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Sorry it has taken me so very very long to update this page. I started college in August 2005, which was 4 weeks after my
surgery and I've been on overload ever since but it is FINALLY here...almost 6 months after my surgery but it is here...thanks
for your patience...
This page was originally just gonna be one but I decided to break it down into two pages so the additional past the bands
point will be on the next page :-)
The pictures were taken on August 17th, 2005. This was almost one month after my surgery. I wasn't supposed to have
my splint and bands off for six weeks but I started school on August 22 so they had to be off by then. These pics were taken
six days after the splint and bands were removed. It was such a WONDERFUL feeling when they came out. Although, it felt
extremely weird for my jaw to be holding itself together for once and not being involuntarily held together. I was so grateful
when Dr. Y gave me a baby sized toothbrush and tube of toothpaste. I brushed my teeth twice as best i could. I could only
open my mouth maybe the width of a finger at the time, but now at 6 months post op am heading towards being back to where
I was before surgery. I'm around 45mm now, I was 53 before surgery, which was apparantly above average and I'm fine with
where I am now.
I had to wear two fairly loose rubber bands for quite a while after my splint came off to help hold the bite in place so it
didn't shift while the initial healing phase finished. Compared to the tight bands that held my jaw completely shut these
weren't bad at all.
I was EXTREMELY careful the first few weeks after my bands came off since they weren't really supposed to be off for three
more weeks. The first time I ate in the cafeteria at school I got a hamburger and ate it and I was happy. It was difficult
and I had to squash it down a lot (given cafeteria burgers aren't that big anyway) but it was great. I was under the illusion
the college food was good for a while because I hadn't eaten real food in so long. Yeah, it's not that great now...haha....
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