Destined to be a brace face forever...

I went to the hospital on Wednesday for the first time since November.  Since I had my op, several different people have said to me on several different occassions that I will only need my braces for about 3 months after the op because my bite is so good.  I'm 3 and half months post-op so I was thinking it would happen very soon...

On Wednesday I don't think my ortho actually did anything to my teeth, I think she just looked and realised that there's a problem that needs fixing.  She said I'm developing a cross bite on one side (I hadn't noticed this), so at my next appointment she's going to move some brackets and change the wires and stuff, and then after that I'll have another appointment, and then after that I'll get my braces taken off.  That didn't sound too bad... 2 more appointments and then de-bracing.  Well it didn't sound too bad until I went to the reception desk to book my next appointment.  Because doing the moving bracket stuff takes a long time, I need to have a 45 minute appointment, and the next time an appointment that long is available is.... 21st March!!!  And then my appointment after that has to be 6 weeks after, so it's on 2nd May.  And then assuming I have to wait another 6 weeks before they'll take the braces off, it will end up being at least June!

I know it's better that they fix it and get it right rather than try to rush it, and I'm not blaming the hospital or anybody that works there, but it's just so frustrating when they initially say you'll have braces for 4-6 months after surgery, and then they say that your bite's so good it will only be 3 months.  And then because of the lack of appointments, it ends up being at least 8 months!  I really wanted to have normal teeth by the summer, I can't bear another summer looking like a teenager :(

Anyway, the only good news was that I don't have to wear my bands in the day any more, I just have them on at night.  It definitely is nice not to have to keep taking my bands off every time I want to eat, so I suppose I should be grateful for that.  Don't get me wrong, I am always so grateful for everything that has happened jaw-wise... just being able to have it done at all, not having to pay for any of it, getting a cancellation for my surgery, not having any complications... I know I should be grateful and I really am.  It's just so frustrating when you get these time scales in your head and then it ends up being three times longer than you were expecting.

I've got a lot of catching up to do...

Hello bloggers!  Sorry I haven't posted in so long!  I moved house about 6 weeks ago now, and despite the fact that I've moved somewhere where I don't know anybody, I've been surprisingly busy!

So... as you may have seen below, I've posted all my pictures from the past few weeks.  I'm now at 13 weeks and 3 days post-op, and have decided that now I'm past the 3 month mark, I will only post pictures every month, as I look pretty similar each week now.  I'm now kind of at the point where jaw surgery doesn't fill my mind every second of everyday... of course I still think about it, I still have the daily hassle of braces and bands and eating etc., but it's not the main focus of my life now.  I will still post when I have appointments though, and will post pictures every month.

Anyway, I've got quite a lot to update on so I thought I'd put it into neat little headings so that I don't just ramble...

Appearance

I'm still sooooo pleased with my appearance.  As I've said a million times, my photos make me look more swollen and assymetrical than I really am, and if I actually looked like what I look like in my photos, I'd probably be a bit disappointed lol.  I've had a couple of people who didn't know me pre-op comment on my 'petite features', which I never would've got when I had a big nose and goofy gummy smile.

Braces and bands

I'm still wearing my bands, although I have been a bit naughty recently and taken them off for social occasions.  I'm going to the hospital on Wednesday (16th Jan) and am hoping they say I don't need to wear the bands any more.  Even more than that I'm hoping that they'll book me in for my appointment to get my moulds done for my retainers, because I think once the retainers are ready they will take my braces off.  All along they've said my bite is so good that I'll only need my braces on for 3 or 4 months post-op, and I'm now over 3, and my appointments have been delayed because of Christmas, so I think, and hope, it will be soon!

Eating

I can eat most things now, just not really hard things.  I can bite into things like a sandwich, but I couldn't open my mouth wide enough to eat a burger for example.  Which leads me onto my next point...

Jaw mobility

I still can't open my mouth very wide, I can't even get two fingers in.  If I try I can move my jaw from side to side, but I don't really feel the need to do this when I'm eating or anything so I don't really mind about that.  When I next see my ortho/surgeon I will ask whether it's normal that I still can't open very wide.

Weight

As I said in my last post, I've found it hard to gain my weight back.  I don't have any scales at my flat, but I will weigh myself on Wednesday when I'm back at my mum's.  I feel like I've put weight on, but we'll see what the scales say!

Swelling

I do still have a tiny bit of swelling in my left cheek, but again this is more noticeable in photos and I don't think anyone would notice it in real life.

Numbness

The only part that's still numb is the front of my top gums, like above my front teeth, but as I've said before I've been really lucky with numbness and didn't have much to start with.

Tooth sensitivity

Since surgery my teeth are really sensitive.  This is probably partly because two of my teeth are in desperate need of a filling, but even without that, all my teeth just feel so sensitive.  I tried brushing with my electric toothbrush, but it was just such a horrible feeling that I've got back to a manual (not my baby toothbrush though...although I do still have it!)

Meeting other jaw surgery people

When I was out on New Year's Eve, I spotted a woman with braces while I was queueing for the toilets.  I was a little bit drunk so struck up a conversation with her, and it turned out she'd had jaw surgery 7 months ago!  We had a good old drunk chat about braces and jaw surgery!

The other day I also met up with someone who I've been emailing for a long time... probably about 2 years now... about jaw surgery.  When I moved house we realised that I was moving to the same town as her, so we met up last weekend.  She's almost a year post-op now and out of braces, and it was so nice to be able to talk to someone who has been through it all.

Jaw surgery videos

The other day I decided that since my surgery is over, I'd quite like to know what actually happened to my face during the operation, so I went on youtube and looked for videos of jaw surgery actually being done.  Now, I've got quite a strong stomach but even I winced at parts of it!  It was very brutal... pretty much like something you'd see in Saw!  I certainly do NOT advise this to anybody who is pre-op, because it's not pretty!  But if you're post-op and don't mind blood and graphic surgery, it's very interesting!  It was amazing to see how they actually did what they did to my face!

Day 84 - 12 weeks post-op

 

Day 77 - 11 weeks post-op

I was at home for Christmas at the 11 week mark so I got my mum to take quite at lot of pictures...

 

And some slightly more attractive ones after using my new Babyliss Big Hair!

Day 70 - 10 weeks post-op

Day 63 - 9 weeks post-op

 

Day 56 - 8 weeks post-op