Brandy's Braces, SARPE, Jaw Surgery Journal

This is my daily journal to my eventual perfect smile and Apnea free life. It logs my surgeries, and daily progress.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

15 Months Post Op

Ok, technically its 4 days away from 15 months but its close enough I think! Things continue to go well and I continue to heal! I sortof look forward to the day I post and everything is back to normal and I have nothing to post about though.

Feeling continues to return more and more as each month passes. It is just a slow process now, and takes 3-4 weeks to really notice a difference rather then just a couple of weeks. My bottom lip is still slightly numb but has actually improved a lot this past month. It is becoming less tingly and more normal feeling. The area below it, and down into my chin is also getting much better. It is still tingly when I scratch it, but it has a lot of feeling now and almost feels back to normal. Not totally but definitely improved. I think if I spilled something on it, I would be able to feel it now as opposed to before where I would just walk around with it stuck to my face. I have gotten a lot of feeling back this past month in the lower left quadrant of my teeth and can feel all of my gums now. The bonded retainer has helped a lot with the upper tooth pain I was experiencing, and I'm thinking that some of the pain might have just been the nerves regenerating in that area. Either way, I can now bite into things pretty well without any real issues to speak of. I figure since I have a bit of root reabsorbtion that it is probably better to not overstress my upper incisors so if its really hard, chewy, or tough, I just use my fingers to break it up into smaller pieces and eat it rather then biting into it. I have found it still to be uncomfortable with very hard things, but I can bite into a soft sandwich, and if necessary turn my bite a bit to allow my canines to do some of the tearing work now.

Overall things seem to be coming along very well. My range of motion has returned, and while the jaw joints are stiff sometimes, it is pretty much back to normal without much effort. I can't say enough about how thrilled I am with the results of this whole surgery experience I mean my quality of life has been dramatically improved, and while it has been a long recovery, it has been sooo worth it.

So....here is some other good news. I have not had a sinus infection in 6 months now! A record for me, so that is pretty thrilling. Overall I feel incredible! I'm back at the gym working out, and doing very well.

I will post again in another month and let you know how the healing is coming along then. Thanks for reading my blog and I hope it is/has been helpful to you.

3 Comments:

  • At 12:00 AM, Blogger CatBailey said…

    Thank you so much for making a blog tracing the steps through your surgery. It's so nice to see that others have gone through it and survived. I'm facing surgery in just a couple of days, and to top it off, my surgeon presented me with a decision: I can either have upper and lower jaw surgery or simply lower jaw surgery. I have difficulty closing my lips without thinking about it, and he said the upper jaw surgery would help with that. He also, said, however, that I have a pretty face and that there's no direct need to mess with it. Ultimately, he said it comes down to a matter of priorities and it's up to me. If you have a second, you can check out my pre-op photos here:

    http://s458.photobucket.com/albums/qq310/Baileysrv/

    As someone who has gone through jaw surgery, might you have any adivce for someone terrified of making decisions? (I'm horrible at making basic decisions, let alone BIG ones) Again, I really appreciate your blog!!!

     
  • At 8:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Brandy,
    Your blog has been so important to me because it stresses not every one have nerves that heal in one or two months. I'm 34 and a month away from a year post up with most all of my chin/bottom lip still tingly. Like you it has increased in small barely noticable increments, I can feel water, cold pretty well, but not as well as heat. I feel well enough to know if I've dribbled something on my chin (most of the time), I think. Have you, by any chance, tried using like a vibration massage on your chin/lower lip? I know that sounds crazy, but I swear the bloodflow and the sensation gets better and better the more I use a back massager on my face. Yes, I know, it's totally insane. But I swear I feel a difference through.

     
  • At 9:01 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Very much enjoyed your blog ! I have referred many pre-MMA people (particularly women) to it ! I think it is inspirational to those who fear that they will sacrifice good OSA results for a cosmetic outcome.

    Consider coming to our 2009 MMA meet-up !

    Seattlebill at Sleepnet

     

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