in January next year. This is so exciting because I was expecting to have them on for another six months or so. In two weeks I will be going back to the orhthodontist to get my surgical wires taken out, which will mean no more silver surgical post that stand out. Once I get these wires out I will then start getting my final wires in to start the process of getting them off. 

Now that I have a rough idea of when I will be getting my braces off I have to start planning for implants and a dental bridge. On my left side I will be able to get an implant with a false tooth on it. This involves getting a socket put into my gum which a tooth is then screwed into. Then on the right side where the cleft was I will have to have a dental bridge put in as there is not enough bone there to support an implant. This involves attaching a false tooth to the two teeth either side of it; the false tooth will have two "wings" either side of it which will be attached to my own teeth. 

This week I have gotten feeling back into my top lip although on the inside of my lip its still a bit tingly. I also have feeling back at the very back of the roof of my mouth. Most of my palate is still quite numb though. I can still feel a little bit of swelling at the bottom of my cheeks either side of my nose and still a little bit in my top lip. I was hoping the swelling would be all gone by four weeks but I can feel that each day it is getting less and less so I just have to patient. 

On other news I returned to work yesterday. It felt so good to be back into my normal routine and doing something other than sitting at home. I have four shifts next week which will keep me busy between my appointments. Life is getting back to normal now as I can speak much better again and returning back to work has made me feel more motivated.

Hopefully the next two weeks will fly by because I cannot wait to be able to eat again. I miss eating real food SO much! Oh well four weeks down only two weeks to go.

THREE WEEKS DOWN, THREE TO GO!!!

Exactly 3 weeks post surgery!

3 Weeks Down, Half Way!!!

Left side...Center...Right Side

THREE WEEKS DOWN, HALF WAY THROUGH RECOVERY!!!

I can't express how excited I was to reach this little milestone. Sorry for the delay in the update but I had a weekend away at my beach house which was nice to get out of the house for a little bit. Week three has been pretty good. Each day gets better and better. I have a lot of feeling back in the top of my mouth which is good. My top lip is also starting to get feeling back, although still a little numb and tingly in some parts. Week three didn't bring too much to report on in regards to progress of recovery. I feel like myself again and I definitely feel ready to go back to work. 

My weight is still a little unstable as some days I'm back up to 50kgs and some days I'm close to 47kgs but I think that is just normal. I can open my mouth about as wide as my thumb now, however I'm still not allowed to chew until the six week mark. My mouth does get a little sore as I get feeling back. This pain isn't anything bad though I would say at most a 2 on a scale of 1-10 where ten is the most painful. My nose is no longer runny which is absolutely awesome, I dont have to walk around with a tissues on hand 24/7. 

On a more exciting note I went to see my surgeon today for my weekly visit. He was still very happy with how everything is going and he said I no longer have to were my rubber band during the day! This means I can now start talking normally again, without having a rubber band holding my jaw tight. I do still have to wear it at night though. Also as I have said a few times in my previous posts, I get my false teeth put back in on Wednesday which I'm so excited for. So now that most of my swelling has gone down, I can now talk without a rubber band in the center of my teeth and getting my false teeth back I will be able to start returning to a normality. 

I have never gone this long without having my false teeth in; its a strange feeling. Now that my lip can move and you can see my top teeth, I find myself suprised when I catch a glimpse of myself. I'm not use to seeing my gappy teeth and it still catches me by suprise. I have become more confident with it though as I know my friends don't judge me for it  they are use to seeing me like this now. I am still a little conscious of it around people I don't know that well though. That's why I am so excited that I will have them back in before I start work, It will just bring my confidence back up just that little bit. 

I am now closer to the end of my recovery then I am to the beginning of it all. I feel like things can only get easier from now on, the end is getting closer. Thank you once again to everyone for all the positive feedback and support. It is suprising knowing how many people have actually read my blog. It is very humbling knowing that I can share this journey and help spread knowledge about cleft affected people and in particular, jaw surgery.

Day 18 Post Surgery Update

It has almost been three weeks since surgery now, which means I am almost halfway through the recovery period which is very exciting. I'm feeling like myself again although I seem to get tired a lot easier than usual. I say this would be a mixture of two reasons; one- because my body is still trying to heal itself and two- because body isn't getting the food that it is used to.

My feeling is slowly starting to come back in my face. I am still a little tingly around my nose, the top of my cheeks and my top lip. When I brush my teeth though, I am starting to feel the toothbrush when it touches certain parts of my palate. Hopefully it won't be too much longer until I have all of my feeling back. My top lip is still a little swollen with a tiny little spot of yellow bruising still left. My nose no longer bleeds and its no where near as runny as it was last week which makes things a lot easier. 

Unfortunately my surgeon is sick this week so I won't get to see him until next monday. Hopefully he says I am all fine to get my false teeth put back in on that Wednesday when I go to see the orthodontist; so I can look like myself again with out gappy teeth! I still don't have that much movement in my top lip though, so you can't really see my top teeth at the moment anyway. Also I seem to be maintaining my weight at a stable 49kgs not quite as heavy as I would like but at least I'm not loosing any more.

I have been speaking to some other cleft affected people who have already had jaw surgery. This has been great getting advice from people who have already gone through it. Not much else to report at the moment. From now on updates will be once or twice a week as changes are very slowly from now on. To keep up to date with when I post new updates go and give my Facebook page a like. https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Story-Behind-My-New-Smile/746686388700790?fref=nf 

You can also message me through this Facebook page if you have any questions or anything that you would like me to write about in my blog post. Thank you once again to everyone for all the support and kind words.  Here are some photos of what my face is looking like today.

Left profile

Right profile

Center

Little bit of bruising left

Trying to Smile