Gap Pics

Hey there,

Today was my first day back at work, and it was nice to have such a warm welcome. At first I was a bit worried about the gap, but after i spoke to almost the whole department, it wasn't so bad. They were very understanding and curious about the surgery. I spoke quite a bit today, so by the middle of the day my face and the gums between the gap hurt pretty bad. I am doing one turn in the morning and one at night. I usually take an 800 mg Ibuprofen before I turn the expander. I went to the ortho after work, and the good news is that  I am at 5mm already, and that I should stop expanding on the 8th. If i reach the width that i am supposed to be at, they will have me stabilize  until June 5, and then I get my braces on the same day. I am hoping my palate cooperates and expands in time. I don't believe it won't, considering how fast it has opened since April 13th. I will come with an update after my next visit with the ortho.

13 days post op

Hello all, coming to you with some pictures. It has been 13 days since the surgery. I feel so much better. My stitches still hurt right underneath my nose. They have not fallen out yet. Check out the gap though. I have only done 10 turns so far. My orthodontist only wanted me to do one turn a day, I was a little surprised at that information. When i went to my post op with Dr. Bell, he was also surprised at the one turn a day. He called my ortho and i guess it was because he saw a tiny mark on my pallet and wanted to proceed with caution so that my pallet doesn't rip open. I kinda freaked out when Dr. told me the reason. He told me that I would be fine, the spot was tiny, and that my pallet would not rip open. I see him this Friday, and he will see if we can go to two turns a day. I will say i do have some pain in the pallet area at times, i suppose that is normal. I don't have pain when i turn the expander, but i always take an Advil after...just in case.  Overall, I am still swollen down the middle of my face! My nose is so fat! Oh well, i knew there would be changes to my features. Eating is getting better, i can open my mouth a lot wider now. I'm still eating soft foods, and it's not bad at all. I lost 3lbs so far. Yay for surgery! :D

Hello,

It has been 4 and a half days since my surgery. Yesterday was really bad for me, I guess they're right about the 3rd day thing. I woke up extremely nauseous, i dry heaved so much, and that was extremely painful for my face. I think it had to do with taking my Hydrocodone at 3 am without anything in my stomach. It was horrible i knew i had to eat, but i just couldn't bring myself to eat anything. I laid down, put an ice pack on my forehead and just fell asleep. When i woke up, I felt a bit better so David took me to get some chicken pho. I only got the noodles and chicken broth, it was so good. I made a decision to stop taking the pain meds yesterday, and i feel so much better. It's kinda like i was in a fog the last couple days. I've only been taking my antibiotics and ibuprofen and I've been fine.

I was able to drink coffee today! Yay! it was like liquid gold! it made me feel normal again. I drank that and had a very soft piece of bread with butter. I then went to Starbucks with my boyfriends' mom and got a vanilla bean frappe. I ate it with a spoon, and then i ate chopped up bananas and strawberries. I've just been trying to eat as much as possible so that i don't get nauseous. Other than that, i feel like I'm on the uphill. The only thing that's uncomfortable are my stitches they get tight, especially at night. I wake up about once a night, to rinse my mouth, and then it usually feels better.

I will come with more updates after my post op.

Hello!

Well guys, i made it through my surgery. I can honestly say that it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be.  I was nervous, but comforted by my amazing boyfriend. I couldn't have done it without his support and love. He was able to stay with me in the pre op area the whole time before the surgery. They put me on an IV, that hurt. David was there holding my hand as the nurse put it in my hand. About an hour later the anesthesiologist came in and went over what was going to happen. After that a nice nurse came in and gave me a sedative. David left, and then i instantly felt like i was floating off into space. They wheeled me off into the operating room, and the last thing i remember was them helping me slide over to the operating table, they put a pillow under my knees, and then i was out like a light! Next thing I know i was in the recovery room, in a bit of pain, so i kinda mumbled to the nurse that i was in a bit of pain, she instantly gave me something and i was good. She called David in and when I saw him I was comforted. The nurse kept me very comfy and warm. I drifted in and out of consciousness, a couple hours later, i was able to get dressed, my honey helped me. He went and got the car and  the nurse wheeled  me to the front. On the ride home i fell asleep. We got home, and as i was walking up the stairs i got really nauseous and ran to the sink, I threw up so much blood and my nose started bleeding. David got a little freaked out but i knew that was a normal side effect. David got me cleaned up and got me cozy in bed, kept me hydrated with lots of water, and pedialyte. I felt a bit of pain but when i did david would give my my Hydrocodone. I slept fine throughout the night, and woke up a couple times so that David could give water and pain pills. I woke up at about 6 am and took a shower. It felt wonderful. Now I'm sitting on the couch with my future mother in law. She brought my flowers, it was so sweet.

Expander is in

Hello,




I got my expander put in today. This is definitely going to be hard to get used to. I came to work right after my appointment, and oh my gosh, I sound crazy! It's so hard to get certain words out. I'm not embarrassed or anything, its just annoying to say certain things. I had to learn how to swallow again. I have a lot of extra saliva, and just drinking water is super weird. I tried to eat a soft protein cookie, and it got stuck up on top of the expander. I had to drink water, tilt my head back and let it slide to the back of my throat. I kind of felt like a little baby bird trying to get the food down its throat! lol!


Tomorrow is surgery, I have to check in at 5:45 am, do my pre op stuff, and then surgery starts at 7:30 am. I'm not nervous.......yet.


Here is a picture of this evil expander.