Day 64 - Progress, Regress, and Sickness

Hi to each of you out there in the blogosphere. For the first time in a while in my recovery, I had an eventful day. I’m pooped! I’m sorry this post comes to you as late as it does; the wireless in my dormitory is down.

I had my two-month postoperative appointment with my surgeon today. Just getting there was an adventure that involved two trains, and a few hours of freedom in Manhattan. I even got myself a cool new watch J

Leaving my adventures aside, I got to my appointment without any problems. The plan was to possible take out the screws if I could open and close straight – well that didn’t happen. Dr A wants to keep me in bands until my bite is really trained, but this posed something of a problem. The configuration I had was perfect for moving my jaws, but the rubber band was beginning to shift my front tooth. No other things exist to attach bands to, and the configuration I had is the only one possible that works. The solution? A new screw! Yup, I got a nice novacaine shot to the inside of my upper lip where that little string of tissue usually holds the lip to the jaw. That was fun enough, but the next part involved my surgeon screwing another screw into my jaw as easy as if it were drywall. Unfortunately, the deeper he got, the less numb it was. By the end I could feel it heading towards the roof of my mouth. Ouch!

I also mentioned that strange formation inside my mouth. I wasn’t sure if it was a ligament, bone or scar tissue. It was scar tissue of course, and it was getting in the way off fully opening my mouth. So another needle was administered and he cut through the band of scar tissue, freeing things up a bit. Let me tell you, it has already made a difference. The swelling in my right was down more after the tissue was cut than ever before. Hooray!

Yeah I got some needles and Frankenstein procedures done, but it was a good visit. Dr A is still dumbfounded at how quickly my bite shifts and fixes itself. He also said that I have more range of motion than most people do this far out from surgery (a plus since I was actually starting to worry)

I’ve got a new band configuration, with a band going from the lower left screw to the new top center one. It doesn’t hurt and hopefully it will give that shifting tooth a break!

As if today wasn’t exciting enough, I’m also sick. I knew I was coming down with something, and last night getting literally 10 minutes of sleep in order to wake up at 6am and start my travels didn’t help. I spent all day either on a train, walking, getting my mouth tortured or traveling in a car. I’m exhausted and sick and my pictures show it. I’m just glad I’m sick on the weekend so I don’t have to miss class.

I know this post suggests otherwise, but today was honestly a good day. I just hope that the rest of you stay nice and healthy! Time for this little blogger to get some sleep.