Week 2 and Post Op #2

Tomorrow marks two weeks since surgery, but not much has changed.

While most of my days are still very lazy, I've gotten out a bit more this week.

After picking up the correct prescription last week, mom and I stopped by our church and a friend's work to say hello.  It was a lot of attempted smiling and more talking than I had been, which was probably good for exercising those muscles, but it wore me out for that afternoon.

I also ventured out of the house on Saturday. My dad, brother, and I went to see Interstellar. (Incredible movie!) I felt almost guilty being at the movies when I am still not at work, but movies don't exactly require much effort.

The swelling has gone down a little bit more each day.  Pain and jaw spasms (Random occurrences since surgery) is rare now. My smile is improving as the swelling goes down, but there is still a lot of stiffness in the front of my face.

I had my second post-op appointment today. Dr. M is still very pleased with how things are looking. He keeps talking about how nice my profile will be. The rubber band that Dr. M told me to keep on the left side of my braces helped a lot this week.  He told me to go ahead and stop wearing it when I told him it almost feels like my bite was hitting a little heavier on the left side as of the last day or so.
I got in a little bit of trouble when mom  mentioned to Dr. M that  I'd lightly been blowing my nose. Even though I thought it was fine by now, he made it clear with the "Do NOT blow your nose."
This appointment also made me realize how numb I still am. Dr. M mentioned that the two back brackets popped off during surgery, leaving the wire exposed.  He and a nurse showed me that these wires had been digging at my gums and cheeks in the back.  There were two ulcers that had some bleeding, and I had no idea until I saw it in the mirror! Dr. M said to keep some wax on there to prevent to irritation.  I see him again in two weeks and will be on a mostly liquid diet (maybe some thinned mashed potatoes or eggs) until then.

When I got home, I tried to put a ball of wax on the end of the wire until I got frustrated.  I don't have my full range of motion back, so I can't open my mouth too wide.  I even tried using some tweezers to place the wax in the right spot, but I just couldn't reach back there. Part of me just wanted to ignore it since I can't feel it, but that would just mean more discomfort later.

I have an appointment with Dr. S on Thursday for him to take a look at things, but mom called the office while watching my many attempts with the wax to see if they had anything this afternoon or tomorrow. After hearing what the issue was, they said to come on over since it is such a quick fix.
All Dr. S had to do was clip off the excess wire. He asked if it felt better and laughed when I just said, "I don't know!" He was real happy with my bite, and said that he doesn't need to see me again until Dr. M gives me the go ahead.

Keep your fingers crossed everything stays where it is supposed to be the next two weeks!