Corrective Jaw Surgery (An Experience From Inside The Wire)

Post-Op Day 32

Day 32

Pain Level - 1/10
Discomfort Level - 2/10
Craving - Sushi... and lots of it!

those of you who aren't very familiar with me on a personal level should know that christmas.. is my favourite holiday of the year.
so much that if i could, i would set up my christmas tree in January for the following December lol.
unfortunately i am surrounded by others that DO NOT share the same obsession :p therefor my christmas decorations went up today instead of January!

Ive found a new found love in my life in the form of food, and even though its not the healthiest thing available it is mighty delicious regardless... so i would like to personally thank MrNoodles for all his hard work in making delicious tasting Ramen noodle meals lol.. and Kimchi which is actually slightly better but who cares!

Im starting to get pretty good at getting these damn elastics in my mouth now, they are so far back on my last molars that its tough to use the little fishing hook they gave me while I'm still somewhat swollen, though i do notice a significant difference already in my midline now which makes me very happy.
Im starting to feel a lot more comfortable being around other people as I've said in another post before this, but today i made my first youtube video (more of an intro) but still exciting to know that i am comfortable being on video again.

anyways here are my daily recovery changes.

Face is starting to regain feeling, pins and needles in my lips, chin and cheeks signifying feeling returning slowly.
jaw muslces unto my ear every so often twitches and aches, as I'm sure this is normal it does feel pretty painful when it happens
appetite is returning a little faster than id hoped as i still cannot chew the greatest nor am i able to as I've managed to bite a big gash into the sides of my lower lip due to it being numb and i couldn't feel it :(

Post-Op Day 35

Day 35

Pain level - 0/10
Discomfort Level - 2/10
Craving - Cheeseburger with Onion Rings

Elastic Position

Not much going on these last few days, slowly slipping into some kind of psycho boredom lol
CallOfDuty just isn't cutting it anymore as much as i love it.
I've been going out much more to be a little more social which feels great.
The only downside at this point is its snowing.... yeah... snow....cold...freezing weather... not okay with this right now as it hurts my face when the wind is strong enough.

Recovering updates

Face is still pretty numb on my chin, lower lip, and cheeks. although the (Pins and needles) are starting to happen on my chin et which is telling me the feeling is coming back. its almost as if my face is separated in half, meaning feeling is coming back more on one side of my face. especially my pallet, i can feel my entire pallet now on the right side but as soon as you touch the middle it becomes numb.
doing daily exercises with my jaw seems to be helping quite a bit as I've noticed the movement has become a lot more easy over the last few days. still pretty sore and feels as if i have some sort of lock jaw. but it improves everyday.
I am officially a PRO at these elastics now! getting them in doesn't even require a mirror anymore lol.
Ramen Noodles..... yeaaaa we had a good go.. but I'm gonna have to break up with you.. "Suh Dude"
No more drooling as of last week, which makes me feel a little more normal :)
aches and pains that were happening sporadically in my lower jaw and jaw muscles towards my ears do not seem to be happening anymore.
teeth are still completely numb which causes some tough times when attempting to chew soft food like bread.

Post-Op Day 38 iPhone 6S / DJ Business

Day 38

Pain - 0/10
Discomfort Level - 1.5/10
Craving - Cookie Dough IceCream

Hey guys and Gals!

jeez its been a couple days since I've posted but things are just pretty boring here for me lol, I've been getting ready to start working again as i upgraded my work life from my last job while recovering as well *GO TEAM GO TEAM*

I ALSO have my first official DJ gig this weekend which I'm insanely stoked for but also a little bit nervous :( I'm not 100% sure yet whether I'm ready to be jumping around going crazy to my music. but i need to get out of the house and enjoy myself before i start working again.

Highlight of my day today though is the fact i got my hands on this beautiful sexy piece of hardware... SOUND KINKY BUT SHE IS ONE SEXY LITTLE DEVICE!

THE IPHONE 6S... GOD IF APPLE WOULD JUST PAY ME FOR MY OPINION I WOULD WRITE ANOTHER BLOG ON JUST HOW PERFECT THIS PHONE IS... BUT THEY WONT SO TAKE MY WORD FOR IT!

Numbness - nose is no longer numb! WOOT WOOT but its a little sore since i found out right after surgery my surgeon had also given my humungous nose a well deserved tuck along with my jaw surgery :) WIN WIN
with these braces and jaws being manipulated everyday in weird alien like positions there is some discomfort in the day to day life right now, teeth feeling very stressed in some areas, gums feeling achy and my bite seems to be level on minute and uneven the next which i know is normal from before surgery due to my braces causing some shifts in my teeth positions.
swelling overall is doing great! i still notice some around the cheek bones and one side of my face is definitely a little more swollen than the other side which causes some slight slight insecurities when being in public :-P
I've noticed an increase in movement and strength in my jaws over the last few days though which is great, i can open my jaws quite wide as well which makes eating certain food and stretching a lot more convenient.
teeth are still numb unfortunately but i am starting to slowly feel the pressure in my gums when i bite hard enough. granted i have enough courage to bite down with a little force. i do find i clench my jaws quite a bit now which isn't the best feeling. happens more often when I'm relaxed or sleeping.

Day 38 (Update)

Day 38

UPDATE! Photos i received from Momma Bear!

So tonight while i was finishing up packing my bags and DJ equipment mom sent me some photos and videos of me while i was in the hospital...
READERS BEWARE... I WAS VERY DOPED UP IN THIS VIDEO... LOL
I Also decided to imitate to the best of my abilities some facial expressions... personally i think i nailed every single one of them 10/10 for me!

(was humming songs and they caught me)

(Thumbs UP Im alive!) (My SURPRISED Face)

(My MR.STEAL YOUR GIRL FACE) (MY SHOCK & AWE FACE)

Post-Op day 39 (SHOWTIME!)

Day 39

Pain level - 0/10
Discomfort level - 1/10
Craving - Garlic & Pepper Steak Sandwich :)

My First Cheese Biscuit From Tim Hortons!

TIME TO PARTY AND RAGGGGGGGGGGGE!!!

So today i the day i take my first attempt at being in a largely crowded environment dancing around and concentrating a lot more than i have been the last few weeks!
how will it go? will i pass out from the change of pace? will i be able to handle the large amount of exercise and movement? is this a dumb idea to be starting this kind of activities so early?
ALL THESE QUESTIONS RUNNING THROUGH MY HEAD AS I BUS TOWARDS MY DESTINATION 6 HOURS AWAY IN A TOWN CALLED CORNWALL ONTARIO.
i realize how much of my body mass and muscle mass has depleted over the last little while just by getting to the bus station.. normally carrying my equipment in luggage and my laptop bag with munchies for the trip and wtv else is a breeze.... NOPE!
IMAGINE THIS FOR A SECOND.. OR TRY AND ATTEMPT THIS FOR CLOSEST POSSIBLE EMERSION INTO MY LIFE TODAY.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Laptop Bag - ✅ Shoulder bag full of bricks - ✅
Luggage with DJ Gear - ✅ (VS Reality) XXL luggage full of Bricks - ✅
Munchies - ✅ Munchies that feel like I'm eating bricks - ✅

PM

Well its 4:00Am
just about to go to bed and I'm deciding to quickly let you guys know how my night has gone..
right now you should be saying to yourself... jees that is some kind of dedication Nathan... your amazing.. I'm gonna honour you by sending you a million dollars and a box of soft chocolate... maybe even if your a dairy farmer and want to send me a lifetime supply of Milk... yeeeees! :)

tonight was a great night actually! i had a lot of well deserved fun! felt outstanding to be able to enjoy myself like that again. although like i said with coming out here i do notice the amount of body mass and muscle mass my body has lost over the last little while. my energy level is completely absent after about half the work i normally do lol

GOOOODNIGGGGHT!!!

Post-Op Day 40 (MET RICK JAMES)

DAY 40 (Halfway There Guys!)

Pain Level - 1/10

Discomfort Level - 2/10

Craving - Tylenol / Advil / a new brain

I JUST WANT TO START OFF BY SAYING... RICK JAMES GAVE ME A RIDE TO THE BUS STATION IN HIS CAB TODAY... HES SUPPOSEDLY FROM INDIA AND MUCH YOUNGER NOW THAN EVER BEFORE... I GUESS COKE DEFINITELY IS ONE HELL OF A DRUG!

wow! i can't believe we are already at day 40... its been half the recovery time in our 80 days of this journey already!

i feel like it was last week i was just getting ready for this surgery to begin, getting shaven and eating all that food the night before.. I'm sitting on the bus making my way back to Toronto and all i can think about it how far we've come and how short of time it feels like it has been!

in a sort of sick way i miss being in the pain i was in.. i miss being or feeling helpless and uncomfortable.. maybe its because deep down I'm not used to feeling completely helpless and in distress due to my past football years and tough skin, as well as high pain tolerance.

or maybe its just me missing being taken care of lol!

all i know is a part of me is starting to dislike the reality of the fact that my life is getting back to normal now and I'm getting out of the "just gout out of surgery" mode I've been in for 40 days!

this weekend has been an awesome experience regardless, feeling things i haven't felt in a while and noticing things like lack of energy etc that i haven't noticed this much since surgery happened.

I'm overly tired though so this is going to be a short blog as i have an opportunity to sleep for a solid 6 hours without much interruption while listening to thunderstorm sounds from my iPod while i sleep peacefully :)

(yeah I'm that kind of guy by the way)

Post-Op Day 50

Day 50

Day
Pain Level - 0/10
Discomfort Level - 1/10

so im finding it extremely difficult at this point to find new and exciting things to talk about lately, hence why my updates have been so far spread out sometimes reaching even a week since last update.
BUT! i did notice in a lot of other blogs that this seems to happen quite often except for a special certain few. im assuming its because said few were being paid to do this thing whereas i am absolutely not.... unless of course you guys (the readers) would like to pay me... in which case my fee is simply $1,000,000.00 Canadian.... not much if you ask me.. you can afford it... just make sure its clean bills and only in 100$ and 20$ bills please.. NO CHECKS OR PAYPAL.. YOU SCAMMERS.

so whats new you may be asking. what has changed..what has gone wrong (for those with sick twisted minds looking for bad things!) shame on you!

well!

nothing really has changed all that much. swelling has slooooowly come down over the last week or so. im slowly regaining the ability to eat solid ish food like pizza (not the crust) and deep fried items like fries (not crispy) and mozza sticks etc. which ofcourse excites me beyond exponential belief.
i also started working again which im guessing is pretty HUGE and i did forget to blog about that the day it happened lol!
being back to work has been quite the workout process for me. the fact that i cant keep up with certain coworkers is also pretty tough due to the fact my level of strength and stamina, or sheer energy level has gone from 100% to about 40% at the moment. Ive also lost a grand total of 30lb over this surgery period and THANKFULLY i have started putting a little bit back on now that i can eat a tiny bit better.
other than that i will of course go through the traditional points of recovery process with you guys and gals so that you can see for yourself how im doing.

READY?

Numbness - chin is about 30% numb which feels great because its itchy as hell! although my lips are still about 40% numb, my teeth are still very numb id say 80% which doesn't exactly feel the greatest. the roof of my mouth is very strange actually and im not sure ive mentioned this ins my last posts or not but the right hand side of my roof is completely back to normal yet the left hand side is completely numb? wtf?
Swelling - well its hard at this point to tell how much im swollen still, in my eyes im hoping a little bit more than im seeing because it does look like im still pretty chunky in the face, HERES TO HOPING I DONT LOOK LIKE A CHIPMUNK THE REST OF MY LIFE :P
Pain / Discomfort - pain from surgery is virtually non existent, but there is some pain when chewing or yawning due to my tendants or muscles not being able to open as wide as im used to. Discomfort is still around here and there due to my face being in a completely different shape and place than what ive grown up 27 years in knowing. and ive noticed that at night i clench my jaws quite a bit now.. im hoping this could be simply from the elastics i have or my jaws getting used to their new home.
Eating - now this is the weird part of my recovery, im not jumping on every bit of food i can think of..... RIGHT? isnt that the weirdest damn thing you could ever see especially from ME the guy who raved and ranted about how hungry i was and how i would devour every bit of food i would come across when the day came... NOPE i mean i eat, well, and lots but im not as excited to eat right now as i was hoping to be.. and there are reasons.. the biggest reason is because i managed to chew a huge chunk of my lip on the left and right side nearly clean off one night due to clenching my jaws overnight. lips being numb meant i didn't feel a thing until i saw. so chewing at the moment comes with the occasional bite on the ouch spots... not fun