Good-bye Surgical Hooks, Hello Power Chain

I finally saw my OD this morning. I could hardly wait for the surgical hooks and ties to come out of my mouth once and for all. And no more steel wires! I was so happy to brush my teeth and floss without the wires, too. That's always a treat for me. It was kind of weird, though, because my OS had broken a bracket off my front left tooth. So brushing that tooth felt like I was brushing my gums; it was so smooth. I guess I've gotten used to scrubbing those ceramic brackets. I can't say I'll be missing these braces when they finally come off. But unlike Rachel, I didn't have the guts to ask Dr. Wong when the big day would come. Although I thought about asking...In the meantime, some kid got his braces off while I was there. The techs all sang a cheerful song to celebrate the occasion. I was green with envy.

So now I have a lovely power chain across my four front teeth and a rubber band on my left side. The activation hurts so much! But no pain, no gain - so bring it on!

Today also happens to be my 7-week post-op anniversary. I have to say that I'm feeling back to normal. Ok, so my teeth hurt and it took me an hour to eat one serving of lasagna (in stark contrast to my friends who only took 10 min to chow down). After what I've been through, however, this is a piece of cake to deal with. And school's about to start soon, so my thoughts have led me back to academia and away from the orthognathic world. That's a good thing, I think. I'm looking forward to having closure someday.

A Midnight Snack?

This is the look of a desperate woman who's 6-weeks post-op and absolutely starving:

And this is the look of a very contented woman who managed to eat her late-nite snack in *only* 25 min:

Woo Hoo!! There is light at the end of the tunnel. Thank goodness!!

Clean Bill of Health

Good news! This morning I had my 6-week check-up appointment with Dr. Asdell. He gave me the best news ever - my jaws are now fully healed, which means I can eat anything. Sweet! Of course, however, I can't eat everything. It still hurts to chew, so I have to take things very easy. Nonetheless, I'm so encouraged. Dr. Asdell still wants me to wear bands until I see my orthodontist. And that'll be next week. I actually can't wait to see Dr. Wong because he's going to take off the surgical hooks and ties then. I'm not going to miss my metal mouth, that's for sure!

My Money Tree Has Blossomed

For a while, I've been quietly hoping that my insurance would fully cover my surgery. But working with the insurance company is anything but simple. There are many, many hoops to jump through, and you have to know which hoops to ask for - meaning, you had better learn the lingo. So as you can imagine, dealing with the financial aspects of this surgery has had its stressful moments.


For starters, my OS is not in my network, which adds a layer of complication from the get-go. Luckily, however, the financial person at Dr. Asdell's office gave me some pointers on how to navigate the system. She told me that if there's not another doctor within a 50-mile radius who could perform this kind of surgery, then my insurance will reclassify my surgery as an in-network benefit. But I had to request this, she said. She also advised me to get it in writing. So I called my insurance company, and sure enough, they said they would cover it as an in-network benefit, but I couldn't get it in writing. Okay...I guess, although it made nervous that I didn't have any proof this would be covered in this way. So, I've been holding my breath, hoping this dream would come true. And it did - last week, I received a hefty check in the mail that will cover the entire surgery. Phew, what a huge relief!!

At the Home Stretch - 5 weeks post-op!

Today marks my 5-week anniversary. Hooray!! That means one more week and my jaw will be fully healed. Of course, my recovery is far from complete. Dr. Asdell said that it will take a year to reach a 100% recovery.

So how does it feel to be 5 weeks post-op? In a word: fabulous. Let me count the ways:

1. I can smile. Doing my facial exercises really pays off - not only do I freak people out like Rachel, who likes to do hers in the car at traffic stops, but you really do get noticeable results. This helps me when I speak, too. I'm starting to sound less childlike. Nice!

2. I can eat soft foods. In addition to eating soups and smoothies, which I still do on a regular basis, I can now eat soft foods, like scrambled eggs, pancakes, casseroles, and lasagna. Hallelujah! I am rejoicing over this change in my diet.


3. I can breathe. Of course I can breathe, you say. Well, sure. But the first week after my surgery, I couldn't breathe out of my nose. I constantly had nose bleeds and congestion. I would have to take hot showers just to open my nasal passages a bit. It was pretty annoying to always have to breathe out of my mouth. And especially at night because I would wake up with a dehydrated tongue and scratchy throat. Gross!! Having this experience made me realize how much we take our bodies for granted. Now, please do me a favor and take a deep breath. Enjoy the passage of air as it enters and leaves your body. It's tremendous!

4. I have more energy. I was really tired the first few weeks after my surgery. And for good reason: Having both of your jaws broken and realigned is no picnic! This surgery is really traumatic to the body, so it does take time to bounce back and feel like a normal person again. But now I feel great! I'm back to riding my bike and hanging out with friends. I go out to public places, like the public library and Heather's coffee shop.

5. I feel relaxed. Since my surgery, I haven't had any coffee. For those of you who know me, that's perhaps a surprise to hear. I was the type of person who required at least two cups of coffee to get my day started. Now that I don't drink it, I feel more relaxed.  I sleep like a baby at night, too. We'll see if I can forgo drinking coffee once Fall semester begins, though.

But, there's still room for improvement!! Here are some areas that still need more time for recovery:

1. Numbness. My chin and lower lip are still numb. This makes my lower lip look crooked sometimes.

2. Bruising. I still have a very faint bruise on my lower right jaw. The bruise continues on my neck, near my vocal cords.

3. Voice. Although I don't sound like a 5-year old anymore, I still don't sound normal. Maybe now I sound like a 10-year-old.

4. Swelling. Yep, I still have swelling on my face. That will take time to heal.

5. Jaw. I have a limited range of motion when it comes to opening my jaw. I need to do keep doing Rachel's aggressive and exaggerated facial exercises - they really do help!

Trying Rachel's Aggressive Facial Exercises

After knitting this afternoon, I became curious about Rachel's "exaggerated" and "aggressive" facial exercises. Whatever she's doing is obviously working because she's looking like a million bucks these days! Plus, wearing this t-shirt gave me the confidence I needed to experiment with these ultra-intensive exercises.


So I kept toying with the idea of doing aggressive facial therapy. Maybe Rachel scrunches up her face into a ball, or something like it.


No, that didn't feel too aggressive. Maybe she tries opening her mouth as wide as possible to stretch her muscles.


Well, that's definitely exaggerated. Or maybe she opens her mouth plus scrunches up her nose (hey, I have swelling on my nose, so this combo could work!)


Wow, that looks scary. See, it even scared my dog, Willy.


Bingo! That's aggressive! And I can already see a difference. Thanks, Rachel! Hopefully, I'll start looking like a million bucks soon! :0)

At Home Spa Treatment

Well, it was bound to happen. My face and neck have broken out with acne. I have a long history dealing with acne, so I have all the preps I need to pamper my face and make it disappear. I know Holly recently dealt with this issue by using Pro-active, but sadly those products just don't work on me. (Case in point, I completed two 6-month long treatments of Accutane when I was in my early 20s. Not fun!)

So I pulled out my face steamer this morning; I added a few drops of my favorite rose water to it. While that was warming up, I washed my face, put on some background music, and drank a glass of water (that helps to get your skin to sweat). Then it was time for the steamer. I forgot how warm and relaxing this is, especially smelling those fragrant wafts of roses. After about 10-12 minutes, I finished with the steamer and then exfoliated my face using an apricot scrub. After the scrub, I used an astringent (made for sensitive skin) to remove the remaining dead skin cells. Last but not least, I put on a face moisturizer.

I'm going to incorporate this into my routine, maybe 2-3 times per week. That should take care of the flare-up. It's really not that bad, but I do want to be proactive and nip this in the bud!

Four-week Celebration - Yay!

Today I joyfully celebrated my four-week anniversary! For breakfast, I enjoyed two Birthday Pancakes - basically they're buttermilk pancakes with a few chocolate chips thrown in the batter for good measure. What a marvelous way to start the day. It was phenomenal to use a fork again. Seriously.

Then Heather and I took a short trip to Saugatuck, MI this afternoon. (It's about an hour from where we live.) We had lunch at this little Italian pizza shop. I wanted to order pizza so bad, but the crust looked a little too crispy. So we decided to share a veggie lasagna instead. Oh! It was so delicious!!! The tomato sauce was tangy and a bit sweet. And the lasagna was covered with mozzarella and ricatta cheese that was layered with zucchini, squash, onion, and carrot slices. And I managed to eat a few bites of bread soaked in the sauce. Of course, it took me twice as long to eat my portion. But Heather was totally cool about it. Thank goodness!

After lunch, we moseyed around the shops and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. It really was a beautiful day to take a stroll in a quaint town. When our food finally settled, we made a pit stop at a gelato shop. I ordered a vanilla gelato, which was excellent. And Heather got a mint chocolate chip gelato, which was also very tasty. This is life, I thought. To bask in the sunshine with a good friend and Italian ice cream.

But we were here for business purposes, actually. Heather owns a local coffee shop in South Bend called Chicory Cafe, and she needed to pick up an order of gelato for her store. So we headed back into the car to another small town called Fennville. Believe it or not, this little town houses a huge warehouse that makes gelato from scratch. It was pretty cool to see the behind-the-scenes action in making gelato.

What a perfect way to celebrate my four-week anniversary. I really feel elated. And for posterity, I've taken two photos to chronicle how I look today (with the hope that one day this will be a distant and cheerful memory!):





And in case you missed the memo, Rachel, Kam, and I have joined forces to launch a sister blog called Jaw Dropping Blends. That's right, we're sharing our blended-diet recipes with other folks who are in our shoes! Please check it out and give us a slurp! :0)

Dr. Asdell - A Man of Several Talents

I met with Dr. Asdell this morning for a weekly check-up. The nurse usually escorts me to the "motorcycle" or "plane" room. That's right, when Dr. Asdell is not performing oral surgery, he's riding his Harley or flying a plane around the Midwest. Amazing, right? He's definitely a daredevil in my book (of course, what do you expect from a bookworm!). But today, I was led to another room. Immediately, my curiosity was piqued to discover how the room was decorated - he really does put his personality on the walls. And I was not disappointed. This room was covered in music memorabilia - there were autographed photographs, drums, a painting from the Chicago Jazz Festival, and tickets framed on the wall.

"So, Dr. Asdell likes music," I said to the nurse.

"Oh yes," she replied. "He's a drummer in a band called Alteregos. They're all doctors. Have you heard of Viagra Falls?" No, I didn't. "Well, they're another local doctor band, but the Alteregos pride themselves on being the first local doctor band in the area."

Who knew? I certainly didn't! Of course, when Dr. Asdell came into the room, I mused about discovering this aspect of him. He laughed, of course. I think it's so awesome that he has a variety of interests. Just by observing those walls, he's taught me that life is too short to just do one thing. It's clear he has several passions in life - I hope to one day broaden my passions as well, although it won't involve aerodynamics!

The check-up went well. He told me to continue wearing the bands. Now that I've worn them for two weeks, it doesn't feel uncomfortable, so it was no bother to hear that. He also said he wants to see me in two weeks. Oh no! What am I going to do not seeing these folks next week? ;0)

Surprisingly, the best news I received today came from the receptionist - I was talking to her about my blended diet, and she said that now I'm nearly 4-weeks post-op, it's okay for me to eat scrambled eggs (and cheese!). My heart soared in elation! I couldn't wait to get home and make this for brunch. And it was oh-so-good! Three cheers for scrambled eggs - hooray, hooray, hooray!

Take it Easy

This past week, I've managed to take it easy by reading novels and moseying around the house. Sounds hum drum, I know, but I must confess that most of my friends and colleagues would consider me to be a workaholic. (That's nothing to be proud about!) So in addition to revising a manuscript for publication, I read Life of Pi and The Alchemist. Life of Pi is my all-time favorite book and it was my second time reading it. And I would quickly put The Alchemist on my top 10 list. It's fabulous. I'm currently The Shadow of the Wind, which is a complicated and engrossing story about a young boy who discovers a book from the Cemetery of the Forgotten Books, which turns out to be cursed - and of course, reading that book gets him involved in a thrilling adventure.

Ok, so I'm a bookworm. What can I say, I love entertaining my imagination!

But I'm also a member of Netflix, so I've been taking advantage of my membership these days, too. Last night, I watched a foreign film called Caramel. Check out the trailer below. You may be surprised to know it's a Lebanese film. I don't know much about that culture, so I felt like my eyes were opened a little bit by watching this flick.



I also watched a quirky documentary called Run Granny Run. It's about a woman affectionally known as "Granny D" who decides to run for Senate at the tender age of 94-years old. She's actually really inspiring. When she was 90-years old, she walked all the way from California to her home state of New Hampshire. That's quite an accomplishment!