12 days post op!

Well, the swelling is finally down! (randomly though today I woke up with a black eye!) Anyway, I have my second post-op appointment in the morning, I dont know what he will do but take another x-ray, and check the progress. I was able to eat mac n cheese with a toothpick the other day! That was so exciting, but wasnt really worth the pain and such after the fact!

I have so many pictures I just have not gotten any recent one put up yet, so I'll work on that.
My new motivation is that I just want to get to the point where I can open my mouth enough to brush my tongue!!! I just want to brush my tongue!

I want to eat too. Last night we went to dinner, and I had soup, but I ended up having to wait until we got home cause I had to blend it, so I got a root beer float, and that was great! But my mom had an amazing cheeseburger! and I thought to myself.... oh for the day I can sink my new bite into that!

Only 6 more weeks of non chewing!
sigh...

1 week later!

well,

Its been one week since surgery. Yesterday I got my bands cut off that were holding my mouth wired shut! That was exciting. I didnt really know what to expect. Thanks to all the friends I have made through this process I was prepared that my mouth won't open. So, I was not surprised when it only opened 2mm! WOOHOO! Heck at least I can breathe better now.
Then all of sudden something clicked. If I can breathe better than I can eat better. So I ate more yesterday than I had eaten the entire week I was down! Then something else clicked. The more I eat the faster I heal, because of all of a sudden My face is not so numb! YAY you think right?! NO!!!! BAD!!!! All of a sudden a had a complete awareness of where my bolts, screws and plates were! OUCH!!!! So, now, not only do I have more pain, but I dont have the forced closure of my lower jaw! Bad combination for one day! I have this new theory about it. I am not one to take meds, so I decided last night that when I am in pain I am going to relax lay down and put on my piano worship music and just pick one person and pray for them until I either fall asleep or I feel more relaxed and better...

Anyways, something else. Many of you that while I love my mother she is not exactly my friend perse. Well, I realized something this week. I do not enjoy my mother caring for me! I have always been very independant, and was from a young age not to complain and not suck up the pain. Probably cause when I was little I was wuss. But all of a sudden I am having this procedure done and determination set in! You can do this! You will get better! And I realized that because of my mom I have kicked back from this a lot faster, and with a lot better personality than lots of people! So, see, there is one great thing about my mom!

more pics and an update!

There it is the first step! next came the drugs I really
enjoyed that made me relax!
This was my first meal! lemon sorbet watered down! my profile again... sorry I cant see what I uplaod!

Day 2! again... I think! still got my sense of humor!

so, today was the first day after surgery I have actually felt like eating! mind you when I say eat I mean squeeze it into my mouth through a little straw bag! So, after 3 full meals (ok thats like 2 ounces of liquid each) I was lying on the couch while my mom ate ice cream. I decided I wanted ice cream!!! So, I asked! she went and made me a moose tracks milk shake! mmm... so i drank the firts little bit and wanted more, when she took the bag to fill it up again I sucked the last little bit in the sttraw onto my lip... OH MY GOSH! A perfectly yummy splash of milk shake on my lip, and no way to get it into my mouth!!! Mucht o my surprise I just wiped it off, but fora whole moment I was completely desperate to taste that little drop! Then she brought me a while new bag and I was fine, but I had yet to experience a panic like that one!Recovery is going well. The first three days were like hell. If you came to see me Im sorry I fell asleep. The pressure from the swelling was so much it would push on my temples and my inner ear and i would be completely defenssiveless and just sleep! Crash! almost like passing out, but not. Now, that that feeling is gone! you shoudl come back and see me! most of the annoyances are over now! however there are still a few! one thing that certainly took getting sed to was this plastic wafer that is placed between my teeth. It forces correct allignment, but it collects all the spit possible and blocks the space between my teeth which is like the only place i have to suck air from! so after conquering that I am breathing much better now!Another really annoying thing has been my nose. It has been running like no other! this is a healing response I have heard, however does not take away from the mass amounts of crap that go down my throat! (whichtend to come back up that way when too much gets in there!) On a happy nose note the bleeds have stopped! which was causing most of my throwing up, which I was scared about but once i figured it will come out inspite of the fact you cant open your teeth I was ok with this.Today I realized how much my legs and butt hurt! I cant sleep on my side so I have spent 5 days just laying here! Sitting up tends to cause more swelling. My friend Barbara came to see me today who has been through more medical stuff than anyone I know, which was very encouraging, and on top of that we went and sat outside! That was nice until my face began to ache... then we came back in. It is so nice though just to e able to hear people talk. I dont care if I cant imput just t listen to the stories and stuff is so nice! Thanks to everyone who has been praying you guys have seriously carried me through this. I just kept reminding myself this is only temporary. Today is only one day! On Wednesday I have my appointment to get my bands cut off! YAY! I hope it actually happens! then I can progress with the eating part as I feel. I cant chew for 8 weeks, but mashed potatoes and gravy are not considered chewing! neither is cheesecake!!!! Its a mooshy diet! I just hope seriously I can get my mouth open that far enough to get it in. Thats our next prayer request. God was good and kept the pain away! and the swelling wa snot at all what it could have been! now lets pray for the healing process too come about quickly! So that I can eat! and I love to explain to the dr how it happened so fast!Ok, I gotta go the moving is kinda aching my face! HA!

This is Day 1! like right after surgery!
Here is my new profile... well kinda! this is day 2! my dog made the best head prop!

I survived!

WEll, the procudure went so well. My OS was the first person I saw when I woke up, and he informed me that it was only necessary to do the top jaw! Woohoo! they were able to only move my top jaw forward without moving the lower jaw back. he said he really enjoyed performing this procedure, because as he moved my top jaw he could see where my face should have been all along! and it automatically lined my tongue up with my palate.
I was so blessed to have 2 christian nurses who took care of me at night! The one Celes would come in and sing hymns to me while i was trying to fall asleep, and the other was a Dr in the Philippines. We wrote/talked all about the Philippines and my previous time there. They became my friends! We talked about bible verses, and my mom got to sleep while they took good care of me.
The worst part about post op was thrwoing up, but even that wasnt bad! I just had a lot of dried blood in my stomach still and that only comes out one way! so I think I finally threw the last up last night.
My dad has been making me carrot apple juice to drink through the zip n squeeze bags which seriously everyone who is having this done should invest in! They are the best!
Ok, my meds are kickin in now, and i dont know what Im talking about anymore, so im gonna go to sleep, and write more later!
thanks for your prayers! Dont stop em! Keep em comin!

Sugery day!

Well, I am leaving for the hospital right now. I am nervous, anxious, excited, scared and nervous some more... I KNOW everything will go fine, I just want to be on the otherside already!!!
So, please be praying for me today, and send me all the texts you want :) Dont be a goof and call! I will be rubber banded shut, and wont be able to talk! DANG IT! That will be the hardest part of this whole thing!
Anyway, Thanks for all your support. I love all of you.
comin out sexy and swollen on the other side!

Jamie

3 days away...

So, there are only 3 days until my surgery, and I haven't been sleeping so good... I keep trying to practice breathing through my teeth... I know I know, I'm wierd! Then I start thinking about the things that will be wierd. I wont be able to lick my lipc, sounds wierd, but i dont think anyone really thinks about how much everyone does this in one day!
On another note, I had a good day. I met up with a good friend, and we went to breakfast, did some running around, and then I headed off to school! It was nice to see a friend. Anyway, I'm gonna go take a nap or something cause I have a headache... I have a feeling it won't be the last this week! :)