3 Weeks Post-Op

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since surgery! Nothing much has changed since last week, except that I can smile a LOT more now! I'm still on soft foods but luckily I've been able to find a lot that I can eat. One of my favorite recipes that has really been helpful with getting protein is crock pot chicken.

For the chicken, you just put a few chicken breasts in the bottom of the crock pot, and cover them with a container of chicken broth (the large boxy ones, not a can). Then stir in 2 packets of taco mix! Low for 8 hours or high for 6 hours. When it's done, shred with a fork. The chicken gets so soft that it's really good for someone on a soft food diet such as myself.

One thing I've also been doing is eating baked potatoes with sour cream, crock pot chicken, and avocado on top. It's been very hard getting any vegetables because most of them are very tough, but avocados do the trick. I've also been drinking looooooots of Jamba Juice. That place is a life saver.

Anywho, that's the update. Eeeeep look at my smile! This whole thing has been SO worth it.

2 Weeks Post-Op

Today marked 2 weeks since my surgery! That went SO fast. I haven't blogged in a week, so I'll cover the past 7 days for you.

Last Wednesday (9 days post-op), I had my second follow-up appointment with Dr. Elliott. He said everything looked really good and that I could start chewing soft foods! This was the day before Thanksgiving, so it was really a blessing. I was able to eat the brisket that my Mom made, since she cooked it in the crock pot and it was really soft. Since then, I've been eating lots of potatoes, shredded chicken, pasta, and salmon. Still no pizza yet (my favorite food), but I think my arteries could use the break anyways.

We did Thanksgiving lunch with Zack's family before heading to mine. I'm not really smiling with teeth in photos yet because I still look really weird when I smile. But I guess I look weird either way?

This is me Thanksgiving night. I could kind of show my upper teeth; very exciting! 

Thanksgiving weekend really gave me a run for my money because it was filled with family and LOTS of shopping. I gained a lot of energy back since I'm allowed to eat more foods, but I still ended up losing 11 POUNDS. That can't be healthy. It will be great when I'm back to a full diet and can get myself back to a healthy weight again!

Today I went back to work! That was really exciting for me; I really love my job and all the people there. I also had a post-op orthodontic appointment at Chamberlain Orthodontics. Dr. Chamberlain said I'm healing faster than ANY of his surgical patients, and he's had a lot of 'em. SCORE! We took photos of my profile and oh my gosh, have I changed! It will change even more when all the swelling goes down, and I'll put up photos of my profile from before until the very end. But for now, check this out!

Hellooooooo, cheekbones! 

Here are some photos that I just took of what I look like now from the front. Every day I can smile a little bit more! Although I still look really weird and swollen. Whatever, I just had jaw surgery.

Well, that's that! I'll probably post again in a week or so. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! :)