*yawn*.....*snap*

Thought I'd post a little update since I'm going a long time between appointments and milestones lately. And I need to kill 20 mins before American Idol starts. Hehe.

I'm over 10 weeks post-op now, if you aren't keeping count (I hardly am anymore).

My title is a description of the tenuous relationship I seem to be having with my elastic bands lately. They are heavy 4mm bands, and THEY BREAK ON ME EVERY DAY! So annoying. It usually happens when I yawn, which I do a lot. I'll yawn and hear and feel this *SNAP* which is unsettling until I realize it's just my band again. One day last week I had a band stuck under my upper lip for a WHOLE DAY before noticing it was there. I'm sure I've also swallowed a few.

I can't wait to be done with these evil little stretchy circles forever.

Otherwise, things are still going smoothly. I can open almost four fingers. Impressive, yes? I'm biting into eeeeeverything. Hotdogs, thick burgers, subs, you name it, I've bitten it. I've chewed steak, even. When I overdo it, my jaw does get a little sore, but nothing like before surgery.

My sinuses have been draining better and better each day, as the last of my swelling goes down. I'm surprised and delighted with this. My nose is still crooked and I'm pretty sure my cartilidge was affected there during surgery. :( I don't know what else it could be. I'm still slightly swollen around there and I guess that could be causing it. My upper lip area still LOOKS swollen to me, but it has occured to me that it might be just the way it looks now, and it won't ever change. I remind myself daily that the "end result" may not be seen until over 6 months post-op. I will not give myself permission to be too concerned about my crooked nose and goofy smile (which IS getting better ever so gradually). I can't help but worry and be impatient--it's my nature.

I'm so happy with my chin though. No complaints there. GOD I love my new profile. It might not be anything special to most people but it's so wonderful to me. You know how if you have no chin and you're in the bank or at the movies and there are people behind you and you're kind of aware every time your side is facing people and they're seeing your ugly profile? Or maybe it was just me. Anyway, it's so freaking nice to not have that self-consciousness anymore. So, so nice. I actually turn to the side purposely sometimes. :) I feel so...normal now. I love my genioplasty. Oh, did I mention I love my chin?

I've started doing face exercises several times a day. I do a lot of puckering and smiling and mouth-twisting. Not sure of it's just a coincidence but it has made a difference in my swelling and smile. Or maybe I'm imaginging things. Before, when I smiled, you could only see like half of my top teeth. Now you can see a little more. That's so weird too. I went from this huge gummy smile to showing no gums and not even my whole teeth when I smile. I've wondered if my surgeon cut TOO much of my top jaws in that Lefort, but I don't think he did. I think I'm just still stiff there.

I need to loosen up, in more ways than one.

2 months post-op update

I don't think much has changed in my appearance since last month, do you? I can't see many changes anyway. Maybe a little less swollen. Still that stubborn swelling and stiffness around my nose area. Argghh. Not even going to show you my smile pic because it's still too goofy and I'm self-conscious about it (Kelsie's blog gives me hope and inspiration. She looks so beautiful and her smile is so perfect, I'm waiting on and hoping for that down the road). I love posting my profile pics because I'm in love with my chin. Oh and as you can see I am in dire need of a haircut. Also, I think it's funny that I blend into the black leather chair in the first pic. Hehe. Okay, I'll shut up now.

Today I went to see Dr. J. My 9 year old daughter and I did, actually. She had to go for her 2nd consultation. She went last year for the first time. This time, Dr. J said it would be a good idea to remove two of her baby teeth, the eye teeth on top, to make room for the permanent teeth. He said there's a 50/50 chance she'll need braces in the future, but we have to wait another year until she loses all her baby teeth to tell for sure. The good news is, she does NOT have any problems with her jaws. Her jaw joints are in the right place. This is good. She doesn't have her mom's problems. Whew.

Then it was my turn. Dr. J's assistant started off examining me. She couldn't figure out why that bottom tooth of mine was not straightening. She's spent months trying to straighten that little bugger. She got Dr. J to have a look, and he decided to take over. Now, in the year since I've been going to Dr. J, he's never actually done any work in my mouth personally. It's always been his assistant (also wife), who I will call P. She is a very pretty, soft-spoken, GENTLE woman who smells lovely. Dr. J? Not so much. Breath isn't as good, not so pretty up close, and NOT GENTLE AT ALL. Ouch. He was flipping my head around, pressing hard on my poor little new chin, and just generally being rough with me. I felt like saying "I'm a human, not one of your sets of teeth is your office you use to demonstrate stuff on." He's a nice man, a brilliant man, but his handling of people leaves something to be desired. No wonder his wife does most of the adjusting. When I came out of the office, my husband said I looked like I'd been beaten up. Hair mussed, long-wear lipstick smudges all over my face, a wild look in my eye...

ANYWAY. No more power chains, they did their job well. No more hooks! I now have two single elastics on either side of my mouth to keep those muscles from trying to move my bite back to the way it was. I have to wear them all the time, except while eating and brushing, but it's okay because you can barely see them and they are nice and stretchy.

I asked Dr. J when I can expect to get my braces off and he said "3-5 months, but definitely by Christmas". Sigh. Oh well, so much for corn on the cob this summer. But it's okay, I'm really not that impatient about my braces. They seem like part of me now. Like my nose. Or my pinky toe. Except more annoying.

In other news, the roof of my mouth has 100% feeling back and everytime I drink something hot or cold I can feel it right up my sinuses. So strange. My gushing gums have almost healed, thank goodness. No more bleeding.

That's it! I'm sore now, so off to down some Advil.