Day 16

sooo i kinda cheated with my day 15 post... and posted it on day 16..... but i wrote it about day 15! just got too lazy the day before. but ill write a post now!

so with this whole sleeping thing.... gah. i am still supposed to sleep propped up for another week. stupid swelling. but it is SO hard for me... so last night i just gave up and slept normally. i woke up more swollen today. so i will continue to try to sleep propped up! but the extra sleep last night was so worth it. i was a happier person today. haha

today i also tried not to take my pain medication as i only have so many pills left... instead i just alternated tylenol and motrin. so today was kinda hard :( the pain was more than usual. i will continue taking my pain medication to help sleep though.

i am officially wearing my bands! even if i don't want to. they aren't as bad as they were the last couple of days. and i am even getting better at putting them on. my orthodontist was so nice to let me borrow a hemostat to help put my bands on!

my hemostat. it is great! haha...

energy-wise i feel like im getting back to normal. which is good! even though i feel tired, i don't feel weak. yay.

food! i ate hash-browns and CAKE today. they were delicious! ive learned i can eat almost anything as long as i can mash it with a fork (still not much, but hey, ill take it). that being said... i just want to be able to chew :( i want a hamburger. and chips. and wheat thins. and an apple. :( but oh well i mustn't think about it...

awkward smile...

still puffy.

take care all!
-Katie:)

Day 15

Well not much happened today. i still can't sleep. i am wearing my bands. they hurt. i am still trying to get off of my pain medication and just switch to tylenol and motrin. nothing new has happened. ill post more tomorrow....... just not in the mood. not a bad day though!
-Katie:)

Day 14 - TWO WEEKS.

Hey guys! i made it to 2 weeks! that must be some sort of accomplishment. Today has been decent. One of my friends came and visited me this afternoon and so today was fun. I am going to try to organize my post today! woah. that is a first. maybe this will be helpful. otherwise you might just get a long post of me complaining. in which case, i apologize ahead of time. haha.


Sleep
So.... sleeping has not been my friend lately. I'm still supposed to be sleeping propped up.. but that is so darn hard! i used to sleep on my side curled up in a ball on my face. and so sleeping on my back just is NOT fun. i am alright once i get to sleep. but it is hard getting comfy. i know i shouldn't be complaining. but it is affecting how much sleep i get. last night i got fed up with being propped up and slept laying down. maybe im more puffy because of it.. no clue. ill continue trying, but i dont know how long i can handle it! so i am on a REALLY bad schedule of staying up late and sleeping in late.... fingers crossed for tonight.

Numbness
Well, i can feel my bottom lip! as you know. hmm my top lip is still completely numb. my nose is still completely numb. the bottom part of my chin is completely numb. my cheeks have feeling on the outside edges. but around my nose is completely numb. that is the part of my face that has been bothering me the most! on either side of my nose. i am also completely numb under my eyes. let me just say that putting makeup on is a weird sensation. so is having water on my face when i shower. and feeling the wind blow on my face. just so much numbness! but im not complaining. as long as it masks some pain. i may be more annoyed over it in a week.

Food
I WANT A HAMBURGER. But i guess i have found enough food. I don't know if i mentioned that i have lost 7 pounds. which is a lot for me already being pretty tiny... i guess not the worst thing in the world though. but hmm. i have gotten pretty good at choking down food. ill list some of the foods i have discovered that i can eat. hence i eat quite a bit of them since my options are limited! my surgeon said i can eat anything as long as i dont chew. so here is what my "no-chew" diet consists of.

• baked beans
• scrambled eggs
• spaghetti - it takes forever to cut up the noodles super tiny!
• chicken and stars (chicken noodle soup with tiny noodles)
• apple sauce
• black beans and refried beans
• smoothies
• rice (as long as it is cooked well enough to mash with a fork)
• mashed potatoes and gravy

Pain

I am still taking my pain medication.. not as often.. but i am still on it.. i can't wait for the day that i wake up and don't have pain. my face hurts. simple as that. it kinda hurts the most on either side of my nose and under my top lip. i also just have a constant headache. and the bands just make all my teeth hurt. but it is manageable with medicine. just not fun waking up in the morning with no medicine in me!

here is my band configuration! i don't know if i posted that yet...

I wrote this WAY earlier i just forgot to post it! im sorry! night :)
-Katie:)

Day 13 - Public Outing

Hey everyone! sorry this is coming late. i actually had a filled day today..!! i slept horribly last night. just couldn't get to sleep :( but oh well. hopefully tonight will just be better. so today was kinda a big milestone! i went "out in public". haha. some of my friends were in a musical, so i went to go see it with another friend! i felt so awkward in public due to my puffiness and inability to make "normal" facial expressions. but i survived! it was great to have a distraction from everything. plus, i don't think i could have been able to stand another day in my comfy clothes at home. then i spent the evening hanging out with one of my friends. it is SO incredibly great to do more normal things again.

so the swelling seems to be at a standstill at this point... there arent any major changes it seems. im just ready to have it GO AWAY. please face, stop being puffy! i feel like a chipmunk. it was hard to hold my head high when i was out in public today. i mean i don't think anyone really cared or made notice. but i mean i saw friends from my school that probably didnt know that i had surgery, and then to see me just looking a little different and puffy... idk. it just isn't my favorite feeling.

IT HURTS TO LAUGH. i am waiting for the day that i can smile/laugh and not have pain. i dont recommend watching funny movies. i made that mistakes. not fun! haha, but oh well. i will continue to watch them and just deal with it. it is kinda funny how pathetic it is that is hurts to smile! i just get a kick out of it for some reason...

now i guess i should talk about how i have been feeling. without the bands i am actually starting to do really well! my pain isn't bad. but then i put them on, and boom. headache. pain. etc. so i am going to call my surgeon and see how i can balance pain vs bands. i dont know how important they are in my recovery... sigh :(

let's see. the numbness on my face didn't bother me as much today. the tingling and itching has not been as prominent. woo. i can open my mouth about as big as one finger. i am struggling to find foods that sound good. i am SO sick of everything.... gah.

well tomorrow ill make a longer post and try to talk about more relevant things!! take care all.

-Katie:)

Day 12

guess who slept for 9 hours straight last night!! i mean i couldnt fall asleep until 2am... but i slept all the way until 11. without waking up once. yay. so i have felt more well rested today finally. hopefully i can just fall asleep at an earlier time tonight! i did fall over sideway when i was sleeping though... so that hasnt helped with the swelling. my swelling isn't changing significantly anymore. maybe tonight ill try to arrange my pillows differently. even if i do love sleeping curled up in a ball literally on my face. haha. sleeping on my back and propped up is very annoying. but oh well!

after i woke up i was in quite a bit of pain though since i didnt have any pain medicine for 9 hours.. but it was worth it. then i went on a small walk outside. the wind feels so weird on my numb face! i can't get over it. speaking of numbness, some of the feeling in my cheeks is coming back i think. at this point it is hard to tell what has feeling and what has tingling and what is still completely numb! the numbest part is from under my eyes and the areas to the left and right of my nose and then my upper lip. the outer edges of my cheeks are starting to come back and so is my chin and my lower lip has a ton of feeling. it just tingles. so id say im still overall EXTREMELY numb. which is fine. id rather be numb than in pain.

i keep forgetting what i talk about in all my other posts... uhhh. oh! i managed to eat eggs this morning for breakfast! they were completely delicious. as far as food goes... i kinda have to choke it down. and my the roof of my mouth and throat kinda hurts. i don't think this is a good thing.. but i don't know what else to do. i don't think i can handle any more soups or potatoes. i weighed myself today and have lost 7 pounds since i was weighed right before surgery. that is kinda a lot if i think about it! i didn't really need to lose any weight... so i hope it doesnt go down too much more. i guess on a liquid diet you are just doomed to lose several pounds. it was inevitable.

i feel like a terrible person as i havent been wearing my bands as much as i should. i promise i will as the days go on! it just makes the pain go up significantly :( i have noticed that the swelling actually looks better in my pictures than what i think it looks like in the mirror! in actuality i feel like i am actually more puffy than these pictures portray. but you never know i guess! oh random thing. vaseline is my favorite. lips get so chapped after this.. so i recommend having something to put on them so they don't get all cracked. it is painful when that happens. gah.

my bruising is almost gone, and you can see my lip isnt as purple as it used to be! i have a bruise under my chin still, but it isn't too bad at all. i think overall i got lucky with the bruising on my face... well besides my lip being purple and black for over a week. but yeah.

biggest hurdle now will be those darn bands :( maybe ill just have to eat more so that i have an excuse not to wear them!

take care all. more thoughts later. off to read my books!

-Katie:)

Day 11 - Part 2 (attempted positivity!) (and before/after pics)

so i feel like in the last couple hours everything has just drastically changed for the better! and i just had to update on here of course to redeem myself for the slightly depressing posts. i finally have resolved most of my stomach issues. (not being able to have a bowel movement for 12 days is AWFUL, but not talking about that anymore. ew.) im just so happy my stomach pain has lessened! and i started taking less pain medication today and i even felt okay. so there is hope. also, the country club in my neighborhood had their firework show tonight, and i even felt well enough to walk down to the end of our street and sit and watch. improvements! the fireworks were completely beautiful too. who doesn't love them?! so i decided that it was time to compare some before and after pictures. not from the front, since i still look like a marshmallow!

it is so cool to see how my profile changed. i know these angles arent exactly the same, but it shows the change well enough! i am so pleased that my lower jaw no longer has to slide forward just to fit into my bite and upper jaw. and i guess my nose is a bit perkier too! haha, which im all good with. obviously you can still see my puffiness. but it is weird/cool to see how they actually did move my jaw. hopefully it takes care of all my jaw pain:) thatll make this all worth it. im just trying to keep in mind that this whole ordeal should be worth the removal of my jaw pain and headaches etc...

i also found some pictures of my bite/teeth and just had to put them together. it is actually super cool how my teeth actually sorta fit together now! my open bite is gone. woo! even if i still have some tweaking with bands to do.

i finally see how this can be worth it. i can make it through. woo. this pep talk may actually be working...

i do have to complain quickly about the itches i get from my annoying nerves! and when i itch my face i can't feel it! since im still numb. it may be the weirdest thing ever.... haha. i would LOVE to be able to feel my top lip. please wake up nerves!

take care all. thanks for all the support and to anyone reading this. sending warm thoughts to those going through this as well.

now to try to sleep a ton!!

-Katie:)

Day 11

so i got to wake up at 6:30 this morning to drive to the post op appt with my surgeon. fun stuff... so i barely got any sleep last night :( suffering today from the little sleep. my appt with my surgeon went well. i got an x-ray done! my surgeon said that everything looks great and even said i did a great job of keeping my mouth clean. i am to start getting off of my pain medication.. which won't be easy, but ill do it! here is the x-ray.

lots of metal in my mouth. haha....

then my surgeon decided i needed to wear bands again :( boo. these things will be the end of me. im not wearing them today as much as i should have... the pain got to be too bad. sigh. but here's the configuration of that.. sigh. just when i thought it was getting better! ill try again with the bands tomorrow :(

im still having stomach aches. this is my biggest complaint at this point. i just feel so terrible. curled up in a ball on the couch all day. sigh. I'm taking lots of medicine and even have had to drink magnesium citrate. ew. hopefully things will get better tomorrow :( i need to get past my stomach issues! i want to feel better.

ill keep posting. sigh. just dont know what to say :(
-Katie:)

Day 10 - Looking Up

wow, 10 days is somewhat of an accomplishment! yay for making it to this point. surgery feels like it was yesterday... but luckily today has been pretty good. i actually slept fairly well last night! i havent slept longer than 5-6 hours straight... due to my need for pain medication and such, but i got a total of probably 8-9 hours last night. so i woke up and had a really good morning and afternoon! my friends even came and visited my for a bit which was amazing, i hadn't seen them since before surgery! we giggled about my inability to smile or laugh well along with my puffiness. but it was great to catch up. i even put mascara on today! haha, i guess that says something. maybe.

i am experiencing stomach pain since i still haven't gone to the bathroom since before surgery... i am on stool softeners and miralax and other things trying to make me go.. until then ill be miserable... nobody warns of this side of the recovery! this is awful and my biggest complaint today. sigh. sorry i know you don't want to read about this. it is quite gross. moving on!

the swelling continues to go down and my bruising is beginning to fade as well. i am pretty sure i can feel some of my chin now and random parts of my cheeks. it is just all tingly and weird feeling! i don't know how to describe it... i am getting fed up with the random itches though! my face or nose just gets itchy, but i can't feel anything when i scratch it since it is numb! such an odd sensation... and annoying. well hmm, i am still on my heavy pain medication and it has been helping a ton. i do feel lots of pain when im not on it though. boo. so im continuing taking that every 4-5 hours... the swelling and bruising around my chin and neck kinda makes me feel claustrophobic and like it is choking me today. i just want it all to go away! let's see. ill talk about food again! i don't know if i had mentioned previously that i am lactose intolerant.... so i can't have dairy products. that has made this liquid diet even harder! but oh well. i have found substitutes. just you guys enjoy your ice cream since i can't! but hmm, today i mashed up more noodles in spaghetti sauce which was pretty great. i also enjoy smoothies, soup, baked beans, ginger ale, apple sauce, potatoes, jello, pancakes. oh! maybe ill try scrambled eggs tomorrow! here are a couple pictures before i forget.

yay for awkward and painful smiles!

puffy. cheeks. are. just. so. attractive. :P

bruising continues to go down

let's see... what else... oh. i have begun to notice the stitches in my mouth? a couple have fallen out i guess. it feels really uncomfortable! i don't want to know or feel where the incisions were etc. idk. also, my surgeon got called in for trauma surgery today and so they had to move my appt to tomorrow morning. so ill just let you all know what he says then! hopefully the visit goes well. fingers crossed.

eating hasnt been too hard once i have food in front of me! i do eat in front of a mirror though. haha, i feel like a baby just starting to eat solids. i am kinda a messy eater and yeah.. im sure you can imagine.. okay well i think i just ran out of things to say... but no worries! my rambling will be back. take care all. thoughts and prayers out to those going through this process as well.

-Katie:)

Day 9 - not much. sigh.

Well, sleeping last night wasn't super fun. I don't like falling asleep only to wake up in a puddle of drool and more discomfort. It just felt like a long series of "on and off" naps. I eventually just gave up this morning and watched tv. maybe i can nap soon. i was having a decent day until about an hour ago. hmm let's see. i started my morning off with some more pancakes mushed up in a cup in syrup. my pain medication makes me feel so out of it... but i guess it beats the pain :( my numbness is starting to bother me. my top lip has weird poking feelings and then it gets REALLY cold when i try to drink anything. my teeth feel sensitive too. so annoying and weird... i kinda have the constant pulsing throb of pain behind my eyes and nose that i don't know what to do with, but at least my medicine helps. i went out into my backyard and walked around a tiny bit earlier today. made me miss golfing! :( and just being normal. i miss my friends. :( i miss normal. then hmm, today i have also eaten chicken noodle soup, baked beans, and some more random smoothies my mom makes. my nausea is back. my main issue is that i still havent had a bowel movement since surgery..... i have had a bad history with constipation and am on lots of medicine trying to help things move through me. so my stomach has been suffering :( definitely doesnt help with the whole eating ordeal. sorry, i know that topic isn't great. but i just had to share. my sister painted my nails today which was nice of her. im scared i am snapping at my family :( i don't mean to be short with people, it just isn't fun to talk and im so uncomfortable. i was extremely happy that today though i was able to get my library books! now i just need to feel well enough to read. i had my mom go in to check out the stack i had on hold because i didn't feel like being seen in public... is that bad? i just decided sitting in the car was the best way to avoid stares. im too puffy. i also decided that i don't like the car. it makes me dizzy and gives me a headache. for some reason my eyes get really sensitive and it just makes my head throb. tomorrow i have an appt with my surgeon, just gotta survive the one hour car trip yet again! ew. id rather avoid cars for awhile... ill update on what he says at the appt tomorrow evening. also! i think a couple of my friends are going to come visit me tomorrow which may help! today i have come to the conclusion that i feel lonely and secluded. sigh. this recovery isn't easy. i applaud anyone who has made it through. really hard to keep my head up through it all... it is getting harder to stay positive. but i will prevail. i refuse to have too many bad days! i was just able to eat spaghetti for dinner!! i mean i just took a knife and fork and sliced up the noodles as small as possible and kinda just swallowed them whole. but it was still yummy.

note to self: avoid yawning. i just experienced a yawn for the first time. ow!

behold the puff!

the extent to which i am able to open my mouth

lip bruising and neck bruising

thanks to anyone still following along. makes me feel like i'm not going through this alone. much love
-Katie:)

Day 8 - home! (yes again...)

GUYS. i made it home!!!
and this time it feels like i'll get to stay :) things are looking up. i just want to go on again about how much i loved some of my nurses. they do wonders for patients. i felt so grateful to have such a great team working with me.. :) love and thanks to anyone that got me through this week.

i found a pain medication that works. and im enjoying no bands on my teeth even. potatoes, soups, pancakes, and smoothies are my favorites:) i take my pain medicine every 4 hours, but last night nobody woke me up to take it at 2 am, so i woke up at 4 am in TONS of pain. note to self: don't miss a dose of medicine yet. ouch! so last night was just not a great night of sleep... i did make up for it today though with 2 two-hour naps! i am learning to love sleep. anyone else drool massively after surgery? (i know gross sorry!) i just am having a lot of it and wanted to make sure im not the only one?

anyways... hmm. well i go back to see my surgeon on thursday! im guessing he may mess with bands then? im not sure why i have been completely free of them since saturday, but im not complaining! hmm in regards to numbness my top lip is tingling and kinda vibrating.. not super comfortable! but maybe this just means ill get feeling back there soon? my face is starting to feel really weird since it is numb! the only thing i can feel is my bottom lip, otherwise im still numb all the way through my eyes. the roof of my mouth being numb is fairly bothersome as of today. but oh well. hmm, i think today i am finally feeling well enough to want to read a book! this is big! so i have had a great day:) i am just loving being at home again... my favorite part of the day continues to be when i shower! i love the water just clearing up my face and it makes me feel less stuffy and just a happier person. i also recommend sleeping!! i feel so much better after i wake up.. it is just hard to fall asleep propped up! hmm... well... after over a week in the hospital i realized that i am kinda lonely. i really miss my friends!! the few that have been able to tolerate talking to me all week are quite amazing. it must not be fun to talk to someone all drugged up and upset!

recovery has been hard. i think i knew it would be this hard to an extent... but i didn't think it would be this hard for so long. if that makes sense! i just ask anyone to hang in there. today is the first day i see that there is an end to it all. even if it is still very distant.... i don't know how i feel about the results of my surgery, but as long as it takes away my jaw pain ill be happy! it is SOO weird biting down and having all my teeth touch! i feel normal! love it!

the swelling has become annoying. why do i have to be a puffy mess still?? why can't i just look normal again? why?? ahhhhh. oh well! i can finally smile, but it does hurt to laugh and smile!! i can also make some weird faces. i feel like a mixture between a monkey and a chipmunk. OH. i forgot. have i gone on already how much i LOVE being able to swallow pills again?!?!? liquid medicine is NASTY. so happy i get pills now:) life. is. good.

last night in the hospital after a dose of morphine... i realized i can still cross my eyes i guess! also i can stick my tongue out!

car trip home from the hospital today! i tried to smile, even though it is painful. you can see the bruising is yellowed on my face. that has been there for hmm, 2-3 days?

ill post more sometime! i have lots of free time where i am sitting alone in my house....! take care all
-Katie:)

Day 7 - ONE WEEK

WOW. one week ago today i was just getting out of surgery... it seems so long and short at the same time. i am so happy and blessed that i made it this far. i most likely get to leave the hospital tomorrow... so hopefully i am ready by then! crazy that ive spent so much time in the hospital.. i know most dont stay this long. my surgeon stopped in today and said that i looked good! i havent had any bands on since saturday, but tomorrow my surgeon will put new ones on (but ill be allowed to take them off to eat). GUESS WHAT. for breakfast today i ordered a pancake. then put it in a cup and doused it with syrup and microwaved it. then i just mushed it up reallly good and ate it with my tongue! so extremely delicious. potatoes are still my favorite. but that was one good breakfast. haha. hmm. so last night i slept from 2-6 and 6:45-11ish. ill take it! my stomach started hurting last night around midnight, so i had difficulties falling asleep. still completely numb except for my bottom lip! which has a lot of feeling. things are starting to tingle though! such a weird uncomfortable feeling. hmm, for pain i am taking children's liquid motrin every 6 hours.... but it doesnt do much... at all.... i am still taking morphine as needed but i need to figure out the best medicine for when i go home! because the hydrocodone etc makes me kinda nauseous. so today well will mess with different medicines in hope that something works! i am still getting morphine to keep me comfy cause the pain isnt fun :( my teeth do tough though! it is so weird to bite down and feel that contact! last night i noticed one of my surgical hooks on my top left side kinda fell partially out and was stabbing my check. ow! my surgeon just tucked it behind my braces at least, woo.

                   

        

     this was driving to the hospital the morning of surgery! just found it.

yesterday i woke up with a little bruising on my face.. so weird! hopefully it goes away.

i can kinda smile! my random purple lip bruise is persistent!....... still :( but i think the swelling is continuing to go down. so yup!

hmm, i don't know what else to say, just goodluck to any of you on this journey! it is really tough :( but things are starting to look up. eating makes me happier. i just wish i could sleep more. doesnt feel refreshing yet. i am also sick of sleeping propped up on my back!! im a person that sleeps curled up in a ball on my face. haha. thanks for reading:) more to come.
- Katie:)

Day 6!

soooo my phone deleted my attempt at a post this morning:( boo. so things are better. i slept for 6 hours straight last night! every so often i have sharp pain on the left side making my ear hurt too. goal of today is fluids and calories! my surgeon told me this morning when he checked on me that i look pretty good. the swelling seems to be improving. everything is still numb except for my bottom lip which has most feeling. still thoroughly enjoying my mashed potatoes and gravy!!

starting to feel more positive:) ill type more up tonight once i get out my computer and my extended family leaves. today has been a good day! still on morphine, antibiotics, nausea medicine, and steroids for swelling. the medication through the iv is so painful though!:( 

-Katie:)

Day 5 - back to the hospital...

okay so the last day has been so scary and not fun. friday afternoon i was released to go home, and was doing alright, but as the night continued, my nausea increased to the point where i couldn't take my pain medication so i was miserable. i went to the emergency room at the children's hospital around 12:30 am finally with the advice of my surgeon. they gave me additional nausea medication and then a painful shot of morphine to try to get my pain back to a more tolerable level. I was stable enough to return home around 4 am. and then slept in 3 hour shifts waking up to choke down some more awful pain medication. my mom was able to talk to my surgeon again my morning and he suggested we come back to the hospital to see him. (an hour away). so in the car we went, prepared to check back in to the hospital.

we arrived at the hospital late morning and i was wheeled to a new room in the same general area as my last. i got to see a couple of the nurses that had cared for me earlier in the week which almost brought me to tears just because i am so grateful for how nice they've been. simply wonderful. they had to start up a new iv (yuck!) and take blood for a 3rd time this week. always fun. then i got some morphine and nausea medicine and then slept. then my surgeon dropped by and i was forced to try to be alert (not easy with medication!). he said my blood looked completely normal and that i looked good. he said that he feels bad that i am so swollen partially he said because i am so fair and have light, red hair! i have found it interesting how all the nurses say i have it worse off for that reason. hmm. but okay so THEN comes the surprising part. my surgeon simply asks me if i'd like to have my bands off! he normally reconfigures bands at 1 week, but we are completely banded shut until that point. but he said unbanding me would help lessen the pain from the stress and tension in my joints that was also making my ears hurt. he also said that this would help get more calories in me, which i wholeheartedly agreed with. haha. next thing i know, he is digging around in my mouth and my bands are out! he asks me to open my mouth, and of course i barely can open it, but it is enough to get liquids through, and i can even peek my tongue out! brushing my teeth felt glorious after that awful fuzzy, wet feeling. then i passed out for 3 hours which was much needed. by the time i woke up my grandparents and sisters were here to say goodnight. then the best part of the week came. for dinner... i had MASHED POTATOES. it was incredibly delicious and amazing to be able to shove the potatoes heavily diluted with gravy into the front of my mouth with a spoon. i became much happier. much much happier. tomorrow ill post a string of photos from the hospital! i don't have them on my computer, so ill do a quick post from my phone. right now i am just going to head to sleep and relax! i am hoping that i am past the worst of things. cause friday-saturday was really awful and scary. not gonna lie. here is to a better recovery starting tomorrow! much love to all.
-Katie:)

Day 4 - Home!

SOOO... i made it HOME! i didn't know it would feel this good. but it does. wow. yay. so let's see, last night i slept pretty well, just continuing sleeping for 4 hours cause that is how often i get my pain medication. I saw my surgeon this morning and he said that i looked really good! i randomly have a bruise on half of my bottom lip as of today sadly. now half of it is purple. just lovely. so then we were able to leave the hospital around 2 pm today and all of a sudden the weather is HOT and humid out here. ew! the ride home was an entire hour and was completely awful. :( not gonna lie. i am so congested and my mouth just feels like i am constantly drowning it in spit. (gross, but true). i just want to dry out my mouth and be able to swallow all the spit and mucus! also, my ears feel extremely plugged which made me really dizzy on the ride home. i will be avoiding cars from now on :( that was a terrible experience. nausea and dizziness returned for an entire hour :( you could say i am kinda settled by now. but i still don't feel all too great. i get medicine in 15 minutes and hopefully thatll make everything better! it tastes soo nasty but is worth getting rid of the terrible pain. Im sorry if this makes no coherent sense. im literally just typing down the first thing that pops into my head. which doesn't seem too happy. im sorry! ill write more as i become more positive i guess... sigh. bye all!
-Katie:)

Day 3

i think i would say that today has been harder than yesterday was. i woke up just feeling groggy. but! i did get a lot of sleep last night. i slept for 3 four-hour blocks! woo. but, i woke up needing medicine very badly. the time in between my medication just waiting for the next dose has not been fun.... i felt a little more dizzy and foggy today! i don't know how to describe it. i just feel really out of it today, so i apologize though if none of this makes sense! my thoughts are not together. hmm, so i have been half watching house hunters on my hospital tv today alll day. this is the first time i could actually focus on a tv show though. progress! that is when you know you are drugged.. when you can't even watch tv.... haha. so hmm. today i feel like swelling is very similar to last time i posted a picture! although my lips are reallllly raw. so it is painful to move my lips, and food with salt in it burns. i still love tomato soup. let me just say that it is NOT fun being lactose intolerant through this process! hmmm, i am still completely numb except for my bottom lip. oh! i can actually breathe through my nose today. it has been glorious:)
overall though, today has been bad. i just feel super weak and helpless and swollen. i think i get to go home tomorrow. but i just don't even care. i don't mind it here since i get a lot of help here. hopefully i am able to have a decent night! wish me luck with continuing eating. that is NOT fun. why can't i just have normal food? :( anyway, take care all!
-Katie:)

Day 2 continued

so overall today was more positive than the last 2! the worst part was that i have been struggling to breathe :( i now have a system down of taking my liquid medicine for pain and so i am under control in that area. yay. it has been hard to focus on much though due to the ton of medicine. my nausea is gone too! i have really enjoyed having my family in the room to talk since i barely can! it made my day pas by much quicker. they can be fairly entertaining. haha. i believe i am taking liquid hydrocodone and had one dose of morphine through my iv and i didn't even throw up that time. yay! to help with my congestion, i tried taking sudafed, but that barely helped. so the whole "not breathing" thing is my biggest complaint today. today was also the first day ive been hungry. around lunch i decided that i really wanted a hamburger. oh the sadness. my favorite food today though has been tomato soup! sooo yummy! i am actually full for once. i have been brushing the outside of my teeth successfully and have been using some sort of prescription "mouthwash" not sure exactly what it is, but it feels good to attempt to clean out my mouth! my biggest complaint about food has been how the more rich things seem to coat my throat and make it harder to breathe. but the yummy tomato soup was so worth the difficulty breathing. hmmm what else! oh. my lower lip has a lot of feeling back, but otherwise i am numb all the way to below my eyes. i havent taken a single nap today... oops. just never felt tired enough to pass out. so maybe ill be able to sleep well tonight. idk. my surgeon came and checked on me today and said that everything looked great! i can't really tell anything, but i wont judge til the swelling goes down. i just cant believe how swollen my face feels! it is crazy... i think i forgot to mention earlier how my surgeon couldn't take out my wisdom tooth or it would have fractured my jaw:( so ill have to deal with that later in life? not sure since it hasnt brought me pain yet. more updates on that to come at a later date. hmm, oh! so back to when my surgeon visited. he also said that i could maybe go home tomorrow, but im not sure whatll happen! either tomorrow or friday. and im good with either. all of the nurses here are sooo nice to me. i feel so extremely grateful :) anyway! im gonna go! ill update more tomorrow. i apologize if this post doesnt make much sense due to my lack of uh focus! idk! just blaming everything on the medicine. take care all. bye!
-Katie:)

Day 2

I survived the second night. woo. kinda was able to sleep in 2 hour shifts. and of course i was sleeping super super well this morning and then the nurses came to check vitals and bring food. overall a lot of the pain has gone down today. just feel SUPER puffy and swollen. today's goals are to drink and walk more. i showered last night which felt absolutely amazing! the nurses have been so helpful and nice. i am just about to go on a walk but ill update later today. i am determined to have a better day today since the last 2 were awful :( until later!

-Katie:)

Day 1 continued

so today i finally had some fluids. i am

extremely swollen and discovered that is it really hard to swallow anything. i do like the syringe though, a very helpful thing. my family was very nice to keep me company in the hospital all day seeing as i can only mumble. i have some feeling back in my lower lip. but everything else is super numb. i attempted the liquid medicine earlier. but that didnt go well and so they let me go back to the iv demerol. the last 2 days have been so hard :( i just want it to be over. hmm, i was able to drink grape and apple juice,

sprite, water, and tomato soup today. my nausea is finally subsiding. yay. i have felt more pain than i though i would have thought. not fun :( my moon isnt crazy good as of now. it was better this morning. now i just feel puffy and awful. well, im going to go try to sleep for a couple hours since i can actually partially breathe right now. much love.

-Katie:)

Surgery/Day 0/Day 1

so i had a post written up earlier but i think it go deleted! :( surgery went well. had a rough last 24 hours though. arrived bright and early at the hospital, but then my surgery got delayed 2 hours :(

my doctor did a 3 piece on top and impacted it up and moved my bottom jaw forward. morphine made me nauseous and i threw up at least 6 times. so i switched to demerol for pain which is helping. i slept kinda in 2 hours shifts. with medicine in between. not gonna lie, yesterday was really rough. i could barely breathe. which was scary. i havent had much to "eat". just some sprite. apple juice. and broth. it realllly hurts to swallow. ill post more tonight after i take a nap updating you on my afternoon. thanks to all:)

Surgery Tomorrow. ahhhhh...

Okay, so the day is ALMOST here. wow. I can't believe it finally is the night before surgery. While i am so happy that I am able to finally get this all over with, I am feeling scared tonight. I just don't even know what to expect. Sigh. I have been so grateful all day for everyone that has been sending me luck and praying for me. I just don't know what else to say. Kinda overwhelmed. Thanks for any of you deciding to read this! After surgery I will keep this updated mostly because all of these other blogs that i have read have helped me immensely. so thank you all!! see you after the big day i suppose:)

last pictures before!

profile, not the best, but oh well!

- Katie:)

Surgical Hooks and 4ish Days Left

Hello anyone and everyone!
Today was my last orthodontist appt before surgery. They put surgical hooks on almost every tooth, definitely feel like i have a full mouth of wire! All of the assistants and my orthodontist wished me luck and said they'd be thinking of me on Monday. They even gave me a care package with a tiny toothbrush, syringe, etc which was really nice:). Made me realize how serious this surgery is.

current bite, awkward hooks!

Just starting to get last minute supplies for surgery and figuring out what I'll do to waste time the next several weeks! Anyone have any amazing books they've read lately? I am a complete book nerd and am always looking for more to add to my "to read" list:) I guess I don't know what else to add to this post... hmm. Today I am feeling more scared for my surgery. Last night I dreamed that I had surgery and was disappointed when I woke up that I still have to go through it all. Why can't it just all be over?? Okay, back to being more positive. I have been eating a TON of my favorite foods this week, from steak to apples to hamburgers, I've stayed pretty full! I'd love any words of advice or anything I should be doing these last few days before surgery. All of you going through recovery right now are in my thoughts and prayers. Thanks so much to any of you reading :) I'll keep posting!

-Katie:)

1 more week. wow. (and pictures!)

Hello!! Well, here we are. One week from today I'll be in surgery. Kinda scary. Well, my pre-op appt went super well! I mean, as well as it could have. Lots of molds, measurements, and pictures were taken (ew). My surgery is officially Monday June 10. I am supposed to arrive at 5:30 to check-in for a 7:30 am surgery. I will be tightly banded shut for the first week, and then a different configuration of bands will be used that i can take out to eat. I am on clear liquids the first week, and after that I am on a strict "no-chewing" diet for 8 weeks. So this week I am enjoying LOTS of food, I hope I don't end up losing too much weight! So with regards to the actual procedure, I will for sure be having both jaws done. My lower jaw will be moved forward due to my overbite while my upper jaw will be moved up, forward, and tilted as i have a slight open bite too. I don't have exact measurements from my surgeon as he is still finishing the models. Also, (I think in April) I had my x-rays taken at my orthodontist to be sent to my surgeon, and in the last while 1 wisdom tooth has grown. I was SO happy a year ago when they said I wasn't likely to have any wisdom teeth since they hadn't grown at all yet, but here we are (at least i only have 1!). My surgeon said he would try to take it out during surgery, but only if it doesn't cause problems, so he couldn't promise anything. I am hoping to get it out so I only have to deal with one surgery!! But hmm, I'm trying to think what else I need to write down right now. I mean, if anyone is reading this and has any advice, I would really appreciate it :) I just want to get this surgery over with as it has been almost 3 years of waiting! I feel like this week is going to go by reallly slowly as I just want it to end already. but oh! i finally can put up some pictures! (kinda a lot since I have been slacking on them in other posts). Thanks to any of you reading. I really appreciate it!

-Katie:)

most recent picture:)

ignore the weird face, but this was taken a couple days before I got my braces (summer 2011)

this was june 15 2011, taken right after i got home from getting my braces on

one year after braces

last november (2012), after I was cleared for surgery

(this is my relaxed jaw, lips don't close)

forced lips and teeth to completely close

cheesy smile

kinda shows my overbite

this was from a couple of weeks ago (may 2013)

Less than 2 weeks.

So tomorrow is my pre-op appt and i will definitely be posting more after that! Just coming to the realization that surgery is actually coming. Trying not to freak myself out too much... but it is kind of scary. I just want it to be over with by now! I am really going to try to keep posting throughout this entire ordeal. I have loved reading the blogs you guys have made. so a big thanks for that:) Just felt like i had to rant a tiny bit today about how close surgery is getting... sigh. I will be eating a lot of my favorite foods the next week and a half! June 10th will come sooner than I think... any advice or things i should be doing before surgery would be great. Ignoring the fact that surgery is actually happening wont be possible for much longer! Anyway, much love. Thinking of all of you going through this right now. if anyone's surgery is around the same time please let me know!

-Katie:)

4 Weeks Until Surgery

Quick Post!
So I was just kinda sitting around and then I realized that my surgery is 4 weeks from today. I need to profusely apologize for not posting at all lately (oops!). I just have been busy and haven't had much to say I suppose! Starting to get worried for surgery I guess. Tomorrow I have my last dentist appt before surgery. Then, I have my Pre-op appt May 30 and I go to my orthodontist for my surgical hooks on June 6 for my surgery June 10. School finally ends next Thursday. Although I want summer, I have mixed feelings since that means my surgery is close. Don't get me wrong, I really have been waiting for my surgery for ages... but that doesn't mean it'll be pleasant :( Hope all of you guys are well :) in the next few weeks ill definitely put a bunch more up after I get through my finals and AP exams! (and thanks to the few people that may or may not read this!)
- Katie:)

Surgery Date

So guess what! I got my surgery date finally! Monday June 10.

very small moment of celebration

Getting that just makes surgery seem completely real and terrifying. Hopefully it just comes quickly so i can get it over with! Waiting almost seems worse... Anyway, I hope everyone out there is having an amazing holiday with their families and friends. Truly makes me grateful for everything. I guess i don't have much else to update with other than I'm getting extremely sick of these braces. Prayers and thoughts going out to all of you.
Until I have any sort of update, Katie:)