Almost FOUR Years Post-Op: Now A College Grad & Future PharmD

I have no idea why I feel inclined to post again on this blog, but here I am.  It might be helpful for people to see how my face has changed since my last post a couple of years ago, because I believe it has.  I graduated from college with my Bachelor's degree last week and will be starting pharmacy school in August. CRAZY. It's easy to forget about the drama of the jaw surgery this far down the road, but every time I decide to look back on my old videos and posts, the emotions all come flooding back.  Four years ago, I was prepping for this life-changing surgery and about to start college with my jaws wired shut?!  I still can't wrap my mind around it now.  And in what seemed like the blink of an eye, I now have my degree and am prepping for another life-changing transition...this time into professional school.

So just as a reminder, here is how I looked before surgery (I'm on the right, sister Camdyn on the left):

And a few more cringeworthy old ones:

And here I am now!  Four years, jaw surgery, and the discovery of brow products can work wonders in a person's life:

         

Also here's an awkward picture of me from graduation. I'm saying, "Thank you," in response to his "Congratulations," so that's why I wasn't perfectly prepared for the photo. Oh well!  I'll get it right next time when I am at last Dr. Peyton... :)

Honestly the only thing on my mind at this point was, "DO. NOT. TRIP. ON. STAGE."

And another (courtesy of Camdyn):

Big shout-out to this incredible lady and all she has done for me over the past twenty-two years, especially concerning my braces and surgery.  Words in general are an understatement for the love I harbor for my amazing mother.

Looking back now, I regret deciding not to blog all throughout my four undergraduate years, because it seems like it would be so enjoyable to read through those posts now.  Here's to hoping I can get back to regular posting now that a new chapter is opening in my life.  Right now the main concern is figuring out where exactly I'm going to be living in less than a month and a half.  Apartment hunting is a NIGHTMARE...can I get an amen?!

Thank you again for reading, and I will always enjoy answering any questions you may have about jaw surgery, preparation, recovery, or heck even the pharmacy school application process!

Take care!

Peyton

Braces Free for 5 Months Now!

It's been a long time since I've updated here, but I wanted to make one final jaw update post with proof of my finalized smile!  Here is the final vlog I uploaded a few months ago. :) And feel free to contact me on here, YouTube, or Twitter @peyton_michelle with any questions!  Thank you all for reading.

8 Months Post-Op - Removal of Braces?! + Hospital Vid

So it's been a very long time and I'll just start off by saying...yes...I am still in my braces. And yes I feel as though my teeth are basically perfect underneath them but I'M NOT THE EXPERT. Yet. Sigh.

Fantastic news is at my last ortho appointment, I was told they could come off not at the next appointment but the one after that, which means early June hopefully. Happy happy times. I have pledged not to make another vlog until that time comes BUT! I did remember this little gem. It's the last pre-surgery video footage of me ever and it was taken on my mom's phone in the pre-op room about an hour before they wheeled me off. My head is even wrapped for surgery already. It's very brief and relatively frightening seeing as I still have that underbite and am wearing zero makeup along with that glamorous surgical gown but I wanted to share it anyway because it's kind of special to me.

If I seem overtly calm, it's because I miraculously was as far as I can remember. There is also this photo of my profile taken the day after surgery I believe and as you can see, I was hardly swollen at all for it being less than 24 hours post-op. Keep in mind, I'd been up the night before vomiting blood through wired-shut teeth and also hadn't taken a shower or received any sustenance aside from the IV fluids, so I wasn't exactly in a presentable state.

My face is red because of the constant wearing of the ice packs, but see...no swollen lips and my cheeks aren't bulging all that much. Based on results of people I had researched beforehand, I was expecting WAY WORSE than this. This photo was also my first opportunity to see the newly-adjusted profile which is what makes it very special indeed.
I'll post this again just so the before surgery/after recovery comparison is also here:

I'm overall still sooooooo thankful for the entire journey and finally being able to enjoy the fruits of a perfect bite. Now if I could just get these braces off so the bite would be somewhat more visually appealing...I mean I've had them since the week before my senior year of high school and here I am less than a month away from completing my first year in college.


Can't go without saying a huge congratulations to my Louisville Cardinal men's basketball team for making it to the NCAA Final Four. I can honestly say I've never been so proud of a group of individuals. And though we fell short in the game yesterday, I'd venture to say we exemplified the most tenacity and endurance of any team in the country this season after the neverending string of injuries and setbacks. Proud era to be a Cardinal, that's for sure.
And to any family members reading, I do not desire your pity or sympathy because I know you're only trying to reach out because your precious NBA-primed team - who has been expected to advance to the championship all along and therefore does not impress me in the slightest - actually made it through and you have nothing to mourn yet. The fact that we tied the game in the second half should be enough to warrant your chagrin given that everyone and their second cousin twice removed in the sports world picked your team to stomp us, no questions asked. And no, I still will not root for them tomorrow. Go Kansas.


Bitterness aside, this semester and a half since I last updated the blog has been crazy and mostly in a positive way. With the exception of one or two, every professor I've had so far has been placed in my "lifelong heroes" category and I could not be more certain that I made the perfect choice in university.


Last time I said I was going to post my top 10 "current" favorite songs on every following post, and that I shall.


1. "The Flood" - Take That → blame Liam Payne's twitcams
2. "If You're Not the One" - Daniel Bedingfield → I know it's kind of old, but it started playing when I was on hold with a Kroger pharmacy the other day at work so my love for it has been rekindled. hahahaha
3. "Wild Ones" - Flo Rida → because Harry Styles.
4. "Climax" - Usher
5. "Be Here" - Parachute
6. "Under Control" - Parachute
7. "The Remedy" - Jason Mraz → because of the fan fic I'm writing...don't judge
8. "Autumn Leaves" - Ed Sheeran (seeing him in concert April 4th)
9. "Ready to Go" - Panic! At The Disco → I listened to this a lot in the weeks leading up to surgery
10. "Fields of Gold" - Sting → blame my mother


Thanks for reading and please don't have nightmares about my pre-op video. haha
xo Peyton


PS - I survived the One Direction VIP ticket apocalypse and came out victorious. Come at me, June 26th.

6 Weeks Post-Op with Some Good News!

As you may have inferred from my previous post, as of this past Friday I am now free of both skeletal wires which (if you didn't know) were going into my gums at the front of my upper and lower jaws.  Now, they may not have hurt while they were in, but the removal........OUCH.  Not only did the 7ish numbing shots burn/sting/pinch/kill my gums, but I could STILL feel when she (yes, she -- it was a girl resident this time........OH, SAD OCCASION!) finagled the lower one out. Imagine someone stirring the inside of your gums up with a fork. Yeah. Removal of the top one, however, didn't hurt as much since some of that gum tissue is still numb from surgery - fine by me! My other grandma went with me this time and she actually had to turn away from my chair while they carried out the removal - LOL I thought she was going to pass out!  Apparently I didn't inherit my strong stomach from her.

So once my gums were all bloody and skeletal wire-free AND my lips looked like they'd received some heavy-duty botox injections, I got to see my surgeon.  My bite still looks great and I actually remembered to ask him about measurements. My top jaw was moved forward 5 millimeters and lower was moved back about 4 millimeters, which means there was almost an entire centimeter of discrepancy to begin with! I'll never understand how I functioned like that.

And here is the fabulous news. The phrase I had been waiting to hear since the July 31st, 2011 (the day before surgery.) I have official surgeon-recommended permission to resume a normal diet now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:)

Hearing those words was like hearing angels sing, I kid you not. I had anticipated having to wait another couple of weeks before I'd be given permission for that. So after the appointment, we celebrated with a meal at Cracker Barrel - meatloaf (I see you turning your nose up, but CB has the best meatloaf in the entire universe), biscuits, baked apples, dumplins, and green beans. DELISH! And since I was back in my home town, we of course saw 80 billion people we knew there. Such aspects of small-town life I am definitely already missing.

I am still wearing elastics, but it's a new configuration that isn't anywhere near as tight as the old one. Small steps!!!!! (Seems to be my motto throughout this process. haha) Also, now that I am eating like a human being again, pudding has gone back to being the most disgusting item in my fridge. I don't know if I'll ever finish my last 6 cups.

I also posted a new video a few days ago, so check it out here: Double Jaw Surgery: 37 Days Post-Op

Thank you for the nice feedback if you've been one of the contributors. :) Every encouraging comment means a lot!

Peyton

3 Weeks Post-Op! First Day of College Classes...

Today marks exactly 3 weeks since surgery! On one hand it seems like I was just in the hospital yesterday, and on the other it seems like these have been the longest 3 weeks of my life. I may not survive if I'm ever forced to be on a liquid diet again for any period of time throughout the rest of my existence. Pudding now seems like the most glorious treat on earth now that I'm actually allowed to use a spoon to eat. I've also tried a few things that would usually require light chewing but I just swallow it all instead: scrambled eggs, oatmeal, thick ice cream, and non-blended Spaghettios. Letting chocolate melt in my mouth is pretty satisfying as well. Feeling full is definitely no longer an issue.

My first day going to class as an official college student really could not have been more comfortably picturesque: 72 degrees, no humidity, light breeze, sun shining. Our campus is beautiful as well, so my time on campus always feels like something out of a movie. As worried as I am about my course load and being stuck studying 24/7, being here already feels so natural in a way I can't explain.

Splint removal in less than 2 days! I CAN NOT WAIT. Once it is gone, I will finally be able to see exactly how my teeth fit together--basically the entire reason I had the surgery. Expect a nice smiling-with-teeth-and-no-wires-or-splint-or-elastics picture Wednesday night! Opening my mouth is still really difficult, but Dr. McKenna said he would start me on some jaw exercises at our next appointment. I'm just really ready to chew and be 100% human again.

That's all for now! Just couldn't go without posting on the 3-week anniversary. Here's to 3 more weeks and hopefully being able to at least chew pasta and pizza by then.

I like how my lips look in this. haha

Freshly new & hopeful college student,
Peyton

6 Days Post-Op: Maximal Food Frustration

Hi. Let me start this one off my reiterating a bit of what I've been tweeting very recently: I would, at this point, do close to anything in the world to sink my teeth into a large, juicy burger with lettuce, tomato, bacon, and thickly-sliced cheddar cheese with a huge pile of fries on the side. Or an overflowing plate of five cheese ziti accompanied by garlicky breadsticks from Olive Garden. Or 10 chicken quesadillas from Taco Bell with sour cream and salsa on the side. Or a crispy fried chicken salad from Zaxby's with honey mustard and that deliciously buttery toast it comes with. Or about 5 slices of Papa John's thick crust Hawaiian barbecue chicken pizza with pineapples, bacon, and no onions.

:(

You honestly don't understand just how many food commercials come on television until you are (for the time being) no longer a potential consumer of the delectable treats they're advertising.  I'm especially irked by DiGiorno and their stupid "pizza AND cookies" deal they have going on now.

Everything I eat at the moment has to fit through a thin little rubber tube that is attached to the end of this cute plastic syringe.  On top of that, nurse at the hospital gave me about 4 or 5 of the wrong size syringes, which means added labor on my part when I use them to eat. So essentially, the process of preparing food, sucking it up into the syringe multiple times throughout feedings, and ensuring none of the contents spill out of the ill-fitting rubber tube burns more calories than I'm even taking in. It's this vicious little cycle of malnourishment.

I've decided that once this is all over with and I'm able to consume actual good food like any normal human being on FORKS and SPOONS (OMG!!!!), I might go on an all-solid diet for a few weeks. No drinks. No milkshakes. No vanilla Carnation Breakfast Essentials. No Starbucks drinks. No tomato soup. No sodas that feel like acid in my throat now. (Seriously...I may be off sodas for the rest of my life. They taste awful in my little syringe and rubber tube, plus they make me burp incessantly. Also, I remember drinking a bit of Sprite in the hospital right before my blood-vomiting excursion. Forgot to mention that little deet in my previous blog post. I basically just upchucked all the blood I had swallowed during recovery - ultimately an inevitable event if I didn't want to become a cannibalistic vampire who consumes my own blood.) And especially no more beef or chicken broth with a packet of dumb flavoring to make it seem halfway appetizing.

Enough griping about my insatiable, raging hunger. Let's list the top 5 strangest sensations and disabilities that I have encountered, being wired shut and partially numb in the face:

1. Not being able to lick your lips because your tongue is barricaded in behind your teeth by wiring - sounds a bit silly, but the body's natural way of keeping the lips properly moisturized is frequent contact with the tongue and its lovely coating of saliva. Not having this ability means I've been slathering my own lips in Nivea - A Kiss of Moisture 10-20 times a day, and they are still not quite as smooth as I would prefer.  I guess I do need to point out that they were stretched beyond their normal limits during the surgery (and I have an abnormally small mouth opening anyway), so they have indeed been under duress recently. I should be cutting them some slack.
But when you sit and think about how often you use your tongue to clean off bits of food and drink from your mouth, it actually is a big deal to have to reach for a napkin instead every time I need to clean my lips.

2. Numbness in the upper gums when you brush - Now I may be wired shut, but I still have to brush the outside surfaces of my teeth twice a day at least. (Medicated mouthwash is my only way to clean the insides - ugh.)  My lower gums have no numbness at all, so this part is fairly normal apart from going around surgical hooks and sutures. On top, however, I temporarily have NO feeling in my upper gums due to the long horizontal incision Dr. McKenna had to make along the gums under my upper lip during surgery. So I have no idea if I'm brushing too hard up top, and I'm afraid I'm battering them with my bristles. The first time I brushed, I thought there was literally some sort of wax or plastic shielding those gums...but nope. Just haven't gained feeling there back yet.

3. Putting on eyeliner when your lower lids are numb. I've only attempted this one time in the 6 days since surgery but man oh man, it was SUCH a strange experience.  First of all, I don't quite understand why that is the ONLY place on my external facial surface that is completely numb.  My cheeks are fine, albeit swollen still, yet my lower lids are without feeling? Anyway, when I tried this it caused some seriously strange and spasmodic sensations in my jaw. Yes, eyeliner was messing with my jaw. So the muscles connected to that little strip of eyelid we like to color on must be directly linked to muscles in the jaw as well.

4. Coughing, sneezing, yawning, and vomiting...with your teeth wired shut. Impossible? NO. Uncomfortable? YES. Especially the vomiting. Sneezing I try to avoid by holding my nose temporarily, which is actually not the smartest way to go since my nose is my only way to breathe with all the barricades in my mouth. Coughing just looks like I'm choking except nobody helps me; they just kind of stare pitifully. And yawning almost hurts due to the pressure being put on my jaws to open.

5. Hallucinations of myself blending up an entire box of pizza to suck up through my syringe. Seriously, I could uh...thin it out with a bit of...tomato juice perhaps?!! Ultimate desperation/borderline insanity. But then I keep thinking back to the blogger who blended up a breadstick and an In-N-Out Burger.........and the person who blended taco salad whom a nurse told me about in the hospital.......hmmm......

ALL IN ALL, I have to admit that I'm beyond thrilled with my new profile that I can see more clearly each day as the swelling steadily subsides. I can't wait to be able to smile with my teeth, even with the braces which I'll keep for a few more months probably. Not entirely sure. And even with my maniacal hunger, I would rather be in this position than destined to go back to my former way of ineffectively eating with an underbite.  I can now look forward to biting straight through a burger or sandwich with just my teeth and not my tongue! Halle-freaking-lujah to that!!!!!!

I will be returning to see my oral surgeon, Dr. Samuel McKenna at Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, this coming Wednesday. Though I know it's just a checkup, I'm still quite excited to see everyone there (aka encounter those cute residents) again while not drugged up and not swollen quite as big as a watermelon. Everyone is always so polite and complimentary there. I quite enjoy it. :)

Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday:

This is actually a mirror image of my Twitter/Facebook profile picture (Photo Booth is weird!)

A reminder of how I looked from straight on before:

I now cringe to look at pictures like this from before - hate that protruding chin!

AND the before/after (so far) profile shots:

BEFORE with underbite

AFTER (no underbite, but a little swelling)

I'm more than satisfied so far! Thanks for reading. :)

Hungry, hungry hippo-faced blogger,

Peyton

PS - Who thinks I should get pictures with my surgeon, the adorable residents, and the rest of my friends at the oral surgery clinic when I am finally unwired and not swollen? :)

Almost 72 Hours Post-Op: What I Remember...

Hello! Sorry I've neglected the blog for the past few days; I just haven't felt up to typing, or really even thinking, for any considerable length of time since the surgery.  If this post seems scatterbrained and incoherent, I apologize. My brain is still a little out of whack.

As far as what I remember from the day of surgery, there is not much to tell honestly.  I recall being in the holding room for what seemed like a lifetime before they actually wheeled me off. The annoying part of that was actually having IV fluids already being pumped into me but having no urinary catheter yet. I bet I got up and used the bathroom 15 times during that 2-3 hour slot of time. (Also - to everyone who read my earlier post about being worried about the catheter... I remember absolutely nothing about it. Totally was not worth the mental struggle I had over it in the days leading up to surgery.)  Everyone who came in to talk with me before the surgery was extremely kind and reassuring - especially the nurse anesthetists and the anesthesiologist.  And of course my oral surgeon (a.k.a. my biggest hero at the moment) made me feel like I literally could not have been in better hands.

Next came the first doses of actual anesthesia, and literally all I can remember from these after they were first pumped into my veins is laughter.  Mom has said the same thing to me regarding this, so I know I was not hallucinating. I was snickering on the bed as they rolled me off to the operating room - sounds insane, right?! I can hardly believe it myself now.

Naturally, the next 6-8ish hours of my life are completely a blur to me now.  Upon first awakening, I remember being SO COLD and shivering to a point of near hysteria, though I'm not sure how much of this memory is legit and how much was exaggerated by my unstable state, being awake from anesthesia only a few moments.  I just know it was miserable and I felt a lot of pressure in my mouth, unsurprisingly.

I can also remember being wheeled out past my mom in the waiting area on the way to my actual hospital room, and giving her a thumbs up perhaps? She'll have to reassure me on this one, but I believe I gave her some sort of nice gesture like that.  When we arrived in the room, I'm pretty sure it was exactly the time of The Bachelorette finale starting, so I naturally requested it on that channel only to fall asleep and miss pretty much all of it shortly thereafter.

The next 2 days in the hospital were pretty bland and miserable, so I'll avoid going on about that time.  Highlights: first trying chicken broth in my handy dandy little syringe with the rubber tube as well as trying apple juice for the first time. Both tasted so amazing at that time, but who can blame me? That's practically a four-course gourmet meal right there. Also checking my phone and seeing so many encouraging messages - that warmed my heart. Thirdly, having my mom take a picture of my side profile so I could see it was pretty incredible. Visible proof of the correct jaw alignment, albeit a very swollen/ugly version! Small steps.

And I guess I should mention that getting to see THE gorgeous resident multiple times throughout my stay in the hospital made it slightly more enjoyable as well.

Bad points in the hospital: seeing happy people with their open mouths on the TV, wishing I could talk and eat like them again.  I knew this sort of thing would happen right after surgery, but I was not quite prepared for how strongly it hit me as I was lying there in my misery.

I was able to finally come home yesterday and was thankfully able to sleep most of the hour and a half ride from Nashvegas - some of my life's most extreme moments have taken place in that city now that I think about it.  3/4 of my grandparents came to visit me at home and reassured me that I was "already looking so great" - which is really hard to take seriously at this point. I know I'm still swollen and gross-looking, but their kindness did help some.  ALSO!! Blaine (my 7-month-old brother) did not cry when he first saw me - haha! Not sure if he even recognizes me, but I had this horrible prediction in my mind where he would look at me and just burst into tears at the sight. No such thing has happened. :)

I want everyone to know I am doing a LOT better today - even mustered up the strength to finally watch The Bachelorette finale! It was so sweet and beautiful. I couldn't be happier for Ashley and JP.

My weight as of this morning was around 116.6 pounds, so I've lost around 6 pounds so far. Not so great, but maybe now that I'm more motivated to eat and drink, it will stay pretty stable from here on. For health reasons, I personally don't want to get below 115, knowing my body and what shape I'm comfortable with.

Here's my picture for today.

I know it's scary-looking, but there is still plenty of swelling that needs to go down. Thanks for reading!  The liquid Starbucks mocha frappuccinos that come in glass bottle things have been my lifesavers today!