A week, people! 1 week down! We're 1/6th of the way there. Honestly, it went faster than I though it would. I've also been anxiously awaiting this day because it was time for my first post-op check up with Dr. Fujimoto. My main concerns with these jaw spasms was that I was scared I had accidentally knocked my jaw out of alignment. I was excited to be able to check with him to make sure that everything was A-Ok.
Another night of fitful sleep. I had a dream last night that I went into the office for a meeting. Since I am on medical leave, I am not allowed to do any work while I am out. So in my dream, I had come in just for this meeting and was planning on leaving. Since I had come in, they demanded that I now come off of medical leave and return to work immediately. I was freaking out because I couldn't communicate with anyone. My dream then went into a montage of my daily life, only at the office; Me trying to drink my ensure, me with my suction tube, trying to brush my teeth, me getting a spasm at my desk. Yes, even in dreams I think in montages. Then it ended, for some reason, with me hitchhiking home. Not sure what that's all about.
The bruising was worse this morning. It's much more noticeable. The majority of it is this weird yellow color. Like a highlighter exploded all over my chest. But there is one little spot under my neck that has some purple in it.
For the first time since I came home from the hospital, I actually put on some real clothes for my doctor's appointment. I've been living in PJs and my robe, but figured I should spare the innocent people of Cupertino from seeing me in that state. I put on my best yoga pants, put my hair up in a nice ponytail and Mom and I were off.
We made it to Dr. Fujimoto's Office in Cupertino, and soon we were meeting with the man himself. Dr. Fujimoto was very impressed with my recovery, so far. He attributes it to how well my surgery went. Most surgeries take about 3+ hours and mine only ended up taking 1.5 hours. Then he sent me off to take X-Rays.
Here's my mouth and jaw from the front. You can see the pieces of my jaw that were broken (the yellow arrows). Jaw Bone 1 is hanging down a little lower, it's not exactly flush, but Dr. Fujimoto says that it is minuscule and will probably fix itself over the next 6 weeks. The red shows the wires that are under my gums, holding the 2 pieces of broken bone together. We used this wire, in order to avoid putting in titanium plates.
Here's my new profile. The most exciting thing about this is the placement of my teeth. As you can see, the teeth on the top jaw are now extended over the bottom jaw. Before my surgery, they were flush with each other and the teeth were banging together and chipping.
Like I said, Dr. Fujimoto was very happy with my results. He got a real kick out of my iPhone app that allows me to talk. He told me that my muscle spasms are totally normal and expected. And that in order to pull the bones out of alignment, something really terrible would have to happen, like me getting hit in the face or falling down. He also cleared me to use straws, start eating more substantial soups and take a shower. He did say that I should probably keep sleeping upright. Boo. We made an appointment to see him again next week for my next follow-up.
After we got home, I (of course) put my PJs back on and took a little nap. Then Phil came to visit! He brought me a couple of magazines and an awesome collection of movies, specially curated by him. A good blend of more serious movies that won't cause me too much pain. I can't wait to dig into all of them! Kevin came over to build my suction machine (huzzah), so we watched Edward Scissorhands and Ace Ventura.
After the boys left and mom came home, I was starving so Mom and I decided that I should try eating some soup through my syringe. This is basically the only way to eat while you are wired shut. What it is, is a large syringe that you fill with soup. You then attach rubber tubing (normally a catheter or enema tubing), put the rubber tubing in the side of your mouth, along your teeth, until the end is at the back of your mouth. Then you depress the syringe so the soup shoots into the back of your mouth, kind of in that space behind your molars where there are no teeth. Well, Grandma had made me a huge pot of split pea, but it seemed too thick to try as my first soup. So we decided to try the tomato bisque we had bought. Mom watered it down to try and make it thinner, and we loaded it into the syringe. I put the tubing into my mouth, depressed the syringe and….soup exploded out of my mouth. The soup would just not get through my teeth. So I went and cleaned my mouth using some saline, and brushed my teeth. The just drank some ensure out of my little dixie cups. What a bust. Guess we'll try again tomorrow…
Here's my progress picture for today:
Doesn't look too different. Though it appears my right side is more swollen than my left? Which surprises me because most of my spasms come from my left side. Not sure why I would think there is a correlation…
Thanks for reading!
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