Day 29: The No-Band Smile!

A friend came to visit today, and we snapped this picture!

Big metal-filled smile!

And here's a similar photo we took pre-braces:

We looked a lot tanner back then!

Here I was exercising my classic turn-the-head mouth-slightly-open pose in which I could most comfortably smile.  Smiling involves a lot less effort now, though it includes a lot more pain due to the bits of metal tearing up the inside of my mouth.  Most everyone who has seen me say they see little change in my appearance, which I guess is a positive thing- being unrecognizable would be awful!  

Day 21: THREE WEEKS!

Wow, three weeks since surgery--  so hard to believe!  It feels great to have the worst behind me.  I've been venturing out in public a little more as well: a friend and I went to see The Amazing Spiderman today!  I definitely felt a little awkward not being able to talk- she had to buy my ticket for me and I just had to nod to everyone.  I've had to miss out on a lot due to recovery, so it's nice to get out and do something normal once and awhile!

Sent this to a friend while in the car-- silly.  My dad won't let me drive because if I get pulled over I won't be able to defend myself!

Because it's been three weeks, here are some progress pics:

My swelling's nearly gone from my cheeks (it's there on the right) but it's still around my lip area. It's not that visible from these pictures.

When I bite down, I feel as if my teeth touch more on the left side than the right.  I'm not sure if I'm imagining it or not, but it's something I'm going to bring up with my surgeon when I finally see him!

I also jogged a little for the first time since surgery, which felt amazing.  My legs had been withering away from underuse, my muscles were aching, and I've been very lethargic.  Because I can't vent air from my mouth, I have refrained from exercising too strenuously.  Regardless, it's so important to try to move those muscles during recovery!  I'm embarrassed at how out of shape I must be, it's gonna be hell working myself up for track season again!

I know I keep saying this over and over, but I miss food.  So, so very much.  I had never been one for fine dining in my pre-surgery life.  On the contrary, I ate very little, taking only what I needed to satisfy hunger and then not caring to finish the rest.  Food was never at the forefront of my priorities; rather, it always lingered in the background somewhere as a boring necessity.  Now food is all I think about-- maybe I'll develop an interest in cooking or something after all this!  Oh, what I would give to bury my teeth in a soft, savory, sweet turkey burger right now.  My stomach is audibly groaning at the thought!  Someday we'll be together again, food my love.  Someday.

Day 15: Art & Things Are Looking Up!

Another good day!  Two in a row?  Ridiculous! Another friend from school came to visit today, making this weekend the most heavily populated one for me since surgery.  As I discussed in another post, I feel like isolating oneself is the quickest road to depression!  It's so important to see friends, even though I feel dumb that I'm unable to talk, eat, or smile with them.  The muscles in my face that I am able to use are still sparse, so I have formed a compensatory funny-looking closed mouth smile.

Not liking my weird closed-mouth smile, hoping things improve soon!

I also did some drawing today, such a great stress reliever!  I've always been drawn to drawing profiles (pun?), something which stems from my insecurity about my own.  I'm sure fellow jaw surgery patients can relate: once you are aware of the abnormality in your bite, you become so hyper-aware of profiles!  Where someone else would say, "Wow what a pretty girl!" I am thinking,  "Damn that's a nice profile."

Nowhere close to finished yet!

I am a little worried that a lot of my facial muscles are still numb or painful to use. When I try and animate, it feels lopsided. I sincerely hope this returns to normal- what use is a normal bite if my face is all messed up? I'm not sure if I should be doing any type of muscle rehabilitation given that my surgeon said nothing on the subject.
Here are my progress pics, which I will probably be posting less of because my swelling has more or less stabilized:

Day 14: Two Weeks !!

Today marks TWO WEEKS SINCE SURGERY!  And it was a good day!  My friend and I visited another friend from school who recently had surgery on her feet: it was a great scene- she couldn't walk and I couldn't talk!  Nevertheless, I was thrilled to finally get out of the house for a reason other than an appointment.  I was a little wary about going at first, feeling uncomfortable that I was a little puffy-faced and still totally unable to talk or smile.  But once I got there, I was so happy to be out and in the company of friends!  Here are some photos from the day:

Pensive pose.

 She's imitating my poker face - I got a little smile going!

This photo would be so much cuter if I could smile-- Love these girls!

This morning on a whim, I downloaded an iPhone app called "Speak It!", which translates your text into speech.  When I first tried it out, it seemed absolutely ridiculous.  The app contains four voice options: British woman, American woman, British man, and American man.  It swallows your typed word and regurgitates a monotonic robot voice - I felt like Stephen Hawking using it!  I couldn't resist cracking up (painfully!) when I tried it and whomever I was trying to communicate with thought it was hilarious too!  Despite its silliness, it is very useful if you are trying to speak to someone who is driving or unable to come over and read the words on your whiteboard.  It's $1.99, but I think it's well worth it if you're going to be in fixation for a while!

Even though it's only been two weeks, I feel like the surgery was a lifetime ago.  Each day of recovery feels so lengthened by obstacles and emotions that time begins to move more and more slowly and passively.  Regardless, I am definitely aware of how much the swelling has ebbed since day one: I'm looking like me again!  I'm so glad that my nose has turned down a bit and my top lip is less Lana Del Rey-esque.

Here are today's progress pics:

My top lip isn't sticking out further than the bottom anymore and I'm not sure how I feel about this. I am much more recognizable though - so relieved!