The news continues to be good... he said my crossbite is correcting nicely (thanks to the 'in-to-out' rubber bands I have to keep on 24/7), and much to my surprise and delight, said he'll clear me for a regular diet in just three weeks instead of the five more I thought I'd have to wait. Basically, the bulk of my recovery is completed in twelve weeks instead of the projected fourteen. I'll take it.
Crossbite
He's right about the crossbite being corrected. I can feel my jaw meshing a lot better now; just a couple weeks ago my teeth were only making contact on the right side when I bit down (gently). Still, I'm going to have to make a decision whether to continue with orthodontic treatment even after post-surgery phase is done. Whether to correct the bite completely or just go with what I've got. Much as I'd love to have the braces off, I'm tempted to go ahead and get everything fixed while I have the chance. Properly aligning my jaw would help TMJ issues too.
Jaw opening
Speaking of my jaw, it's starting to open a little more. He didn't measure this time, but I can now get about a finger and a half between my teeth. Just a few weeks back, I couldn't even do one without a lot of stretching. Hurt just to get a kid's toothbrush in there to brush the backs of my teeth. Normal vertical range of motion for the jaw is in the 40~45mm range (distance between the teeth). Last he measured it (four weeks ago), mine was 14mm, the time before that (two more weeks before that, three weeks after surgery) was only 9mm. So it's coming along, and certainly being able to eat normally again and the simple act of chewing will help that process considerably.
Antibiotics
Other nice thing that happened is that I'm finally done with antibiotics. My last prescription ran out this past week, and he said no more. Hopefully there's no further danger of infection at this point. My lower digestive tract certainly hopes so.
Sleep
A full night's sleep, unfortunately, remains elusive for me. The apnea is gone, but the old sleep patterns remain. I tried a new drug prescribed by my sleep doctor this past weekend, called Remerel. A hypnotic like Ambien, but not supposed to be habit forming.
It certainly won't be for me. I tried it two days straight, and... it was completely ineffective. Had no effect on me at all; I still slept poorly. On the other hand, I do have one drug that does work quite well for me--Flexeril, or its generic equivalent, Cyclobenzaprene. It's a muscle relaxant I originally took when I started having TMJ issues back in 2010. I sleep quite well on it, through the night, with a minimum of hangover the next day. I'm considering taking it for a couple weeks to see if I can force my body back onto a good sleep pattern, though I know it'll be hard to come off of afterwards. Last time, it took a week.
Symptoms and solutions
Still, I wonder if that's just masking the symptoms of a greater issue. There are several problems with my sleep right now. My feet get too cold, but the rest of me is sometimes too hot. The memory foam mattress I have has worn out. Bed's not quite comfortable any more. Bedspread is too heavy. There's an anxiety element as well that's in part a survival response--All too often, I start to fall asleep only to awake with a start, like I'm afraid to allow myself to nod off. Why? Some of it has to do with the old apnea. Sleep was dangerous to me, and so my body still thinks, so I'm not allowed to fall asleep too deeply or too long.
I also have to admit there was anxiety for a while over whether my apnea was actually cured. I knew it was on my sides, was less certain on my back, since it was difficult for me to fall asleep like that and still is. Dr. Jelic noted this morning that he'd had patients who had the surgery, but were unconvinced they were cured until they had a sleep study--or several. So my issue is not abnormal there. My sleep study won't be scheduled until six months out, he said, but having successfully slept on my back (usually with drug help), I'm now convinced. I know what my apnea episodes feel like. I haven't felt any since surgery.
So it seems I have several things I still need to do to improve my sleep. Some of it is purely physical or environmental--A new mattress is probably in the offing, as is some new blankets and linens. What I've got is many years old. Some of it is enforcing good sleep habits; getting to bed at a reasonable time and not overstimulating myself or eating too close to bedtime.
Food
As to the question of food... the last two weeks have definitely been better. I found scrambled eggs too messy to eat in a non-chewing manner (got stuck in my braces something awful), but that weekend I made meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy and found them heavenly, just by virtue of the fact they were *real* and not a bastardized puree version of it (though I did still puree the vegetables I was putting into the meatloaf).
Went out to lunch with my coworkers for the first time since before surgery, to a pizza buffet place. No, I can't manage pizza (I'd give Dr. Jelic a heart attack if I tried right now!), but I *could* eat the spaghetti and meat sauce, along as the noodles were very finely chopped up with a knife and fork. Just kind of swish it around in my mouth and break it up with my tongue. Still a messy affair and cleaning up my teeth afterwards wasn't that fun, but the taste was wonderful. More lately, I found I could eat soft rice with some partially pureed Chinese General Tso's chicken over top. It helps. Still... three more weeks, and I can start actually chewing my food again.
Diet
Understand, that won't mean I can instantly resume my normal diet; I'll have to reteach myself to chew in my new jaw configuration and also restrengthen jaw muscles that have atrophied from lack of use over the past nine weeks. A small price to pay. What will I eat first? Well, probably not steak or anything else that's chewy or crunchy. A simple stir-fry would probably be okay, maybe some bbq pulled pork. Kind of ease into it. Even aside from the question of chewing, sandwiches or burgers remain out until I can open my jaw enough to accommodate them, so that'll likely be weeks more.
Hopefully by the turn of October, I'll be eating more or less normally again and pureed quesadillas or Bojangles (which I did two days ago) will be a memory. Be nice to be able to cook for real again and be able to go out with my coworkers to lunch once more. Other things I'm looking forward to? Being able to work out again. I'm now sitting at 175 lbs, meaning I've lost 28lbs since surgery... and a fair amount of muscle tone.
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