There's Always Light at the End of the Tunnel

A week later and a completed course of antibiotics I’m disappointed to say I still have a significant amount of pain on in my jaw. While there has been little improvement with the pain I have been experiencing it is with great relief that I can say my surgeon feels the pain is related to the nerves beginning to work again in my lower lip, he also did mention that the inside of my mouth was looking better than last week so any slight infection that may have been there has cleared up! Thank Goodness because those antibiotics had taken their toll on me, at least it wasn’t for nothing. Last week I wrote about the frustration of having another set back in my recovery, this week I don’t see it so much as a set back. The nerves beginning to work again, despite the pain associated with it can only be a good thing! It was a long week, filled with ups and downs, tears and smiles and I think it could have been one of the hardest weeks since surgery, so much so I found my self-reaching out f...

So it’s been 3 months since my corrective double jaw surgery. It feels like it happened ages ago but it also feels like it wasn’t that long ago. I don’t really think about my surgery anymore, unless someone asks me about it or of course if I get pain. I’m at the point now where there should no longer be any pain other than the pain associated with the nerves in my lower lip and chin beginning to work again. I’m still quiet numb, I have that feeling you get after the dentist numbs you, that annoying and sometimes very irritating feeling, yeah you know that one I’m talking about but it hasn’t gone away! You get used to it after a while and I do have some sensation when I touch my lower lip and chin so I cant really complain, at least I know the nerves are beginning to work again. But pain, other than the nerves should not be an issue at this point but for me it is. I met my surgeon yesterday. He asked me to come in when I called to say I was experiencing pain, and so I did. He d...

We are now somewhere between week 6 and week 8 of my recovery from corrective double jaw surgery. It has been a rough couple of weeks to say the least. Monday the 2 nd of November saw me having a great post surgery appointment with my surgeon, everything looking great and virtually no pain. A week later I began experiencing immense pain and generally feeling unwell. A call was made and straight away the surgeon had me in to see him the next day. By the time I met my surgeon I had been experiencing the pain coupled with extreme tenderness for 4, days as wells as being exhausted, nauseous and generally feeling quiet miserable.   My surgeon suspected I had an infection, this would have been the second one since surgery and began me on antibiotics, my third set since surgery and organised for me to x-rays at the orthodontist before returning to him a week later. It was also here that he prepared me for the worst; the possibility of having to have another surgery to remove a men...

This day exactly one month ago I underwent my corrective double jaw surgery and now I finally have a correct bite! things have gone so fast, at the beginning of September I wasn't getting my surgery until next year and then at the end of September it was just weeks away and now I am one month post surgery! Things have happened so fast I don't think I have actually processed it all! I have finally began to get back into a routine, last week saw me making an appearance at athletics in a coaching capacity, I'm still not allowed to do any throwing or running, I am allowed go for walks, start swimming and using a bike but very gently, nothing too strenuous is allowed. I made it back volunteering at the Friday night youth cafe in Lucan and yesterday I went back to scouts. having some sort of a routine in place really does make the difference when you're recovering from surgery and hopefully this weekend I will be back to work once I get my letter stating I'm fit for wor...

Today marks three weeks since my corrective double jaw surgery and to be honest I’m starting to get very fed up being at home all the time! I do get out and about for walks and stuff but I miss my routine, I miss my Monday night scouts and my athletics and I even miss going to work on the weekends! I am at the stage where come next week I would like to be getting back into some sort of a routine, I know I’m due to be out of activities for six weeks but next week it will have been a month and I don’t think going to a lecture or two will kill me.   I want to begin to ease my way back into things, starting with college and the youth café I volunteer in followed by athletics, coaching not training because that is off the cards for another little while as is the gym! And finally get myself back into scouts and work, those both being things that will happen at week six as both involve children and children can be unpredicatable and I don’t fancy getting a whack to the face with a ball o...

It's hard to believe it has only been two weeks since my corrective double jaw surgery, it feels like it happened months ago! I was hoping that my two week update would be as positive as my first week update but I’m afraid its not. For about the past week I have been dealing with a lot of pain on my right side particularly at the site of surgery on my lower jaw. Having met with my surgeon last Friday he prescribed another course of antibiotics, as he was concerned there could be a slight infection due to the pain I have been experiencing, much to my dismay the pain in my right side is only worsening. It’s nothing I am very concerned about; I mean it’s only two weeks since the surgery so it is more than likely as a result of you now my jaw being broken! But nevertheless it is something, which I am monitoring and keeping a close eye on, should it continue to worsen over the next couple of days I phone call to the surgeon, might be in store. Swelling has improved a lot sinc...

I’m in a bit of shock to be honest that it is only 10 days since I have had my corrective double jaw surgery; it feels like I had it months ago! So far things have been going really well and I guess it would have been naive of me to think nothing would go wrong so I have been preparing myself for the possibility of a halt in my recovery. So far I have had one little bump in the road and it was as a result of medications as opposed to the surgery itself so I don’t think of it affecting my recovery as much but today we were face with a bit of a blow, nothing major mind you but my almost perfect recovery has slowed down a bit.  Today I met my surgeon again who loosened my elastics once again and allowed me to open my moth a little bit wider, still no solid foods though. We had a good chat from everything jaw related to mental health and even the rugby this Sunday. During out little chat I informed him of the increased pain on my right side of my face, this was cause for some con...

Huge day today!! It is one week since my corrective double jaw surgery and I am delighted to announce everything is going very well! my surgeon has loosened my elastics once again giving me a bit more movement, enough to get a tablet in my mouth. He has also described my bite as perfect! Pain is very much under control with no need for pain meds since yesterday morning, bruising is also under control and localised to my under chin and doesn't appear to be worsening. Numbness  hasn't improved at all however I have been reassured that it takes time, however I am aware of the possibility that the feeling in some parts of my face may never return but in the grand scheme of things I feel that is a small price to pay! My mood has been great, a few very emotional days in the beginning and no doubt more emotional days to come but I'm letting them happen and not trying to fight it. Overall I have been having a brilliant recovery, there have been rough days and no doubt there will be...

Am I dreaming? Did I really just undergo corrective double jaw surgery? Did it really get moved forward? Did it really happen? Yes, Yes and Yes. Finally after what has felt like a lifetime of waiting I have final received my corrective double jaw surgery to create a normal bite. Around the age of 10 I found out that I would need surgery in the future to correct me underbite and when I turned 18 my treatment began! Finally after constant delays in my treatment, either because my teeth weren’t ready or because of a lack of surgeons/resources I finally got my surgery after some honest letters being sent to a number of different people. Things happened pretty fast to be honest, one week I had a phone call from the National oral health office saying that there was s new surgeon taking on my case, the next week I met that surgeon and received a surgical date and then a week later my surgery was moved forward by two weeks! Needless to say I was pretty excited but when Tuesday morning cam...