Week 6: "Allowed" to Chew Again!

Yesterday was my 6 week mark, and I'm now, theoretically, allowed to chew most foods.  My doc asked me to slowly ease in to chewing "chewier" and/or crunchy foods.  This won't be hard.  The fear of more headaches has been keeping me in pretty good control of this.  The headaches themselves have really gotten a lot better in the last few days.  In fact, I don't think I've had one in the last 24 hours, so I'm optimistic that my muscles are even more comfortable with all the light chewing and stretching exercises that I've been doing.  Which means they're getting stronger, too.  I had an acupuncture appointment today, and had him focus on the the right side of my face and head (where I get the headaches, and the side on which I have the weaker muscles in my face), and I feel it made my brunch after the appointment a whole lot more enjoyable.  I decided to go "all out" and have a ham and gruyere on a croissant.  The ham was a bit chewy, but cut into small pieces it was easy to get down without much chewing necessary.  Normally, I'd be prepared for a headache afterwards, but it's been a couple hours and still no pain. 

Also, at the 6 week mark I'm still able to open 2 fingers wide into my mouth, and three if I physically pull my jaws apart. It's still definitely a little hard to open wide enough for the 2 fingers because I can feel my TMJ muscles really stretching and pulling on the other muscles in my face, but I feel like this gets better everyday.  Each day, I feel I can open (just a lil bit) wider than the day before with less and less discomfort.

I have my first orthodontist visit next Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to it because I've noticed my teeth have started to move!  I pointed this out to the doctor, and she said that this is very common, and is mostly due to the pressure of the pulling on the bands.  I can't wait to see what my orthodontist thinks of everything when he sees me.  My surgeon has told me that once I see my OD, I'm to follow his instructions regarding bands, and I'm off the hook with her own orders.  I'm looking forward to getting some of these hooks off and getting back on track with orthodontic treatment. 

Between weeks 5 and 6 I've ventured out to see some friends.  I really wasn't expecting the surprised looks I got, but I guess I should've.  I think that as I get used to my "new face," I forget that for people that haven't seen me, it's quite different from when they last saw me.  However, they've all been very supportive and remind me that despite the swelling I still see, they think I look great.  I'm looking forward to getting out even more to socialize.  I've been cooped up long enough! 

Swelling remains in my cheeks, my upper lip and around my chin/jaw line, but my friends and others barely notice.  They swear there's none, but as you'll see in the profile pics below ... it's still there.  I guess, I haven't been helping.  I ran out of supplements last week.  I have TOTALLY indulged in a few cocktails a few times over the last few weeks, AND I've stuffed myself with sugary foods (Hello, my old friend, Red Velvet cake).  All of which, I'm sure have not aided in my swelling recovery.  I'm trying to get back on track, but I'll admit, it's exhausting to try so hard to get well. 

Anyway, now for the update photos.  :)