I am still seeing a Physical Therapist and we are still working on those tight bands of tissue I have on either side of the inside of my mouth. She says that she's seen scar tissue like this before, but not quite this bad. It feels like they are guitar strings that you could strum going from the back upper corner of my mouth down to the lower corner. Some days I wish I could just pop them, because I feel like those bands are the only thing keeping my mouth from fully opening. I have been at nearly 30mm for several weeks now, but finally yesterday after a lot of manual work my opening went to 32mm! (that's about 2.5 fingers width) I am just so excited to break that 30mm mark, because now I know that progress can be made!
My diet is slowing improving. I am now eating chicken nuggets, saltines, and some breads. I still struggle with harder foods (nuts are still far in the future for me) and thinner foods (like spaghetti and lettuce) as I can't quite seem to bite them well enough. But overall I am back to my pre-surgery soft food diet (like the days after I would get my braces tightened) so its really not bad.
The pain has really gone down dramatically. I can almost go a whole day without thinking about my jaw at all! The braces and rubber bands are now the largest inconvenience as I am very much over needing to take them off and re-apply my rubber bands every time I want to eat a small snack.
The lower lip and chin are still numb, but I haven't given up hope that the nerves will grow back *fingers crossed* It wouldn't matter quite as much, but when I do a lot of talking I still feel like I am drooling a lot, which frankly isn't very attractive or professional!
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| Look you can see my uvula again ;) |
