contrast

when i get my braces taken off i'm gonna do more pics like this, but i was messing around and came up with a contrast pic... i can definately tell the difference, even though it's from a slightly different angle...

Ortho appointment tomorrow... hopefully my last adjustment. WOO HOO!

3 months post-op

Hi! Hope everyone is doing fantastic.

I had an appointment with my surgeon a couple of weeks ago... not due again until December.

This week I had an ortho appointment, and Dr. Arango said to give him one more adjustment and then I'm done. YAY! That means.. dare I say it.. January?! Awesome! Some tiny little thought in the back of my head was hoping for lovely white teeth in time for Christmas... but yeah, that was asking too much.

They took off the buttons on the inside of my teeth, too! I wasn't expecting that, and it was AWESOME. I had them on for a year and a half! I have to wear one band on each side right now to get all my teeth to sit together more tightly, and it's a pain. Each band is in the shape of a box, and I have to take them off to eat. It's hard to get them back on the front of my braces, too. Boo.

I still feel swollen sometimes, and the scar tissue bugs me. Every once in awhile my jaw will get sore, but I have about 60% feeling back on the left chin area and 75% on the right.

Take care, til next time...

Ortho Appointment

Hi, all.

I had my first post-op orthodontist appointment last Tuesday. Everyone in the office was so excited for me, and they all came over to see my results. I don't have "very much longer" in braces, according to the assistant who changed my wires. Yay!! Just some fine tuning left. And I only have to wear one band. Double yay!!

I also wanted to mention that Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Cleansing Cloths are awesome!! They cleared up my skin in just a couple days, and they feel great. Check them out at this site!!

My smile still looks a little weird, but as I get more feeling back in my chin, it gets better.

Take care, everyone!!

Day 38

I've been so busy the past couple of weeks!

I started back to work on Wednesday, and it went a lot more smoothly than I thought it would. I still feel like my lip looks incredibly silly when I talk.

My chin area is SO BROKEN OUT! It's awful! I have never had so many pimples on my face at one time. Anyone else have issues with this? I think it might be from touching it so often (hey, it's very interesting not being able to feel your lip and chin).

I had my IVC filter (the little umbrella-shaped thing that was placed in my chest to catch any blood clots that might try to go up into my lungs) removed on Tuesday. Everyone from interventional radiology remembered me, and even asked me how my farmville was doing (HAHAHAHA). The only issue I had with the whole thing was that the nurse couldn't use my arms for the IV (since they were so messed up from the first hospital visit a month ago), so she had to use my hand. Apparently I have tiny veins in my hands, though, and she couldn't get the IV in right. Owwie.

Other than that, I'm doing well. I like my courses this semester. This weekend is the Fallen Firefighters Memorial, so I get to make lots of money and then go hang out downtown with my boyfriend, my friends, and a billion dudes in kilts. Ha.

I was supposed to have my first post-op ortho appointment tomorrow, but they called and asked if I could come in next friday instead because Dr. Arango had a family emergency. bummer!

Only two pics today (since I'm so pimplified).

Here's me now... still a little swollen:





Here's where they took my filter out through my neck. Yeah. Sick.

1 Month Post-op

Today marks a month since my jaw surgery, yay!

Bad news first, to get it out of the way:

Apparently, while I was in the hospital, my teeth moved around a lot. Since I don't have an appointment to see my ortho until next Friday, my surgeon put some rubberbands back in my mouth to try and correct the movement. Bummer!

Good news:

I'm feeling a LOT better. The only thing that is annoying to me now is the numbness. It's a constant tingling in my chin and lower lip. I've started snapping at people when they tell me I have food on my face ("I KNOW! I CANT FEEL IT!"), and putting on lipstick is a joke. I have a tiny bit of feeling back in the lower right part of my bottom lip, but other than that... still totally numb, baby.

I am still a little bit swollen.. but everyday it gets better.

Every once in awhile the incision on my right side hurts, but it has healed nicely.

Yay!!

X-Rays

Taking out and setting up a scanner sounds lame right now, so I just took pics of my x-rays. You get the idea. My teeth line up so beautifully now!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER

weight!!

Yo, thought I would mention a good thing:

I've lost twelve pounds! Yaaaaaaay! My pants fit again!