Day 365: 1 Year Updates:)

June 10th 2013 - June 10th 2014.
Exactly 1 year.

I waited until I got my braces off to take my senior pictures. 

I don't know how to start this post off. 1 year ago today I was in surgery. I remember waking up to nausea and pain. All I wished last summer was that the surgery would help my pain. I just want to cry right now though, because I am in pain almost every day. And I think the pain is now worse than it was before surgery.

I got really lucky with numbness and can feel everything besides my upper gums. My teeth are straight. But they don't fit together :( My orthodontist even mentioned more braces down the line. I just wish that my pain would go away.

I've been contemplating for days what I should say in this post. I hate hate hate to be a downer, but I just can't sugarcoat this topic.

I had an appointment with my jaw doctor this morning. (Not my surgeon, but the doctor that is working on my special retainer that I wear at night). He asked me if getting surgery was worth it. The dreaded question of the year… I decided that ultimately yes, the surgery was worth it. But that assumes that my pain will go away eventually..

I promise things aren't all bad, I can deal with my bite not being perfect. I mean who can expect that anyway. I just am starting to lose hope that my pain will go away.

I am currently still getting my special retainer to wear at night adjusted weekly because my bite is not settled. Once my bite settles, my doctor plans on adding composite to different surfaces of my teeth to help adjust the bite. I just feel like my bite is too off to fix that way :( and we are getting less optimistic.

But hey, I must try to be optimistic. I survived recovery. and that is pretty great all on its own :)

Here is a year in pictures.

I got glasses a few days ago. They aren't as bad as I thought!

I graduated from high school last month. Onto bigger and better things at college next year :)

I guess a lot can happen this year. I am so blessed overall. The days when my jaw pain subsides make the surgery seem worth it. I see my surgeon in a couple weeks, and I'll be posting more. Until things are perfect, I won't be leaving. haha. I hope things are great out there. I cannot put into words how much other blogs have helped me throughout the past few years. Thank you more than anything. Much love.

-Katie:)

Day 327 - Updates (Another Before/After too)

So, I'm sorry for the lack of posts recently. I've honestly just been putting off a post because things have been hard lately and I've been hoping they get better so I could write a happier post. But they haven't.

My jaw pain has gotten worse again. There isn't a day where I don't have a throbbing headache or an aching joint. I have tried to wear a special retainer that helps put my jaw in a relaxed place at night. This has helped substantially, but it has also revealed that I still have an open bite, which is really hard to accept. My teeth mostly touch in the back again which just makes me want to cry. My jaw doctor says he will help by placing composite on certain teeth to fill in my bite. But my front teeth don't touch in any way :( I don't think anyone would notice by looking at me, but it is just really hard to accept that I went through all of this and still have pain and my bite is far from normal. I think I can learn to accept my open bite, but all of this pain I'm having is worse than it was before surgery. I've just been really down about it the last few months. I wish all 3 of my doctors would have communicated better. Sigh.

These pictures were taken about a month ago. Since then my bite has opened up a bit more. I don't really want to show a picture emphasizing that because it just makes me sad.

Anyway, things aren't too horrible overall. I promise! Just not the best. I have faith it'll get better. Just hoping the pain is fixable, that's all. Take care all :) Thoughts are with any of you in recovery.

-Katie:)

Day 261 - BRACES OFF

GUYS! I had NO clue i'd be able to post this soon :) i had the best day ever which probably is obvious given the title.

So we all know I had an appt scheduled for March 31st for braces removal, but I was sitting in class this morning when all of a sudden my phone starts buzzing. My mom called saying the orthodontist had someone cancel and I was free to go in! the surprise of it all was awesome. needless to say I was in shock.

So after staring at the clock in my AP Biology class for almost an hour, I was finally able to leave. I walked in to the ortho and they just starting breaking brackets off. (ouch!) yes it hurt when they were yanking, but sooo worth it. as I'm sure you all know. but hmm, they left 4 brackets on my bottom 4 front teeth because my permanent retainer that sits behind my bottom front teeth won't be made until next week. but hey, almost all of my braces are off so close enough :)

anyway, like i mentioned, I go in next wednesday to get my retainers and last couple of brackets off.

last picture taken with braces. woohoo.

ill also have an appointment with my dentist/jaw doctor for him to do some shaping/cosmetics on my front top tooth because one of them is chipped and just has a temporary addition on it to make it look normal. plus he will fit me with my special retainer to help protect my teeth from grinding them at night. 

it was a long 3 years with those things… but i survived. and I'm so glad to be one step closer to normalcy. hoping braces and jaw surgery are completely in my past soon enough.

so yeah! off to fill out more scholarship applications. (trying not to let it put a damper on my day) take care all!

-Katie:)

Day 112 - 16 weeks!! wow wow wow.

Oh my goodness, I made it this far!!! way past the 100 days mark, and soon approaching the 4 month mark (oct 10th). Things are pretty darn awesome :) if i weren't so busy with everything i would post more! but life just kinda gets hectic as im sure we all realize.

before/after 3 months.

SO hmm..... what to talk about relating to my jaw. well, i can eat almost everything now! I still have yet to try raw carrots or an apple.... but im a little scared. so ill just avoid those for a bit longer. some parts of the day i have no pain... but i normally wake up to a clenched achy jaw from grinding my teeth :( also, my upper lip is always really stiff in the morning, but by the end up the day it is more normal. hmm what else....

OHH GUESS WHAT. I have an ortho appt a few weeks ago and asked him when he thought id get my braces off since i was debating when id take senior pictures etc. my ortho said i would get them off by january. so YAY. 3-4 more months from now isn't horrible :)

I still have clicking more than not in my left jaw joint when i eat which wasn't there before surgery... but we'll see. some days it isn't there at all, so maybe itll go away eventually? idk..

I finally feel more normal when i see my reflection and can accept that this is my face. i dont just see "puffy cheeks" when i look in a mirror anymore. woo! Sometimes i still feel a little stiff and swollen, but just depends on the day.

Numbness is bearable at this point. my top gums are still completely numb which is fairly annoying. but oh well. everything else has at least partial feeling.

Also.... i have this weird feeling between my left nostril and my left top tooth. if i blow my nose the tooth and jaw area above it kinda vibrates.. and i feel certain things in both spots... maybe the nerve healed weirdly? like if one area feels something.. the other does too. and when i have a stuffy nose and i talk loudly.. the tooth and that part of my jaw vibrates too. sigh... sorry that was not a good explanation. but it's just so gosh darn annoying! hope this isn't permanent :(

my biggest complaint though is the sensitivity. brushing with my sonicare hurts so badly!! i hate it :( sensitivity sucks let me tell you.

and now you get the loads of pictures. because jaw surgery is a good excuse to take many selfies and not feel (too) ashamed. hope all is well with you guys!!

 

-Katie:)

Day 69 - Subtle Changes (before/after)

So, I hope you guys are alright! 

my biggest complaints by now are the sensitivity, numbness, and clicking of my jaw joint.

you know the sensitivity that you feel if you bite into a popsicle? or just when anything too cold touches your teeth? well, that is what it feels like when i brush my teeth with my sonicare toothbrush OR chew hard things. which is extremely annoying. I'm not sure if it is because the numbness on my upper gums may be returning? or? have any of you guys had a lot of sensitivity post-op?

when i chew soft things it is fine, but say i try to chew a cracker, it just sparks uncomfortable sensations in my upper gums and teeth, and some on the lower too. not to mention it feels like it is too much on my jaw, so i am sticking to softer foods. peanut butter and jelly is my "go-to" lunch! but i am probably being too adventurous too fast with food. definitely have chewed hard crackers, pickles, and hard meats. it is challenging and makes my jaw ache... but the food is SO yummy. ill never take food for granted again after this surgery... that is for sure. i also wanted to briefly mention the annoying clicking/popping of my left jaw joint again.. it hasn't gone away :( sometimes it isn't there, but other times it is... and i am just worried itll be there forever :(

overall though everything is great, swelling is mostly gone (on some days i notice that it gets a little worse again, but oh well). today i had some pain in my face, but some days i have none. it is all just up and down by this point in recovery.

hope all is well with you guys :) 

-Katie:)

Day 58 - Another Before/After

Well guys... nothing new to report today. just here. NOT chewing. just what i wanted :\

But anyway... I had another college visit today that went well :) need to get my stupid essays done for all of these applications... ahh.... major stressing about to happen. but ill just shove that to the back of my mind and pretend that it doesn't exist. as i do with all of my problems. including the fact that my jaw clicks and im not allowed to chew and i need to have a visit with my surgeon tomorrow instead of in about 3 weeks. but la la la la... im ignoring anything negative tonight. i will be in bed reading a book for fun (instead of my summer book for school..oops) haha.

the before was taken on my drive to the hospital the morning of surgery. thought the angles were similar enough to compare. yay for my new profile:) weird how it changed my nose, not bad, just different.

hey, quick random question/comment. so i feel like my face (all throughout recovery) has always swelled up more from the heat. so today for example, on my college tour, it was fairly warm outside and my face just begins to feel wet (weird numbness sensations) and just feels like a puff-ball. i don't know if it makes a huge difference physically to other people, but it sure feels noticeable and uncomfortable to me. anyone else experience this at all...?

fingers crossed for a good appointment tomorrow, hope all is well with you guys :)
-Katie:)

Day 55 - Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow!

So today i have been humming (and singing of course!) Tomorrow from Annie. because, tomorrow, I GET TO CHEW. hence, i completely love tomorrow. and am excited. if you can't tell.
yay
yay
yay
yay:)

I am a tiny bit terrified that either A) I wont be able to chew anything... or B) it'll hurt a ton...

but hey, gotta try! i am just so ready to chew. and i know it maybe isn't the biggest deal ever to most people... BUT this is what i have been looking forward to for ages. so fingers crossed that my diet goes back to normal quickly!

Since tomorrow is also 8 weeks ill write up some huge long post about everything i can possibly think of :P so ill quit going on about nothing tonight! hope all is well with you guys :)

-Katie:)