so behind - it's been a million years

August 11, 2004

Hey all,

I miss you guys, really! It has been almost two weeks since i've

checked in! I have moved into a temporary location and that in and

of itself has been all consuming. i went into school for one hour

today to work on my classroom and just doing the baby stuff has been

exhausting.

I will be 7 weeks post op on Friday. Guess what? i " met " a friend

of a friend who had the same surgery as me. My friend had 2

friends, me and her other girlfriend, who were going through the

same thing. it has been great to chat with her.

I am getting major tingly sensations in my lower lip, almost to the

irritating point. i am now allowed to remove my elastics to eat

(took long enough!), and it feels as though my lower lip has been

snapped by one too many elastics, though i know that is not the

case. i know it is all part of the healing, but it's not

comfortable.

Here is what has been going on with me/where i;m at: last friday 6

week OS visit, finally got permission to remove bands to eat. Per my

OD, " GET THEM BACK ON ASAP, you have no idea how quickly your teeth

move " I have often bee-lined it to the bathroom leaving my daughter

crying or in her highchair.

My diet has changed A LOT. i find chewing very

difficult/uncomfortable. I bite my left tongue all the time, that

is the side that is still numb. it's really annoying. my taste

sensation of course has been impacted, but i can deal with that. i

really feel like it is tough to do the action of chewing. do you

guys? i am about 1.75 - 2 finger widths. i practice stretching with

my elastics off, but as i said above, that is not often. my chiro

may do some muscular work on me.

OH, this is the HUGEST NEWS: when i went for a chiropractic

adjustment aobut a week ago the woman was working on me above my

head while i was lying on my back and she told me my chin was off

center. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT. RIGHT AWAY she noticed how off it was,

i told her i was dealing wiht my doctors about this. anyway, next

day i had my 6 week post op OS visit and told him, he joked around

at first, then he did exam, blah, blah, blah.... at end he put up

the slides of my BEFORE pictures and don't you know it, i was OFF

BEFORE HAND. because i had no chin, it was not noticeable, but now

that i am OUT THERE with a chin, it is. AMAZING> 41 yrs old and i

never knew my face was off balance like that.

the dental hygiene part is a chore. i use the waterpik only at

night, brush about 7 times per day and rinse a lot. i am using a

rinse ( cant remember name) from OS as my inside gums on upper are

swollen. my OD told me to floss. How do you guys find that? i think

it is hard, there is hardly any sensation and it is hard to open

wide enough to get that " neeedle " on the other side.

Anywho, i hope i can catch up with posts. sorry for the long one. i

really enjoy this group.

August 11, 2004