HOME SWEET HOME

The surgery went great, everything went perfect. That first night was pretty bad. I had a lot of "riggers" (I think that's what they were called). Basically my whole body just shook like a seizure type thing. It was awful, cause I couldn't control it and it made me feel like puking. So that was scary. One time the doctor was called in and they had draw blood and everything... But they decided it was probably just a way my body deals with the anesthesia. I had a lot of those rigger things while I was in the hospital.

Other than that the first couples days weren't tooooo bad. The pain has especially been easier than I expected. The swelling is pretty bad though... Haha, I literally look like the grinch. (big cheeks)

So I hope the swelling goes down soon, they said it's supposed to after this week.

I already want real food. I am going to get so sick of protein shakes and sweet, fruity type things. I really like cream of potato soup though.

 I am not wired shut, which I'm soo glad about. I'm also glad I chose to take my fake tooth out, having that extra space in my mouth makes it a lot easier to eat. Hopefully today I'll figure out how to use a straw. It's hard because my lips are still so numb but I think I'll figure it out.

After- quite swollen

After the surgery

some flowers I got

Got this huge J Biebs card... haha

Thanks again for all of the prayers and thoughts... I'm excited that the hardest part is over... it's just gonna get better from here! :)

13 Hours

13 hours until surgery time...
Today I had an appointment to make sure my splint fit onto my teeth. There's two of them that they'll use during surgery to make sure my jaws are lined up where they should be. Doctor said that they probably won't be in my mouth after the operation, but the final one might be if I end up getting wired shut. I really hope I don't have to have to be wired shut.

Tomorrow morning I'm getting my fake tooth out in the morning at the ortho. I'm hoping this will give me that extra room for breathing and sucking through a straw and stuff. I'll get my tooth back in probably about a week after, so then I won't look like a hillbilly anymore.

Tonight I went out to dinner with my family and Hailey and Katie. It was my "last supper". We went to Tucci Benucch at MOA. I ate everything and anything AND THEN we went to Coldstone and I ate all of that too. I chewed as much as I could. It was fun to have an excuse to eat everything I wanted.

The support I've gotten in the last week or so has been unreal. Prayers on prayer on prayers... I so much appreciate it, really. God has really provided me with and surrounded me by some of the best people during this time... It is SO comforting to know I've been thought of, and that I'm not walking alone in any of this. At this point right now I'm more excited than nervous, but I have a feeling that will swap in the morning. I'm expecting nerves to really kick in after I get my tooth removed and I'm waiting to go to the hospital.

I can't wait to eat a PB & J sandwich and see my bite marks imprinted in the bread.

I found a good verse today:
The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace. Psalm 29:11

I think that's a pretty good reminder as I go into tomorrow.

I'm nervous, anxious, scared, antsy, tense, and I've got some butterflies in my stomach. At times when I start thinking about it my heart pounds so hard I think it's gonna come out of my chest. But even so, I'm absolutely trusting that God will take these feelings away and truly be my Comforter through all of this.

 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

So...... Here we go! :)



Feeling Real- 15 days to go!

Today I met with my surgeon. We did some more measurements and I bit into this wax. The wax was a mouthful, I almost gagged.

Fun times ^

It's starting to feel real, like it's really happening. At the appointment today I saw exactly what cuts they will be making and where they'll put the screws and plates in. We talked through some of the steps immediately after surgery... Sounds like worst case scenario is being wired completely shut for a week, then switching to rubber bands for the rest of the time (don't know how long, about a month probably). We are considering taking my fake tooth out before the surgery, and leaving it out for a while so that I have some extra space to breathe through and an easier way to suck through a straw or something. This might help some of the anxiety I have about not being able to breathe, and that claustrophic feeling I'm afraid of. I'm just not sure that I want to go without my tooth for a week or so, I'll already be super swollen, I don't know if I wanna look like a hillbilly too. But then again it doesn't really matter because I won't be seeing people for a while anyway.

I have my pre op appointment tomorrow. I hope I don't have to do any blood work because I have Nationals for dance, and I don't want to have a bruise for competition.

I'm getting real nervous. For the past few hours I've been reading blogs of people with similar situations; both upper and lower jaw surgery correcting an underbite. People talk a lot about the swelling... I'm not excited about that. I remember being swollen for just getting my wisdom teeth out and that was no fun at all, so I'm really not looking forward to that part of this whole journey. I'm also anxious because people are still talking about some not so fun symptoms 8 weeks post op! I'm nervous about going off to college August 18, with my surgery date being July 3. This is really what's bothering me. If I had more time to recover I think I'd feel better.

But I know that the worst will hopefully be over by the time I go to school.

I just gotta keep prayin, and keep the end result in mind. I truly am excited, there's just some anxieties I'm going to have to work through. 15 days!!!

First post!

6/12/12

Decided to start a blog to document my entire jaw surgery journey!