Day 6 : More of the same

The swelling is about the same, the last 3 days have been basically more of the same. Every day my cheeks are a little harder, I'm a little better, a little faster, a little stronger.

I realized I hadn't looked too closely at my jaw wired shut. It's pretty interesting to look it, and impressive how easily it holds my jaw closed with just a little metal wire. Based on other blogs not all surgeons wire the jaws shut. Some choose to use rubber bands to pull the teeth together. This allows people to slightly open their mouth for breathing/eating/etc, but I'm guessing makes it easier for misalignment issues to happen.

Grillz. My orthodontist had used clear braces on the upper front teeth. This was surprisingly effective in making it look like I didn't have braces on. People would only notice when I smiled widely.

So far, this being Day 6 and all, being wired shut hasn't been too bad. I've been feeling odd pressures here and there, as well as some tugs in the internal cheeks where I've been able to find the dissolving suture wires. I am really looking forward to my first post-op in 3 days (Thursday). I sure hope the wires come off then.

Day 6

(Update 1:05pm) I went for my first solo 'long' walk today. Honestly I'd have been fine 2 days ago, I was just being cautious/lazy. I decided I'd walk uphill and go see the Grace Cathedral since I've never seen it before, and I live so close by. The other advantage of walking uphill is that it's always going to be easier coming back home if I got too tired.

Anytime my heart rate went above 110bpm, I'd slow down, I still hit 177bpm at one of the steeper points.

What I've learned from this walk is that my energy is way higher today. I still wasn't able to climb all 4 flights of stairs up to my apartment in one sitting just yet, but I had also just walked before it so I bet I could later today.

(Update 7:30pm) I passed out for several hours, that walk had taken more out of me than I'd thought. I woke up a little after my scheduled pain med and I felt my first real throbs of pain in my jaw. It took about 20 min till the pain meds kicked in, thus confirming that they are in fact doing something, or at the very least, the placebo thereof is doing something.

(Update 11:25pm) Swelling feels like it's reduced, will check tomorrow. Today was a clear nostril day, though it seems to start acting up before sleep like clockwork. Breathing is a lot easier than the previous days however. No more feeling like I'm suffocating half the time.

On to Day 7.