1 year

Hello All,

1 year ago I was waiting in the pre-op area, all hooked up to my IV, getting ready for a long surgery and recovery. I've been thinking about this post for awhile now , and I don't quite know what to write. Though it has been a year, the recovery certainly isn't over: I get my braces off in a week and a half, my chin is still a big block of numbness, and I'm probably going to have at least one of the plates removed.


A lot has changed since my surgery. All of my teeth it together now, and my jaw hasn't locked up in over a year. I can actually bite into foods with my front teeth (before the surgery I didn't know that "normal people" could bite into a baby carrot with their front teeth and actually take a chunk clean off). You can no longer see my tongue when I smile, nor can I touch my tongue to my nose anymore (though I hope that I will be able to once the braces come off, as I an strange and miss being able to do that!).

Somethings haven't changed that much. My muscles are still sore sometimes, since they're trying to adjust to my changing bite. Once the braces come off I think that that will change. I still get migraines, though I didn't think that the surgery would change that, since I started having migraines long before I started having jaw issues.

The numbness is still there, though I think it is getting better! There's a patch along my jawbone on the right side that feels more normal than the rest of my chin. I talked with my orthodontist about it during my appointment this week and she said that it took a really really long tome for the feeling in her chin to return completely (I don't know if I even mentioned that she had the exact surgery I had-expanding and advancing the maxilla and shortening the mandible- with the same surgeons!).

I don't see my surgeon until Jan 3, since this is their busy time of year, haha, but you'll get an update from me before then...just check out my countdown clock!!!

<3 Stefane