Day 24: Missing Singing

Day 24 of Double Jaw Surgery

It was a pretty calm Sunday today. Started with church, furniture shopping, and then met up with friends for a movie. Today, in particular, I realize how much I sang normally. You don't really notice that until you can't really do so with a shut jaw. For example, worship today in church was really great and I normally would have sang my little heart out because I really loved the songs; I sing each time I'm in the car and listen to my playlist; I sing in my apartment when I play music non-stop... Let me clarify - I like singing for ME.. not karaoke in front of people or on stage.

I spent the good afternoon of the day checking out some furniture stores to get some inspo. I've lived in my apartment for a little over a year and the walls continue to be bare. It was nice to shop around - didn't walk out with anything - but it definitely inspired me to spruce up my place.

The evening looked to be boring and I didn't feel like sitting at home alone. I reached out to a bunch of friends to see if they wanted to check out a new movie that released and 3 of them were free to hang! Yay! It was their first time seeing me physically since surgery and it was nice for them to notice the changes and be happy for me.

Day 23: Early Thanksgiving

Day 23 of Double Jaw Surgery

It's Saturday and I drove out of town to see my family to celebrate Thanksgiving early. It was so much fun to see my little sister, mom and grandma. My mom had several friends over for dinner too and some of their kids came along as well. Needless to say, it was a packed house! Since I don't have tons of energy still from the limited diet, I get exhausted quickly. This definitely had me at my limits because of all the screaming and running around of the kids, interaction with a big crowd, etc. I was really tired by 7PM and it had just started an hour and a half ago! lol.

Big (food) Tease
But let's talk about the food!! While I helped my family prepare some of the food, I smelled the goodness of the turkey, pies, etc. And I was alright. In fact, I knew I wasn't going to be able to eat anything, so I came prepared with a 6-pack ....of Ensure. lol! The entire day as we're preparing, I downed bottles of Ensure. My family felt so bad and kept saying how they're sorry. I assured them that there's nothing to be sorry about it and I'm pretty much used to it now.

Then we laid out the food on the table and that's when I really wished I could've had SOMETHING. The deviled eggs looked delish. I asked my sister if I could smell her plate of food real quick.... hahaha! So funny, but I survived.

The drive back home had to be quick. I already have a hard time staying awake on the road when I drive long distances on a highway (bad, I know), but paired with the dark and being exhausted, it was going to be tough. I blasted my Spotify playlists and responsibly switched lanes a lot to keep myself awake. Phew! I safely arrived home in the end :)

Day 22: 3rd Post-Op Appointment

Day 22 of Double Jaw Surgery

Some Bands Off
Yay!! My 2nd post op appointment was today and I was excited because I was told that I'd be able to get some of the bands off. Before that happened, one of Dr. Baker's doctors came in to check on me initially and I brought up 2 questions/concerns:

1. I notice my left side seems to be lower or more swollen than my right.
   A: You definitely have some swelling there. That can take anywhere from several weeks to several months for it to completely resolve. We typically tell our patients you don't know what your final results look like until 6 months to a year because you still have edema in the tissues from the big procedure you had. That can take a long time to resolve. So that's not a surprise, it's normal.
2. What were the stitches for on my lip? The final stitch dissolved last night and there are now little bumps were the stitches used to be.
   A: When your mouth is spread wide open, your skin tore a little on the lips. It was superficial and it didn't really need anything, but we put a suture there anyway. The bump is probably just scar tissue which will smooth out, but everything was on the skin and not deeper.

I also let him know that I now have a bit more sensation on my nose than the week prior, but my left cheek is still numb.

Then Dr. Baker came in to get some of my bands off! He pulled some off and placed them on a sheet on the table, clipped and removed 2 wires that held me closed too (which I didn't even know I had), but then put some of the bands back on.. So I was confused. Turns out he removed 3 rubbers bands and 2 wires and switched the pattern. He advised me to still not open and close.

The reason why the pattern is angled is because my jaw wasn't centered so the bands will pull it to my right more. (EDIT 2 days later: which it did. I guess from just slightly opening and closing and the angle of the bands, my jaw is now centered).

Wine Outing
A couple of my best friends from work asked me to join them at the winery after they got off work. I have nothing else to do these days and we always have fun together, so I said I'll be there. It took an hour to get there with the traffic in our area, but it was worth it! I opted for 1 glass of mulled wine because I don't have much in my stomach as you can imagine and it was my first alcoholic drink since surgery. It was so delicious and warm and it didn't affect me much but I stopped it at just 1 glass because I had to drive back too. We chatted it up, laughed, cursed, drank, and had a great time as we knew we would. Love these girls!

Day 21: 3-WEEK UPDATE

Day 21 of Double Jaw Surgery

Today marks the 3rd week since surgery day. Not much has changed from the week prior. My swelling is now a slow and steady progress and I heard it'll be like that for weeks and months.

3-Week Comparison

My face looks a little fuller on Day 21 at the top because I can smile a little bigger now. Otherwise, there really isn't much change from Day 14 and Day 21. I would like to point out though that my nose is now turned up a little. You can now see my nostrils when looking straight at me because when moving my upper jaw forward, it moved my cheeks and everything forward. It doesn't bother me. I'll see how it all settles months from now. I'm definitely in love with my profile though!!

Regarding my weight, I'm still losing weight but not as drastically anymore. The fact that I'm still going to be shut for another week, making it a total of 4 weeks, is a factor in more weight loss.

Starting Weight: 142.3 lbs / 32.9% body fat
7 Days Later:  134.2 lbs / 32% body fat
14 Days Later: 132 lbs / 30.1% body fat
21 Days Later: 131.6 lbs / 30.7% body fat
TOTAL LOSS: 10.7 lbs








Exercise Begins
I kept saying this past week that I'll start exercising but I never felt up to it because of my low energy.  Today, I said "Screw it! It's the 3 week mark, doc said it's fine to keep it light and low-impact, get your ass up and do some!" So I pulled out my exercise bands and did 3 sets of 15-20 of the following exercises:

• Bicep Curls
• Overhead Presses
• Bent Over Row
• Tricep Extensions
• Upright Rows
• Pulsing lunges
• Kickbacks
• Squats
• Elevated push ups
• I did more.. I just can't remember

Some were tougher than others and I could only do 15 reps because I could feel my face getting red (and I was breathing) and I didn't want to pop a blood vessel, lol! Joking aside, I felt pretty weak! Wow - what a difference 3 weeks on a non-substantial liquid diet and no activity does to you! I can't wait to get back to the level of strength I had before this and get back to my routine.

Tomorrow is my 3-week post-op appointment with Dr. Baker and I'm supposed to get some of my bands off. Cross my fingers! Let's hope tomorrow is the day we do that, because last week wasn't.

Day 20: More Friendly Visits

Day 20 of Double Jaw Surgery

Non-Elevated Sleep
Last night I slept without my elevated pillow. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I thought I would feel a lot of pressure on my head and I even slept sideways too. Maybe the numbness of my cheeks prevented me from feeling the pain, if there was any, haha. Had a pretty light sleep in general though and woke up early. So I went back to sleep until noon and felt refreshed. I'll probably go back to sleeping elevated though.. anything to help lower the remaining swollen areas.

Friendly Visits
I was pleasantly surprised when 2 of my favorite co-workers came to visit me today! We've definitely grown to be more than just co-workers over the years and are more of a pack. We all have such different backgrounds but love each other for who we are and always find a way to laugh and have a good time! I forgot to get a pic with Brandie because she had to head out sooner :(

Day 19: Dissolvable Stitches

Day 19 of Double Jaw Surgery

As the days pass, I have less and less to write about the recovery itself because the recovery process is now slow and steady and much of the same. I started the day early at 8AM (I've been sleeping in later and later until 11AM the last few days) and cleaned my apartment, laundry, and finally submitted my documents for my accident claim back in August. That was an accomplishment in itself because it took a lot of work and time to get all my ducks in a row.

Home Decor Shopping
I headed out to TJ Maxx and Nordstrom Rack to find a specific dry shampoo and facial cleaner. Sometimes they carry it, sometimes they don't. This time they did not, however, that did NOT stop me from perusing the aisles and spending money on a few things to spruce up the home. Guilty! I purchased a couple candles, a framed graphic saying "Hello Gorgeous", and a round wired basket. I still have to print a bunch of photos to insert into my empty frames.

I also got a gel manicure and my lip waxed. I told the esthetician to be careful when she presses down for obvi reasons. I waited until the 3rd week to get this done because I didn't want to wax too soon, because of the meds I was taken originally, and then a weakened immune system from not having proper nutrition and I didn't want an infection. You never know.. well it worked out great and I felt better haha. 

Stitches
This past week, my stitches along my upper gum line have been dissolving and coming out every other day when I brush my teeth and swish with mouthwash. When I lifted my upper lip to see, I was surprised how well it looked. It doesn't look like patchwork anymore and it seems to be healing very well. That entire area is still completely numb and I still cannot feel a thing there.

Day 18: Cruel Dreams

Day 18 of Double Jaw Surgery

Hello Monday! El Nino is causing quite the climate change around here and it was 68 degrees today! I took advantage of it and dressed up because I was tired of wearing sweats. I ran errands to finish submitting docs to insurance, visited one of my stores and said hi to all the staff, and went to the auto body shop to check something out on my car. It was really great seeing my coworkers and they were enthusiastic to see me and my new face lol. They all welcomed me back, only for me to say that I still have 2 more weeks to go before I'm back. It's the first time that I saw many people who've known me all at once and I was very appreciative of their observations and happiness for me. One of them said they wouldn't have even recognized me if I just walked by them elsewhere. That's crazy to me!

Day 18: I was quite tired of wearing lounge clothes and bumming around at home. Today, I said "Screw it, it's Monday and I'm gonna dress up!" With nowhere special to go. Hahaha. Ran errands on this gorgeous, warm day. Felt great. Thx @undeniablebtq for this lovely top :) #doublejawsurgery #jawsurgeryrecovery #orthognathicsurgery #maxillofacial #ootd

A photo posted by Tina Leu (@tinaleu) on Nov 16, 2015 at 2:59pm PST

Dreams of Yummy Food
Lately I've had dreams of steak, bacon, and more deliciousness, among also opening and closing my jaw.. that's just cruel. Cruel, I tell you! And it just hit me that I'll be held shut for 4 weeks! That's not normal. Normally it's about 2 weeks. I have to get really creative with my liquid food options and introduce better things into my diet than just Ensure. Also, I'm losing muscle mass and need more nutrition and protein.