20 months later

Just a quick update, since it’s been a year since my last post.  Everything is going fantastically!

Swelling: Nonexistant.

Numbness: Small amount, but ignorable. 

One strip that runs from the corner of my lip, down my chin, about 1/4 wide.  It’s not fully numb.  It’s actually hypersensitive to light touch, and semi-numb to deep touch.  Light touch feels like a million tickling feathers, but it feels normal otherwise.   And the gums in the upper dental arch (just the part that houses the teeth) is about half-numb, or half-sensitive. Overall, totally ignorable.

Pain: None.

I can poke and feel all the parts of my face that were once broken and it just feels normal. 

Sleep: Fantastic.

I sleep regularly now, as in I am sleepy enough to fall asleep at the same time each night, and I wake up 8-9 hours later totally awake and feeling good. I still sleep a little longer than average, but still well within the range of normal. Gone are the days waking up each day feeling like I have the flu.  Gone are the 2-3 hours of zombie-me wake up sessions that started each day.  I’ve gotten exactly one cold in the last year, and 3-4 headaches, most of which were due to allergies. I used to get sick 5-6 times a year and have headaches most days of the week.  Also, I can travel now! Even if I get crummy sleep in a hotel, it’s still so much better than the sleep I used to get.  Traveling doesn’t mean feeling desperately unwell; it’s actually pretty fun. 

All in all, if you’re considering the “overwhelming” cures for sleep apnea, I can tell you without a moment’s hesitation that the result is worth it. Whatever you have to do to get there, you won’t regret it.

 

8 Month time lapse: upper cheek swelling

The last part of the swelling to leave was beside the nose, above the lip.  This area was the most traumatized in surgery.

There were days where it would go down, then the next day would be puffier than it had been in weeks. After about 5 months (20 weeks), this stopped.

The swelling above the eye and the swelling below pulling the lower lid down: this makes focusing to read almost impossible for more than a few minutes!

Still puffy below the cheek bones.

Outline on the right side of photo shows the right side swelling.

Less puffy!

Considerably less puffiness beside the nose and across the tip of the nose. I can now actually see where the nose cartilage pieces are rather than a single puffy mass.

Outline of the swelling on the right side of my face: still a bit puffier than it will be.

Still some puffiness

Bit of swelling over the screw-plates at the jawline.

Still puffy across the cheeks at upper lip-level

8 month time lapse; profile swelling changes

Changes in profile over 8 months while swelling reduced.

FAQ: Does the surgery change the nose?

Absolutely, yes. My nose is wider across the base where the nostrils attach and has less definition between nostril and bridge/tip.  The tip rotated upward too, but after 5-7 weeks, it came down some as the swelling under the nose reduced.

Before surgery

Before braces left, After surgery right. Notice the airway change above the hyoid (throat bone): nearly double.

Lots of swelling around my nose.

Still very bruisey at the jawline and under eyes

Still swollen under the jaw too, but less so.

Upper lip swelling pushes the nose too

8 months, time lapse surgical swelling pt. 1

Facing front, here are all the photos I took over the last 8 months to show the changes in swelling and face shape.

1 week before surgery

Day after surgery

Morning hair and fat face? Check!

Swelling same as a few days ago, plus a little more in the center of the top lip.

Post workout messy hair!

Good light to see where my nose went bulbous and wide. It wasn’t narrow to start with, but this didn’t help!

Fewer changes from this point.

20 months of braces photos

First day

1 week

2 weeks

3ish weeks

Week before surgery

12 months in braces, just before surgery

2 weeks post surgery

Before braces left, After surgery right. Notice the airway change above the hyoid (throat bone): nearly double.

Peridex staining: tips of teeth are fine, but the gum line and bracket glue is very yellow with some brown spots.

1 mm gap has shown up in the bottom teeth from the banding of the molars. Hopefully this can be closed up easily.

Widening gap

Lower midline shift since surgery

Power Chain elastic across all lower teeth

Gap all closed up

Midlines are still a little off, but probably as good as they’ll get.

Powerchain on top

Midlines in the front are almost matched.

Fresh power chains

Midline still a little off

Bottom teeth are leveling out some.

Day of de-bracketing!

3:30 pm No more vile hook-laden metal!

Finished!

After 20 months in braces, my jaw bones are healed and my teeth are finally where they belong. No more braces, no more hooks, and no more rubber bands.

I sleep without waking up more than a few times a night, and wake feeling rested.  I sleep fewer hours, too. I don’t feel sleepy or groggy in the daytime, nor do I have raging headaches from lack of rest. Plus, my teeth are straighter than they have ever been.   All in all, I say the whole process was very much worthwhile.

 

2 pm

Day of de-bracketing!

3:30 pm No more vile hook-laden metal!

253 days out

One more week in braces. I had 4 of the molar bands removed today and had impressions taken for retainers which will be ready next week when the rest of the brackets and bands come off. I’m very ready!

223 days out

As it turns out, Kaiser won’t cover the revision of my nose. Oh well. My surgeon thought they would, but unless the surgery severely compromised your ability to breathe (or collapses your nose to one side) they don’t consider it a valid procedure.  But, in talking to their best choice for noses (an ENT), I learned quite a bit.

I mainly learned that their best nose surgeon really doesn’t do enough variety of noses, and he’s visibly uncomfortable doing anything other than obvious repair work.   He showed me photos of his work, which is lovely, but completely unrelated.  He focuses on hump removal, cleft palate repair, and collapsed or crooked noses, but apparently he has no experience in reducing the width or bulbousness of a nose. He did, however, give me a referral to a much more experienced rhinoplasty surgeon at Stanford (a specialist, rather than an ENT).

 

 

Bottom teeth are leveling out some.

210 days (7 months) out

I had a chance to talk to one of the ENT surgeons at Kaiser last week. It went like I expected.  He was curious why I wanted to change anything about my nose, since I can breathe fine and it’s not obviously crooked or anything.  I need to bring him photos of before the surgery to convince him that the nose has changed before he would consider using Kaiser to correct it. Otherwise, it’ll be out of pocket at another site (Kaiser Cosmetic).  We’ll see what comes of it.

Midline still a little off

8 more weeks!

Fresh power chains

I haggled my orthodontist down to 8 more weeks rather than 12-16 more.  My bite is very even, the teeth are quite straight and the overjet/overbite are ideal. He wanted to take until the end of summer to address some very minor aesthetic changes, but I’m quite ready to be done, and done yesterday.  7 weeks from today I get impressions taken for retainers, then a week later the braces will be removed.

On a side note, fresh power chains look so much better than 3 month old ones stained with coffee and spices. My teeth don’t look jaundiced at all now. I was worried my teeth were yellowing, but it was just the stained power-chain rubber.