Day 17 - 19 Post-Op

Hello hello! It was a busy, busy weekend....and this week is going to continue to be similar. Here's the scoop:

Saturday-

Chris and I got up bright and early at his parents' house for breakfast/Christmas celebration. We didn't really want to get up bright and early...that just kind of happens when you are in the same house as my nephews. Everyone had monkey bread and breakfast casserole (which looked amazing), and I had cream of wheat. Don't be sad for me- it was really good and I'm just happy it wasn't applesauce again! I did a little shopping with my sister and father-in-law after breakfast- mainly helping my father-in-law finish up his shopping for my mother-in-law. I can't tell you what we got since she hasn't opened it yet...but I can tell you that she will be VERY happy and that he did a good job. =) We had a late Christmas lunch and everyone ate and ate until they almost popped. I had a great meal- mashed potatoes, mashed up green beans and mashed dressing. My mother-in-law made me a special pan of dressing that had extra broth in it so that it would be softer for me...it was delicious. We opened gifts after lunch, and everyone seemed to really like everything that they got. I got several things that I loved, but I'm most excited about the cash and gift cards that I got to go towards getting a Dyson vacuum cleaner. I've been wanting the pet-hair Dyson for a while, but they are really expensive and I just couldn't let myself spend $400 on a vacuum. Anyway, I'll be getting one very soon now...and I'm pumped! I'm also excited about one of Chris's gifts- he got Mario Cart for the Wii- yay! Anyway, Saturday night we played a card game that was new to me- it's called Shang High and was sooo much fun! I was worn out and didn't realize the game took so long...so I ended up getting cranky by the end, but I loved it! I took a few pics of the kids. Only 3 of the 4 nieces/nephews are below- Griffin wouldn't let me take his picture so I didn't push him on it.

This is Hailey (my hip baby) in her 'Got Toys' shirt- prepared for gifts, ya think?

This is Blakeley in her new Hannah Montana guitar earringsThis is Samuel with his new hat and whip- Indiana Jones, watch out!
This is Hailey again- I mean, this is Hannah Montana in concert Sunday-

Woke up bright and early again on Sunday, but instead of getting up and going, I layed in bed and kept trying to go to sleep. Once the kids and everyone left I did manage to go back to sleep, but only for about 20 minutes because then the alarm went off. Oh well. I'm just a baby about sleep and about having my own 'space' to go to and keep my stuff (that won't be messed with, moved, etc) in, so staying in an extra room that is also the only toy room and having kids all over my bed and belongings is kinda hard for me. Anyway, came home Sunday and guess what? We had no running water. This was quite unfortunate, because I really needed to shower and get to a party and didn't have time to mess around. So....I went to shower at a friends house, and Chris tried to figure out what was up with the water. Ends up, the water meter out by the road had frozen because the water dept. forgot to put a cover on it or something. Chris and some dude heated it up and then the water was running like normal. In the meantime, I was at a party down the street and getting to hug and kiss on my favorite baby boy, Jace. When I got home, Chris and I watched another disc of LOST. We are on Season Four right now- it's so good!

Monday-

I did a little shopping today to prepare for having my niece and nephews over tomorrow. You know, gotta stock up on stuff like Mt. Dew, Ice Cream, Doritos, Reeces Pieces, Donuts, etc for the kiddos! Every year I have my sister Mickey's kids over for Christmas. We do dinner, go to the movies, play video games, stay up all night, etc. I spoil them rotten and let them have their Christmas presents early...and we have a lot of fun. Of course, I do this all so that I can be their favorite aunt, of course. =) Anyway, I pick them up tomorrow afternoon and drop them off on Wednesday.

As far as my progress goes, I'm doing pretty good. Talking and smiling and eating so much on Friday and Sunday really did affect me- I woke up Sunday hurting pretty badly and a little more swollen than I had been. Luckily, my mother-in-law had some pain medication and let me have a few pills to help me out...and they did. I'm still a little more swollen than I was, but I"m feeling better. Since I don't see that much change in myself on a daily basis, I'm going to start posting pictures only every few days, maybe even each week. We'll see how it goes. Until then, here are a few:

Day 17 front and profile Day 18 profile
Day 19 profile

Day 16 Post-Op

I know I'm posting this earlier in the day than normal, but I'll be on the road this afternoon and most likely will not get around to it later today. I have nothing new to report as far as my progress goes- here are my pics:
Chris and I are going to do Christmas with the Hottinger clan in Russellville this weekend- I'm very excited to hang out with some of my nieces and nephews for a few days! We're driving there tonight and will drive back on Sunday afternoon in time to attend my friend Nicole's graduation party on Sunday night. I'll post updates as I can...

Have a great weekend!

Day 15 Post- Op

The verdict on the mac and cheese from last night = EXCELLENT! It was difficult to eat and I only managed to eat about a third of my bowl before I was tuckered out, but it was absolutely delicious. And I actually got full for the first time in a while! Yay! Who knew that mac and cheese could be so exciting? This morning I ventured on the food again and made oatmeal...with a teaspoon of peanut butter in it for protein. I couldn't eat much of it before my jaw tired out just from opening my mouth repeatedly, but the oatmeal was very filling and tasty. I've lost 10 lbs now since the surgery, but with my new food allowances I'm sure I won't be losing any more.

I went to Fayetteville and got my hair trimmed today, then I came home and cooked dinner for my friend Melisa (yes, her name is spelled correctly...it's different than you think) and her family. Melisa's little girl, Corin, is my little hip monkey. She's around 20 months old and is simply amazing! I'm determined to be her favorite 'Aunt' of all times...and I think I'm doing a good job. =) Below is a picture of her, just so you can see how freakin' cute she is. See, told ya!

Here are the pics from today- not much change, really.

Two Weeks Post-Op

I had my surgery two weeks ago today- I can't believe it's only been 14 days! It seems like I've been stuck at home for at least a month now, maybe longer.

So...today was frickin' fabulous! I don't even know where to start. I guess I'll start with getting out of bed around 10:30am after a FULL NIGHT of sleep! Sure, I woke up a couple of times to go to the bathroom since I'm drinking sooooo much liquid all day, but then I was able to go right back to sleep. This morning I actually woke up ready to get up and get going...it felt so different...and so good! For the first time in weeks I showered and put on makeup and fixed my hair. I left the house feeling quite normal and average looking- a first for weeks as well.

I had my first orthodontist appointment since the surgery today- it was pretty uneventful. The orthodontist was impressed with my progress and was excited to see how 'great' I looked after having surgery only two weeks ago. He said that we have a little more orthodontic work to do on my molars, but that I should get my braces off in APPROX. 6-7 months. My back molars are slightly tilted due to having an incorrect bite for so long, so now that my bite is right on they need to be tilted back. I hope that makes sense!?! Anyway, no adjustments were made today since I'm not healed well enough- I go back on Jan 15th.

After the orthodontist appointment I went to the mall at Pinnacle Hills in order to finish up my Christmas shopping. I managed to finish up everything, but MAN the mall was nuts! Shouldn't people be working or something? I was shocked at how full all of the stores were. Chris is SO LUCKY that I do all of the Christmas shopping for us. Seriously...all he has to do is get me a little something and he's good to go....I'm jealous. He asked me last night what I want for Christmas, so I'm guessing he still hasn't figured anything out for me yet. I'll let ya know what I end up with!

After shopping I made a quick stop by a friend's house...and then I headed to my second surgery follow-up appointment. The surgeon looked me over, had me make some faces (like trying to smile, trying to pucker, etc), measured how much I could open my mouth, etc. Here's a test for you- take your right hand and make a gun with it...you know, where your thumb is up, your index and middle finger are pointing and your other fingers are curled back. Got it? Now, point the gun into your mouth. Do those two fingers fit between your teeth? How about three fingers? Four? If you said yes to four then you have a huge mouth. LOL. Three is the average. Right now I can ALMOST get two fingers in, but not quite. The doctor is having me exercise my mouth and stretch my muscles so that I can get three fingers in within the next 3 weeks or so. Overall, I was told that I was healing perfectly and that things couldn't look better. That was awesome to hear!

The other thing that the surgeon said...and the thing that really made my day...is that I can now eat anything that I don't have to chew. Do you understand what that means? That means I can do baked potatoes...dressing..overcooked mac and cheese...rice...and who knows what else! I'm so excited. In fact, I'm making mac and cheese right now just to see how I can do. I can't wait! I'm sooo sick of jello and shakes! Wow...did I just say I was sick of milkshakes? Crazy- never thought I'd say that!

I went to get a pedicure after my surgery appointment and the ladies there REALLY made my day. When I first got there the lady that always does my toes was looking at me really funny and then was like "JENNIFER! I didn't know you!" I just laughed and asked her what she was talking about and she went on and on about how different i looked. I guess I haven't been there in a few months and all, but really....I think I look about the same. Anyway, three of the employees there told me I looked prettier. Serious....their words, not mine. It pretty much made my day. How shallow does that make me?

Ok..gotta try this mac and cheese and will give you a review tomorrow! Below are my 14 day pics....the profile is finally deflating a little.

Day 13 Post-Op

Tuesday brings me nothing new to report. I have yet to get an updated project list from my current boss, so I have no work to do. Instead of lounging around all day today, I actually decided to be productive and clean the house. Now that I'm done, I'm bored.

Tomorrow should be fun- I have my first post-surgery orthodontist apt and my second post-surgery surgeon apt. I'm also going to try to finish up my Christmas shopping. Should be fun!

Day 13:

Day 12 Post-Op

Monday didn't seem like a Monday at all, really. Chris and I woke up to ice-covered surroundings...and since Chris couldn't get out of the driveway to go to work, we went back to bed. After lounging and cleaning for a bit, I talked Chris into driving me to my dermatologist's apt since I hate driving in the rain/sleet/ice/snow/etc. I had never been to a dermatologist before, so before my insurance changes over at the end of the month I wanted to go and get some of my freckles/moles looked at. Chris and I both have tons of freckles and moles and neither one of us has ever had a doctor look at any of them before. The doctor ended up removing three different moles and sending them off.....makes me nervous. I should know the results by Tuesday at the latest.

After the doctor's office, we went to Wal-Mart to do a grocery run. We ended up getting Chris a lot of 'easy meals' so that he can still eat decent even though I'm only eating liquids. Poor Chris...I haven't cooked a meal in two weeks! My daily intake pretty much consists of just smoothies, applesauce, jello, broth and pudding. For some reason I can't seem to get enough applesauce! Here are my day 12 pics:

As far as pain goes, I'm doing pretty well. There is a constant throbbing at all times, but it's dull now and I can live with it without pain medication. My headaches are pretty much all gone now. I'm still not sleeping well, but at least I'm working from home and can try to take a nap if I need to. Someone mentioned sleeping pills...I wonder if those would help? I'm not sure...

Day 10 and Day 11 Post-Op

Well, it's Sunday evening and I have yet to get out of my pjs. I know, I know....L-A-Z-Y!!

Yesterday was day 10 post-op. This was a monumental day for one reason: I got to get off of my antibiotic that I had to get up every 6 hours to take! This is huge, because this means I MAY get a full night of sleep! Whoo hoo! I'm now not on any prescribed meds...just Aleve for the headaches and throbbing and Wal-Zyr (some Wal-greens sinus stuff) to help me keep from getting stuffed-up. Getting off of these meds also means that I get to sleep with Chris again. We've been sleeping in different beds since the surgery since I've had to sleep 'sitting up' and have had to get up so often at night for meds. I didn't want to keep him up all night when he had to work and all, so he's been snoozing in the guest room. It's been weird...and I'm glad I'll have him back next to me. Anyway, Saturday was great- Chris and I stayed in most of the day and watched movies. We managed to get out and go see a couple of friends..then we came back for more movies. It was great, relaxing day. Here's my day 10 pics:

Day 11 is the first day that I feel like I look somewhat normal. I'm not normal for me, but I do think that if I was walking in Wal-Mart people wouldn't stop and stare anymore. SWEET. I'm still really swollen in my cheeks and under my chin and on my neck....but hopefully that will go away soon. In my last appointment I asked the doctor how long until I looked normal again, and he said I should look like I did within 6 weeks and that I would be finished changing/adjusting within 12 weeks. I had the surgery on December 3rd, so if the doc is right I should be looking pretty decent by Christmas. Here's my pics for today:

The last picture (directly above) is the weird smile I was telling you about. That picture is me just trying to smile like a normal person...seriously. Certain muscles just don't seem to be working right now, but I've heard that is normal. I just hope the smile comes around soon...I feel so weird.

For those of you who don't know, I got a new job as a senior marketing/sales analyst for a company outside of Dallas, TX. They are going to set up an office for me here in Bentonville and I'll be traveling to TX several times a month. I start the job on January 5th...so I'm hoping to look normal by then! Until then, I'm working from home for WhiteWave Foods. I do feel blessed to be able to work from home for the rest of the month....I don't know how I would feel being in public every day.

Alright- soup time! Hope everyone had a good weekend. Oh, and thanks for the comments...I've never done the blog thing and didn't know how I would feel about putting all of this out there, but it's not that bad and I really do appreciate the comments.

Day 9 Post-Op

I felt about the same on day 9 as day 8- nothing new to report. Chris keeps offering to chew up regular food and spit it into my mouth like a baby bird. Every time he offers it makes me laugh...and my face contorts to try to resemble a smile. Speaking of smiles...if you notice, I'm not smiling in any of my pictures. Truth be told, I can't smile. When I try to smile, half of my face moves a little and the other half doesn't move at all and it's actually kind of scary looking. I'll think about taking a picture of it for you for a future post...

Day 8 Post-Op

Last night wasn't too good, stayed up a lot coughing and trying to get comfortable. I did manage to sleep from like 6 am to 10 am straight, though...so that was nice. When I got up I wasn't nauseous at all and the swelling had gone down a little bit more. Morning went great until my dogs decided to go roll around in the mud outside...again. I've bathed those dogs 5 times each within the past 4 days due to the mud outside! Argh! It really wears me out dealing with them sometimes....just because of my recovery. I'm thinking about asking Chris to take them to doggie daycare tomorrow so that I can sleep and not have to deal with them all day. Here is a pic of them, though...they are too cute to be too mad at.

Had a friend come by today and visit for a few hours- it was really nice. Now I'm thinking about trying to nap for an hour or so before Chris gets home.

A Few of my Favorite Things

These are the things that have really helped me over the past few days (excluding friends/family, of course):

This is my 'Head Bra' that has ice in it. I wore this for every 30 minutes for the first 3 days. It's comfortable, except that it's REALLY cold.

On Day 4 I was able to start using moist heat along with my ice schedule. I could do 30 minutes ice, 30 minutes rest, 30 minutes heat, 30 minutes rest. Moist heat can be difficult to get, considering you can't just use a heating pad. A good friend of mine taught me a trick- soak a kitchen towel in water, put it in a large Ziploc bag and then heat the bag in the microwave. IT WORKS GREAT! Below is my bag that I've had with me every day now....the heat feels great.

Since I have to keep my head up and am constantly sitting up, my mom got me the cutest neck pillow. Not only does it support my neck, but it makes me smile as well (on the inside, since I can't smile on the outside)

My mom also got me the "Magic Bullet." No, not that one...the one in the picture below! It's perfect for blending and pureeing....very easy to use.

Eating can be difficult. I can't use a normal spoon- won't fit in my mouth I can use a baby spoon, but feeding with that is just SO SLOW and is very messy since I can't feel anything. I found these zip-n-squeeze bags online (see below) and they work perfectly. You put the food into the Ziploc....then you stick the straw part in your mouth onto the back of your tongue. Once there, you just squeeze the bag and the food goes in! Easy as pie.

And of course, flowers. I had many loved ones send me different things, and among them were these bouquets.

A List

Those of you who know me know that I am pretty obsessive/compulsive about certain things. You also know that I am definitely a huge list fan. That's write..lists for groceries, lists for goals, lists of To-Do projects, lists for Christmas, lists of what I want to get done over the weekend, etc etc. I'm a fanatic. So....to help you understand my recovery, I'm writing a list of things that have changed since surgery:

1. My face, obviously. Nothing looks the same at all. The swelling not only makes everything huge, but since one side of my face is more swollen than the other it is making my nose look all lop-sided. It's weird.
2. I have no feeling in my nose, lips, gums, teeth or cheeks due to the nerves in my face being bothered during surgery. This is normal and will take weeks, if not months, to get back completely. The hardest part about the numbness is that if my nose starts running or bleeding, I don't know. If something I'm drinking starts running out of mouth, I don't know. If my heating pad is too hot and could burn my face off, I don't know. The best part about this is that I'm sure I'd feel a LOT more pain if I did have all of my feeling.
3. I can't blow my nose. I physically am able to, but if I do I will have air go into my sinuses and literally blow (puff up) my cheeks. I don't need that. This is frustrating because some of the meds I am on are to clear my sinuses and they cause my nose to run.
4. I can't chew, of course. I'm on a liquid diet and will stay on this for at least 6 weeks. Anything that I can blend and puree is fair game. Lately I've been having protein shakes, smoothies, apple sauce, lots of juice and water and broth. I have to make myself eat though, because I am not hungry.
5. My front top teeth actually come down in front of my bottom top teeth! This was the whole point of the surgery pretty much. Once I can open my mouth more I will try to post some pics.
6. I'm always tired. This isn't due so much from surgery...more from the fact that I'm not sleeping much and I'm not eating much. I have to sleep sitting up, which I hate, so it's hard
7. I've lost a couple of lbs so far....surprised it's not more since I've hardly eaten anything at all this past week. I'm keeping an eye on it because the doc said he doesn't want me to lose more than 10 lbs total.
8. I take pictures of myself. I hate having my picture taken- always have. It's funny that before the surgery I would shy away from cameras, but now...now that I look my absolute worst...I don't mind so much. I guess I'm hoping that people who will have this surgery in the future can look at my pictures and get an idea of how long it took me to look a certain way? Who knows.
9. I love my husband and other people that have been there for me a little bit more. I didn't know it was possible, but it was. Going through something like this is harder than I thought, and having people there for me has meant more than I ever thought it would.
10. I'm actually sick of watching TV. I'm addicted to tv- it's almost like it's my anti-anxiety medication of sorts! Sound odd, I'm sure, but I love it. I love to zone out and get caught up in some other drama that is not my own. It's relaxes me and I really enjoy it. Now that I've been home over a week, I'm getting bored with it. I've already watched all of my DVR'd shows....I've already caught the marathons of anything I didn't use to watch that I thought might make me laugh (Rock of Love Charm School, for example)...and I'm done with all my favorite movies. Crazy.

Day 7 Post-Op

Day 7 = NOT heaven. Today was actually a pretty bad day. I didn't sleep much last night due to the new bands and a tickle in my throat. I may not have mentioned it, but sleep is pretty hard to get. I have several different meds that I'm on and I have to set alarms at night to get up and take them. For example.....I take my last meds at 11pm and then I get up at 3am for some meds...then 5 am for different meds....then 11am for meds..etc etc. So...when I get to sleep for 'long' periods of time (like 11pm to 3 am and 5 am to 11am), I really need that sleep. The new bands didn't let me sleep most of the night, and then Chris got up for work and woke me up and it took a while to get back to sleep...and then the dogs wouldn't go to sleep and finally forced me out of bed. =( When I did manage to get up and around, for some reason I was really nauseous. I ended up getting sick a couple of times, which was REALLY not fun since I can't really open my mouth or anything. This ended up making me cry....which clogged my nose up....and it was just a disaster. Not to mention, the dogs got in the mud yesterday and had to be bathed TWICE just to get back into the house. NOT FUN.

Around 5pm I started feeling a little better. I managed to eat a pudding cup and a little bit of applesauce and keep it down. Chris made it home and we just laid around all night...hopefully tomorrow will be better. Here are Day 7 pics:

Day 6 Post-Op- First Follow-up Appt

Tuesday morning I woke up a little anxious and excited. Day 6...what would I see in the mirror today? Well, here is what I saw:
As you can tell, the swelling is finally staring to go down a little bit. I am no where near 'normal,' but at least I don't feel like my head is going to explode anymore! Yay! So Tuesday was a busy day. I had a dear friend come by and bring a couple of shakes and a handful of movies- this definitely raised my spirits! The funniest thing was seeing how she looked at me- so full of concern! The funny part about it is that I thought I was looking pretty good. Ha! I guess I am, considering....

I had my first post-op appointment with the surgeon on this day. Net net, everything is great! The surgeon said that the surgery could not have gone any better and that I was definitely ahead of schedule with my recovery. I actually drew a crowd- the nurses and other doctors kept coming in to see how 'good' I looked. It was a freak show. Here is my x-ray after surgery:

If you blow up the picture you can see the four 'L' bars I have on my top jaw and the 6 screws (3 on each side) that I have on my lower jaw. Pretty neat. I told my dad about this and he went on and on about how I will set off the security thing at the airport all the time...I didn't have the heart to tell him that I won't. So anyways- healing well! So well, in fact, that the surgeon went ahead and added some bands to my braces to help me get use to my new bite:

There are two on each side- I know they are hard to see, sorry. The flash makes it difficult to take close pictures of my teeth. =)

I had to go to Wal-Greens on the way home to pick up some new meds, and I can't tell you how weird it was to walk around people with my face looking so weird! I've never been vain about my looks....but boy-o-boy do I want my face back!

Days 4 and 5 Post-Op

Day 4 and 5 photos are below. Nothing new to report, except that I am now alternating ice and heat on my face- and it seems to be helping with the swelling some. I no longer feel like my head is going to explode, although my skin still doesn't feel like skin.

I got my first night of sleep (6 hours off and on due to getting up for meds) on Day 4 and that alone made me feel so much better. Hopefully good sleep will continue...

Day 3 Post-Op

Day 3 was very close to day 2, except that the swelling seemed to stay about the same instead of getting worse. I finally had some sort of appetite on this day and had a shake and some broth.