Shocking News!

As always, it has been forever since I last wrote, but just had to write today. It is getting close to 2 months post-op and I am pretty much back to normal life, in fact better since I am now about 23 pounds lighter (I'm at 122 now) and in way better shape (got back to the gym and everything - although now that tax season is officially starting on Monday I will have to move that workout routine to my elliptical at home).

Sooo.. as I said in my last post, I went back to the ortho for the first time since surgery a month ago. Even though I thought my bite was crazy horrible, he was very happy with how everything looked. And after I had described to him over email (a few days prior to seeing him) how upset I was at how "big" I still looked, he was amazed at how great I looked in person. He said he could still see some swelling, but that for only being a month after surgery (at the time), I looked really good. That definitely made me feel better. But I was still worried about my bite. It seemed like so much still had to be done. So, he slapped some rubberbands on me (two on either side, attaching top to bottom in a small triangle shape) and told me to come back in 4 weeks.

Well, today was 4 weeks so I went back in to see him. Keep in mind, I hadn't even brought up how much longer he thought I would be wearing these braces. I think I was too scared to ask. But, I figured I would be lucky to have them off by June 10th (my 30th bday!!) since that would be a little over 6 months and I always heard it's typically 6 months to a year after surgery. So anyway, he takes a look at my teeth and was just so ecstatic about how great they looked. I do have to say that after he put those rubberbands on my teeth really just started to all fit together so nicely. I really couldn't believe it considering how funky they were immediately after the surgeon took the splint out.

Soooo... for the big huge shocking totally unexpected news.. He said they are looking great and the braces can come off!!!!! Um.. what?!! I figured he must mean, they can come off in a few months, right? So, I ask him, when do you mean exactly? And he said at my next visit, in 3-4 weeks! I honestly can't believe it and I am still in complete shock. I am sooo excited but already freaking out that I will feel naked without them and that they will immediately start "going back". I think this being my third time in braces (and them going back each time) is why I am so nervous about this. But, overall I am just really excited!!! I think my teeth look great but I am a complete perfectionist and I still see a little space but he did tell me before the surgery even, that the way my teeth are, there would probably always be a little space (between my upper and lower teeth on the side, not in the front). So, I have learned to accept that things will never be perfect in my eyes and have learned to appreciate how much of a huge improvement it has been from two years ago when I could stick my entire tongue thru the front of my teeth when my teeth were shut together (aka open bite)! But long story short, I am ecstatic right now!!! YAY for not having braces into my 30s!!! :)

Oh, and just to update everyone on the swelling, "bigness", I think it's starting to look a lot better. To a certain extent, I do think the shape of my jaw/face is a little different, but I think I am probably one of the only people who really notices (back to the perfectionist thing again). I am still getting used to it and I am starting to feel a lot better about it, but am looking forward to the day that I am truly 100% happy, no ecstatic, with how it looks. Right now, I am probably at 75% which is a huge improvement from my last post, where I probably felt about a 25%, at the most. So, definitely making huge strides, and my new much smaller physique is not hurting either! :)

Hope all is going well with my fellow ortho-bloggers!!

Splint is Out! (Day 33?)

So the nasty horrendous splint is finally out. I had my appointment on Monday (the day before my 4 week "anniversary") and like I said on my last post, my main surgeon was not there as he had a family emergency back in England. So, the hot resident was there to see me (does it sound like I minded? lol). Although I was a little concerned that he would say that we should wait for my regular doc to come back to make certain that's what he wanted. But, I know he had said he would take it out at the 4 week mark. So, hot resident just wanted to confirm with me if main doc said that he would take it out at this appt and I told him yes so he said that was good enough for him. Oh, and I asked about whether this was going to hurt (b/c I had read Meredith's post that the doc would have to numb her first so I was a tad nervous). They said it could hurt a little b/c the wires attaching it to my braces could hit against my gums possibly. So, I just prepared myself for that. Next, hot resident tells me that this splint it going to be totally nasty and smelly, etc. (Nice, way to impress him, huh? haha). So, I ask him "You're going to wear a mask, right?" To which he responds that he wasn't planning on it so he could get the full effect and really make fun of me and how gross it is (he is quite the funny guy). To which I told him "I don't think so!!". so, in the end, I won and he wore the mask. It was pretty gross, but I am sure they have seen worse. Oh, and it didn't hurt not even one tiny little bit. This may have been b/c he did a really good job taking it out. He explained to me that he could do it a lot faster (b/c it did take a little while), but he found it's much better overall to really take your time with it. So, that may have been why there was no pain involved, which of course, was a very good thing. :)

So, he did warn me that when he took it out that my teeth would be pretty out of whack. I knew this already as I had decided to go ahead with this surgery prior to my teeth being in the perfect position. (This was ok'd by my ortho as I had mentioned in previous posts. Apparently there are certain things that must be done before surgery, but others that can be worked on afterward). Well, even though I knew this, I couldn't believe how "out of whack" they were. See, the splint was made to account for this so it felt like my teeth came together great while the splint was in. It was sooo strange right after he took it out. I am pretty sure only two teeth in the back right side of my mouth were touching; nothing else at all. And I tried to talk to him and had this incredibly horrible lisp. It was quite embarrassing. He even said, yeah you are talking a little funny. But, he said I would get used to it and it would get better. Sure enough, after a few days it was much better. To this day though (almost a week later), I still have to try a little harder to talk right. But, I think it's really close to back to normal.

Now the eating was the most difficult part. Before this visit, I was technically allowed to have soft food, but I had tried it and it was just too difficult and too much of a mess with the darn splint in. So, I had pretty much given up on that and just took the easy way out and stuck with Ensure and soup. So, that is all I really had for four weeks (and probably why I lost 20 pounds!!! Best part of this whole process so far) :) But after he took the splint out, he told me once again that I could eat soft foods. Basically he told me he just wanted me to stay away from anything really difficult to chew, like a bagel or steak. So, after this appt, my mom and I headed to my grandfathers house to pay him a visit since I hadn't seen him for a while. He is 95 years old and such a sweetie. He told me he thought I was doing great and could just see a little swelling. Well, I decided my mom should take a pic of me and him, especially since I hadn't had one taken for a while. So, of course I am smiling in the one and my Mom keeps telling me stop smiling so big. But, I didn't feel like I was - I thought I was smiling normal. Well, I looked at the picture afterwards and got soooo upset. I thought I looked horrible. It was pretty embarrassing b/c I burst into tears right in front of my grandfather. :( And then I felt bad b/c I knew he felt so bad for me. He kept telling me "Well, I think you look beautiful, sweetie". (I told you, he is really too cute).

But, I finally pulled myself together and me and my Mom went to the mall for a full (as in till after 11:00 pm!) day of shopping. Things went pretty good and I really didn't even get tired until the very end of the day. I know people could tell about my surgery, but once I was at the mall and realized how much shopping I still needed to get done, I stopped worrying about my face. We went out to TGI Fridays later to eat and I shared a pasta meal with my Mom. She cut it up real tiny for me (which looking back now, actually may have made it more difficult since only two teeth were touching) and I only had a very very little bit, but it took me forever!! It was basically like my mouth had no clue how to eat anymore. :( I could feel my bottom jaw doing all sorts of crazy things like moving side to side and my tongue was no better. I don't really know how to explain it right but I felt like a baby trying to learn how to eat all over again. It was pretty bad. So, overall it wasn't a great day, but I did get almost all of my Christmas shopping done, so not a bad day either. :)

So, the next day, Tuesday, was supposed to be my final day at home. I think taking off four weeks from work was overall a very good decision, but there are certain things about being at home that are not good. I didn't do much, for example, other than sleep. And I would have nothing better to do than look at myself in the mirror and constantly think about my face and stress about how it looked. This led me to feeling very upset and depressed a few times. Well, I decided late that night after getting extremely upset that I did not want to go back to work on Wed. (I had planned on doing a half day) In fact, I didn't want to go back ever and I didn't want to leave my house ever again. I just didn't want anyone seeing me. Even though I knew from reading so many other blogs to expect some depression, maybe even severe depression, I really didn't think it would happen to me. Well, it did. I am glad that at least I knew this was a normal feeling and that it was to be expected. I mean, it is such a major surgery and just a major huge event that can take its toll. But that only comforted me so much and I overall just felt miserable. :(

My boyfriend tried to encourage me and make me feel better and I think it actually worked some. So after staying home again on Wednesday, I knew I had to go back on Thursday. I was really nervous and got almost no sleep (maybe 3 hrs tops) Wed night. And I knew everyone (there are close to 100 people at my work) would be coming over to my office on Thu so I figured I wouldn't get much done, which I was right. But, I don't know why I was so worried. I guess I thought people would think I looked really bad and not understand that it takes a long time to heal. But everyone was soooo nice. In fact, I felt so much better about myself after the day was over. Everyone was just so happy to have me back and to know that I was ok and most said they thought I looked really good. A lot of them said they noticed a little swelling but not much. And some said they could only notice something was different when I talked (which is understandable b/c I really can't feel my bottom lip and chin at all so I can't move it right). And so many people told me how skinny I looked. That was the best part!! So, honestly, in some ways I wish I would have gone back sooner. It was so nice to hear such nice things and it was even nicer to get my mind off of being depressed and back into work and other things. I do have to say I got really really tired but I think that was more b/c I only got 3 hrs of sleep. I have been picking up my calories a lot more with each day and would guess I was probably up to about 1,000 a day then and now (Sunday) up to 1,200 probably.

The eating is also getting a lot better. I think I still am chewing really funny, although better, and I find myself "eating" the inside of my lower lip a lot (that has been pretty annoying, even though it doesn't hurt since I can't feel it). But, I have eaten sooo many more things, especially this weekend (Oh, and I was one of the ones on the East Coast, I'm in Baltimore, completely snowed in from about a foot and a half of snow). I experimented with tv dinners (meatloaf and chicken) and waffles and cereal. I even had a York peppermint patty which is the first "bad" thing I have had in about 5 weeks. It was pretty freakin amazing!! :) But, eating is getting a lot better. Now I just need to get back to the gym so I don't gain the weight back.

Oh, and as far as how I look.. I am still not sure it's changing much. I think it may be a little less swollen than back on Monday. When I look in the mirror, I don't think it looks too bad, but then again, pictures are a different story. But at this point, I have learned that nobody else really cares and I am just going to stop thinking about it and give it the full 4 months and see how it looks after that. Oh, and I almost forgot, I went to see the ortho on Thursday as well. I will save that for the next post though since it is late and this one has dragged on. I will say that it went really really well though.

Talk to you all soon. Hopefully before Christmas, but if not, I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!! :)

Bad Blogger (Day 25)

Sorry I have been so bad about blogging. Since I last wrote, I went in to see my surgeon for my two week follow-up. I don't know if I mentioned in my previous post (it actually may have happened right after I wrote), but I slipped on the stairs (probably b/c I was wearing my super comfy fuzzy socks) and kinda-sorta fell. I didn't fall all the way and hit my face (thank God!), but the strangest thing happened.. Keep in mind, this was when my mouth was completely banded shut and I could not open it, even the slightest. But somehow when I fell, my lower jaw opened up and snapped back shut (I still have no clue how that happened when they were sooo tightly shut). It was so bad that a rubberband completely snapped. It hurt pretty bad too. So I got all upset of course (I have been pretty emotional at times during this whole process) and was convinced at first that I messed something up. Well, I finally calmed down and realized I was seeing the doctor soon, so he could take a look.

So one of the first things the doctor did at this visit was to take an x-ray to make sure everything was still ok. Everything turned out to be fine and he was still very pleased with how everything was progressing. He reassured me again that the swelling is still going to go down. And I had it wrong in my last post... He had said that after two weeks approx 80% of the swelling is gone and that the remaining 20% can take as long as 3-4 months to completely go away. I have to say that did make me feel quite a bit better. And then, the best part of all, he took off those horrible bands that were holding my mouth completely shut. He said he still wanted to keep the splint in since, at that point, I was finally fitting into it correctly. And he put on much looser bands and said I could take these off to brush and eat. Man, it was sooo nice being able to open my mouth after all that time!! Funny thing was, I was so used to not opening it at all, it took me awhile to get used to opening it again. For a while, I would still just keep talking with my mouth closed. It was strange.

Since the day started out nicely, I decided to visit my "mother-in-law" (that's what me, my mom, and my "mother-in-law" call her since I have been with her son for 8 years now) :) It was really nice to see her and she told me I looked a lot skinnier and that she thought I was doing a really great job with talking and everything. Basically she made me feel really good. So then me and my mom went home and decided we were going to end out the day by going to the movies. We were dying to see the Blind Side b/c Michael Oher is a Raven (my team!!) and it just looked like a really good movie. So, I really had been doing pretty good with food up until that point (as far as not craving real food like crazy), but MAN, the smell of that popcorn and everything else was almost too much to bear. But, overall, it was a good day.

So, the following Thursday (3 days later) we decided I should try to get up and move around again so my mom and I went to the movies (again, I know) and this time we saw New Moon (I love the Twilight books, but agree with Stephanie, the movies aren't quite as great). So, the movie went well. Then we decided to go get our nails done at the place I always go. So, as soon as I walk in, the owner (who knows me by name) looks at me strangely and I knew immediately that she could tell something is wrong with my face. And even if I couldn't, she then says (with a very concerned/upset look on her face) "What is wrong?!". So, I told her all about the surgery and everything and she asked me how long ago it was. I told her just over two weeks. And she was like "Wow, it's still that bad after two weeks?". Man, did that make me feel not-so-good. I mean, I know her english isn't all that great and I am sure she didn't realize how major of a surgery this was, but it still sucked. I guess I thought that even though I thought it looked kinda bad still that maybe other people wouldn't really notice. Guess I was wrong.

So, anyway, since then (it's now a little over a week later), the only thing that has really changed is how I feel from day to day about my face. I swear I can't tell anymore if it is even changing. Some days, I feel pretty darn good about it, but then by the end of the day or the next morning, I think it looks terrible again. I still am not convinced that it's ever going to go away. And I still wonder if this is just my "new" face. But my mom and those close to me insist it is still swelling. My face looks puffy, not just like the bones have moved. And I guess I should have a little more faith in what the doctors say, huh? It's just very hard sometimes. I mean, I love that it seems that my teeth come together now (sorta still hard to tell how everything will truly feel with this darn splint in) and I love that my chin does not stick out nearly as far as it used to (good job on the genioplasty from what I can tell so far!!). But, my lower jaw area just still looks so darn big, although I think overall it does seem a little better than a week ago. Oh well, I guess all I can do is be patient at this point.

So finally, I have another appointment coming up on Monday. My doctor had said that he would take out my splint at this 4 week appointment. Only problem is, he had a family emergency and had to go back to England for a little while.. so I am hoping like crazy the main resident (who I have seen just as much if not more than my main doctor) will still take it out. I don't want to go back to work with this thing in. :( I guess we'll see. I will update this more after that appointment and I swear at some point I will get all those pictures added in. They are still on my Mom's camera. Oh, and I am up to 18 pounds lost in total!! YAY!

Oh, and here is the picture of my "new jaw". The plate and screws are pretty cool, I think. :)

Starting to Feel a Little Better (Day 11)

So, today was the first time since surgery that I have been up and moving around most of the day. I have been "living" downstairs in my basement since the surgery. I sleep on the one couch and my Mom sleeps on the other. This has been working out pretty nicely b/c I don't disturb my boyfriend that way and it's actually easier to prop myself up to sleep on the couch than in my bed. (I tried my bed one night and woke up constantly feeling panicky). The sleeping has been getting better and I think last night was the first night I slept thru the night. We didn't go to sleep until about 2 or 2:30 and my Mom didn't wake me up until 12 (noon)! I was kinda upset she let me sleep that late (it's really dark in my basement so I guess that's why I didn't wake up) but maybe I just really needed the rest.
I have also been able to cut back on the pain killer (Roxicet). I was taking it every 4 hours at first and then have gradually been cutting back. Yesterday I didn't take anything the whole day and then I took some last night, slept for 10 hours and haven't taken anything since. I think I am going to keep taking it at night for a little while though b/c it definitely helps me sleep. On a side note, when I went in to see the surgeon this past Mon, he asked me if I had been taking Ibuprofen. I said no. And he said he wanted me to add that in between the Roxicet doses every 6 - 8 hours. I did not say anything about the pain being too much or the Roxicet not working enough so I am thinking he wanted me to take it for another reason. Do you all know if Ibuprofen helps to reduce swelling? That's the only thing I can think. So, I have been taking that once a day as well (I didn't want to overdo it).
But anyway, back to the point of the post. I don't know if I have mentioned before that my boyfriend is a total neatfreak. So needless to say, with my medicines, syringes, drinks, toiletries, etc that had all started taking over the basement table and other parts of the basement, I think he was about to have a panic attack. He handled it pretty well for quite a while and did his best to ignore it, but I think yesterday it was starting to get to him. And honestly it was starting to bother me too. Besides, it was my jaw that was broken, not my legs or arms. I think I started to realize that I needed to move around a little more and do a little more. So, I finally got myself up and cleaned up everything and organized the stuff I would still need out into a container. Everything else I put away. Then I vacuumed and dusted and that room is now cleaner than before the surgery. :)
But, my point is I think it was really helpful to get up and move around. It is hard b/c I don't want to leave the house (still feel too swollen) and there's not a ton to do around the house, but I think just laying around and sleeping is not helping me to heal any faster. Oh, and my Mom and I did play Wii two days ago as well. I think just a little bit of activity really helps. It seems like today is the first day where I have felt like the swelling is finally starting to look a little better. I have to be honest, I have been pretty panicky, saying crazy things to my Mom like "What if this is what my face is just going to look like? What if this swelling isn't going to go away anymore?". And of course she tells me I am crazy and asks me if I think it makes sense that I would have a "skinny" face before surgery and then all of a sudden a "fat" face afterwards? To which she answers herself "It's SWELLING!! It WILL go away and you need to stop panicking." I know she is right. But it is just scary. I think I keep focusing on the fact that they said in two weeks 90% (I think) of the swelling will be gone. So, I keep thiking of it like a countdown.. like now, I only have 3 - 4 more days for it to go away. What if it doesn't?!?! But, like I said, it did seem to be a fairly noticeable difference today and then looking at pictures a few days ago so hopefully in a few more days it will be a lot better. Did any of you have these fears too?
Well, I have taken pictures of myself every day, and I wanted to put them on this post, but they are on my Mom's camera and she just went out with my dad to a basketball game for a few hours so it will have to wait till next time. Then maybe you all can tell me your thoughts on my swelling.
Oh, and finally, I was all pumped up about the fact that I lost 10 pounds in like the first 6 days, but I haven't lost even a tenth of a pound since and all I have had is liquid. Did this happen to any of you? I would really like to lose at least 10 more pounds and was hoping I would on this liquid diet. I just don't know how it is physically possible not to be losing weight when I am probably taking in less than 800 calories a day. Maybe me being active lately will start to help with that. Ok, well it is time to sign off now. I am seeing the surgeon on Monday so if I don't write before then, I will definitely try to write an update after that appointment. Talk to you soon!!

Could Definitely Feel Better (Day 7?)

So, I am now not sure if today should be Day 7 or Day 6 (I am not sure if surgery day, Tue, should be day 1 or if Wed really should have been), but I guess it really doesn't matter much. I guess I'll stick with Day 7 to be consistent. So, anyway, today I went to see the surgeon for my first real post-op visit (I did see him a few times in the hospital after the surgery as well) and it was really nice to finally get out of the house (even though it was rainy and miserable). So, I don't think I mentioned that on Days 5 and 6 three of my four rubberbands snapped. I didn't bother trying to put them back on since I was seeing the Dr today, but mainly b/c it felt so nice to have them off. Well, the surgeon said everything was looking really good, but I was still not fitting into my splint properly. :( So, he once again pushed on my jaw like crazy and I had felt like I had to push my jaw so far forward to get it to fit. He put so many rubberbands on and they are sooo tight that now I cannot open my mouth at all. I am extremely frustrated and actually got upset once the doctor left the office. And trust me, its just not good to get upset, everything starts to get swollen and congested. So, I am glad I was able to calm myself down pretty quickly. But, I did talk to him about how I have been kinda panicky at night. I have been able to breathe thru my nose (have gotten a tiny bit congested) but I think I am just so scared that I am going to wake up in a panic b/c I can't breathe. This leads me to not sleeping much thru the night (in addition to not being able to get comfortable). He prescribed me some valium to take at night. I am hoping this will really help, especially now that I really can't breathe thru my mouth hardly at all.
I guess my biggest question is did anyone else have a splint and their mouth banded shut this tight? I know I shouldn't second guess and they know what they are doing (I mean this is all they do), but I just can't help it. I am also feeling like my swelling looks so bad. I looked back at a lot of peoples pictures and I feel like I am not making as much progress. And at first I thought I wasn't as bad as most were. I also just feel like my bottom jaw area looks too far forward. I guess I just need to calm myself down and realize that they know what they are doing. For god's sake, they are cosmetic surgeons as well. And I am still very swollen on the bottom whereas my top jaw is not swollen at all (b/c i only had the bottom jaw done) so I think this is making it look VERY out of balance. But, it is hard to not worry. I mean, this is my face! Well, with all that said, I am not going to post pictures just yet of how I am looking with the bandages off. Maybe I will feel more up to it later.
Oh, I guess the one good thing is that it sounds like it is a very strong possibility that the splint will come out when I see the Dr in one week. I think that hope is what will get me thru this next week. In addition, I just like seeing the Dr really often b/c it just makes me feel better when they say everything looks good and everything is just as it should be.
Well, I think I will leave it at that for now. Hoping to feel a little less depressed tomorrow.

Days 1 - 4

Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I just never really felt quite up to it. I am glad to be home for sure, but it also gets pretty boring pretty quickly. I do feel like today (day 4) has been a little bit better. I think I have been doing pretty good with getting the liquids in. I was told to stay on clear liquids only (gatorade, apple juice, chicken broth, etc) for three days. I think after I write this blog I am going to attempt my first non-clear liquid - Ensure. I have always loved chocolate milk and shakes so I think it will be a nice change, not to mention, provide some much needed vitamins and protein. I, like so many others, have not been dying to have food though. I think for the first few days you are just more worried about how to feel the least discomfort as possible. It definitely sucks to have your mouth banded shut (although I can open my mouth a little) and the splint really sucks. I just feel like I have so much spit that builds up in my mouth that I can barely breathe thru my mouth. I can definitely say I am SOOOO glad I did not have the nose done at the same time. I think I would feel like I was suffocating. This is definitley enough to handle at once. I think once I found out I was only having the lower jaw and genioplasty that I thought I wouldn't be too bad. So, I am a little surprised at how hard it has been. The pain hasn't been terrible, just the discomfort of it all. I would love to just be able to open my mouth and be able to talk. By the way, if the splint and/or bands stay in for 4 weeks, are you ever really able to talk that well? That will be pretty frustrating. But, honestly, I feel a little better today and am hoping to take a nice bath. I am posting pictures from Days 1 -3 but I don't think I am going to post a pic from today (at least not yet). I don't notice too much of a change (maybe the swelling has gone down a little), but my hair is just too nasty for a picture. haha And since I have such long thick hair, I don't know if I am going to have the energy to do that today. But, I am sure I will definitely feel better after the bath at least. Oh, and I do think I have been doing a pretty good job with the salt water rinse (3 times a day), the mouthwash (twice a day) and brushing my teeth. I know some people said they had a lot of trouble with that. I have not been great at it but able to get the rinse in my mouth and swish it around just a little. And I am only able to brush the front teeth a little but I was happy to be able to do that at all. Thank god for that little tiny baby toothbrush. But, all I can do is get the liquids thru a syringe at this point. I am not sure when I will be able to use a cup or spoon. When were you guys able to progress to that stage? Oh, and I do feel like a little baby (another orthoblogger had said that, I don't remember who). My mom basically has had to help me with every little thing. Thank god for her being here 24/7. Oh, and I have found the most difficult part to definitely be nighttime. Does anyone else agree? The first night home was horrible. I could not get comfortable at all and didn't sleep very much. The second night (last night) was definitely better. But, I am hoping at this point each day will start to get better and better. I got a lot of flowers from family/friends which definitely cheered me up some. And all the support has really helped. I hope all of you going thru this now are doing well. I guess I have learned to just take it day by day (and hope those days go fast!!) :) I will try to update tomorrow, but for now, here are some pictures. They are pretty hideous - no makeup, dirty hair, etc - but I guess that's to be expected, huh? :) I definitely swelled, but I think it could have been worse. Also, the first one is day one and the rest are labeled. Well, I'll talk to you all soon!

Very Quick Update

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am still alive. :) I just got home from the hospital, thank god. It just seems like everything takes forever and I feel like the nurses didn't check in on me enough. I got pretty frustrated and upset a couple times. Oh, and when I first woke up after the surgery, I did not have any bands on which was nice. But then when the surgeon checked me out the next morning he said I was not fitting in to the splint correctly. So, they had to put on the bands, which they didn't get right the first time so I had to get it done a second time. Both times hurt pretty bad b/c they were pushing on my jaw and had to pull my mouth open pretty far. And now, my jaws are really tight together which sucks since I had gotten used to having my mouth open. But, at least my nose is clear, thank god (knock on wood). Well, I am still pretty out of it so I will wrap it up now and I will try to write more tomorrow. I did take pictures in the hospital which I will post as well. Thanks to everyone for your well wishes!!