Ask Bella: The basics

Q: What exactly was done in the surgical procedure? Was it upper or lower jaw? What was done?

A: My lower jaw was advanced 4 mm. I was in braces for two years and then had the surgery on Feb. 12. It was a bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO) where they bisect the bone, slide it forward on itself and then secure it with three screws on each side. The screws stay in my jaw forever and don't dissolve. I have my X-Rays posted on the site, before and after, as well as an animation of what the surgery involved and actual pictures of someone getting the jaw surgery (very gory, just so you know.)

Q: How far along in recovery would you say you felt "normal" again (little to no swelling or bruising, easier to eat/drink/talk, etc.)?

A: I did a lot of research about homeopathic and natural remedies before the surgery and I feel like those really helped me get the swelling and bruising down fast. My swelling and bruising was pretty much gone after two weeks. If you can get the swelling down quickly post-surgery, it's easier to talk and be understood as well as eat when your jaw is wired shut.

After I had my jaw unwired, I was unable to chew anything - just eat mushy foods, as my muscles were quite weak. At about the six week mark, I was eating most things without problem, though at the 4 month mark, there are still things I can't eat, like fresh veggies and other hard, chewy foods. My surgeon says it will be six months post-surgery before I can eat everything.

*To ask Bella a question about her jaw surgery, email her at smilingbella at gmail dot com or leave a comment on this post. Go ahead: ask away!!

Homeopathic healing

A lot of people have expressed amazement on how quickly my bruising and swelling went away. While I maintain that a positive attitude does make a difference when you're healing from major surgery, I certainly don't credit alone with my progress.

Before my surgery, I went to see my naturopathic doctor and she prescribed a number of homeopathic remedies and supplements.

Homeopathic remedies operate on the principle that like cures like. So, if something in great amounts causes a headache, then the theory is that a very, very, very small amount of the same thing will cure a headache. Homeopathic remedies dilute those substances to microscopic levels and then use them to treat that ailment.

There is a constant debate going on as to whether or not it really works. In my experience, it has. But everyone is different. The way I see it is there's no harm in trying. If it works, it works. If not, the remedies are relatively inexpensive (I paid $7 per vial, Canadian Dollars, for mine), so you're really not losing anything.

My arsenal of non-drug remedies.

This is what my naturopath recommended for me (please consult your doctor/surgeon/homeopathic practitioner before taking any supplements):

1. Arnica Montana, 200K pellets. One or two pellets at a time, taken away from food, as often as needed to reduce bruising and swelling.
2. Hypericum Perforatum, 200K pellets. One or two pellets at a time, taken away from food, as often as needed to reduce nerve pain.
3. Calendula, 200K pellets. One or two pellets at a time, taken away from food, as often as needed to heal wounds post-surgery.
4. Thiosinaminum, 6CH pellets. One or two pellets at a time, taken away from food, as often as needed to break down scar tissue.
5. Wobenzym N., enteric coated tablets. One tablet three times a day, taken away from food, to break down inflammation. (Note: Wobenzym contains Bromelain, a digestive enzyme made out of pineapple. I know of a lot of jaw surgery patients who just take Bromelain, which would have the same sort of result if you're unable to find Wobenzym.)
6. Traumeel, oral drops. This is a complex homeopathic with a variety of compounds in it. Five drops, three times daily, taken away from food, to reduce swelling, bruising and inflammation.
7. Vitamin B12. She didn't give me an amount on this, but said that it helped encourage nerve regrowth and reduce nerve pain. I found these great dissolving Vitamin B12 strips that I could put in my cheek while my jaw was wired shut and they would dissolve. Awesome!
8. Mediclear, protein and vitamin powder. One scoop in rice milk in the morning with breakfast. Provides protein essential for healing and liver support post-anesthesia.

If I had to do it again, there were some changes I would have made.

Firstly, I would have found as many of the homeopathic remedies in tinctures/oral drops to make them easier to take when I was wired shut. I used a method for taking the pellets called "pulsing" where you put a very tiny amount of water in a glass and dissolve the pellets in it before swallowing. It worked fine, but the usual method is to dissolve the pellets under your tongue. Drops would have been much more convenient.

Secondly, I would have started taking the Arnica and the Traumeel several days before surgery. You get a much better result that way. I took the Arnica just one day before, and I didn't start on the Traumeel until three weeks after the surgery. It turned out well for me, but it would have been even better to start earlier.

Otherwise, it's been going very well. I wasn't able to take the Wobenzym while I was wired shut, but I am taking it now. While I was wired, I focused more on taking the Arnica and Calendula as much as possible. Now that the swelling is mostly gone, I'm concentrating more on the Hypericum and the Thiosinaminum as well as making sure I'm taking my Mediclear every day. I added the Traumeel because I noticed there was just a tiny bit of swelling left that wasn't going down as much as I would have liked and I figured it would help.

The really nice thing about homeopathic medicine is that it is so diluted that it's impossible to take too much of it and it is not going to interact with any drugs, or so I'm told. It's kind of idiot-proof, which serves me quite well.

Through the wire

Kanye West recorded the song "Through the Wire" with his jaw wired shut. Good for him. As for me, I was just happy to get some tidbits of food through that wire. Rapping was the last thing on my mind.

I know I'm Little Bella Sunshine about my jaw surgery and all, but I won't lie: eating with your jaw wired shut sucks. And I use that term figuratively, not literally, because you're so swollen you can't even suck anything through a straw.

When I was in the hospital, I ate with the aid of this little prop:

Surprisingly, this device was not used to impregnate anyone.
Even though the antibiotics had rendered my birth control pills impotent.

That syringe was my lifeline. I would suck the liquid/mush through the tube, and then squirt it into the side of my mouth. In the hospital, they fed me things like meal replacement drinks, juice, pudding, cream of wheat, soup, etc. And then I had friends like Laura, who smuggled in Booster Juice, and Karen, who brought a delightful iced chai latte. Those drinks were absolute heaven and helped me make it through until I could go home and eat what I wanted.

The drive home from The Big City took more than two hours. Because a liquid diet doesn't stay with you long, I was absolutely ravenous by the time we pulled up to my place. I dreaded having to make some food. I was tired and achy and hungry and I just wanted something easy.

Then, I opened my screen door, and nestled inside was a Booster Juice with a nice little card from my friend The Bee. It was as though the heavens opened up and a choir of angels was singing just for me. That woman is getting the best birthday present from me this year, that's for sure.

Unfortunately, after that point, eating got a lot more challenging.

I began with the best of intentions: my freezer full of organic, vegan soups. I thought these would be what I'd be eating the entire time my jaw was wired shut, but it didn't work that way at all. I tried to eat them through my Zip-n-Squeeze bags, but the soups were too thick. I thinned them down with more broth, but they still got stuck in my wires. I realized that I would have to strain them to be able to eat them, but just thinking about straining all of that great fibre out of the soups seemed...wrong. I just couldn't bring myself to do it; it stressed me out. So, I shelved the soups until my jaw was unwired and I could appreciate them in all their glory.

My next attempt at "healthy food" was also a dismal failure. At the hospital, the dietitian had said something about blending oatmeal. She said to put it in the blender before mixing the water in, but I can't seem to follow instructions for some reason. Instead, I made the oatmeal and then put it through the blender with some milk and brown sugar and plopped it into a Zip-n-Squeeze bag. Bad idea. The blended oatmeal concoction turned into a gluey mess that barely squeezed through the tube. And it was much less appetizing than it sounds, trust me.

At this point, I turned to foods I knew I could get through the wires: Boost (with extra protein), yoghurt, pudding, hot chocolate, chai lattes, applesauce, juice, and commercial soups without chunks, like cream of tomato and cream of mushroom (put through the blender, of course), all supplemented with skim milk powder for extra protein.

Anytime I would deviate from the above list, my wires would get clogged with food and I'd be in the bathroom with my new boyfriend, Larry the WaterPik (I had moved far beyond George by this point.) I don't know how I could have done it without him.

Even with the "easy to eat foods", it took me about half-an-hour to eat anything. A cup of pudding. 30 minutes. A bowl of soup. 30 minutes. And in that time, about half of the food would end up on me. My lower lip and chin were numb from the surgery, so I wasn't able to feel where the spoon was going, or that there was food all over my face. The boyfriend got no end of amusement from this. Two-year-olds eat with far more panache than I did. In two weeks, I did more laundry than I had in the past three months.

Less than a week after the surgery, the boyfriend and I went to one of those sub sandwich places that also serves soup. I ordered the broccoli cheese soup. It seemed that it would work and I was looking forward to eating out like a normal person again.

The soup was quite chunky, so I picked out the bigger pieces with a fork and tried to eat around the rest of the vegetable pieces, slurping the creamy part off a spoon with my upper lip. After awhile, my wires got clogged (as usual) and I had to go to the restroom to brush some of it out.

When I came back, I decided to lift the bowl up closer to my mouth. Instead of lifting it straight up, I spilled it all the way down the front of my sweater. Fortunately, I jumped a bit, so it didn't end up in my lap, but rather all over the booth I was sitting in. Always a class act, that Bella. I was so frustrated, I almost burst into tears.

This was not going well at all. In my first week wired shut, I lost five pounds. Not that I'm complaining about that, but I knew that I needed to get my protein and calories in for my body to heal.

One day, I lost it and scooped peanut butter out of the jar and rubbed it against my wires, trying to suck it through my teeth. It kinda worked. But not really.

Another day, I melted down a chocolate bar and slurped it from a spoon.

I finally got so frustrated about getting food in me that I went to the grocery store and bought:

• Whole milk
• Cheese cake mix
• Chocolate whipped cream

The second week, I don't think I lost any weight at all. Particularly once I rediscovered root beer floats made with Häagen-Dazs ice cream. Mmmmmm.

I think my naturopath had a mild aneurysm when I told her what I'd been eating for those weird wired weeks.

Ah, well. I survived, didn't I?

Week two, in pictures

Here's my second week, post-surgery, in photographic form.

On Day 9, I went for lymph drainage massage.
This is a very gentle massage that helps reduce swelling.
I saw an immediate difference.
It was like the puffiness was melting away.
I wish I'd have started these treatments the day after surgery.

I was not a happy camper on Day 10. Can you tell?
I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me.
I just crashed. My whole body hurt and I felt really depressed.
I thought the surgery was just catching up to me.
That, or I was losing it.
I later found out that they give you steroids during the surgery and these get you all wired for about a week, and then you crash and go through withdrawal.
Glad to know I'm not going crazy after all.

By Day 12, the swelling and bruising was almost gone.
I'm starting to look like my usual cute self!

Two weeks after the surgery and there's no more bruising.
A bit of swelling remains, but I'm the only one who can see it.

A week in pictures

The first week, post-surgery, in oh-so-flattering full-colour.

This picture was taken right after the surgery.

A friend of mine commented, "You look so tired in this picture."

I responded, "I wasn't tired. I was stoned."

And the swelling begins.

I loved those ice packs like my own mother.

Determined to keep a positive attitude.
After all the high-fiving, I switched to a thumbs up.

The swelling gets worse, but surprisingly, I'm not dead.

The swelling peaked on Day 3.
This was my last full day in the hospital.

Finally at home.

Can you tell I was not a fan of Day 4?

And now, we have the oh-so-alluring yellow/green bruises.

On Day 6, the bruising was worse.
The liquid diet started to get to me.
I contemplated hunting down Mrs. Vickie and holding her ransom for a handful of her salt and vinegar delicacies.

The swelling's almost gone after a week. Yay!

A lovely shot of the stitches they put in my cheeks

(that's where they put the screws in.)

A close-up of my sexy bruises.

My wired and elasticized jaw.
A friend told me this wasn't what she expected.
"It looks like pimped out braces," she said.
Oh yeah. Rappers got nothin' on me.

My left hand bruising, where the intern screwed up my IV line.

I got the external cheek stitches taken out on Day 8.
I felt much less freakish afterward.

Look ma! No stitches!
It was insane how quickly these cuts healed.
By Day 13, you could barely tell I had ever had stitches there.