So that made my evening to say the least!
I had a very hard time sleeping the last two nights. For some reason once I lie down I get a terrible pain in my upper left jaw joint (tmj area) I am still sleeping at an angle. But with this new pain I have found the only way I can eventually fall asleep is if I am completely up-right. My OS prescribed very low doses of Elavil for me, a anti-depressant, used to help relax my muscles and aide me to sleep. They haven't been helping at all. I take them, and am falling asleep on the couch, make my way to the bed...and surprise surprise I can't go to sleep for a hour. If anyone has any advice for that I would love it! I just can't get comfortable, and my TMJ joint area just throbs.
Other than that things are going 100% better!! I am only taking Motrin every four hours, just to help with swelling and inflammation. I am feeling almost back to normal. I still am on a full fluid diet, and have a bit of swelling. But the past two days have been a tremendous step forward! My lower face (from my eye lashes down) is still very numb. I am hoping I will begin having some sensation later in the week. I have an appointment w/ my OS and OD this week. I am hoping to have my surgical hooks removed. They just collect mush like no other. So it will be a bit of a relief to have a little less metal in my mouth. I still think the surgeon will keep the splint in for a week or two. But as long as I'm out of the terrible pain, I can bear the annoying POS. Well since I am feeling better I thought I would share one of my more humorous...yes "I am feeling better" photos. I will keep the photos and recovery success news coming!
6 comments:
Are you wired shut? What do you blend your pizza in, liquid-wise? It sounds heavenly....
Hey Jenn,
Glad to see your spirits are lifting a bit, and may I say you look amazing! Must be all that youth on your side, but you don't even have hardly any bruising! Wow, Wow, WOW!
How are you blending your pizza so you can eat it? That bowl looks gross, but I know during SARPE I would've killed for something like that. How did you get it down? Are you banded shut with a splint?
Tell us Please! Enquiring minds want to know! LOL...
I am not wired shut. I have a splint, and two bands holding the splint. So I am able to eat much more than most at this point I'm sure. I used the Magic Bullet to blend the pizza...added a little marinara sauce, and it was close enough for me.
I am eating with baby spoons right now. I can open enough to get more in, but I want everyting to heal as much as possible..no over doing it. Is it that crazy that I am not wired shut?? I have 8-11 screws in my upper jaw (I was drugged I don't remeber the actual number) and 4 in my lower. Do most people get plates and screws and banded shut? Or is it one or the other?
I'm not really sure on this. I mean I think most people get plates and screws in their lower and upper and then those plates are held in place by the screws.
Steph and Amy have splints, and they are very tightly banded shut. No removing the splint or bands yet. So they really cannot open their mouths other than wide enough to get a syringe in. My doctor told me I would be tightly banded for 6 weeks and on liquid or very soft foods only. He said no chewing at all! Kelsie's doctor was very conservative also and I think she was 8 weeks before she got some of her rubberbands removed.
Being wired shut is very rare now. Some doctors still do it, but most do not. Due to the rigid fixation (plates and screws) most doctors feel comfortable tightly banding with a splint. I'm very surprised that you are already eating soft foods and that you only have two rubberbands!
Look at Kelsies Ceph Xray you can see the plates, and screws in her lower jaw, and the upper, as well as that giant screw she had in front and the hook she had on the bottom.
http://static.flickr.com/102/260748511_de95af8a52_o.jpg
Glad you are feeling better! and thank you for the nice post on my blog. I appreciate it and it is encouraging seeing you be so up beat and feeling better so fast.
Brandy
Hey Jenn,
Kristen found this site yesterday. It has a ton of info on it regarding healing you might want to read, also shows a lot of pics regarding the rigid fixation etc. You need to be very careful with your eating.....nothing to hard. Check it out.
http://www.oc-j.com/june00/presurg.htm
Hey Jen,
I know you don't remember because of the drugs, but you have 4 plates with 16 screws in the upper jaw and 2 plates with 8 screws in the lower jaw.
When you go back to Dr. Sheperd ask him to put your x-rays up so you can take some pictures. Then you can see where you have the plates and screws.
I'm glad you're continuing to get better.
Love yah, Mom
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