One Month & Two Days Post-Op

Absolutely nothing new happened at my appointment 2 days ago, which is why I haven't made a post this week. I have, however, started chewing again. :O At previous appointments, they have made a point of telling me to NOT chew yet, but at this one nothing was mentioned about my diet. I took that as my cue to just experiment with what I feel comfortable eating, which is probably not completely within the rules but...I'm a lover of food. VERY soft foods only though, so I'm not causing any harm. Macaroni & cheese, ravioli, powdered donuts, eggs/omelets, SOFT french fries, mashed potatoes, green beans, cheesecake, dumplins from Cracker Barrel (mmmmmm!), and even some soft breads. Nothing too extravagant, but it feels like I've climbed Mount Everest on my way to this point in recovery. For some of you who've been through or are going through recovery, it may seem a little early for me to experiment with actual foods already but I'm being slow and cautious with my chewing. Still feeling a bit guilty since I didn't technically ask for permission to do this, but my bite hasn't been affected and I'm still wearing elastics like I'm supposed to. It's not like I'm about to go bite into an apple or anything. Small steps.

First college football game as a student! :)

The final major step in this whole process will be the removal of my skeletal wires, which are the ones that are apparently going into my gums in 2 places, yet managing to not be painful. I don't understand it but I'm thankful they haven't really bothered me. They will be removed one week from today! After that, I'm free to go to the orthodontist and hopefully hear an estimate of how much longer I'll be in braces.

Another weird factoid I feel like I should mention is that I've been waking up randomly in the middle of the night (almost every single night), and I can feel myself trying to open and stretch my jaws while still in elastics and half-asleep. It's not comfortable to work against the tension of the elastics, so I have no idea why I do it. Just thought I should throw it out there in case someone else has done this too during recovery. I hope it stops soon. :/

That's all I have for now. I'm home now to enjoy Labor Day weekend with the fam. Here's a pic of me with my 2 full siblings, Ty (15) and Camdyn (12).