7-31-2019 Day after MSE Installation

Last night was really rough. Pain meds wore off and I slept terrible. I was up every hour to get ice and was just so tense and sore. I got up at 5 am to get ready for work and ate a yogurt and a banana just fine. I just really have to brush and rinse and use the water pick after food. Also I gave it the first crank just fine! Yay! So relieved because I didn't allow myself any spare time this morning to have to fight with it. I did take an Ibuprofen 800 at 5:30 am though, and that kept me good through work until about 2 pm.

Shake for a snack, and a smoothie for lunch kept me going until I got home about 4 pm. (I did stop and get some soft groceries on the way home as well- sweet potatoes, canned beans, apple sauce, yogurt, squash, more shakes, etc.)

Dinner was a quesadilla with refried beans and cheese, all soft. I admit, I ate it so fast I was pretty hungry, but washed up just fine afterwards. I plan on just bringing shakes to work so I don't have to go through the whole routine in a public bathroom. (I drive a lot and don't always know where I will have lunch until I am there so this is actually convenient and a cost savings for me). Dinner will be whatever at home.  Bonus, maybe I will drop a few lbs. I am trying to lose 20ish anyways.

But yes, I needed a Tylenol 3 after dinner. I got my ice pack and chilled out for an hour and now my tongue just feels really sore and a bit raw. I talked more than I planned on today and feel that's the likely cause. Also a bit of a sore throat feeling.

Anyways, my jaw has been the worst part. Just from being so fatigued and awkward. The screws were the easiest part! And the roof of my mouth is just fine, I even brushed it a bit earlier. I am mostly anticipated my TMJD to be really flared up from my bite being in a state of constant change for the next year >_<

My next appointment in August 8th, which is about day #10 for a check up, at the orthodontist.
I do also have the personal cell # of the periodontist in case I freak out, have a question, something starts hurting, etc. So far, I still really like and trust them.

And oh, by the way, I was 100% expecting the 8 mm MSE. Turns out the lab fit the 10 mm MSE II in there! https://www.moonmse.com/mse

Good night! 😬

July 30th, 2019 - MSE Installation Day!

The MSE is in! The whole process was actually no big deal! If I can do it, anyone can.
However once the numbing shots wore off, the day got a whole lot rougher...

9:30 am I started at the Orthodontist. They placed the MSE and cemented it in. This took about an hour, just to make sure everything was clean, dry, and I understood how to use the key to crank it open. My direction was 1 crank in the morning and 1 crank at bedtime.

11:00 am I was at the Periodontist. They were so wonderful, gave me play by play updates as they did every turn and poke. 2 big fat shots came first- these were not pleasant but over quickly and were ok enough to handle. Felt like a chopstick going up through my palet, and through bone that's for sure. A few more smaller (4? 6? couldn't tell) shots were next and I really didn't feel much at all when the screws were going in. The ones on the left felt a bit twingey (like a nerve pain?) and the back right one was so squeaky (my bone was the squeaky part she said). And although I didn't feel it then, I do feel something it in my sinuses. Like when you go outside in the dead of winter and breathe cold air in real hard/a brain freeze, but in your nose. A cold metal feeling. Not painful, but a little weird. This all took another hour, but that included me paying and getting another CBCT scan. I didn't feel rushed at all though. They were so calm and casual my anxiety was eased. I totally squeezed a little pillow the whole time though, just in case.

For me though, the worse part was having my mouth open for 2 hours. I've had wretched TMJD for 20 years so it's so fatigued it feels about to fall off. Couple that with no place for my tongue, which is now exhausted, and the obvious now my bites off feeling = ANTICIPATED HEADACHES FOR DAYS at the least. I've been on ice packs since I got home. Bonus, The perio did call in some Ibuprofen 800 and some Tylenol 3 for me. BLESS HER. But now I can't wear my bite splint. I've been dependent on it for-ev-ver so I'm just going to be a mess until I get stable again. Hopefully today was the worst, but, I know my past and why I am here.

I ''worked from home'' most of the day and answered emails etc etc, but tomorrow I have to go sit though a class 6 am-2:30 pm. I'll take it because I won't have to talk much, but I have to figure out how to crank this and be presentable by 5:30 am -_- Booo.

Also, dinner was rough. Food gets ALL up in this thing. The legs of it are pretty far off my mouth so entire peas and bites of chicken got all stuck. It was pretty gross but I invested in a water pick and power washed it all out. Tomorrow for work, I'm just packing like 4 shakes and will call it good. Perhaps I will lose this extra 20 lbs finally.

Anyways, more updates soon.