Day 241: Braces Back On, And More...

Since my last update, lots have happened. I noticed that my teeth were shifting despite the retainers (I wore them 24/7). However, some of my teeth began retracting back into the gums. This is something that the essex retainers don't take into account. Meanwhile, my orthodontist was doing some adjustments with my lower teeth to open the gap for a canine implant.

During this time, my wisdom teeth emerged and skewed my bite. When I clenched my teeth, my wisdom teeth would be the first to touch. As a result, my bite became sort of crooked and messed up.

I had gone to an oral surgeon for a wisdom teeth extraction consultation. She recommended that I get them pulled. However, I wasn't sure how this would impact my orthodontic work so I held off until I could get the opinion of my orthodontist. My orthodontist advised against extraction because she said I shouldn't get rid of teeth unless they were really bothering me (such as pain or infection).

On 10/13, my orthodontist put my top braces back on and shaved down one of the wisdom teeth. My bite still isn't perfect, but I do have room for an implant now. Right now, everything is wait and see. It's just too bad that removing my top braces without finalizing everything ended up prolonging my orthodontic treatment.

As for the post-surgery nerve recovery, things haven't improved since the last update. I still don't have much sensation inside my mouth. If I put an ice cube inside my mouth and press it against my cheeks, it doesn't feel cold. I also still can't taste with the tip of my tongue. The left side of my face is still a little numb.

I've come to accept these things. There's nothing I can do about it, so why worry? To all my readers: I hope this latest bit of news doesn't scare you too much.

Day 166: Another Progress Update

Hi everybody. I thought I should post some updates about my jaw surgery. It has been almost six months since Dr. Surpure cut my lower jaw off, shaved the edges, and wired it back in place. I was then placed on a liquid diet for about six weeks while my jaw healed. After six weeks, I was able to chew soft foods and graduated to rubber bands. The rubber bands ended up rotating my teeth, which made it necessary to prolong my orthodontic treatment. Eventually, I was able to get my top braces removed. The next steps are to remove my lower braces and look into getting a dental implant for my missing canine.

My taste is mostly back. As for the feeling on my face, I never quite recovered on the left side of my face. It's still at roughly 80-90%. The right side of my face is fine. Regarding my gums, I feel tingling when I lick them. But that's about it. The bright side of this is that the majority of canker sores don't bother me anymore.

I noticed that a lot of people have been posting questions here since I created an AdWords campaign to promote this blog. Please continue posting them here rather than emailing me directly. Before I had my surgery, I scoured the Internet for a good jaw surgery resources. I saw that some people had posted pictures (which was comforting). But I didn't see very many question and answer sites. Anyway, that's what made me want to create this resource.

So please, take advantage of it.

Until next time!

Day 70: More Updates

I can't believe it's May already. Where has the time gone?

70 days have passed since I underwent lower jaw surgery and as you can see from the pictures, my expressions are still as hideous as ever. But on the bright side, I can open my mouth a little wider now.

I still wear rubber bands on my teeth. This will last for another month or so. My orthodontist wants to make sure that my realignment doesn't mess up my jaw. The bands are very inconvenient. But I'm glad I can remove them to eat.

Speaking of which, I am now chewing on steak and lobster. Well, maybe not lobster. But assuming I could afford to eat lobster, I would definitely be able to chew it. However, I can't bite into larger prey like the elusive hamburger. My mouth doesn't open that wide. Instead, I have to cut it into small chunks and eat with a fork. Doing this at restaurants makes me seem dignified and pompous. But it's all for practical reasons, I assure you.

My taste may or may not be coming back. I can't tell because I don't really remember what different foods used to taste like. Sometimes, I feel like I can faintly taste things (like pesto). But even then, I can't tell if it's because my sense of smell is compensating, or if I'm really recovering. The inside of my mouth hasn't regained much feeling either. Boo.

If you've stumbled upon this blog seeking information about jaw surgery and the recovery process, please feel free to leave questions in the comments section. I'll try to get back to you in a timely manner. Now excuse me while I go to the bathroom to replace my rubber bands.

Updates No Longer Daily

Hi everyone,

I've decided to stop doing daily updates. By now, people are probably pretty tired of seeing my ugly mug. Plus, the day to day improvements are so minor that they don't justify spending 30 minutes every day taking pictures, cropping, uploading, and blogging.

However, I'll still post updates whenever there's a large improvement. If I ever get feeling back in the inside of my mouth, you can be sure I'll blog about that. If I get my sense of taste back, you'll see many posts of joyful celebration.

Day 44: The Element Lounge

Today was the birthday of Michelle Hong, one of my fellow former LEAP interns. Sharon and I went to her house in South San Francisco for some mingling. Since I can eat solid (albeit soft) foods now, I was able to enjoy a diced up Subway sandwich, some fried rice, and a birthday pie. Afterwards, we went to the Element Lounge in the city for some social drinking and dancing. It's free to enter if you get in line before 11:00.

The place was dark and crowded. In fact, the bathrooms occupied about a third of the space. My inner architect in me wants to boast that I could have designed a better lounge in my sleep. Still, it was nice to get out and move the blood, so to speak.

San Francisco was freezing cold as usual. However, the chilly wind was much appreciated at the end of the night to counter the steam room. It's amazing how sweaty you can get by trying to emulate Napoleon Dynamite on the dance floor.

Mouth Opening Update:

Day 43: I Can Eat!

It has been six weeks since the surgery. Today, Dr. Surpure gave me the green light to chew soft foods. So after leaving Kaiser, I opened up a box of Google sushi, chopped it up, and ate!

Unfortunately, I still can't open my mouth very wide. So I had to really struggle to put the sushi chunks in to my mouth. It was also very difficult to chew because I still don't have feeling in my gums. Half the time, I don't know if I'm chewing sushi or my own flesh.

I'm hoping that when I get my rubber bands off permanently, I'll be able to open my mouth wider. Right now, any progress I make while the bands are off are instantly negated when I reattach the bands after brushing. I'll be visiting my orthodontist, Dr. Pourami in Los Angeles next Tuesday. Then, I'll visit Dr. Surpure again.

A note to my fellow jaw surgery patients, try to avoid having one doctor in Norcal and one doctor in Socal. You end up spending a fortune on plane tickets.

Mouth Opening Update:

Day 42: The Return To The Bay Area

I'm back in Norcal. I'm tired. Tomorrow, I return to work. But at least it will be Friday. That is all.

Day 41: Acne Attack

I used to take Doxycycline to keep my acne in check. However, I haven't been taking any since the surgery. Part of the reason is because antibiotics give me a stomach ache unless I take it with food. And since I haven't really been eating solid food for a month... well, you do the math.

The downside is that my acne is back, with a vengeance. In the meantime, I'm going to try to stem the tide with Tretinoin (Retin-A) and Benzoyl Peroxide. The former sheds my skin so oil doesn't get trapped so easily. The latter dries the skin so I don' t always look like I'm glistening.

TMI, I know...

Mouth Opening Update:

Day 40: The Big Blue Bus

The San Francisco MUNI... infamous for its collection of eclectic bums and 1960s left-behinds.

The Santa Monica Big Blue Bus... similar to the MUNI, but with slightly less crazies.

Back in my freshman year, if I wanted to go home, I had to ride the Big Blue Bus to Union Station. This was a 60-80 minute trip that entailed getting on Line 1, traveling to Santa Monica and Bundy, then transferring to Line 10 just to go in the opposite direction. The train ride would take another 80 minutes.

I kid you not, the Big Blue Bus is 60 minutes of sheer terror. I once sat near a crazy woman who had... get this... a whip! She kept smacking the guy sitting next to her and calling him her bitch. I suppose he was the 'sub' in their relationship. Everyone squirmed uncomfortably and pretended not to notice.

Four years have passed. Today, I dared to embark on another Big Blue Bus adventure. The trip was long as usual, but ended up being relatively tame in terms of its cast of characters. Once I got to Union Station, I waited about 10 minutes for the woman in front of me to figure out how to buy a ticket from a machine. But that was about it.

I rode the Metrolink to Riverside, played some Advance Wars 2 on my laptop before it ran out of juice, and had a little shut eye. So now, I'm back in the boonies. Home sweet home.

Mouth Opening Update:

Day 39: Apple Sauce And Ensure

These last few days, I've been eating delicious cinnamon applesauce and chocolate flavored Ensure. It's nice to walk around Westwood again. With the basketball season effectively over, I can now focus my energy on other things.

Last night, I introduced Nataly to the Spider-Man mythos. First, we watched both Spider-Man movies. Then, we watched all the trailers and special documentaries on the upcoming Spider-Man 3. Afterwards, I channeled by inner Seth Cohen (read: comic book geek) and explained the entire Peter Parker chronology. I didn't get into the clone saga and Ben Reilly because it was too complicated. But with the help of Wikipedia and Google Image Search, I was able to give a basic tutorial of the Sinister Six and Spider-Man's biggest challenges: grades, rent, his job, and the death of Gwen Stacy.

I was raised by pop culture.

Mouth Opening Update:



Rawr! Run, Pinocchio!

Day 38: April Fools!

Wow! I totally didn't pull any pranks this year. That's right! No phone calls. No whoopee cushions. No cakes in the face. No borderline sexual harassment among friends.

Instead, I got a little annoyed at the Internet's pathetic attempts to con people with fake stories and lame tales of new video games that will never be and pop culture trivia pulled out of its collective butt. Google's Gmail Paper was pretty funny though. I must admit that WHoA (Warcraft: Heroes of Azeroth) was good too.

This must be a sign that I'm getting old and losing my satirical edge.

Mouth Opening Update:

Day 37: UCLA Falls In Final Four

The Bruins were hammered by Florida again. Here at UCLA, anything short of a National Championship trophy is considered a failed season. However, I am happy that Ben Howland is allowing our team the opportunity to be contenders year in and year out. I look forward to next year's run when we add the amazing 6'7" small forward Chace Stanback and 6'9" center Kevin Love to the lineup.

It would have been nice to win at basketball this year. After all, it would have been UCLA's 100th National Championship win and a good way to kick off Pauley renovations. But the good thing is, we'll be back next year.

Go Bruins!

Mouth Opening Update:

Day 36: Flying Back To Los Angeles

I'm so glad that it's finally Friday! I'm taking four days off next week. I think I went back to work too early and it took a real toll on my system. In any case, I'm about to head off to Los Angeles. Thanks, Natalie Lau, for giving me a ride.
Everyone needs a vacation.

Mouth Opening Update:

Day 35: A Little Massage Goes A Long Way

Yes, I am shirtless in these pictures.

I was looking in the mirror and assessing the damage. I've lost a lot of weight, and it shows. Body fat has gone from little to zilch. Now, I give meaning to the concept of "skin and bones."

When I woke up this morning, I was in pain everywhere. My back was stiff and my legs were asleep. My arms had no energy. Here's what happened:

Yesterday, we went to the speedway off the 101 freeway in Redwood City. I didn't race because I'm supposed to stay away from any dangerous activities that may cause jaw trauma. So instead, I played arcade shooters like Target: Terror and Area 51. Since the games were on "free play" mode, I decided this would be my chance to complete House of the Dead and House of the Dead 2. Those plastic guns seem light at first. But suspending your arm for 3 hours, they feel like dumbbells.

When I sat in the massage chair this morning, I felt the mechanical arm kneading into my backbone. It was very painful. But somehow, it made me feel better. It's strange how pain in one part of your body can make you forget pain in other parts. I guess it's similar to punching your leg when it has fallen asleep. Anyway, the massage chair worked out all the knots. For the rest of today, I felt fairly less edgy.

Mouth Opening Update:

Day 34: My Fear Of A Tasteless Future

I felt completely unproductive today. I think I need a vacation. My body aches from losing weight and not being able to exercise. I feel light from the liquid diet. And I'm a bit depressed by the whole "not being able to taste food" revelation.

The doctor told me that I may never get my sense of taste back. Well, it just figures that as I was becoming happy about how smoothly the recovery process has been, the hand of fate lays me a smackdown.

"People with taste loss go on to lead normal, healthy lives." Of course, that's what they tell people who have limbs amputated too. I feel a little like Lt. Dan.

Before I went into surgery, I wrote myself a letter of encouragement because I was afraid that something like this would happen. What can I say, I'm a glass half empty kind of guy. The letter made me feel a little better, but not by much.

I'm really just looking forward to this weekend and the ensuing week. Getting away from work, hunger, and cold weather is what I need. Two more days to go. I swear, if one more thing goes wrong, I'm going to snap.

Mouth Opening Update: