My Double Jaw Surgery: Days 12 and 13 After Surgery
At nearly two weeks post-operatively, I'm finding that I'm getting a little better each day with some increase in energy levels as well. Until this point, I had been taking 1-2 naps per day. Now I don't need a nap, although it would be nice. I've been able to start incorporating more movement and light exercise, which may be helping to give me a bit more energy as well. Sometimes it seems the more energy you use the more energy you get. Basically fake it till you make it. Start acting like you have energy to go workout, and it will give you more energy for your next workout, so long as you don't overdo it of course. I definitely did not overdo it at this point - I simply starting incorporating more movement and less laying around and I found that even though a nap would be appreciated, it wasn't actually necessary once I started getting up and moving around more. I went on a 3 mile walk on day 12, and then on day 13 went to a yoga class. Making it back into the gym felt like a big milestone, and one that I was hoping to do before the two week mark, so that was a nice accomplishment.
I did another round of the cyrotherapy treatment, as well as another session in the UVB tanning bed to boost my vitamin D. Here I am all prepped to go into the cold chamber. Once you get inside you disrobe and pass out the robe through the head hole.
And then you freeze for 2-3 minutes. I really dislike being cold, but this is quick and relatively painless, so if I can handle it, anyone can.
On day 13, I had my follow up with my surgeon, Dr. Brett Ueeck. He took a CBCT, which is a 3 dimensional scan. It was interesting to see the hardware that was placed and in what positions.
But most exciting was to see the increase in the posterior airway space. Look at the space at the bottom center of each view. It has more than doubled. That my friends, is breathing room.
Up until this appointment I had been wearing elastics, which are very small rubber bands that attach onto buttons on my back teeth and help to align the upper and lower arches. The first week I wore them all the time, and the second week he had me wearing them all day but not at night. I mentioned that I was still having a lot of TMJ pain (TMD), and he informed me that it was likely due to the tension from the elastics. Oh right, that makes sense. Now I was allowed to use them even less, just at night, so hopefully I will see improvements.
The incision sites were all looking pretty good at this point, just a minor area of delayed healing in my upper lip where I had apparently lost a few stitches. The only thing left to evaluate was the ora-antral fistula, which was the hole that developed in my palate, connecting my mouth straight to my nose so that food and drinks came out of my nose. This is an uncommon complication, and my fistula is small, so it is likely it will heal up on its own if we can stop the air and fluid flow through it. So he recommended that I have my orthodontist make me an upper retainer with a palate on it and see if it starts to fill in.
