This is a blog about my recovery process after getting orthognathic surgery. I hope that my story is as useful to you as the countless blogs I've read this past year.
It seems that everyone heals just a bit differently. So this is me.
So I knew that I might be getting my braces off today, but I didn't wanna get too excited about it cuz you never know, right? Lemme give you the backstory...
Six weeks ago my ortho basically says to me, "After 30 years, they might be kicking us out of this office building soon. They wanna make more room for retail shops... Let's see if we can't get you out of these braces before that happens!" So he doubles up on the power chains (my front lower 4 teeth) and gives me a new rubber band configuration. It hurt like hell! Now, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that you can't just rush teeth like that. But maybe he wasn't rushing - maybe it just sounded like he was rushing. :P
Lemme find a picture... this one doesn't show the gap, but it does show off my awesome rubber bands.
Not my favorite configuration.
The goal was to close up the gap I had between my lower left #2 and #3. I went back 3 weeks later and he said everything looked good, and we set up today's appointment to get the braces taken off.
However, there's this slight gap between my upper and lower teeth on the left side - you can see it here. (In the picture, it's on the right side.)
Definitely not terrible, but visible.
It's fine, right? I thought he might want to fix it up all perfect, but nah, whatever. Which is fine with me. It doesn't bother me and I don't think it'll affect my bite. So there you go, no more braces! :)
My (omg) last 2x2 picture?
MONTH 8 - no more braces!
I made this video today. :D Yay! I think I'll make another one soon to show you guys my new retainers - and to let you hear how I sound when I wear them. I'm totally dreading it...
And then came the retainers...
Pain: Normally, ZERO, since the brackets no longer rub against the inside of my scarred up cheeks! However, when I EAT I bite my left cheek. So then it's like, I don't know, a 3 when that happens? Hopefully, it's because my cheek is still swollen from being rubbed-up-on by my brackets. Maybe it'll chill after a few days of non-rubbing??? Otherwise I'm getting those scars cut off.
Numbness: Bottom gums numb on the outside portion. Chin area and right side of jaw very very slightly tingly.
Discomfort: When I eat, I still feel like there's a "shelf" of food in my mouth - and there kinda is. Basically, food is getting stuck between my cheek scars and my bottom teeth. I don't know what to do about that. Maybe nothing?
Weight: Meh, normal now.
(Black items stayed the same as the last post. RED items changed slightly.)
Sorry I've been a terrible blogger. I knew this would happen...
Work is stupid busy. And I've added to it by volunteering to do additional activities like competing in the Staff Lip Sync Battle, being a judge at the annual talent show, and participating in Dancing With The Staff. What. Was. I. Thinking. I don't know - mostly I just want to show my kids that I <3 them. Lame. Haha.
As an apology, here's a video of my group's champoinship lip sync performance from last month. Yeah, that's right, we won. (This is obviously our "we're hardcore!" pose. I think we nailed it. :D)
Today's dentist visit:
My dentist and her assistant (both of whom I really like) kept telling me how different I looked. I don't think I look that different. I was like, "Oh, I don't know... The husband can't really tell, either... And my friends say I look pretty much the same." But they just kept saying it. Apparently, I look very different to them - in a good way? But I guess that's okay. Whatever!
I have never been so excited to get my teeth cleaned before! Jaw surgery and braces definitely make you appreciate a good clean mouth. It's been 7 months since my last cleaning, and the tartar was kind of ridiculous. (I obviously didn't floss right after the surgery, and then I just kind of gave up cuz my teeth already felt fuzzy and gross.) My teeth and brackets are CLEAN again!!! Yay!!! Here's me super happy about it:
Look, no wires!
By the time I left the ortho, though, I was less happy...
Today's orthodontist visit:
He put ANOTHER rubber band in my mouth. :-/ I now have...
regular ligatures on the top,
power chains on the bottom,
an extra pair on power chains connecting my 2-3's on the bottom left where there's a gap,
3 metal ligatures with hooks,
a rubber band on the right in an inverted V shape,
a rubber band on the left in an super slanted V shape,
and ANOTHER rubber band on the left side going from the top molar to my lower 3.
OMG.
Supposedly I might be done with braces in another 4 months or so, but... I'll believe it when I see it. It's pretty terrible in there right now.
*Side note: Either nobody cares that I have braces and ridiculous amounts of rubber bands in my mouth, or people are REALLY nice and don't ever talk about it to my face. I'm thinking it's the former. Cuz high school kids are pretty good about saying whatever's on their minds. Then again, they probably don't want me to fail them...
Here are some old and new pictures:
WEEK 21 (aka 5 MONTHS!)
WEEK 25 (aka 6 MONTHS!)
The swelling has possibly subsided a bit from 3 months.
I am just now realizing that curling my hair might make my face look more plump. Or is it just the angles of the photos? Hmmm...
This video talks about the days and weeks right after jaw surgery.
Pain: 0-2/10 (At this point, only my cheeks hurt - from the surgery scars rubbing against my brackets.)
Numbness: Bottom gums numb on the outside portion. Chin area and right side of jaw very very slightly tingly.
Discomfort: Still hate rubber bands. Still have to wear wax/silicone almost 24/7 on all of my molars.
Weight: Meh, normal now.
(Black items stayed the same as the last post. RED items changed slightly.)
Don't get me wrong - I like my job! But, man, working is way more tiring and way less fun than NOT working. Haha. And it totally puffed my cheeks and jowls back up. I don't think anyone else can tell (including my husband) but I know it to be true. I feel like I went back to week 7. And then just stayed there for 4 weeks. It's fine, though, it's fine...
Most days, my job involves a LOT of talking and walking and being semi-animated for 5 hours straight. I see those blogs of 19-year-olds who go back to school AND work at 3 weeks and it's CRAZY to me! I didn't even feel like myself until 4 weeks - just being able to stay out all day and not feel exhausted was an achievement. You young people and your super-healing abilities. Damn.
Okay, I don't have much to write, but here are a few pictures and videos of my progress. I've been taking pictures and making videos, but I've been too lazy to post them. I'm sorry. :(
1st day of work =
1st time icing in weeks.
And being too tired to chew all day.
Fun at the Long Beach Aquarium.
A kissy face picture, requested by a mom friend.
Okay, so let's discuss that last picture. We spent the day with some of my friends (+ kids, cuz they basically all have kids now) and somehow left without kissing one of the little twin sisters goodbye. Being a 3-year-old, she wasn't really having that. Therefore, we were asked to send a picture of us making a kissy face. Crisis averted.
But I also included that picture because it shows that I can't really suck in my cheeks anymore. I mean, I'm sure I'll be able to in a few more months (3? 6?) but for now my cheeks are still too swollen. That's partly how I know that they're swollen, by the way. I guess I should be happy that my face wrinkles are a little bit puffed out, huh? Meh, whatever. I'm not too concerned either way I guess. I either look puffy and un-me or wrinkly and like-the-new-me (which I wouldn't even be able to identify, yet, since I've never seen it before).
When people ask, "are you happy with the results?" My response is still, "um, yeah - I think so. My teeth fit together, so hopefully they won't fall out anymore. And my face is fine. I don't know."
~Regarding Jaw Surgery and Beauty~
When I look at before and after pictures of other people online, I almost always think that the after picture is better. Like, objectively better. And, yes, I know that looks and beauty are subjective. But, for real, when a face is more aligned it almost always looks more aesthetically pleasing. There was only one instance of the before picture looking better to me, but that was of a woman who had an "open bite" - the open bite made her face longer and, once it was fixed, her face looked like it got a little smooshed vertically. Therefore, she had this old-lady kind of mouth situation where she looked like she was missing teeth. In reality, she just had small teeth. It made me sad cuz she was in her late twenties and went from looking "cute" to looking like a mom. (Sorry, moms - as a group, you don't look old. I promise.)
In every other comparison, though, whether the person used to have an under bite or an over bite, that person looked obviously better to me after the surgery. So it was always weird that people would write about how they couldn't tell if they liked their new face. I'd be thinking, "That's ridiculous. You look better. You're just writing this so you don't seem vain or don't seem like you just did it for your looks. Come on, you can be honest. Admit that you look obviously better." And, the thing is, these people would readily admit that other people TOLD THEM they look better and/or look "so different."
Okay, so that's the difference - most people really can't tell that I had surgery. Some can, but some supposedly really cannot. A close coworker friend of mine (who I see and talk to on a daily basis) claims that she really can't tell the difference. Former students, who had the misfortune of having to stare at me for an hour each day, would come back to visit and only notice my new braces. (And everyone knows how honest kids can be.) Very few people see me and go, "Oh my gosh, you look so different!" There's been, like... 2.
So do I think I look "better?" Um... I don't look worse. And I was perfectly happy before. But I'm also happy now. And I'm smart enough to not hate my new face because that's just stupid. (You have to self-brainwash, sometimes, people. You can't change what you can't change. Unless you wanna live your life constantly being unhappy.) I will say that my profile is very nice now. But, if you read the beginning of my blog, you know that I very rarely thought about my profile before this whole adventure started. ~End of Random Thought~
Back to the aquarium - did you know that annual pass holders can scuba dive at the aquarium?!?!?! You get to dive in a tank that houses all of their CRAZY sea animals! Like fish and crab and sharks!!! And, because it's a fake environment, it's all perfectly clear water. Freaking amazing!!! Since we're not certified, it's going to cost us the price of certification ($250, but you hold the certification for life) and the actual "Dive Immersion" experience ($279). That's a sh*tload of money, yes, but where else would you be able to dive somewhere that is so safe, so full of sea life, and with such clear water? :D Plus the aquarium is awesome so I'm down to contribute some monies their way.
On a side note, I'm really not into zoos cuz I feel bad for the animals. But I love aquariums! Is that weird? Am I mammal-biased? Oh, oh, there is some other news - I got new Rubber Bands!!!
Okay, technically they're the same rubber bands - they're just in a new position. The "V" now come forward onto my #3 teeth at the bottom. That makes them a little tighter and it makes me... look like a VAMPIRE! Muah ha ha... I think the red lipstick really helps.
Maybe I should be a vampire for Halloween... Hmmm...
Which reminds me... here's a picture of my Halloween makeup from two years ago. Not only is it just an awesome photo, but it also shows the state of my teeth from below. Not terrible, but you can tell that they're crooked. In high school, they use to be straight. Like, perfectly straight. Tooth on tooth contact + some crookedness = teeth that move every time you bite down.
Halloween 2014
See in the first/vampire picture how they're still not perfectly straight? These braces aren't coming off anytime soon...
At my last orthodontist visit:
Me: "Dr. (surgeon) asked me when my braces would be coming off. He thought they'd come off really soon. But I told him it's gonna be a while, still."
Ortho: "Oh, yeah, those surgeons don't know. Haha."
Me: "I told him I haven't even asked you how much longer it would be - it would probably just make me sad."
Ortho: (Little laugh.)
And that was it. No response from him. Hahaha.
So that's about it... here are some update pictures and videos.
Week 11
WEEK 13 (aka 3 MONTHS!)
I didn't do a good job showing off my jawline, sorry.
The first video talks about pre-surgery things; the second talks about the actual surgery itself plus a little bit of pain management afterwards.
Pain: 0-2/10 (Sometimes I'm fine. But when my cheeks hurt from my brackets, I NEED silicone.)
Numbness: Bottom gums numb on the outside portion. Chin area and right side of jaw very very slightly tingly.
Discomfort: I still hate rubber bands. I still have to wear wax/silicone almost 24/7 on all of my molars.
Weight: -6 lbs
(Black items stayed the same as the last post. RED items changed slightly.)
OC Fair!
I went to the OC Fair today! Do you know that you can get in FREE on Wednesdays if you donate certain things? Today, it was five pieces of new or gently worn clothing items per person. Score! Just thought I'd share a cute picture before I start ranting about my braces...
We spent nearly 4 hours there and both mommy and baby did so well!
Doesn't that banana look sooo excited?! I was a little confused about the log, since all of his friends are obviously sweet-style food items, but then my Facebook friends informed me that it was actually a CHURRO. Ahhhhhhhh, I seeeeee! I feel like that hat and mustache combo give off a cowboy-y feel, though, as opposed to a vaquero feel or a totally racist sombrero/black mustache feel. Amirite? :D Broken Bracket Racket
I remember I got my bottom braces put on on a Tuesday. The pain that week was no joke. I couldn't eat; I could barely talk. I was miserable. That Friday, at around noon, I realized that my bottom left #2 bracket had come loose. I was on a picnic with some friends and when I called the ortho's office two hours later, I was informed by a recording that their office had closed at 1:30 pm that day. RAHHH!!!! By Sunday morning, the bracket next to it had also popped off. I don't even know how that happened! I was seriously eating mush at that point. Anyway, he fixed both brackets Monday.
Except one of them was glued on crooked... which eventually made that tooth go crooked... but we'll get to that later.
A few months later, I was eating poke (raw fish and rice, not chips - nothing hard in there at all) and my top right #5 bracket came loose. Eventually, that gets fixed. (That's 3, if you're counting.)
Maybe another month after that, I was camping and eating grilled chicken (this one may have been my fault, but who knows) and that #5 bracket comes off AGAIN. And... another bracket next to it. I had that "is this a nightmare?" moment that sometimes happens, cuz two brackets at one time? They get glued back on. (Okay, we're at 5 now.)
After the surgery, my bottom left #1 popped off. It gets repaired a week later, but now my bottom front teeth aren't as straight as they used to be... (That's 6 repairs, people. Is this normal? Am I jinxed?)
Yesterday, I went to see my ortho and he stressed the importance of my wearing my rubber bands all the time. (I've been sooo good about it. I'm quite impressed with myself!) Supposedly my bite is "opening up." I don't see what he's talking about, but he seems kinda worried about it. Anyway, he has one of the assistants replace the ligatures on top and then power chain my bottoms (all the way across every tooth). I could feel the pulling of the power chain as she put it on. I didn't notice anything right then, but after dinner (a fish burrito, which was completely soft inside) when I brushed my teeth I notice that my bottom left #2 bracket had literally broken in half down the middle!!! WHAT?!?!?! Here's a picture... it's a little fuzzy but it shows my crooked tooth and an obviously un-perfect bracket sitting on top of it.
Fun times. So his office opened at 11:00 am this morning (he has crazy random hours) but the doctor wasn't there today so I couldn't actually get it fixed anyway. The assistant had me go in just to check things out, she removed the broken piece, then she chained me back up. "Sometimes, with only half of a bracket attached, the tooth can rotate. If that starts happening, give us a call and we'll fix it right away. Otherwise, we'll see you on your next appointment in three weeks." Um, okay. So here's what it looks like now...
I guess what they say about ceramic braces being more delicate is true. Oh well. At least my braces are still pretty. Haha.
When I signed my ortho contract, it specified that I would get charged $75 for each bracket that came off after the first five. I have not been charged, yet, though. And, really, I'd argue that at least five of those incidents weren't my fault - I was eating ridiculously soft things in those instances. I'll let you know if he tries to ever charge me (cuz I'd be pretty upset).
My Crooked Tooth
Look how crooked that tooth is! It didn't used to be like that - there wasn't a huge gap at the base of the tooth before. Hopefully it gets fixed soon since the bracket is already broken anyway.
Right now, we're waiting on a little gap to form between two of my upper teeth - I wanna say #4 and #5 on the upper right - so that he can go in and shave between the teeth. He did that earlier, but he didn't get it all smoothed out so now there's this rough edge that rips my floss. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that until a few weeks after he already started closing the gap back up - I usually don't floss for a few weeks after an adjustment cuz my gums are so sore.
I'm making my ortho sound kind of terrible, but I actually still really like him! He's got a good eye (most of the time) and he's really nice and funny. Everyone makes mistakes, right? :)
Oh, I AM super worried about my retainers, though. He's pretty adamant about my wearing those traditional wire retainers that make you lisp. It's pretty far into the future, so we've only discussed it once, but I'm dreading them and definitely pre-sad about them.
Last night, I finally slept using a regular pillow...
I think most people sleep "normally" after a few weeks, but I wanted to minimize my swelling as much as possible. But, with work starting up soon, I figured it was inevitable. I think my swelling looks the same, though. What do you think?
Wow... 9 weeks post-op...
There's still the tiniest bit of swelling, but only I see it.
No video this week - maybe next week...
Pain: 2/10
Numbness: Bottom gums numb on the outside portion. Chin area and right side of jaw very very slightly tingly.
Discomfort: I still hate rubber bands. I still have to wear wax/silicone 24/7 on all of my molars.
Weight: -6 lbs (I feel like those 2 new pounds don't really count - I've had less time to eat lately cuz I've been running around making copies and lesson planning. I smell beginning-of-the-year-no-time-to-eat-weight-loss coming on... But that's not the good kind of weight loss where you work out and eat healthfully. No, it's the kind where everything turns to flab and you waste away into nothing. We'll see how it goes. Haha.)
(Black items stayed the same as the last post. RED items changed slightly.)
Happy anniversary to my hubby! Well, not today, but sometime last week. We've been married for... wait for it... nine years and we've been together for... wait or it... SEVENTEEN! Like, seriously, that sounds crazy right? Seventeen years is an almost-adult! I've been with my husband for longer than most of my students have been alive. (So. Old.) I wanted to post a picture of us at dinner, but I think they're all on his phone. Oh well.
And then it was my dad's birthday! While I didn't end up buying him anything ("Don't get me anything! I have too many clothes already!") I did make him his favorite noodles. Well, his favorite noodles that I make. Haha. It's just this Chinese cold noodle sauce with egg noodles and julienned vegetables. My dad used to make it when I was little, but I think he forgot how cuz he said he tried to make it recently and my mom said it turned out terrible. :P I've been making my version for a few years now - it's a recipe I got from (omg, so embarrassing) Andrew Zimmern. It's pretty tasty, though. And super easy. I add more veggies and baked tofu, though, since it's so carby. Anyway, here's us:
(So I think my sister might make me remove this animation if she ever finds my blog, but it's SO CUTE I had to include it. Hehe.)
Ice cream cake, of course.
Acne (mostly on my chin, but sometimes above my lip as well)
I am not going to post a picture of my pimples (cuz eww) but I'm telling you they're there, okay? I started noticing them about a month after the surgery and then it's slowly gotten worse. And, by worse, I mean that at any point in time I usually have 2-3 little whiteheads and about 10 either forming or healing. It's not the worst thing ever, by any means, but I've also never had "acne" before so it's totally new to me and annoying as heck. I'm required to cover them with foundation and concealer every day - it kinda reminds me of those "before pictures" that Katy Perry or Brittany Spears would use in Proactive commercials.
So I was feeling a little more irritated about the whole thing... until I found this blog post. DO NOT click on that if you don't wanna see the worst reaction to a facial EVER. It's reeeeally sad (I feel for this girl) and it's really sobering (I no longer feel sad about my measly little pimples). On a side note, she recently had to take down a blog post where she basically mean-girl live-blogged a wedding and she got totally roasted for it. Comments included something like, "what a terrible person...maybe that's why she was punished by the facial experience" which is also totally mean-girl! Jeez.
Back to my acne. Haha. It may be getting slightly better. I went crazy researching skincare and acne products and decided to change my entire skincare routine. Drastic, I know. What I found was that the only products that are proven to change the texture of your skin, unclog pores, and stimulate new skin cell growth are alpha and beta hydroxy acids - things like vitamin A (retinoids), vitamin C, glycolic acid, salicylic acid, etc. Fruit enzymes (ferulic acid), antioxidants, blue light, and whatnot are cool, too, but more like "extras." What I was using, La Mer (I know that sounds uber-fancy but my aunt bought me a little starter set), was fine, but it's kinda froufrou. Oooooo, miracle seaweed. Before that, I used Algenist, who's claim to fame is also some kind of secret microalgae. The new skincare products are mostly from Drunk Elephant. I would tell you exactly what I'm using, but... let's see how it works first and I'll keep you updated...
I don't wanna be bagging on Algenist, though - both me and hubby really like their Triple-Action Micropolish & Peel. And I still really like their Ultra Lightweight UV Defense Fluid SFP 50. So there. :)
Video and Compulsory Face Pics
This video is about how and why I chose my oral surgeon, some insurance considerations (in the USA), and what I paid for the surgery. While the hospital costs were relatively minor/non-existent, since the hospital was in-network for my PPO, I did have to pay for most of my surgeon's costs, the assistant surgeon's costs, and some x-rays. (That's on top of my orthodontics costs, which my dental insurance chipped in $1500 for. Ha. While appreciated, that's a pretty minor contribution.) If you live in the states, definitely look into your company's "flexible spending plan," which takes a predetermined amount of pre-taxed money out of each paycheck that you can then use for medical/dental/vision/childcare reasons. It's kind of a pain, but totally worth it when you're saving thousands of dollars.
Random update: I can open my mouth 2.5 fingers now!
And here's me at 8 weeks... someone told me last night that I look "ten years younger." That's sweet, but I sort of hate those compliments. Unless she was trying to tell me that I now look like a teenager. :P
(Once, in college, an acquaintance I hadn't seen in two years told me that I "got so pretty" after I lost a few pounds and grew out my hair. She was seriously like, "oh my GAWD" and she obviously really meant it, but... Not cool, girl. Not cool.)
These are kinda fuzzy, huh? Sorry.
Unless something interesting happens, I don't think I'll be updating the blog for a few weeks. My summer vacation is ending, so I'll be pretty busy for a while...
Pain: 2/10
Numbness: Bottom gums numb on the outside portion. Chin area and right side of jaw very very slightly tingly. Discomfort: I still hate rubber bands. I still have to wear wax/silicone 24/7 on all of my molars.
Weight: -4 lbs
(Black items stayed the same as the last post. RED items changed slightly.)
