This week was my first week back at work. It's been fine for the most part. It's tiring. I've napped on the couch everyday after work. Is that because I had surgery recently or just because I'm not used to the schedule yet? I'm sure it's both! It's been hard doing alot of talking. Everyone has been so nice and asking how I've been doing or asking about what I had done- but it all requires more talking. My face is really achy by the end of the day. Another hard thing is eating at work. I have to find some good snacks and some easy things to eat. I still have about a week and a half before I can start chewing. Actually, I'll probably wait till I go to my next surgeons appointment which is September 6. So that's about 2 weeks away.
I've been wearing the elastics 24 hours a day. I was giving myself more of a break but felt like things weren't sitting quite right. It seems better wearing them all the time even though my teeth really hurt. I wonder how much ortho work I'll need to finish things up. How long until the ortho can start tweaking things? I go to the ortho a week after the appt with the surgeon so I guess u can ask about all that then.
I worked out in the garden for a few hours today, which at times made my face throb when bending over. Now my allergies are acting up. I'm not crazy about gardening because of that but the weeds were taking over and I wanted to get it done before my husband comes home from China at the end of the week. He's been gone sine July 30th. He was only home for 5 days after my surgery. He hasn't seen a picture for at least a week. I wonder what he'll say about my face when he gets home.
I've been sleeping fine. I'm still propping up on several pillows. I also use a warm compress on my face at bedtime. it just feels nice and helps me relax. It helps some of the aches and pains I feel at the end of the day.
The hard part is just deciding what I want to eat from one meal to the next. The quantity hasn't been that much at any given meal. My jaw gets tired. I know that's normal and will last awhile. I can open a little more than one finger width, it's close to 2 but not quite. I don't know what it should be at this point. I think that even when I get the ok to chew or try to do exercises that I will be nervous to put extra strain or pressure on my jaw/face. I still wish I could have a full yawn. It hurts to only partially yawn and its not very satisfying. Lol!
Also, I'm still talking funny. I really looked forward to getting the splint out, hoping that it would be easier to speak and I would sound more normal-well, I still have a lisp!! It is easier to eat without it though and I'm really glad I got it out before I went back to work! The hard part with the lisp is that I can't feel where to put my tongue since I'm numb behind my front teeth. It's weird to feel your palate with your tongue, but not feel your tongue there properly. It feels weird to brush my teeth there too. I tried to floss my upper teeth for the first time the other night. I can't feel the floss on my gums-weird. It was hard to get in there, but it was a good first attempt I thought. Wow, I just realized I used the word weird about 7 times in this paragraph! I guess that sums up this whole process!!
On Friday, at work, my face just felt really stiff and hard to talk all day. I felt like I was muffled when trying to talk. That can cause problems when working in a school and having to supervise classes and give direction to the whole class. I finally did say that I need them to listen closely since I had jaw surgery and it bothers me to have to repeat myself or try to talk loudly. I hope they don't think I sound too funny.
Well, I guess that's all I can think of right now-it's late and I'm tired from working out in the heat for a few hours today, so until next time...
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