Day 16

I went in to see Dr S. (ortho) because one of my brackets broke off my right incisor tooth, and this is the bracket that Dr. M typically has me use for my elastics. I was worried that not having it connected may cause movement. I am assuming Dr M told Dr S about the swollen lip, because he didn't look surprised at all when he saw me. I was really worried about going in to the ortho because I was afraid they wouldn't realize my mouth and lip was still pretty sore and I didn't want it to hurt when they looked in my mouth. Dr S was really careful about looking into my mouth and said he didn't want to do too much because I was probably still sore, phew! He looked at my bite and said 'wow!' -- I love hearing that! All of the OA's neglected their patients and were surrounding me and looking too. We were all joking around about when I put on my sunglasses, I look like a lip injected plastic surgery patient trying to hide :) Dr S and all of the OA girls kept saying how great I looked. I can't wait to FEEL like I look great! I am not quite there yet :-P Once again I was told 'it will go down!' about my lip. I don't think anyone, even most of the bloggers, realize how frustrating it is to have an incredibly swollen lip for 2+ weeks. I do think it may have gown down a tiny bit more though.

Chewing continues to get better everyday. I asked Dr S today if I should be eating all of the things I have been eating, and he said as long as I am not eating anything that requires a lot of chewing (like steak) then I should be able to eat whatever :)

I am sooo ready to get back to work, but it will probably be at least another week, hopefully no longer than that. I work part time as a receptionist at a car dealership, and therefore I am the first person people see when they walk in the building. Having a swollen upper lip is probably not going to fly. I also have to be able to answer the phone, and when my lip doesn't move, the letters B, M and P do not form. I can't answer phones talking like I have a speech impediment! I am starting to feel guilty as to how many people I am inconveniencing by taking so much time off of work. I have had to get all of my shifts covered, so the quicker I can get back to work, the quicker everyone else can go back to their normal routines.

Mini rant (feel free to skip it) --My dad's cousin came over today to fix our AC, and I was the only one home to let him in, so we got to chatting a little. In the middle of us talking, he interrupted me and went "nuh nuh nuh, why are you talking like that?'-- in a sort of imitating a handicapped person type way. SERIOUSLY DUDE? I haven't seen this man in 6-8 years, and our families are not close, so he has NO idea what is going on, or if something could have really been wrong with me. I explained to him that I had jaw surgery and he was like 'oh, that must be rough.' I just can't believe how rude people can be! I am sure he didn't mean it in a hurtful way, but come on, I would never mock somebody I barely knew like that.

Day 16 pictures:
You can see on each side of my nose that my cheeks are still swollen (there are little creases from the swelling). I am hoping there is still swelling around my jawline. At this point, I feel like it looks a bit too big, and would love if it was just still swollen. I know the swelling takes 2 months to fully go down, so I am not spending any time worrying about it now.



7 comments:

  • Rhianna | June 8, 2011 at 4:51 PM

    Dani your lip has gone done, I can tell :)

    I had the OA nurse girls surrounding my chair yesterday too, all looking at my new bite! Its nice to have there support and reassurance hey! Do you still have any sores on the inside of that top lip? It must have been so painful to have them, as well as the stitches up there :(

    As soon as that lip fully goes down, you will feel like a new person!!! You look great already

  • carpe diem | June 8, 2011 at 5:05 PM

    Yay for a good appointment! Im with you girl. speaking is a problem and rudeness is not nice. Im at 6 weeks and still get such a sore face if i talk too much. And the swelling does go down. It is just so annoying. I posted the first time my lips came together enough to suck from straw! you will get there.. You look darling and continue to hang in there!!

  • Anonymous | June 8, 2011 at 5:56 PM

    Dani! I wish I had your lip problem! I have no upper lip. I cannot even put on lipstick because my lip is totally tucked under. Looks stupid. I also and praying my jawline is still swollen because right now it is just a giant 'U'. Not very femanine. We shall see... One day at a time...

  • Brent | June 9, 2011 at 7:06 AM

    Hi Dani!
    You profile is looking great! Glad to hear that you are improving everyday!
    Question...are you able to "swish" your mouthwash with the splint and all in your mouth?
    Thoughts?
    Brent

  • JEN | June 9, 2011 at 7:37 AM

    Dani,

    You are so pretty! Don't forget people pay good money to have their lip look like yours (just trying to be funny). Hope it's feeling better soon.

  • Dani | June 9, 2011 at 8:10 AM

    Rhianna- I think I still have sores, but I know some of them have gone away. When I press on the outside of my lip in certain areas it's still sore, but because the sores were literally at the top of my gums it's too hard for me to even see anything!

    Tina- I am in the same boat with my jawline, I was really hoping for a bit more definition of my chin and not so much of a massive jaw, but hopefully things change. and I don't think it looks like you have no upper lip at all. We are all so critical of our own appearances but people see you differently than you see yourself.

    Brent- Swishing mouthwash took a little getting used to but I can do it pretty well now. The biggest thing was my lip was too puffy to properly close my mouth so when I would swish it would squirt out the front of my mouth! Haha but now that I can close my mouth I can swish just fine. The splint doesn't affect it at all. I do take my elastics out to use mouthwash though.

  • Dani | June 9, 2011 at 2:07 PM

    Hahaha Jen, I know, right? I can't believe anyone would want puffy lips that they don't have naturally! It's frustrating and they don't move properly!

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