Swelling: most of it has gone away but my right jaw still remains puffier than the left side. I must have slept in a funky position last night that put too much pressure on that side or something because it is much more noticeable today than it has been in awhile.
Jaw Pain: My jaw doesn't really hurt so much anymore, what I notice is stiffness when I first take the bands off to open my mouth and after chewing for a while it sometimes feels a little sore but its really not painful. Opening my jaw without the bands is starting to feel more natural the more I chew with the bands off, my jaw doesn't float open by itself anymore but again, when I first take the bands off it takes a minute for the muscles to stretch.
Eating: Not much change in this arena unfortunately, I've been really into the Ritz crackers with cheese but I was also able to successfully eat small pieces of chicken that came in my chicken broccoli Alfredo pasta the other night. Mac and Cheese and really all pastas have been a staple in my diet for the past week because its easy to chew and usually has some kind of protein in it (chicken etc.) Did you know that you can use the hot water from your Kureig to perfectly cook Easy Mac? That was a great discovery. Chewing is getting easier and I can move my jaw side to side a little now though I haven't wanted to really try it. I really need to start trying to chew harder things so that I can keep rebuilding my jaw muscles. I can take my bands off to eat now but I've noticed that I have to kind of stretch my jaw open a little bit before I start eating because it gets stiff from being in one position with the bands for too long. After I eat I can almost always open wider than I could when I started eating.
Numbness: One small part of my bottom lip and my chin is still numb but its getting better little by little.
Teeth Aches/Brushing: Thankfully my teeth haven't really been bothering me lately. The one canine on my front bottom teeth that has a hook on it still gets sore every once in a while, especially if I chew with it but its not that bad. My back teeth aren't as sensitive to pressure and chewing anymore either which is great! I am still using a child-size tooth brush to brush my teeth and I still can't open wide enough to fit it normally between my teeth. But at least I can brush the insides of my teeth now. Seriously never take oral hygiene for granted ever.
Weight Loss: Last time I checked I was 25 lbs down woo! Okay so I know this is a good problem to have but my jeans and most of my sweaters don't fit anymore. I am really happy about this but also annoyed because I'm broke and now I have to buy pants that fit. I have an amazingly generous cousin, Emmy, who offered to use her employee discount to get stuff for me and I may have to take her up on that.
Kidney Stones: No more issues here thank god. I'm still making sure to keep well hydrated and avoiding Turmeric but I gave up on the kidney stone diet they gave me. My diet is already restricted enough.
Site Infection: All gone! I took all of my antibiotics and I haven't had any problems with pain, bruising or swelling since.
I almost forgot! I have been adding to this recovery milestone timeline collage thingy because I think its really helpful to see the difference in comparison to where I started before the surgery. Next picture will be added at the 3 month mark!
P.S. sorry the before picture is always the same, I quite literally never took pictures straight on so this is the only one that I have to use.
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