clarinet playing

In the year and a half after surgery, playing the clarinet still hurt my jaw. If I'd play for a few hours or more - or many days during a week, I would get a lot of tightness and pain and headaches. I had to watch what I chewed at meals on days I knew I would be playing a lot.

Finally - edging on 2 years post-op, I can play with no restrictions. I'm in two pit orchestras right now and last week played 3+ hours a day PLUS what I do in my band classes and no jaw pain to speak of. Finally! Such good news, as clarinet is such a huge part of my life that I've had to essentially give up (or suffer through) over the past 4 years.

I'm back! And, my tone and intonation has improved and my high range playing (altissimo from high c to double high c, for you clarinet players) is GREATLY more in tune and much more reliable than before.

The good news just keeps on rolling...

splint: final take

I love my splint. It took months to be comfortable in it, and it still has problems, but it has changed my life dramatically. I have almost no jaw pain now. My range of motion is completely normal (no, not what it used to be, but completely normal).

I've been jealous for a year that so many people "forget" they had jaw surgery and move on with their lives - my painful jaw, small range of motion, constantly shifting bite, slight headaches and sore teeth were a constant reminder of the surgery I had in July of '09.

Now, there are days and days that I don't even think about the fact that I had jaw surgery. I can yawn without any pain (in fact, it feels good!), I can bite into anything I want to (though I still don't bite into anything hard, just force of habit), I wake up and my jaw is in the right place and stays there - little to no shifting. I can move my lower jaw side to side and forward/back (not as much as before, but enough to shift food around in my mouth and I don't notice the difference). I can play the clarinet for a good amount of time before I feel pressure in my joints (although, that's always been there). My flute playing is improving. I've had a total of around 5 migraines in 19 months.

I've been struggling on and off with a cold the past week or so, which makes wearing the splint difficult (since my splint is my retainer connected together, I usually need to breathe through my nose - it's difficult to breathe through my mouth) - at one point last week I spit it out in my sleep for the first time in a long time. I woke up with a dull headache and achy jaw! I even wear it when I take naps, not because I have to but because it makes it so much more comfortable.

I love my splint. It's a wee bit smelly and hard to take care of, but it's amazing. Love it, love it, LOVE it.

So finally... 19 months post surgery, I consider myself back to normal in range of motion, pain, and jaw mobility. My chin and face are still a bit numb, but it doesn't bother me in the least. I'm very pleased with my results - and very glad I went through all of that awful-ness that was jaw surgery and recovery.

range of motion and numbness changing

I have good news! In the past week I've noticed my range of motion improving greatly. I can fit 3 fingers in now - and fairly easily, though no room to spare. I haven't been doing any exercises or stretching, just living life normally - how awesome is that?

Another thing is that my numbness has been changing - I'm not sure if it's getting better yet but it's definitely starting that waxy-bugs-me-when-my-coat-brushes-against-it feeling again. Usually it results in a little more feeling. However, the numbness doesn't bug me at all - in fact, when I'm bored in meetings it's fun to play with "Hey! I can feel that... wait, nope... Hey!... nope"

Hope you are all well out there in ortho-blogging land!

I'm home! (Day 2)

I'll post more about yesterday later tonight or tomorrow sometime (I'm feeling a bit spaced out), but right now I'm feeling pretty good. The only complaints I have are the hip from the bone graft (ow!) and my throat is really, really sore.

I'm pretty positive that my lefort (upper jaw) was only a 1-piece because I don't have a splint (though, it's SO WEIRD to feel the roof of my mouth with my mostly-numb tongue without feeling ANYTHING on the roof-of-the-mouth side). I did have the genioplasty (if you look in that picture of me right after surgery, there's a funny sign that my surgeon wrote "do not touch chin"... cracked me up. I also had the lower jaw surgery - and everything went much quicker than expected - no problems at all. I'm banded really tightly shut, but only in the front so I can squirt food in the sides.

I'm home, loving the ice, dozing off a lot, and watching my face morph into something truly amazing - the bruising is already getting dark and I am SWOLLEN! Can't wait to show you guys pictures.

Thanks for all the support. Love you guys!

Day 2 pics:

Pictures

Here's a picture of Steph after her surgery and after the half marathon on Saturday. Two GREAT accomplishments! (Though technically, it was her doctor who did the surgery but Stephanie has to deal with the aftermath. =))

Update from Steph via Heidi!

The surgery went well and lasted only three hours. She unfortunetly had to get a hip graft which is (at the moment) the most painful aspect. She's not quite sure where the graft went. And worst of all, she will not be running any half marathons with me anytime soon! She had her upper jaw, lower jaw and chin all done. Best of all, she's feeling pretty good! Mainly because she's quite numb. Hopefully, that will continue as she gets home and the happy drugs wear off. =)

I'll post some pictures when I get home and have my camera cord.