Day 31 --- Update on my ear plugged situation

I mentioned my right ear was plugged since the day of my surgery. Since last doctor's visit, I've been taking Sudafed 12 hours. And it seems to be working to clear my ear. Now, I tried not to take one to see if the problem is really solved. Because the doctor said "normally, it's clear out by itself, but sometimes takes time." It is not as bad as it was, but still I can feel a little pressure on my right ear, and slightly plugged. So that's not solved yet, unfortunately. I cannot wait it is truly heal. For now, I will take Sudafed 12 hours again so I don't have to deal with this annoying situation.

Day 30 --- Soft food

Wow, it's been 30 days since my surgery. It seems to be forever, and at the same time it went fast. Over all, it's been great, but still I feel weak. I have two daughter who's 7 and 5. So they need active daily routine. However, I haven't been able to do much with them. I get tired very quickly and want to sit down or lay down for nap. One progress today is food! Last time when I tried soft food was painful. But today, I could eat quite a bit without hurting myself. I started the day with shake, then ate grilled cheese for lunch, and pasta for dinner! Yay! I hope I won't gain back weight too soon. I wanted to loose some weight and this was a chance. I only lost 4 pounds, so it is too easy to gain back!

Here are some soft food that's easy to eat:

scramble eggs

grilled cheese (not too toasty)

pasta

ice cream

soup

risotto

Day 29 --- Waterpik Waterflosser

Since I left hospital, I've been using this Waterpik for cleaning my teeth, and I love it. First two weeks of course, I couldn't even open my mouth. And my face was somewhat sore, so this spraying water gently to clean works excellent. Long time ago when I first started braces, I got different kind. I think that was for adult. And it was too intense and spray water everywhere. So I returned it next day. This time, I got one for kids with braces, so it has gentle cycle and water pressure isn't too intense. I can still change that settings to higher pressure, but for now gentle cycle is just perfect. I put some mouth wash with water and feels just as good as it should be. I'm thinking of using this even after braces are off.

Day 27 --- Biting my mouth.. OUCH!

I mentioned that now I could eat soft food, right? Well, it wasn't as easy as I imagined. Without front two rubber bands, I could open my mouth a bit wider, but not that wide. So I actually cannot really put anything in it. I could slide in spoon like I drink soup. I tried small pancake first. After a few bite, my jaw were too tired to try anymore. My upper jaw inside the mouth is still numb. So in a way, I don't taste anything really. I was disappointed about eating, and went back to my shakes. After trying a few times, I bit myself way in the back. I think that's where my other rubber bands are. Once you bit it, you keep biting it. So now it hurts and bothers me. I'm getting tired of usual shakes and soup. I have to find something to make me feel better.

The other thing I notice is that after I eat or try to eat something, my throat get swollen. Sometimes that leads to my ear plugged up. Maybe I have to eat very very slow, or very very little at a time.

Day 24 --- Doctor's visit #3

Things are good. The doctor changed my rubber bands to stretchy ones. Plus he said I could take those off when I eat. Yay! AND I could start soft food. Yummy! There is almost no pain, unless I have to talk a lot. My right ear was plugged, so I mentioned it again. He told me to try Sudafed in the counter, and in case that doesn't work, referred me to ear doctor. So on the way home, I went to pharmacy and got Sudafed 12 hours. I took it and shortly after, I can hear from my right ear! Yes!!! I have been waiting for this time for three weeks! I feel so much better. And I'm relieved that I don't have to go to ear doctor for that.

Day 19 --- Clogged ear

Most of things are going well and better. One thing that still bothers me is my clogged ear. It's been like this since surgery. Only right side for now. When I'm too active, that moves to both sides which is really hard for me to hear anything. The doctor said that will get better. Well, I hope so, and I hope that will happen soon. FIrst week or so, when I got up in the morning, even brief moment, my ear was clear. Now it is plugged all the time. I wonder what happened. When I clean my nose with NetiPot, there is less and less yucky stuff to come out. In fact, it's been clear for couple of days. Too bad I cannot clean my ear in the same way. I'm sure something stuck up there. I guess only thing I can do is to wait and my body heal by itself. In a mean while, I'll look around online.

Day 17 --- Second Doctor's visit after surgery

Everything went well. He checked me, and changed my rubber bands. I asked him to let me brush my teeth before putting another rubber bands, and he did. So I felt so much better! I also could open my mouth a bit more. That makes it a bit easier for me to drink soup and stuff. I'm a little sore, though. When I tried to open my mouth to brush, around my jaw joint hurt. I guess it's still healing. I could eat pretty well, some soup and shakes. But all my teeth are sore from brushing and swallowing. Maybe that's why the doctor said "next week, you can start eating some soft food such as mashed potato. You've been doing so well, so just wait a little longer" I guess over doing is always going backwards. I can wait. I thought I would loose more weight, but I only lost 4lbs. total, which isn't too much. Oh well. That's okay, I guess. I'm wondering now that things are settling down, if my bite will be really perfect, and my smile will look better than before? I saw X-ray picture of my teeth, and that looked pretty good. But my smile is somewhat not natural. Maybe I'm not used to my new shape of teeth and mouth.

No more Peanut Butter shake!

I loved to have peanut butter shake. But since I drunk it two days ago, little piece of peanut butter stuck near my throat and bothering me so much. If I could open my mouth, that's no problem. Since my mouth is shut, this is just annoying factor. I cannot swallow, and can't do anything! Next doctor's office visit, I have to ask him if I can brush my teeth before shutting again, then maybe I can clean this piece of peanut butter off from my throat! I really hope so!

Day 15 --- I gained weight!

It's been had not to be light headed, so I've been trying extra hard to drink whenever I could. Then look! I gained weight! Oh my! Before surgery, I weighed 111.45 or something. After surgery it went down to 104. Today it was 107! Well, I ate (drank) a lot today. I had probably 3 fruit shakes with banana and oranges. Then two servings of soup for lunch and dinner. V8, water and juice. I guess I had enough today. Oh I know the big reason why. I bought a new blender for one serving. And that is so easy to make smoothies, and clean and make it again. I'm happy that makes my life easier.

Good friend with blender

I have been getting used to liquid diet. The daily meal is like this:

Breakfast: Banana and Strawberry Smoothie.

Morning snack: Coffee or Juice, or vitamin water.

Lunch: Soup.. something like chicken noodle soup, of course without anything in it.
I tried to make Gazpacho and that was delicious, so far my favorite.

Afternoon snack: V8

Dinner: Curry soup.

Night time snack: peanut butter shake. Yum Yum!


My blender is working full time now. I was getting tired of bought juice and drink quickly, so this is a good and healthy way to keep up with my meal.

My favorite Gazpacho recipe is this:
2 cups chicken bouillon
1 large tomato, peeled, seeded, chopped
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic juice (I used garlic powder)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 drop hot pepper sauce
dash of pepper

So all in blender and ready to go!

Day 12 --- Drink, drink, and drink...

It was okay day. I haven't had any bad nose bleed. Since I washed my nose with NetiPot, my stuffy nose improved. Only problem I've had last couple of days is dizziness. When I walk around, I feel weak, and needed to sit down. Normally I'm pretty active, never describe myself as "weak".

I think that's because of how much I've been eating (drinking). I don't necessarily feel hungry. So sometimes I go a few hours without drinking anything. It is hard for me to keep drink and drink and drink, even though I could drink whatever.

Today, I went out with family for dinner. Of course, I ordered soup. Unfortunately, they only had Tomato soup. Well, I don't recommend anyone for Tomato soup. First of all, it will stain your rubber bands. The second, the one I had was pretty thick which I couldn't drink. My mouth is still shut. The doctor loosened up tiny bit, but all I could try was to stick my tongue out a little between my bite, which wasn't enough to pour my soup in. After some trial, my jaw started to hurt, or got tired of trying.

Before my surgery, I thought this drinking habit wouldn't be any problem. But I started to wonder if there is any local medical service that provide IV therapy. I know I should just keep drinking whatever, but it would be nice if they just give me IV for an hour and I feel much better.

Last impression: before and after

This is the first and last impression that my orthodontic dentist took. You can see how much overbite I had and all the teeth were over wrapped one another. Now, the right one is the new one. You can still see open bite. but when upper jaw tilted 4 mm forward, all lined up perfectly. Amazing!