So Many Blogs, So Little Time

So before I had my jaw surgery I had never read a blog. I mean, with almost 7 billion people on the planet, who's (whose??) blog would I pick? Right? When I came home from the hospital from my surgery and I looked and felt like a freak, I started looking for information about the surgery to see what I was in for. (Yes, I know, most people do that before the surgery. But I did not want to have anything freak me out and have me cancel the surgery, so I did not look.)

The first pictures I found were Dovie's and that gave me a lot of reassurance. She was about my age when she had her BSSO and her result looked great. Plus she had pictures of her swelling and bruising and that was exactly how I looked. So I felt hopeful.

Then I found Mrs. Shanton's Wacky Teef. She didn't have any gory pictures but she had lots of links and that's where I found Kelsie. Kelsie had just had her surgery about five weeks before me and she was still all nice and swollen so it was helpful to see what she was going through.

From there, the whole Blog experience exploded. Every person who had a blog had more links. I mean, you could spend all day just finding people who have started a blog relating to their orthodontic and/or orthognathic experience.

So today I spent some time updating my links to include all of the ones I have been reading at all their various stages. (Hopefully I didn't miss anyone.)

We are an interesting bunch. Several Canadians. There's Brandy in Alaska who is the most supportive and is having her surgery in May. Poor Graham doesn't have a date yet. And then there's Bill, the marine, who has to have his surgery again! And Kelsie just got her braces off; so did Beneath The Stars (what IS her name!?). Steph's blog is the funniest but we haven't gotten any updates for a while. Rebecca looks really great. Cary is healing quickly. And Kristen's blog is my favorate, she's so interesting! And people are so clever with their blog titles.

Oh and I added a link to a blog unrelated to orthognathic surgery -- Petite Anglaise. Petite is a 33 British (ex-pat?) woman who lives in Paris with her daughter Tadpole (the ex's name is Frog -- isn't that clever?) and her blog has made big news since she got fired because of it. I've always wanted to move back to Germany or Europe and write entertaining and witty stories about my life. Sigh!

Harry Makes My Day!

So I had my orthodontic appointment today and Harry -- my orthodontist -- told me that with my dentist's approval, my braces can come off next month! Yeah, so I'm just following right behind Kelsie. She had her braces off at six months post surgery and (hopefully) I will too!

I still had a little gap so I got one power chain. Other than that it was a pretty uneventful visit. I got to floss and brush while the wires were off so that was fun.

I'm still having sensations on my lip and chin but so far nothing else is happening ie no more feeling has returned. I am however getting more feeling in my lower teeth. Today, for example, I felt it when the ortho assistant, Marcy, took the ties off my bottom teeth. And in fact, my bottom teeth in general feel pretty normal. And I do have more feeling and sensitivity in my lower gums but still not 100%.

Its just all so interesting. And thanks to all for your comments and support. Its just so much easier going through all this with other orthognathic "blogfolks."

I'm Itching and I Can't Skratch

Talk about frustrating. I wish for just one good scratch, right on my chin! Ugghh!!!

I've been having a lot of sensation in my bottom lip (mostly burning but also some pain and some pulling feelings and it feels frozen and indeed looks frozen). And I've been having a lot of itching, burning, tingling, and warm sensations on my chin. Almost like I can feel something on it but when I touch my chin or lip, nothing. Like its not there.

I still have to feel whatever I'm eating or drinking with my bottom lip. And I still catch myself drooling. Mostly when I'm home alone as if I'm out I always have a napkin in my hand to wipe! And it still takes me a long time to eat. Today we had an office lunch at a Chinese Restaurant to celebrate a birthday. Everyone got up to leave and my plate was still full of food!

So anyway, that's what life is like at almost 5 months post surgery.

Ouch!

So I had my weekly acupuncture appointment this morning. Ping, my acupuncturist (doctor of chinese medicine really) usually puts in 5 needles, two on each side of my chin on the jaw and then one right smack in the middle of my chin. And its always so wierd because I can hear it go in and there is a sensation of it going in, but without any pain at all. (Don't believe anyone when they tell you that the needles don't hurt-there is usually a small sting and sometimes not so small depending on where it is inserted. On the feet, right between the toes for example, its a rather large ouch.)

Anyway! This time, when she put the needle in the chin, I actually could feel a small sting deep in the chin. It was quite exciting. I now have hope that I will actually get my feeling back. Yeah! Well, I guess I'll have to wait and see. But still, I'm excited!

The Nerve! (The inferior alveolar nerve that is.)

More info on nerve regeneration, this comes from ThunderDent at Igobraces:

On average, nerve tissue in the maxilla regrows at an average rate of 1 mm per day. With the bloos supply in the maxilla, everything grows back (mostly) and you get feeling back to your teeth, etc.With the mandibular surgery, if you sever the Inferior Avelor Nerve (IAN) then it is gone for good. In which case you'd loose sensation to your chin, lower lip, teeth and mucosa on the Buccal (outside toward your cheek) of the side that is damaged. You'd still have your tongue side mucosa, and your tongue (unless the Lingual nerve is severed). People that suffer from severe Trigeminal Neuralgia often get the IAN cut on purpose so the pain will stop.

Here is a link to an interesting article about nerve damage and BSSO surgery: http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn9514267508/html/x440.html. I'm not sure what to make of all this and whether I would have gone through with the surgery had I known that I would have permanent numbness. As it is, I have a lot of burning, tingling and itching and I'm still hopeful that I will get the feeling back completely, but with everything I have read, and based on the comments my own surgeon made to me, its quite possible I will have to live with this.