This morning, Joanna and I unfurled our mini american flags and watched the US soccer game together. After the rousing game, we headed over to the pool to relax for a bit. After a while, Dad came and joined me.
Luckily, Jeffrey was cut off from too much pool time because I had an appointment at Dr. Fujimoto's office. After a bit of a wait, Dr Fujimoto came in and checked inside my mouth. Again, he was impressed with how clean I've been able to keep it. Clearly he does not realize how thorough/crazy I am… He also said that the incisions have healed, so I'm very happy about that. Then we started about talking about next week, when I am scheduled to get my wires taken off. The doctor explained that I'd need to make an appointment to come in next week and have the wires removed, and replaced with elastic bands. He warned me that it is going to be a very strange feeling once my wires are removed. My muscles and jaw will need to get used to being used again. It's essentially like sitting on the couch for 6 weeks, and then standing up. Your muscles are just not used to moving and I'm going to have to re-train my jaw to open and close in my new alignment. He said that sometime people can even pass out once their wires are taken off, so they will remove them while I am sitting down. He said that once the wires are cut off, I can open my mouth as much as feels comfortable. I'll also have my first opportunity to remove my plastic splint and to brush my teeth and tongue. That is honestly the part I am most excited about. After that appointment, I'll have my elastics on for the following two weeks. I'll have to wear the elastics all the time, except for when I am eating or brushing my teeth.
As excited as I am about getting my wires off and switching to elastics, I'm also really nervous. I guess a lot of that comes down to the unknown again. I felt the same way before being wired shut. I just wasn't sure what it would be like, or how I would be able to deal with it. But quite frankly, I think I've done pretty well so far; way better than I expected. So I hope that trend continues. Also, why do doctors always have to give you the worst case scenarios? Like telling me about people passing out when they get their wires off? In case I wasn't crazy enough and didn't already have the urge to spend all night googling "Is it painful to have your wires removed after jaw surgery?" (most posts on the message boards point to 'yea, a bit', by the way) now I'm just a bit more anxious. I'm trying to stay positive though. Everything has gone according to plan so far, so I'm optimistic that this too will go off without a hitch.
After my appointment, we headed home and cleaned the house a bit. When Kevin got home from work, he and Dad decided to go to Sam's BBQ for dinner. I tagged along, Ensure in hand. They ordered a bucket of beers, so in essence we were all drinking our dinner :P
Yep, these are the people entrusted with caring for me during my recovery...
We had just gotten back home when Mom arrived in her taxi from the airport. I'm happy to have her home :) We helped her unpack, then all watched some TV together before retiring for the night.
Here's my progress picture:
Thanks for reading!
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