A year and 2 months

Wow, I can not believe how time has flown by. I have been so busy with life that I rarely think about my double jaw surgery. My jaw rarely pops now, and the only thing as of late that seems to be bugging me is my neck pain. BUT 4 months ago I went to an amazing massage therapist that stretched my neck and did pressure points and I was pain free for about 3-4 months… it's starting to get a little achy at night again, but if thats the worst thing I will take it. No terrible migraines daily, no incredibly painful jaw popping when I eat. I feel extremely lucky to have the results I have had.

Looking back I would still make the same decision and do it all over again. Really thinking about the first few weeks, the first 2 weeks were the worst. Once I was unwired life was so much better. There were even days being wired that weren't completely miserable… okay maybe not a full day, but a few hours a day. : )

Numbness. I don't feel like I have 100% feeling back in my lower lip, however it doesn't bother me. I don't notice it like I did the first few months after surgery. I do have some feeling there, just not full feeling. If something cold or hot is touching it I do not notice it.

I will say the few times I have been cold I do clinch my jaw, and that does not feel great. However, if I am honest with myself it has never felt great my entire life. So really that isn't any worse.

For those of you who sing who might be contemplating having double jaw surgery and are worried about the changes jaw surgery could have on your voice, know that the changes have not been extreme as far as my tone goes. I do find that my voice tires much easier that prior to jaw surgery. I am still trying to figure out why. To be fair California is in an extreme drought, and everything around here is so dry and dusty. I am super allergic to dust and my allergies have been non stop since February. Normally I only suffer badly in the spring. I was trained in pop, jazz, and classical. I can still hit high the high E (coloratura range), though with these allergies that is not happening. lol My tone if anything has become more open sounding? Maybe it's all in my head. I remember being extremely worried about my voice, and the changes. My voice is my source of living, I teach 60 vocal students a week, and teach 4 show choirs weekly. So I know all about being nervous about the outcome, but my pain was getting so bad… I figured even if things didn't go perfectly how much worse could it be?

Well, I have loved logging back in here and seeing pictures of all the people who had surgery about the same time as I, and know you all look amazing!

ONE YEAR EXACTLY ^^^^

Photos on top are from day 5 after surgery. Photos on bottom are after surgery.

 Let's be clear I love the SF Giants, but when I was a child I loved both the Giants and the A's and I found this vintage jacket a few weeks ago. : ) Go Giants (even if they are sucking tonight)

8 months : Before and After photos

I have made it to 8 months post double jaw surgery, and I have had a few "problems" here and there, but for the most part I think it is mostly healing aches and pains.

I have had some strange clicking/popping here and there over the past few months, but nothing that is constant. My jaw still feels off at times. My bite lines up perfectly and then other times it feels strange and my teeth do not touch like they have been. However, hours later everything feels okay again and I forget all about the alignment of my jaw. Most of the time I do not think about the surgery, or the brutal few weeks where things were pretty rough. My life has moved on, and is back to a normal routine. I ate ribs for the first time ever and was actually able to bite them off. I mean yes they do fall off easily, but before I was always embarrassed to eat them as it was really difficult for me to get my front teeth together to tear them off. I had no problem. Next up is biting into an apple. I feel like I could totally do it now, I am just to afraid that I won't be able to do it and get discouraged. It's a mental thing at this point.

The terrible neck pain I had a few weeks ago has subsided thankfully. I was so worried that my chronic neck pain that I had before the surgery was back. I did get a special massage that stretched my neck and shoulder muscles, as well as pressure points. That really helped a lot.

Life without braces is amazing.

Overall I am so please with my results thus far. I have only had one headache since the surgery, which is amazing considering I had a migraine once or twice a week prior. My neck/shoulder tension feels a thousand times better, my teeth touch, I have a better range of motion in my jaw than before… all in all it was def worth it. I think my husband is scarred from the experience more than me. lol I think I was pretty drugged for the first week, which is when I was the worst. I just tried to sleep through it…however, he was not able to sleep through it, and was so worried about me. I think I looked worse than I felt. I think. It was bad, but not that bad. I mean I don't really want to have that surgery ever again, but I lived through it! : )

Hope everyone out there is doing super, and is recovering as well as I am!

Before and After photos (sorry they are all randomly scattered and sized, I gave up on trying to align them correctly):

SMILE:

The Dreaded Side Profile:

Mouth closed/Relaxed:

A little over 7 months… Braces are OFF!

Well, I don't really have time to get down to the exact day I am post surgery, but I do know its a little over 7 months. Things are going great. I have minimal pain and tension. I have been headache free since my surgery. I do have some strange popping in my right side, but it is different than before, and it is not something I feel every time I eat. It comes and goes…so I am hoping eventually it will go, and never come back. One can hope right?

I did start feeling some major neck pain in my left shoulder and I thought my neck pain was coming back with a vengeance as it started hurting horribly bad last week and was progressively becoming worse. I scheduled an appointment with someone who does deep tissue massage/neck stretching and deals with people with chronic neck pain this past Tuesday and the day of I was still incredibly sore, but now 2 days later NO pain what so ever. I am going back to her in 3 weeks for a follow up to help loosen my muscles even more.

The most exciting thing is I got my top braces off about 3 weeks ago, and this past Monday I got my bottom braces off! It feels amazing to have that part done and over with. I forgot what normal teeth feel like, which is totally amazing, white, and slimy. No more coffee stained braces! Yay.

I do feel like they could have made my chin a little more defined, and I know they brought my bottom jaw as far forward as they could due to my facial structure they couldn't go as far as they would have liked to without doing way more work than I wanted. I didn't want a whole new face, just teeth that touched, and a bite that was functional, which I got! : ) Looking back it was worth it all, and wasn't sooo bad. On the bright side I had a month off of work last summer, and it taught me that I should take more time for myself. I plan to take a few weeks off this summer and enjoy life! I will post some before and after pics soon! Back to work I go! : )

Hope everyone is doing amazing out there! I have been keeping up with your blogs here and there, and you all look amazing!

5 1/2 months

Well, I started post at 5 months and never got around to finishing it. So here it goes.

The most exciting thing to report is I get the top braces off in T minus 4 days. I am ecstatic. After our New Years Eve party and everyone letting me know when I had food in my braces, I am just ready to be done with them. I really haven't been super bothered or really cared about how I looked in them, but well they are a huge inconvenience. I also feel that I will be able to eat more naturally once they are off. At the moment biting into this is a tad strange, and I know that it's partly from surgery, okay most likely its all from the surgery, but I feel the need to blame the braces as well.

I can open 3 fingers wide now, with out a pop or anything, so that is exciting. However, I am not sure if due to the colder weather or my jaw just adjusting from the changes but I have been experiencing a clicking on my right side of the jaw. It doesn't really hurt, it is just annoying and a little uncomfortable after awhile. Other than this slight set back I feel great. I notice my jaw is a little tight in the morning, and by the evening it feels much better. I am wondering if I am grinding my teeth at night and that is causing tension. Something I am going to discuss with my orthodontist on Monday.

Hmm, what else... Life is great, and I am ready to begin a new year with my new and improved jaw, and hope that everyone reading this has a fabulous 2014!

5 months

I can't believe it has been 5 months since I had double jaw surgery. I feel great, the only problems I have had is due to me being so busy I forget to do my jaw stretches so my jaw has become pretty tight again. However, I can still open it pretty wide it is just really uncomfortable. Once I stretch it out it feels fine, no popping or tightness. : )

I have my appointment scheduled to get my top braces off. YAY, I can not wait for Jan 6th! Great way to start off the New Year, with a new smile! The bottom braces should come off a couple weeks after.

I was just looking back at pictures and I even though those first two weeks were super rough, it doesn't seem all that bad now… of course that is easy to say now that I am eating pretty much anything I want, and can open wide!

I love my smile, and face. My smile can still be gummy when I get really smiley, but it is different. It is not as gummy. My chin still feels a little strange when I see it in pictures other people take. When I do my selfies for this blog I like it, when i see it in other pics it looks huge!

I will finish this post up later tonight! Need to get back to work.

149 Days!

Wow, it has been a long time since I have posted anything. Most days I have some what forgotten about the huge ordeal that happened back in July (the double jaw surgery). However, I am still pretty tight, but I can squeeze two knuckles in my mouth which was my goal. It's not fun to do, but I can do it. lol

I am still numb on my chin, but I can feel when it is touched. It's not 100% feeling, but it's something which gives me hope that eventually it will come back. Chewing is no problem now. I am eating everything I want. I haven't bitten into a whole apple, but I still have braces. Pretty sure that would be a terrible idea while I am wearing these stupid things. Yes, I am so done with the braces. I am ready to move on… and eat and not worry how much food is still left in my teeth, most likely my entire meal. So annoying.

ON the bright side, it looks like I will be getting them off in just a few weeks. He was hoping to get them off before Christmas but he wants to tweak one little thing, so looking more like the first week of Jan. I am soooo excited. I will probably throw myself a party!

Anywho. Writing this post incredibly fast as I have to start teaching voice lessons in 2 minutes, but really wanted to get a post up since I have been so terrible at it!

I have loved reading everyones posts, and so glad you all are doing amazing!

Heather

Day 97 :: Normalcy

Day 97:

Life is almost is back to how it was before surgery, except less painful. My jaw rarely hurts or aches at this point, and I have had no popping like before the surgery. The jaw is still a little tight and I am not quite at 3 fingers or two knuckles, but I am getting closer every day. I am eating pretty much anything I want at this point. Let's be honest some things are still difficult to chew; nuts, hard vegetables, tough meat, BUT I can chew it. Also, still can't take crazy huge bites of food due to limited opening, but who needs to take crazy huge bites? Not me. : )

I saw my orthodontist yesterday and he was surprised at how fast things were moving into place and is weaning me off the bands I have been wearing in hopes that before Christmas I will be scheduling an appointment to get my braces off!! I am praying for a Christmas miracle that this happens and I can have a Christmas sans braces! Best gift ever in my opinon. So that is my exciting news, not that it is set in stone, but just to hear those words that this chapter is almost over is so so so wonderful!

I am getting more comfortable with the changes in my face, I think at this point I am the only one that really notices anything everyone else is used to it and doesn't seem to be phased at all by the slight change in my nose, chin, and profile (which I LOVE now).

Hope you are all doing well, and back to normal life as well!