Monday equals Follow Up

And today, I got elastics, finally. And I AM IN PAIN!
I took pictures to remember which hooks I'm supposed to loop the bands around, and took them off to eat.
AND I CAN'T GET THEM BACK ON. I'm dead serious and dead scared that I'll have to call my doctor tomorrow and he'll yell at me. But the pain is kinda subsided now that the bands are off. But I don't know how to get them on. I thought I should be able to get them on and off pretty easily b/c he gave me a small envelope of replacement bands. But no, of course nothing can be easy with this surgery. Gosh! The insurance approval took over 2 months of nonsensical refusals that made me think they didn't know what procedure they were refusing and everyone I talked to said something different. Then the scheduling took like 1.5 months and then the date got pushed back twice so I was set to go on Mar. 6th, then Mar. 27th and finally happened on April 3rd. Then there were some complications during surgery w/ bleeding and so it took 10 hours instead of the 6-7 hours promised while I was still conscious (all jaw-related surgeries I've undergone took 1.5 times what they think is appropriate...10 yrs ago, for the joint surgery, mine had to be an extra-long 4 hour surgery instead of the average 2.5 hours). Nothing is easy for me. And now the pain...well, that's kinda normal.
BUT, the pain is more than any braces-induced pain I've suffered thus far. And I'm supposed to stretch the elastics out by opening my jaws and moving, which feels like the bone screws in my face are going to pop out and let my jaw crumble into my pie hole. Ugh. I can actually feel the gap between the piece of where all my upper teeth are stuck to and the rest of my skull above open up...and feel my right mandible about to snap w/t he pressure.
I'm sure I'm exaggerating, but it really hurts.

The funny thing is, b/c I have no sensation in my upper teeth, my lower jaw really, really, really hurts and I can just feel the pulling on my upper teeth with some displaced pain. Like in my cheeks by my nose. But the pain I can feel in my lower jaw more than makes up for my upper jaw and makes me sit quietly in pain. I mean, I'm so much quieter since the surgery and now I can't think of getting involved in anything happening around me. All I can do is contemplate how much of which pain killers I'll take, and when. So I'll be going to bed with my Tylenol with codeine elixir tonight, and probably to work a little high. Maybe I'll brave accusing looks (b/c I'll look like a druggie) and take it to work with me tomorrow!


X-RAYs
The other exciting thing about today's visit was the x-rays. My first set since the surgery. Maybe the last? I hope they take some more maybe like 6 weeks later to make sure everything ended up fine. B/c as of now, the chopped-up parts are not flush with the rest of my facial bone structure, the screws are doing a fantastic job of holding it all together is all. And I'm pretty careful not to let anything other than hot, moist towels fresh from the microwave and my own, careful hands near my poofy cheeks and senseless chin.
I like my x-rays. I counted 4 screws on each side on my mandible, for the BSSO, and 8 on each side for the LeFort, kind of to either side of my nose is where it seems. I'll try to scan in the print-outs my doctor gave me and post them once I figure out how to do that.


I hate what my skin's doing these days. I can't really be too concerned about exfoliating and other crucial aspects of skin care and it appears that my face has gotten very oily. Maybe it's the change in weather (which SUCKED today in Chicago! It snowed in certain parts, like near O'hare and was rainy and really cold all over. People pulled out their winter coats b/c it was too much to bear in light spring-summer windbreakers.). But I think possibly, b/c my body has identified my face as an area of trauma needing healing, there's a lot of blood flow there (or I hope) and other necessary building blocks for bones and flesh wounds. So there's more oils following that away too? And I can't deny that possibly, the Vaseline I apply to my lips might be spreading. But I need the Vaseline. It's part of my post-surgical routine, b/c my lips were so abused it needed some plain vaseline TLC. So hopefully the small bumps and the oiliness will stop soon, b/c when they appear near my lips or on my chin, I can't really feel anything but when I or the doctor pushes on them it feels like someone stuck a needle sterilized in fire in those spots! So odd, once again, that I can feel pain but nothing really pleasant.

Good news is that I don't dribble nearly as much now. :) Actually barely any dribbling! But still can't eat very much in any one sitting. It's a pain in the arse.
Today I spooned about 1/4 cup each of Stagg brand chili (w/ beans and beef), guacamole which I've been consuming religiously for vitamins, minerals and good fats, and that veggies-and-grain concoction I've been eating nearly daily into a blender cup and whirred it like 10 times. The stuff got really creamy and the small onion pieces in the guacamole were gone! It was a pukey lime-greenish brown...I'm not accustomed to all my food looking dubious. And it tasted fantastic compared to some of the stuff I've been trying to down, but I got through about half of it and I could feel the gag reflexes.
I figured that if I force myself once I get the gags, then that's it for me and that mixture. It'll be branded in my psyche that that concoction is nasty and makes me want to puke. So the best thing is to stop while I still think it's the best meal ever and take a break, maybe drink a couple sips of juice to clear my palate and wait for my stomach to be food-ready again. I think it works.

I had bought a can of Spaghetti-O's b/c I read that they can be swallowed w/out chewing, on some extreme sports forum on people who've had terrible accidents skiing down cliffs and doing other dangerous sports (like extreme ATV riding...like I was doing when I tore ligaments in both hands/wrists). These people were recooping from injuries from their activities but they were jaw-related in that they either broke their jaws, had to have their mouth wired shut or something terrible. I mean, I'm going through this b/c I couldn't use my teeth, chew or eat properly in public! They did this to themselves! So about the Spaghetti-O's...I don't think I can start eating that b/c of the elastics. If I succeed in getting them back on tonight, I'm not taking them off for anything.
The doctor had said last week that he'll give me a week off after today's follow-up, but he wants to see me again next week...b/c of the new elastics. Oh well. I guess I'll take next Monday off from work too. I have a legit reason, right?

Oh, and I'm supposed to start on some new antibiotics today that's supposed to make my bones really strong. Dioxicycline? Or something like that. I'll study the label when I take it...as soon as I post this!