I can get 3 full fingers in..

ok, reading that back its not the best headline in the world and may even attract some pretty strange google hits...but I am really quite pleased that I can shove 3 fingers in. ;)

My jaw has been getting looser and looser, possibly due to the regular massage, but more likely due to my stubbern willingness to let my body do its own thing and try to allow my yawns to go the distance. They don't yet..but each time I am aware of a little bit more stretching, some tearing, an occasional fair bit of pain and ultimatly a wider and wider yawn.

Still can't quite manage to get a full blown yawn out but I do feel its very close, perhaps on the aniversary of my surgery?

And as a measure of how wide I can now open I can put 3 fingers in (no pinky's) without scraping teeth...Considering at one point I could barely put 1 finger in and had to squish food into my mouth, this is a huge improvement. Doughnuts no longer hold any fear!.

Nothing much else to report, physio is still ongoing, doc/dentist appointment on April 1st. Depression seems to be under control, though I have been putting off making an appointment with the counciller...not sure why...just want to see how things go.

Might have a crack at a big mac soon.... :D

oops sorry

Not been a lot to report, having regular physio facials with nothing much to say, aside from the fact the trainee physio has been having a go and a butterfly flapping on my face would have more impact...which is nice but probably not very effective.

I had a dental hygenist visit, much more sadism on show there, have to go every quarter for a couple of years.

And have a trip to the Doc and dentist lined up to discuss a plate in my right side as well as a possible implant on the left side to plug a missing tooth and improve my chewing ability. It seems the insurance are happy to pay for this so thats all good.

I'll update if anything interesting happens....

oh oh there is something, my mouth opening is definitly getting wider, through yawning, it hurts and sometimes it hurts more the next day but there is no doubt continued yawns are causing my mouth to open wider and wider.

Sadly still no sign of lip control so occasional biting of my lip when eating is still a problem, but at least I have a lot of feeling there now so I can feel when I am biting.

How much?

It seems I have to pay a certain amount of my treatments, the 1st €170 to be exact, got a bill in last week and asked the physio about it today. She explained it was the norm..

oh kay...well I guess thats just how it is here with insurance based healthcare there's usually something to fork out.

session was uneventful, am definitioly feeling the area around the surgery site is much softer and more pliable, even if a lump does build up I find I can smooth it away now..so progress.

getting soft

A very relaxing and enjoyable facial today, hopefully not follow up pain like last time.

Trainee sadist

Today my physio had a student/intern in and asked if it was ok if she try out a few moves...I had no issue with that and in fact becuase she was so scared to hurt me, it was actually a very nice head/shoulders/facial massage in the end, interspersed with some harder painful bits when she was being shown how to do it properly...whimper.

I'll be interesting to see how long it takes for her not to care if she's hurting me :), then she can graduate.

A few hours later though my face was really sore and twinging...so I guess even the gentle stuff does something.

I have my referral letter for my depression councilling, I need to give them a call to arrange times etc. I also got a script for 90 days worth of Prozac to keep me chilled out...then promptly lost the drugs on the way back from the pharmacy...I had to go back to the docs today to get replacements...ah well.

All taped up

As a result of some increased oedema and general swelling my Physio has taped up my face again in an effort to ease the flow, so to speak. Going to look a bit silly for the rest of the day but I don't mind giving it a go.

Physio was a little painful at times, as usual, but no real issues.

Depression is definitly lifting, I am feeling a lot more capable and while I won't go as far as saying I look forward to the challenges of the day, I'm not dreading them, which is good, consdiering I have a lot of school marking to get through as quickly as I can manage so I can look forward to an easy evening.

Doctor has sorted out a referral letter for me to go see the depression therapist and we'll hopefully start that pretty soon to round things off.

More physio next week.

Get Ready for new teeth

Had my follow up appointment with Drs van Gemert and Dr Mel, the dentist. They're going to try and use a simple false plate to start with, on the toothless side, since there's not a lot of bone available to fix anything long term.

If that doesn't work then they will do something a bit more drastic, which hmmm, I'm not sure about! Hyperbaric treatments and bone implants then teeth implants...All sounds a bit extreme and a bit of a long haul painful slog. We'll see how we get on with the prothesis 1st which while not giving me complete chewing freedom will help I am sure...it may work or it may not. I will give it a try. Dr Mel should start fitting me for it in April.

Also he's going to apply to the insurance to have an implant on my upper good side, to replace the missing tooth. The argument being that as that is my dominant side I want reduce any restrictions I have with chewing, crusty/sharp food for example is a bit of a no-no at the moment.
If the insurance don't go for it though I will pay for it myself, since I can see a major benefit with that, and tbh I had always planned on having that missing tooth replaced after my previous dentist broke it, splitting it in 2, resulting in its removal. We'll see what the insurance has to say.

Learned a new fact today...teeth which do not have opposites to bite down on, tend to grow down to fill the space...never knew that!! Its something to be aware of apparently.

Oh and finally he wants me to carry on with the physio, even if the benefits now are small it will help avoid problems with oedema build up so...might be something we have to keep up for some time.