5 Weeks

On Monday I had another post op appointment, and I also saw my orthodontist for the first time post surgery. I recommend waiting more than 4 weeks to see your ortho, because this wasn't fun!

Usually when I see my ortho the appointment last a maybe 10 minutes.  This time it took 2.5 HOURS. He started by taking off all of the wire ties on my brackets, and then removing the wires. Removing the wire required a lot of pulling and yanking on my sore jaw. Then he replaced the wires with heavier gauge ones, which also required lots of pushing and yanking. It also took 2 people, which meant my mouth was stretched uncomfortably wide. I then had chains put on (anyone with braces knows the pain), and a new figurative for rubber bands.

I have to wear 4 rubber bands everyday, and they are a bitch to put on correctly. I have 2 going from the back of 1 tooth to the front of another, one of which goes around 4 teeth (imagine square shape). Then over that I have 2 more elastics. It is hard to eat with these in, but I don't want to remove them lest I have to replace them.

My surgeon said everything is healing well, and that putting heat on my face will help with the residual bruising. I still have a good amount of swelling in my cheeks, but hopefully that goes away in the next few months. I can sleep lying down now, which means no more tossing and turning! I finally feel like I'm sleeping some. I have also upped my chewing game, even though my jaw is protesting. I was able to eat a pop tart today, which is a huge step.  Hopefully I will be back to chewing relatively normally soon!