Update

Hello,

The last couple of weeks have flown by and life is well and truly back to normal. Main updates are:

 I saw my orthodontist a few weeks ago and he removed a lot of my stitches which was (honestly) the worst part about this whole experience. He also took off my surgical hooks which is making it so much easier to clean everything.

I saw my surgeon last week and he is so happy with how everything has gone he says he doesn't need to see me again until my 12 month post op clinic (yay). He said I still really need to work on gaining more weight now that I'm eating properly again but not to stress myself out about it and that it is more important I am eating well than eating lots. I'm back up to (just under) 7 and a half stone so hopefully over the next month or so I can get back up to my start weight of just over 8 stone. Warning to any fellow upper jaw surgery victims - wile they were examining me at the clinic they grabbed hold of  the roof of my mouth and gave it a really hard wiggle just to see that it felt "firm" again. I'm honestly surprised I didn't hit him.  It felt so unnatural to let him do that after trying so hard to protect and look after my poor little jaw for the last few months. So just a warning to anyone at their 6 week appointment - maybe sit on your hands.

I've been back to work full time for a month and my energy is completely back to normal. As well as this my jaw doesn't get sore if I've been talking too much anymore which is nice.

Every day my jaw is getting stronger and its becoming easier to eat. After the 6 week post op milestone I was encouraged to try and eat as normally as possible again. I started off with things like meatballs and rice, salmon and boiled potatoes etc. In the last week or so I have now been eating an almost normal diet including sandwiches, bread rolls, curry (this was still quite difficult and took me ages to chew because of the chicken), all kinds of pasta...and the big one was that I managed a very squishy slice of pizza. Chewing is still slow and a bit clumsy,I am biting my tongue a lot and it takes quite a lot of concentration but over all I'm so happy with how things are progressing.

My swelling is almost completely unnoticeable now and the scars from where I had my drains in are getting gradually fainter. Inside my mouth - now that most of my stitches are gone - I can see the scars on my lower jaw where the incisions were. They're a lot bigger than I expected (maybe 2 inches long on each side. Obviously they cant be seen from the outside and there's nothing to be self conscious about I just wasn't expecting them to be that big.  The one on my top jaw is so hard to see because it is exactly where my gum meets my top lip but it all looks like its healed well.

I still have some pain behind my nose when I touch it. I spoke to my surgeon about this and he said there was nothing to worry about and that this would gradually decrease in time but to come in and see him again if I had any concerns.

The only thing that still needs doing is the final few months of orthodontics. I am back to my 6 weekly appointments and they have said hopefully by next June I will have my braces off. (I cannot WAIT)