- Pain: 0/10
- Inconvenience: 1/10
It’s been a slice, folks!
Today marks Day 90 of my recovery. That means my jaw is completely healed, as far as the medical world is concerned. Is my bite perfect? No. Do I still have numbness in my chin? Yes. Has my full range of motion returned? Not yet.
All that’s left now is orthodontic work. The elastics will slowly bring my molars back together and cinch my teeth up to close all the gaps. Feeling should find its way back to my face over the next few months. The mobility of my tongue and lips will return as the scar tissue breaks up.
If you’d like to see my general progress, you can take a look at my x-rays or my 3 month’s worth of mugshots. I have an appointment with my surgeon next week, so I may be posting my before and after photos sometime.
I still have a long way to climb back to the point I was at before. Baby steps are the way to go, though. For instance, I ate my first hamburger and my first chocolate bar in 3 entire months just yesterday. Every single day brings small accomplishments.
I’ve learned more than I ever thought I would from this experience, both undergoing jaw surgery and maintaining a blog about it.
- I learned that patience is one of the primary keys to life. Without it, you’ll end up in the same place, but you’ll be a lot angrier when you get there.
- I learned that time will heal just about anything. And while life seems to fly by at mach speeds, we still have 24 hours each day, and there’s no excuse to waste them.
- I learned that, when you’re completely healthy and able, you take absolutely everything for granted. Next time you sit down for a meal, give yourself more than 10 minutes to enjoy it. Consider the fact that you are indulging in comforts and securities that many people in this world don’t have the opportunity to experience.
- I learned that people are more accepting than we give them credit for. We walk down the streets judging people for what they’re wearing, how they’re holding themselves and what they’re doing. Little do we know that if we just stop to say hi to a stranger, we may find out they’re the kindest, most genuine person we’ve ever met. Stop being afraid of the unknown.
- I learned that committing to something for 90 days takes more effort than I ever thought it would. This blog was easy to maintain for the first few weeks because I was sitting at home with nothing on my plate. However, once I returned to my job, started being social once again and began to have plans, I had to start setting time aside to update this journal.
- I learned that, even if just a single person finds your experience useful, your time is still well worth the trouble.
Was jaw surgery worth it? Absolutely. Even though only 10 of my teeth are currently touching, my bite is still easier to use than it was before. Despite being slightly numb, I’m still able to chew much more effectively than before. I thought I looked like I had buck teeth at first, but now I’m comfortable with them and I like my smile more than before. And now, in what feels like no time at all, I’m back to normal, for the most part. I would recommend jaw surgery to anyone who is not comfortable with their bite or their side profile.
I’ve met people from all over the world through this blog–New York and Boston, Australia, England, Germany and several places in between. I can’t believe how many people out there have been through this same procedure or are on the road to have it performed. I’d like to personally thank each and every one of you for taking this trip with me. I appreciate every single comment that was made. I hope this proved to be a useful resource, and will continue to guide people along in terms of jaw surgery in the future.
I’ll most likely make 2 more posts on this blog: one in the near future to showcase my before and after photos, and another in roughly 6 months to briefly discuss the changes that take place over the next half year.
Once again, I’d like to extend a big thank you to everyone out there for keeping me motivated to complete this project. Right now, I’m off to enjoy a bike ride on this glorious summer day, which is sure to be followed by a cold beer. Cheers, my friends!
June 29, 2010 at 1:03 pm
It is among other things a muscle relaxant, which prevents clenching at night.
June 29, 2010 at 11:59 am
amitk, if your recovery was so easy, why would you need to take an addictive benzo for 2 weeks?
June 29, 2010 at 11:56 am
Oh, I should mention that I only had pain for two brief periods, the first 3 days, and days 15-18, where my jaw muscles were spasming like crazy. Day 14 was when I ran out of lorazepam, so that explains the increased anxiety.
June 29, 2010 at 11:51 am
I have to say Graham, it is SHOCKING that your recovery took 90 days. I am currently 20 days post-op.
I had a LeFort1 osteotomy, a sagittal split, and a mandibular osteotomy. My top palate was expanded by 7mm, which is a chasm in terms of this surgery.
Swelling peaked at day 3 for me and is now 90-95% gone. I have regained about 80% of feeling in my face, and the other 20% is halfway back to normal.
I’ve been chewing soft foods (with my splint in) for about 7 days now. Having said that, I attempted Kraft Dinner on day 6 and succeeded. And I’ve been off supplements (my surgeon recommended Muscle Milk, saying Ensure was garbage :)) for a week now.
For anyone looking at Graham’s blog and thinking 90 days is absolute hell, not all recoveries are equal! My surgeon teaches oral surgery at UofT med school, and has done 3 orthognathic surgeries a week for 12 years. Maybe I got lucky with my surgeon, or I’m just lucky, or healthy, or all of the above, but I have not had the same experience AT ALL.
My splint comes out in less than 2 weeks (making that approximately 4 weeks post-op) and I was told I could then eat harder things, but not things that make a crunch, for another 2 weeks. My surgeon gave a Dairy Milk bar as an example.
For lunch today, I made barbecue wings and stripped the flesh with a fork and ate it no problem. I will keep you posted as to how things go from here, but all I know is I feel great!
June 25, 2010 at 12:11 am
Nice! Brushing, flossing and using mouth wash is the most liberating feeling ever, isn’t it?
Oh, the joys of a clean mouth!
June 24, 2010 at 10:22 pm
Graham…got my splint out today and it feels SO WEIRD! but, I know I’m on the down slope now, and I’m ecstatic about it! Thank you for your blog and for keeping me smiling!
June 24, 2010 at 1:20 pm
isolde, I’d say you’re good to go. You’ll probably be eating and drinking with no issues after 2 months. You might still be a bit swollen and numb, but that’s hardly a hindrance.
There’s never a great time to get jaw surgery, so if you’ve got 2 months before school, I’d go for it.
June 24, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Hey Graham, quick question. My surgery is exactly 2 months before I start university – I’m just wondering, assuming everything goes textbook, do you think I’ll be able to enjoy the infamous first year of university, what with all the new socialising, all-nighters and flowing alcohol? I don’t drink a lot at all, but I do like to go out at night, but I worry about the energy levels that will have depleted what with this. Also I hope that I’ll be able to communicate with everyone easily!?
Ahh moments of last minute panic are a blast.
June 23, 2010 at 8:48 am
AntonVDV, 2 hours?! Wow, mine was about 3x as long as that!
That’s great that you can already chew. I bet those cheeseburgers tasted fantastic. I still haven’t done the whole McDonald’s deal since being healed, but soon!
Good luck in the weeks to come!
June 23, 2010 at 2:51 am
Hey, ive been following this blog for a while, ever since my surgery(exact same one as u) on the 10th of june….
I want to say thanx for the insight u gave me with it.
Ive been to my surgeon yesterday and he said i can start chewing again (awesome, right? – soft stuff only) so i laid into 4 mcdonalds cheeseburgers (must have been my slowest-eaten cheeseburgers ever) and most of my elastics snapped haha but i only get new ones when i go to my surgeon which will be next monday, so ill enjoy my freedom till then…
Most of my swelling has gone down, but still no feeling on the right side of my nose, on a patch of my left cheek , and on my whole chin + lower lip…. My doctor said im healing fast because the op went very well – they were finished in 2 hours he said…..
So i wish u the best for ur recovery, thx again!
June 23, 2010 at 1:47 am
Thanks Daniel and isolde!
June 22, 2010 at 11:44 pm
Ahh well done man! I’m going to certainly miss this blog, but for absolute certainly it is my ‘go-to’ reference point from here on after I have the surgery. You’ve been awesome. Good luck with everything else!
June 22, 2010 at 10:45 am
Congrats on the milestone, me bucko! Just think of all the nummy foods you’ll be able to eat for the rest of your life that would’ve been much more of a trial with your old bite!
June 21, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Graham, we definitely would love to have dinner with you whenever you are out our way again.
June 21, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Hmmm, I wouldn’t go back to school after 2 weeks. Work was fine, because I could kind of keep to myself and there aren’t too many people there.
I’d wait at least 3 weeks before going back to school. I mean, you’ll be “able” to go back after 2 weeks, but you won’t be able to talk hardly at all, plus you’ll be drooling and probably stuck on a liquid diet.
It’s your call, but I would wait the full 3 weeks for school.
June 21, 2010 at 4:46 pm
oh trust me its not! i have a question tho would it be possible to go back to school two weeks after my surgery or should i take some time off? my surgeon said that i’ll be fine but i really dont want to be known as the girl who drools on her sketch book ;/ and it also requires alot of energy…
when did u stop drooling all over and got some of ur energy back?
June 21, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Wow, Kuwait is a new one! It’s good to know unaligned jaws are not a Canada-only problem. 🙂
June 21, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Congrats graham u look great 😉 so glad that its almost over for you cant wait for my 90 days post-op! my surgery is in september,thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us it helped alot… hope you have a great life and take care of ur new bite !
BTW im from kuwait so maybe you’d like to add that to ur “list of people u met from all over the wold” ;p
best of luck,
FT
June 21, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Disc, I’m so happy I get to chat with someone from England. People here don’t use fun words like “jolly”. =)
From the looks of your blog, you’re pretty much good to go as well, so make sure you smile 50x more than before. At least.
June 21, 2010 at 2:18 pm
NycGirl, be sure to let me know how your recovery goes when you finally get to take the plunge!