Day 4 and 5 post-op

Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th April
On monday (yesterday) I woke up with a very yellow chin and neck! I seem to have skipped the other bruising colours and gone straight to the final stage! Yesterday I managed to eat shepherds pie with the mince blended, and some prune juice, which was my first proper meal😀 I also had soup for lunch and a Fortisip for breakfast. As well as mouthwash, i've started to be able to brush my teeth (kind of) with a small children's brush.

Today (24th), I went back to the hospital for a follow up appointment. It was my first trip out the house since I came back- I was quite self conscious and mostly covered my chin(s) with ice packs! I saw my surgeon and orthodontist and both thought all was looking good😊. My orthodontist changed the elastics as i'm not able to change the back ones and said that the yellow colour will probably spread down to my stomach. He said my teeth looked nice and clean, before proceeding to find a piece of potato! He also said that I should get my braces off in 12 weeks time😍. I'm really excited that I finally have a chin and my teeth are matching up! It's weird smiling with my mouth closed (and even being able to shut my mouth properly) as i haven't been able to do that since I was about 12.

I've started laying off the codeine as it was making me very tired and, particularly today, the pain has started to settle a bit so i've just been using ice packs. I do take a codeine before bed though. I'm also still numb in my cheeks, bottom lip and chin.

Day 2 and 3 post-op

Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd April
Apart from some very weird dreams I slept pretty well the night of day 1 post-op. I took a codeine tablet before I went to sleep which helped I think. Throughout the second day I had two more codeine tablets and used a lot of ice packs! I managed to eat mashed banana, mashed potato and some smoothies, as well as a Fortisip (I recommend these). Eating is quite tricky when your bottom lip and chin are completely numb and drinking leads to a lot of dribbling!
My cousin came to visit and we watched netflix, which was nice. The swelling became a bit worse and my whole face felt tingly and heavy, but it was manageable.

Day 3 post-op was pretty similar, with more Netflix watching and Fortisips! I made the mistake of watching a comedy series- not a good idea when it hurts to laugh!!
Sitting upright in bed all night is pretty uncomfortable so I found my neck travel pillow which really helped.

Day 1 post-op

20th April 2018
I didn't sleep much (if at all) the night after my op - maybe because my jaw was aching, or because the old people were snoring really loud, or maybe because I had just 'slept' for 7 hours! I think probably the former. It didn't help that my ward had no ice packs - which I have now found to be a good form of pain relief.

On day 1, I managed to drink another smoothie in the morning and some juice. I also got given porridge and tomato soup but struggled to eat either as the spoon couldn't get past the elastics in my mouth. I also wasn't particularly hungry. Mostly I just drank a lot of liquid nurofen and paracetamol!
I did get a few nose bleeds throughout the day, but pleased to say that I was able to breathe through my nose very well - much better than before the surgery. I think I was lucky in this sense. My nose also widened and tilted up (my nose was already pretty upturned!)

My mum was able to keep visiting as she works at the same hospital! At about midday I went to have two x-rays of my teeth taken - they weren't intrusive ones but my nose kept bleeding! Later, a doctor showed me how to change the elastics in my mouth to make it easier to eat. After an all-clear from my surgeon, my dad came to pick me up at about 5pm and I was able to go home - yay! The nurse gave me mouthwash, elastics, codeine tablets and antibiotics to take 3 times a day.

Chipmunk face!!

Me and my mum!

Chilling in the heat!

Surgery day!

My surgery involved having my bottom jaw brought forward to meet my front teeth (~12mm) and my top jaw taken upwards ~4mm (so top lip covers gum). I also had all 4 wisdom teeth taken out at the same time as they were in the way. I had a pre-op appointment on 20th March where they checked my BMI, did blood and MRSA testing, and did an ECG. They found I had a heart murmur and I had to have a heart scan but all turned out ok.

Surgery date - 19th April 2018 (before surgery I had had braces for 2 and a bit years)
I was surprisingly less nervous than I thought I would be on surgery day - I think because I had waited soooooo long and was desperate to get it done. Typically, my surgery day was also the hottest day of the year so far😧. I went in to hospital at half 7 in the morning, where they checked my weight, blood, details and gave me a gown. Then I went through to theatre at 10 o'clock, got my IV and went straight to sleep!

The last thing I remember is waking up at about 5pm in recovery - the op is only meant to be 4-5 hours so I must have been in there for a while! Apparently I giggled a lot in recovery, but I cannot remember this!! I was then wheeled to my ward where my mum was waiting for me😊. All in all, the actual surgery was more pleasant than I thought it would be. I mostly felt fine that evening too, but I did feel very sick/dizzy/hot the first time I got up to go to the toilet - I would recommend taking a wheelchair first time. That evening I managed to drink a smoothie and a little bit of ice cream (through a straw!) At this point, it was my throat that hurt the most (as they put a breathing tube down your throat when you're sleeping) and it was painful to swallow. There were elastic bands on both sides of my mouth and a big one across the front, keeping my upper and lower jaw together.

Trying to smile

Wisdom teeth!

Drinking my first smoothie!

Getting braces

In Janurary 2016, my orthodontist fitted my mouth with an expander to make the roof of my mouth wider. It made a big gap between my front two teeth and made me self conscious!! It was also very difficult to talk. They eventually got taken out as my teeth were becoming too wide set!

Gap between my front teeth-it got bigger!

In about may 2016, I got fitted with upper train tracks and then lower ones were added a month later. I had two bottom teeth taken out to make room. The braces actually made my overbite worse as my bottom teeth were brought backwards. I couldn't really shut my mouth at all, didn't like a lot of photos because of my teeth and definitely wouldn't let anyone film me talking! My final overbite was 14mm! (not great for the self esteem)

Nearing my surgery date my orthodontist fitted special hooks onto my braces - for the elastic bands to fit on afterwards.

Gummy smile!

Massive overbite!