This week has again been slow on the progress (hence my lack of posts) but everything is heading in the right direction!
This week I returned to work pretty much full time. My pre op hours were 8.30-5 and this week I've only been working 9-5 as everything is still taking a wee bit longer in the morning but I still think that's not bad considering I'm only 3 weeks post op - go me! I have found it more tiring than usual but I think that's probably just because I'm out of the habit of it than anything else. Its amazing (and hilarious) the amount of people who have asked me if I have just had my braces put on - despite having had them for the last 3 years - and they all seem completely shocked when I tell them about the surgery. I guess that means I don't look too horrible and/or traumatised right?
I have also seriously re discovered my love of baked potatoes this week (I'm talking 5 or 6 in the course of three days). I haven't had to puree them or anything because they're so soft anyway and there's something seriously satisfying about eating normal, unpureed food. I've just been having them with tuna mayo for a bit of protein and some grated cheese - loooovely. I've been able to open my mouth a lot further this week (maybe 1.5 fingers width) so I've upgraded from a baby spoon to a tea spoon. Disclaimer: smashing metal against your teeth because they're in a different place than they were a few weeks ago is flipping painful.
I saw my orthodontist this week and he seems happy with how everything is going. He said if my stitches were getting too annoying I could try and take them out myself with a pair of tweezers but to be honest I'd rather be annoyed by them for a few more weeks than remove them myself - blergh.
He also told me to put my elastics on a slightly different way than what I've been doing since I got home. My bottom jaw lies slightly to the right of my top jaw (maybe 2/3mm) so he's using the elastics to centre by bottom jaw. Its a bit of a scary thought that one teeny elastic band can move my jaw within the space of a few days but apparently its just because the bone in my jaw isn't healed yet and it won't be like that forever!
You can see my squint elastic that's correcting my jaw placement.
There's barely any noticeable change in the swelling now but it has at least got to the point where I resemble a human more than a chipmunk. The numbness across my nose and cheeks is also decreasing. Its still numb but the feeling is less "dense" if that makes sense? The only area where I still have complete numbness is the top left side of my lips.
Another huge milestone this week is that I have completely come off painkillers *waits for applause to die down*. I've sill been using my heat pack at night ( I swear the £4 I spent on that is the best £4 I have ever spent) but I've not taken paracetamol or anything else since Wednesday.
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