Day 92 - 3 Months, More Surgery and A Long VIDEO

Three months! Three months! Three months! It is exactly three months since my jaw surgery - wow! Seriously, where did the time go? Didn't I say something about it feeling like I'd never reach day 6? Well days six through ninety-two have come and gone, and I feel great.

Today I had my three month post-op appointment. Unfortunately Dr A couldn't be there, but I was still able to speak to him on the phone. My trust in the residents is increasing, so I left today without doubts or worry. Another x-ray was taken and things look wonderful. All of my bones have fused (except of course for my chin, which will fill in after a few more months) and all is as it should be in terms of bone healing. I did not get the screws taken out since I still deviate to the left when I open. As the screws don't get in my way or cause problems I don't really mind. I'd rather have them than take them out only to have to get them put in again.

Dr A also told me that he spoke to my physical therapist an cleared her to start doing jaw-mobilization things. Hooray!

As for the more surgery - don't worry, I'm not getting more bones broken! That adhering scar on the right and all the scar tissue in my mouth just aren't going to fix themselves, and Kenalog isn't going to help, so I need a revision surgery. It'll be a quick hour in the OR where Dr A will cut the scar out, free up the muscle and sew me back up. Nothing major or scary at all. He'll also go and cauterize those bands of scar tissue in my mouth to get rid of them so I can open my mouth more. I do have the options to narrow my nose now with another alar cinch rather than wait until December, and to get my upper lip augmented since it seems to have re-flattened itself despite the cinch. These aren't really priorities, so I have to really think about them before I say yay or nay. At any rate I'll be logging more time in the OR sometime probably in the next three weeks.

Numbness and swelling are unchanged, though the more the surgeon and residents look and discuss, the more we all agree that the "swelling" on the right is not swelling, but muscle that that is puckered up because of that scar problem - the muscle isn't being allowed to slide freely under my skin and so it's puckering. Time will tell!

I also have a video today! I warn you though, it is loooooong. Like 31 minutes long (hey I can have my own show!). Feel free to ignore most of it; I didn't plan what I was going to say so the entire thing is full of "uhhhh" and air quotes. But, in the spirit of being honest with you guys, natural me just spilling my thoughts is probably better than a perfectly scripted video. I do plan on doing more in the future, which will certainly be shorter and less all-over-the-place. Enjoy!

Three months out of surgery - life is good, I'm pain free and happy as a clam. :)

I totally think that my mother and father deserve a shout out. Mom, how can I ever say how grateful I am for how you nursed me through this whole thing? You put up with my crazy starvation mood swings and let me cry when I needed. Not to mention the constant blender experiments! And Dad, you have been awesome, too. Taking care of me, making sure I was comfy and not too hungry and just making sure that I wasn't alone to fend for myself - you deserve a huge thanks. I love you guys and I appreciate beyond words the support and love that you've given to me through this whole process. <3

Be well, everyone!!!

*edit: blogger is being dumb and not letting me post my pics or my video. I promise I will try again tomorrow!