Hardware Hottie!

Well I survived the first week! And I barely survived. This last week has been the most painful week of my life! And to make things even more enjoyable our poor little Lily was really irritable and started limping and so Trent and my mom took her to the Dr. and found out she has that nasty hands, foot, and throat virus that's been going around where they get little sores on their hands, feet and in their mouth. Luckily Lily didn't have them in her mouth, but she did on her hands and feet. And of course with viruses the Dr. will say there's nothing they can do about it, so just go home and wait it out,  but of course I know better. So listen up everybody! Melaleuca Essential oil can kill viruses! So we have just been rubbing a tiny bit of Melaleuca on Lily's feet and on the sores a couple of time a day. So easy even Dad can do that while Mom is out of commission.

Since this has been a lot more painful than I had anticipated some people have asked if I regret doing this? Not at all. I met with my surgeon today and he was quite pleased with my progress. Even though I am in tremendous pain, considering what they did to me I look pretty good! Here is my x-ray from today and you can tell where they cut the bone and put plate/screws in. I have a total of 7 new pieces of hardware in my face.

 

Yeah, I know you're jealous!

While I was there the surgeon changed my rubber bands (what is holding my teeth together) and as he was taking one off he cut it and it snapped up and hit under my lips where they had cut! OWWWW! I didn't cry though, because that would only have added to my pain. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger right? Anyways here are the pictures I have taken since my last post to show you how amazing I am looking. Still looking a little scary, but I had a nice compliment today from my sweet Grandma, "You're starting to look human again." Ahhh thanks Grandma!

 Ok, I swear I looked better than this on day 5. Or at least I didn't look so pale/green. The lighting is bad

 And just note that I have not been doing my hair whatsoever or wearing makeup

 This is the 7th day (6 days after surgery)

And since today I actually got out of the house I kind of did my hair, put on some makeup and put my contacts in! Definitely the best photos so far I think. (side note: most of my face has been numb and swollen, but my eyes have also been numb and swollen especially my left eye so that is one of the reasons why I have been wearing my glasses so much. It is really weird.)

 Do you agree with my Grandma? Am I starting to look human?

Just Some Thoughts From Day 4 (3 days after surgery)

So I showed this video to my parents and my mom couldn't stop laughing. I guess I look and sound a little funny?

Day 5: It's Hard Not to Be Mom

Preparing for this surgery I thought it would be like a vacation, 1 full week where Trent would take a week off work and take care of the kids and I would just lay in bed and do whatever I wanted! The first couple of days I was too drugged up to really notice what was going on, but the last couple of days it has hit me and lets face it its hard NOT to be mom. Everybody has been so helpful with the kids and doing things around the house and I am so grateful, but one thing I have learned is that I have a little OCD and sometimes it is really hard to accept help. My house isn't spotless by any means, but some well meaning and definitely appreciated helpers have done some laundry and folded it and put it away for me, but it has been folded wrong and put away in the wrong place and I am having a hard time laying around and watching it happen. I know, I know your saying take a chill pill Jen. And I am chilling because I honestly have no choice. I have obviously lost a lot of blood and my food intake is pathetic and so I have NO energy at all! This is how I will feel when I am 95 years old, holding on to the walls and other people to get down the hall to my bed. But don't get me wrong I am very grateful it is just again very hard to not be able to do things. Another thing that is apparent that I am no longer able to be the mom is that my children are being dressed in all sorts of outfits. Adalynn went to school in her pajama top and Lily's pants. I think she had her own shoes on though. Gotta love Dads and Grandmas!

But all that is nothing compared to loving your children. We had to pay out of pocket for this surgery and so I have to be extra careful that nobody bumps my face and messes anything up before it is healed because we obviously could not afford another surgery. So this means that I am unable to hug and comfort my children. And this is killing me : ( I have to lay in bed all day and when I hear my children cry or get hurt or its time for them to go to bed I can't even give them a hug and a kiss. Now I know you other moms will understand my torture and non moms will probably think I am being a baby. Which I already know that I am and being the baby that I am I tend to cry a lot so during my little feeling sorry for myself cry last night (I would not recommend crying when ones mouth is banded together and most of the bones in your face are broken because it is VERY painful!) one of my bands broke! So just to add even more complaining into this post I have since then been in the MOST pain in my entire life! My muscles are spasming and I feel so much pressure on my face and of course crying just makes it worse so Trent just gave me some pain medicine and hopefully I can fall asleep and wake up in a better mood and be able to take some day 5 pictures because my face and neck is really starting to look flattering now since the bruising is showing up! Stay tuned.

Feeding Time

Day 3: Oh the Pain!

I've read probably hundreds of blogs of other orthognathic patients and most say that there is little pain and it is mainly uncomfortable. And that is due to the face that during surgery there is usually a lot of nerve damage and so most of the face is completely numb so one can't feel the pain. My surgeon told me that I had a thick lower jaw so there was not very much nerve damage there and I should regain feeling in that area quickly. So just to clarify I disagree with most of the blogs I have read. I am in a lot of pain and in a lot of discomfort. I know a part of that is all the puking that occurred on day one and. The Dr. also  said my swelling will peak around day 5 and at day 3 I can't imagine my skin swelling up any more! I'm also wondering if some of the sensations I am already having are related to the essential oils that I have been using. A lot of them have properties like regenerate tissue (helichrysum), strengthening connective tissue (cypress), improves blood flow (geranium), regenerative (lavender), connective tissue regenerates (lemongrass). Many of the oils are also anti-inflammatory so I am planning on the swelling to go down really soon. Until then, the oils are providing me with the frequent relief that I need.

On a happy note I was able to take off my ice pack and get my first real look at my new profile. Obviously I am very swollen so the end result will look a lot different, but I already like what I see!

oh la la!

Now here I am syringing up some blended potato soup and the grape juice! Yum!

Jaw Journey Day 2: Home from the hospital!

Trent says when this is all said and done I will be one "Hot Mama!" 

I don't quite think I am there yet

Day 2 was a lot better than day 1. For starters I was no longer throwing up, yay me! and I was able to get some food down. The highlight of that day was cream soup at the hospital and at home Trent blended up some taco soup that one of my visiting teachers had brought by. It was delish, but man it is a workout getting anything substantial down!   

The swelling was also worse today. And fyi my head is bandaged up with an ice pack that is connected to a cooler full of ice that circulates cold water around my head. Not really as scary as it looks.

My Jaw Journey Day 1

September 20 was a lovely day. Probably one of the worst I've ever had. Yep it was that bad. But there were some good things about it. The first was my lovely husband was able to give me a priesthood blessing the night before and in it he told me that the surgeon that I had selected was the right surgeon and his hands would be guided and everything would go really well ( that was a big relief). He also told me that this would be an uncomfortable experience and there would be many people who would be willing to help serve me and my family and I needed to let them because they needed the blessings. The last thing that stood out to me was that although my surgery will correct some very functional things it will also be a great stepping stone in gaining the self confidence and and self esteem that I have lacked and so desperately wanted for so many years. For the past year I have been consumed with getting this surgery and how I will look, but in the blessing I was told that after I am healed it will be time for me to forget thinking about myself and go and serve others.

So my day started with arriving at the hospital at 5:30 am and checking in. They took some tests and concluded that I was not pregnant and that my white blood cell count was low because I had been fighting a sore throat. I changed into a lovely gown and had a nice chat with my surgeon and other hospital staff then I gave my glasses to Trent, started to cry ( I'm a very emotional person) and they wheeled me off to the operating room. The rest of the day was honestly a blur. I remember Trent telling me that the nurses had kept him updated during the 5 hour surgery and the surgeon had told him everything went extremely well with no complications. I also remember Trent feeding me little squirts of water and juice out of a syringe and how hard it was to swallow because my throat hurt SO bad! I guess during the surgery I had a tube inserted in one nostril that went down into my stomach to suck up blood and another tube in the other nostril to help me breathe.

Then the fun really started. When I was in 6th grade I had my tonsils out and had a hard time getting enough food in my stomach before I took my pain medicine and the result was I threw up. I had the same problem now. I was hooked up to an IV for pain, but because I couldn't really eat anything I started throwing up. Now I don't enjoy throwing up, but I was prepared that this might happen because of the anesthesia and blood draining into my stomach so to just let it happen, and so I did. But it kept happening and especially after I had a dose of pain medicine. It was one of the worst experiences throwing up blood with my mouth banded shut and having my jaw broken in at least 4 places. Oh and my nose would also start bleeding really bad every time tried to get up making it harder to breath. I thought that a person loses all of their dignity with childbirth, but I would have to say that jaw surgery is worse. It was TERRIBLE! And it was obvious that the nursing staff felt so sorry for me as well, BUT obviously I survived. Because I am able to blog! Now most of you know that I love my doTERRA essential oils and so obviously I didn't forget them here. Before surgery I had done tons and tons of research and had been taking Frankincense in a capsule the week before as well as rubbing it on my gums where the surgeon was going to be cutting. The day of surgery when I wasn't able to take the medicine without vomiting, the only relief I got was from my oils. I had made a roll on of Frankincense (for inflammation) Breathe (to obviously help me breathe), and peppermint and lavender for swelling. So those definitely helped me survive, but I was also lucky enough to have my sweet dad come and give me a fathers blessing and after that I knew I would be ok.

Why Orthognathic Surgery?

September 20th was the big day! And I am definitely feeling it. Most people have never heard of the term orthognathic surgery so let me just clue you in. Some people have told me I don't need it and it is cosmetic including my insurance company, but I disagree.

So this is an overbite. Where the top teeth overlap the bottom teeth. This makes biting, chewing, and overall eating a challenge. Also causes TMJ pain and my overbite also made it hard to close my mouth.

This is how I must have looked to people who were shorter than me (which was most people) so sad and embarrassing.

I was also fortunate enough to have a gummy smile. Which never really bugged me that much, but it aided in the problem of closing my mouth. FYI when a person relaxes their lips are supposed to touch.  It is evident that I had quiet a bit of lip incompetence. So why does that matter? Well because it was so difficult for me to close my mouth I would wake up with sore throats everyday.

Lastly I had a receded chin, which does not provide a very pleasant profile, it contributes to the other problems mentioned above and it also restricts my airway and makes it really hard to breathe because my lower jaw is back so far. I will try to post pre-op x-rays if I can to illustrate that point.

So there you have it people some very flattering photos of me! So orthognathic surgery will correct all of those issues!