Hey Everyone!
Saw my surgeon yesterday, on my birthday (Oct 18th) and it turns out I'm going under general anesthetic again on Wednesday, November 3/10. Unfortunately, I am a clencher. I clench my teeth so much at night that there is a possibility the screws on the right side of my lower jaw have come loose. My lower jaw is actually slanting to the right side a bit as well and there is a sign of infection in the gum near the area of the plate as well.
So, my surgeon has decided he needs to go in again to find out what's happening on that side. My x-ray from yesterday shows that the screws are intact so he's not sure if the change in my jaw would be a lose screw or not. He may also check out the left side at the same time just to make sure that side is doing okay as well.
The positive to this (of course there is a positive I have to tell myself), I don't have to pay for it! haha The downside is I will be in pain, have some swelling, I may or may not have the excisions and stitches on the outside of my face again, it won't be as extreme as the jaw surgery of course. But it will be hard to talk for a bit he said and I will have a alot of tenderness and pain of course...I'm hoping and praying that because my gums are still quite numb that I won't hardly experience any pain. I have to be honest, other than my joint popping in and out (which happens almost every night-horrible pain, gross) I have not had any other pain. I am certainly not ready to be eating soft food/liquid again(for any length of time to be honest lol) and having pain when talking. Feels like I'm JUST starting to feel more like me again, and then here we go again!
So this is the update! I have some pictures to put up as well but will do that later.
I appreciate any prayers, please pray that it won't cause a lot of pain. I'll be taking a couple days off work and will have the Saturday & Sunday too, I'm praying that's enough time before talking all day on the Monday following. It's hard to be off work with my job but we'll see how it goes!
Thanks everyone!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Learning in Life
I wanted to share this song with you all.
In the past few years, I've learned a lot about loving God, loving my family, sacrificing, perseverance and trusting God. Some things have been the hardest things I have had to deal with so far in my life. Lots of hurt, crying out to God to restore my parents health and help us to get on with life. But, although I have literally cried until I was all cried out, numerous times, and although I still have a lot of unanswered prayers, I have learned that my own dreams and desires of how I think, and view my life to be, are honestly not necessarily what God has planned for me. I feel like that statement has been said a million times by a million people. But what I've really come to accept is that the things I have ALWAYS thought would be my life, the things that come very naturally to me to dream about (for example singing!), the way I view how my marriage should be, how we should and shouldn't be as a couple, those dreams and ideas still aren't necessarily what God has dreamed for me. I just really feel like it's those dreams that we all have that are so natural that we have no reason to ever believe God wouldn't bless us with those things. Like being able to have a family, to get married, have a career that we are so skilled in and have always wanted to do etc. Those are all things that we just believe will happen for us. And I know God says He knows the desires of our hearts so for me I feel that how I envision certain things in my life, they should line up with what God has planned for me naturally. But I'm learning that sometimes things have a different way of playing out, God has helped to open my eyes to his vision of my dreams. And one thing I have done over and over again in the past few years is learn to trust Him more and let my dreams fall out of my hands, placing them into His and learning more and more.
So with all that being said, whether anyone else relates or not, this is a song that jumped to my heart and my last time singing for 2010.
In the past few years, I've learned a lot about loving God, loving my family, sacrificing, perseverance and trusting God. Some things have been the hardest things I have had to deal with so far in my life. Lots of hurt, crying out to God to restore my parents health and help us to get on with life. But, although I have literally cried until I was all cried out, numerous times, and although I still have a lot of unanswered prayers, I have learned that my own dreams and desires of how I think, and view my life to be, are honestly not necessarily what God has planned for me. I feel like that statement has been said a million times by a million people. But what I've really come to accept is that the things I have ALWAYS thought would be my life, the things that come very naturally to me to dream about (for example singing!), the way I view how my marriage should be, how we should and shouldn't be as a couple, those dreams and ideas still aren't necessarily what God has dreamed for me. I just really feel like it's those dreams that we all have that are so natural that we have no reason to ever believe God wouldn't bless us with those things. Like being able to have a family, to get married, have a career that we are so skilled in and have always wanted to do etc. Those are all things that we just believe will happen for us. And I know God says He knows the desires of our hearts so for me I feel that how I envision certain things in my life, they should line up with what God has planned for me naturally. But I'm learning that sometimes things have a different way of playing out, God has helped to open my eyes to his vision of my dreams. And one thing I have done over and over again in the past few years is learn to trust Him more and let my dreams fall out of my hands, placing them into His and learning more and more.
So with all that being said, whether anyone else relates or not, this is a song that jumped to my heart and my last time singing for 2010.
10 Weeks Post-Op
Hi Everyone!
It's been a couple weeks or so since I've updated. There isn't a whole lot to say but I am back at work now. It's really nice to be back althought tiring to talk and I still have these issues with my joints popping in and out (at least it feels like that) and that hurts quite a bit.
I saw my orthodontist for the first time since my surgery on August 20th. He instructed me to wear these super tight elastics as much as possible. They keep my teeth shut together. The purpose of them is to bring my upper and lower teeth together on the sides and fill in any small gaps. It's so annoying to talk when wearing them. And it also hurts my joints a bit as well. My sister is in the office this week working with me so I can avoid talking as much as possible.
I'm on to eating more pasta now. Kind of nice to be able to fit more food into my mouth at a time, but still taking it super easy. I can sort of chew pasta gently, I gotta say, just the act of being able to move my jaw up and down and attempt to chew something is quite satisfying! If I have been talking (and not wearing my elastics...) I find by lunch I can hardly fit the baby spoon in my mouth again or open at all, but once I stretch it out a little, it starts to loosen up again. So it's still slow going but it's going!!
I see my orthodontist again on Sept 22/10. I'm hoping that visit will give me an idea of how much longer I need to wear my braces. I believe I'm getting a new wire put in that day. I was reminded the last time I was there that the pain and discomfort of all this is far from over. I had a little moment of feeling sorry for myself but got over it pretty quickly. It's of course easier to let it go when I'm not in a ton of pain. Thankfully, the past couple weeks I have not experienced any painful throbbing. A bit of achiness, but nothing serious! I have noticed cold weather definitely doesn't help with the joints. My jaw tenses immediately with any cold air and starts to ache pretty quickly but I guess that'll just give me more excuses to drive to work rather than walk, and to stay warm at home once the weather gets worse!
Here's an update of my 'new' face and profile. Still experiencing some swelling on the cheeks but the swelling in my nose has come down quite a bit and hopefully in a few weeks it'll all be gone!
It's been a couple weeks or so since I've updated. There isn't a whole lot to say but I am back at work now. It's really nice to be back althought tiring to talk and I still have these issues with my joints popping in and out (at least it feels like that) and that hurts quite a bit.
I saw my orthodontist for the first time since my surgery on August 20th. He instructed me to wear these super tight elastics as much as possible. They keep my teeth shut together. The purpose of them is to bring my upper and lower teeth together on the sides and fill in any small gaps. It's so annoying to talk when wearing them. And it also hurts my joints a bit as well. My sister is in the office this week working with me so I can avoid talking as much as possible.
I'm on to eating more pasta now. Kind of nice to be able to fit more food into my mouth at a time, but still taking it super easy. I can sort of chew pasta gently, I gotta say, just the act of being able to move my jaw up and down and attempt to chew something is quite satisfying! If I have been talking (and not wearing my elastics...) I find by lunch I can hardly fit the baby spoon in my mouth again or open at all, but once I stretch it out a little, it starts to loosen up again. So it's still slow going but it's going!!
I see my orthodontist again on Sept 22/10. I'm hoping that visit will give me an idea of how much longer I need to wear my braces. I believe I'm getting a new wire put in that day. I was reminded the last time I was there that the pain and discomfort of all this is far from over. I had a little moment of feeling sorry for myself but got over it pretty quickly. It's of course easier to let it go when I'm not in a ton of pain. Thankfully, the past couple weeks I have not experienced any painful throbbing. A bit of achiness, but nothing serious! I have noticed cold weather definitely doesn't help with the joints. My jaw tenses immediately with any cold air and starts to ache pretty quickly but I guess that'll just give me more excuses to drive to work rather than walk, and to stay warm at home once the weather gets worse!
I'm not happy it's September and getting colder but I am happy I'm already this far along in recovery! I look forward to the winter because of how much better I should and will hopefully be feeling! That will be an amazing thing to experience!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
7 WEEKS...can you believe it!
I am a little behind in updating! Things have been up and down since my last post.
After my video post I ended up having a week with TONS of jaw pain. My joints were throbbing almost 24/7...I'm not gonna lie, I cried about it, a lot lol. It was sooooo painful. The good thing during that time is I was able to open my mouth enough to actually swallow the pain medication instead of having to crush it! (There really is a positive to everything isn't there? lol) It was a really rough time though.
The great news is, after that week (Week 6 Post Op) I started to have some relief again! Thankful to God for that! Another great thing is I am able to open my mouth more this week. I have started eating a lot more soft food. Not chewing anything but I can eat mashed potatos (my favourite!), bread, omelettes, basically anything that is small and mushy.
It is WONDERFUL!! I'm so tired of smoothies and soups. I've also had some small pasta noodles...I feel like life is slowly becoming more normal again.
This past weekend we had a family reunion on my Mom's side out near Lacombe, AB. All of my siblings were able to make it as well as almost all our relatives. The last reunion was 25 years ago...I was 9 months old at the time. It was a really great turn out, and nice to meet new relatives and spend some time together! My sister and brother in law along with my niece were able to make it up from Tennessee. We haven't seen them for 4 years...it was so great to spend time with them again. And really hard to say goodbye. They came to our place for the past couple days as well along with my parents. We were so busy and got very minimal sleep, went to the zoo and did lots of shopping! I really wasn't sure how I was gonna do with a weekend of visiting out of town and going non stop, but surprisingly, besides the tired part, I have been feeling pretty good. Still have achiness that doesn't always go away but nothing compared to the past 6 weeks!
I'm preparing to start back at work again on August 23rd. That'll be 2 months to the day since my surgery. Being that I talk all day at work, I'm sure the first couple weeks will still be a little hard but I feel much more comfortable going back now that I see a lot of improvement.
I have more mobility in my lips and can get a bit of a smile out. My cheeks are still very numb and the muscles still aren't moving much. I also have some swelling in my nose and cheeks but that should be gone by the end of the month. Overall, I'm starting to feel like me again and it feels GREAT! I have even been able to sing a tiny tiny bit! haha It's funny how it's such a natural thing to do that I just try start singing randomly and then realize I can't really do that yet...but it's coming!!
Here's my updated profile shots...until the next update!
After my video post I ended up having a week with TONS of jaw pain. My joints were throbbing almost 24/7...I'm not gonna lie, I cried about it, a lot lol. It was sooooo painful. The good thing during that time is I was able to open my mouth enough to actually swallow the pain medication instead of having to crush it! (There really is a positive to everything isn't there? lol) It was a really rough time though.
The great news is, after that week (Week 6 Post Op) I started to have some relief again! Thankful to God for that! Another great thing is I am able to open my mouth more this week. I have started eating a lot more soft food. Not chewing anything but I can eat mashed potatos (my favourite!), bread, omelettes, basically anything that is small and mushy.
It is WONDERFUL!! I'm so tired of smoothies and soups. I've also had some small pasta noodles...I feel like life is slowly becoming more normal again.
This past weekend we had a family reunion on my Mom's side out near Lacombe, AB. All of my siblings were able to make it as well as almost all our relatives. The last reunion was 25 years ago...I was 9 months old at the time. It was a really great turn out, and nice to meet new relatives and spend some time together! My sister and brother in law along with my niece were able to make it up from Tennessee. We haven't seen them for 4 years...it was so great to spend time with them again. And really hard to say goodbye. They came to our place for the past couple days as well along with my parents. We were so busy and got very minimal sleep, went to the zoo and did lots of shopping! I really wasn't sure how I was gonna do with a weekend of visiting out of town and going non stop, but surprisingly, besides the tired part, I have been feeling pretty good. Still have achiness that doesn't always go away but nothing compared to the past 6 weeks!
I'm preparing to start back at work again on August 23rd. That'll be 2 months to the day since my surgery. Being that I talk all day at work, I'm sure the first couple weeks will still be a little hard but I feel much more comfortable going back now that I see a lot of improvement.
I have more mobility in my lips and can get a bit of a smile out. My cheeks are still very numb and the muscles still aren't moving much. I also have some swelling in my nose and cheeks but that should be gone by the end of the month. Overall, I'm starting to feel like me again and it feels GREAT! I have even been able to sing a tiny tiny bit! haha It's funny how it's such a natural thing to do that I just try start singing randomly and then realize I can't really do that yet...but it's coming!!
Here's my updated profile shots...until the next update!
