So, today…Christmas Day…2007. Hard to imagine exactly a year ago I was preparing to go to bed wearing a CPAP machine FOR THE LAST TIME.
In all my CPAP chinstrap glory
Pre-Knife (or was it a hacksaw? How DO they cut through bone these days?)
The Recovery Begins
Day 2
The Day (2 months post op) I tried to eat Pizza (yes, I was frustrated, how can you tell?)
The Day Nicholas brought me LIQUID CANDY. mmmmmmm
All I needed was my cat and my drugs.
Ah, sweet sleep…and sweeter dreams. NOTE: Lack of CPAP machine. w00t!
Best Holiday Wishes to all of you and yours…and Sweetest Dreams Possible.
Love,
Shelby
Hey Shelby,
Glad to see you are sleeping well. How was Hawaii, and how are you feeling?
I got my braces off while you were gone, AND had sinus surgery yesterday!
Look forward to hearing from you!
Brandy
Hi Shelby,
Now that you are the wise MMA vetran I know that you have gained valuable perspective. Please allow me to pick your brain for a moment.
I am 10 weeks postop now. I am not happy with the degree of jaw movement. I haven’t had any real improvement in the opening the mouth department since about 3 weeks. The lateral movement of my jaw is pretty nonexistent and when I try and do stretching exercises I hear a crackling souund in my right TMJ. Forward movement of my lower jaw is at about 1/4 of an inch.
I am a little frustrated because eating is still a big issue. I have been released to eat anything I can tolerate however, I have trouuble getting anything thick, like a burger or a piece of sushi in my mouth because I have to open completely and still cram stuff in. It is really tiring to have to do a full-extension opening everytime you want to take a bite.
I guess what I want to know is are you happy with the degree that you can open your mouth? I seem to remember that you had some issues but don’t know how it all resolved. Did it increase on it’s own? Did you have certain exercises that you did? Did you just get used to the new smaller opening?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Anne
Anne,
Sorry for the delay!
At 10 weeks I was nowhere near getting jaw movement. i was pretty sure that open and closed was going to be a miracle someday, let alone front to back or *horrors* side to side. I’m over a year post op and side to side is still a delicate thing.
As soon as I was released to eat anything I wanted I pretty much did fish and still very soft food. I couldn’t fit nigiri sushi in my mouth, so I did sashimi.
It was a long time before Dr. Li had me even doing stretches. I don’t know if I was special or not, because of the smallness of my jaw and the large amount of movement he had to do, but Dr. Li said last time I saw him that I was at about max jaw opening…and I was thinking I had a long way to go. So I am just learning how to live with less movement.
Yawning is still painful sometimes.
My ortho wants me to go to PT…I think I will.
Let me know if you get this!
Shelby
Hey Shelby;
My name is John and I have been enjoying your blog a lot (meaning, most of the morning here at work:-). I’m 4 weeks away from MMA/GA surgery
w/ the great Dr Li, I thought I’d do as much reading-up as I can. Totally love the occasional Morrissey (lyrics) references. I wonder how many people got those??
In the middle of eating lunch at my desk (a crunchy, chewy, and tasty lunch at that) I was reading about your trip to vegas and the pulled pork nachos.
After the pics and before I could read that you really didn’t eat all that, I was laughing so hard that my abs were aching and my eyes were watering. Dude(tte’)! You’re killin’ me.
I read the advice you gave to Anne (about what to prepare for and expect), oh so long ago, and have made a note of several things.
..and guess what? I work in Belmont! Well, Redwood Shores actually. You know those large green/blueish-colored buildings over there? The emerald city? The evil empire? Ya, that one. If you’re free and in the ‘hood anytime in the next 4 weeks, I would love to treat you to lunch, just to meet “the girl behind the blog” and ask you about your journey, your (our!) ultra-cool doctor and any additional advice you may have. If not, that’s cool. (don’t worry, I don’t have the time or ambition to be a stalker…it’s all I can do to stay awake these days). Not sure if you
can see my e-mail address, but if not, it’s jpinski7@yahoo.com .
Hope to hear from you; /John