Nearly 9mo. Post-Op!

After nearly two months without a post....I'M BACK :) I decided I needed to take a summer break from thinking and writing about my jaw. On Wednesday I will be nine months post-op! Time really does fly. Today I saw Dr. Mac up here in Vermont. It was decided that TOMORROW morning I will be getting my top braces off, so I will FINALLY have all of my braces off. I am quite excited! Dr. Mac also gave me an exercise to do to help with my jaw tension. I make a clucking noise with my tongue on the roof of my mouth. It may sound silly or easy to do, but I had a hard time figuring out how to do it! The point of the clucking is to get my condyle to sit back in my joint properly. The muscle memory post surgery is just crazy. As a reminder, here is a picture of the jaw joint:

In the last couple of months I have spent a lot of time with family and friends enjoying the summer while it lasts. My jaw has not had so much control, as I can basically eat anything I want - as long as I keep in mind my braces left on the top, and my joints (which are painful if I overuse them). I have been switched onto a new muscle relaxer, Tizanadine. This is a last effort of sorts before seeing a Rheumatologist to help with my arthritic joints.  This isn't something that could be "fixed" from surgery, BUT surgery did help it not get worse by aligning my joints properly.

These two pictures are from July when I was at a friends wedding.


I still have good and bad days. Some days my jaw is very tired and I feel like I could just sleep all day, and other days I feel ready to conquer the world. I have to remind myself to slow down, and listen to my body.

For my jaw future...I need to go see Dr. Mac in NYC to get my implant cap put on, and get rid of this temporary that gets food stuck under it when I eat. He also needs to reshape some teeth that have chipped as my jaw has been healing. I need to go see Dr. G in Santa Barbara for my 1 year post-op on November. Annnnd I hope that in the near future my joint discomfort will calm down.

I can't really remember anything more to post right now, I just very much looking to be BRACES FREE TOMORROW!!

Smiling :)

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