Day 31 - Freedom

As I might have mentioned before (hehe), I went to see the surgeon on Thursday to have my splint removed. HEAVEN!!!!!!!!! The removal was painless, just a few snips of wire and it was out. I also had some stitches that hadn't worked their way out so those were removed, as well. Everything inside my mouth looks good and I'm healing nicely. Oh, the freedom to open my mouth was amazing! Different from the other times because now, I didn't have this large piece of heavy plastic to get in the way of anything!!!

Finally.....a smile without the plastic!

And THIS is the man that took me apart and put me back together again. Meet Dr. Posnick!

I'll go back to visit Dr. Posnick in three weeks where he'll check my bite and make sure I'm progressing well. I still have a lot of swelling in my face, (much more than pictures show) and he told me it will probably be a full 6 months before everything is where it should be. My smile looks funny, but this will all work itself out, it just takes time. The best news of the day - I was given the okay to get my life back - begin chewing and eating again! Soft foods to start.....I'm okay with that! It will take some getting used to as my jaws are in completely different positions than they have been for the last 39 years and there may be a little pain with chewing, but that's all to be expected. I'm okay with that, too! Ahhhh, but first things first. Since they had to cut the wires of my braces during surgery (to attach the splint), the next stop was to see Dr. Gerlein to have the old wires and surgical hooks removed and new wires and powerchains put in place. And what fun THAT was! It was Hawaiian Day at Gerlein Orthodontics!!! Here is the awesome man who now has the job of giving me a smile to be proud of - Dr. Gerlein!

I finally feel like we're making progress and that there really is a light at the end of the tunnel. I feel like I've got some of Aimee back...I've missed me!

Thursday evening agenda ---------- dinner at Chez Andree!!

...To Be Continued...