Recovery Day 26

   Hey guys sorry for not posting in a while, its been a crazy past few days! But after all the chaos i am relieved and proud to say i am a resident of San Antonio, Texas and a student at UTSA! Lately I have been so preoccupied with all the college fun that i haven't even noticed how much my face has progressed!

   I have been able to talk a lot better but it is still a little rough! I would say the swelling is present but not too noticeable. But it is gradually going down! The numbness is still present, the inside of mouth is pretty much nonexistent to me! My nose is finally starting to work a little better but i am afraid of sneezing. The pain isn't even a thought or an issue anymore, my jaw is still pretty weak though. I have been trying to stretch out my mouth when i have a chance. I am still at least 2 months away from even looking close to the final product!

   As far as my appetite its been here and there! The awesome thing though is that i have been able to eat a lot more different foods than the first few days without the splint! My jaw does get sore while i am eating and my appetite does tend to disappear. There have been just a few times where i have felt light headed and have had to sit down! I went to Ihop with my parents and i was able to eat everything pictured above! I have also eating fish and chips and ravioli! It has been awesome! Today i even tried a pizza slice, sure it took me 20 minutes but i was able to put it down!

   The whole experience in San Antonio has been pretty awesome. I have been blessed with amazing parents and friends who have made everything very fun. I do miss my family but i know that this is the best thing for me heading into the future! I am living in a three story town-home with two of my friends and a very nice roommate from Saudi Arabia! I also have a bunch of other friends just a very short walk away, not to mention a very pretty girl i have developed a crush on!

   I would have to say this past weekend has been the best one since before the surgery! I am very excited for this semester and to see what it has in store for me! All i can do is take it day by day like i have been! As always thanks for reading my friends and to anyone who is about to undergo this procedure all i can say is DO IT. It is worth it i am only 27 days post op and i can say it is one of the best decisions i have ever made! Stay smiling my friends, this is Juan "The Handsome" Blancarte signing out for now! 

Recovery Day 22

   Hey guys so today i went to my doctor for the final time before i leave to San Antonio! I finally got my splint removed so my speech has improved quite a bit and i can chew now! Today i actually ate eggs for breakfast! OMG it was like a choir of angels was present as i put that spoon of deliciousness in my mouth! It was so good! For dinner i had baked fish and mashed potatoes! I could die happy now! The removal of the wire was a bit rough since there were quite a bit of wires in place to hold it! The most wonderful surprise was awaiting me when it was removed, the sight of a full set of teeth! :') The doctor said that all my teeth should be straightened out and ready to go by November which is very exciting! There is some soreness and its not too bad, most of the stitches have dissolved by now! I won't be back to see my doctor for another month so i can't wait to see the progress at that point!

   For anyone who has known me for a good amount of time, i don't know if you guys ever noticed but i had a lot of gaps in between my teeth and as mentioned before my top jaw was not aligned with my bottom jaw! Look at me now! They're not perfect by any means but this is my smile and with this smile i plan to brighten up a lot of days and to show it off when i can! How do i go from a very crooked unfinished set of teeth to this!? I'm just very grateful to have this happen to me! Put it in gods hands and he will come through! Today my mom cried the first time she saw my teeth and couldn't stop thanking the doctor! I want to thank you too Dr. Filler, for all of this and for making this happen! I know you said and it was your honor and your privilege to do this for me but i want to thank you, words will never be able to let you know how grateful i am!

   Well guys as always stay smiling and good luck to anyone who is about to go through this procedure! This is Juan "The Handsome" Blancarte signing out for now!

Recovery Day 19

   Hey guys whats up! I had my first shaving experience of the whole thing today and as everything else it turned into quite the life and death experience i was not expecting! I could not feel a single thing on my face and i also had to be careful with the stitches! So this coming wednesday i finally get my splint my taken out which will make everything so much better! The swelling still continues to gradually go down! The majority of the remaining swelling is around my nose and in my lips! I have really big lips right now! Had a friend tell me a while ago, "Maybe Beyonce will confuse you for Jay-Z", yup still has not happened! Im starting to be more social now and everything is getting a lot easier! I also leave to school on friday so i should be good to go by then! Ill try to post on the day of my appointment! Oh and another thing i wanted to touch on, i was really excited to buy clothes since i had lost 27 pounds and guess what?! I am still the same freaking size! Almost 30 pounds later and i haven't lost an inch!

   So theres the latest picture from today guys! As always thanks for reading dudes and good luck to anyone who is about to go under the knife! Stay smiling and keep eating my friends! This is Juan "The Handsome" Blancarte signing out for now!

Recovery Day 16

   Hey guys whats up! Sorry for not posting yesterday, i wasn't feeling it haha Well i had my first post op appointment yesterday and the doctor says I am doing better than expected. He says i still have around 25% of the swelling left so i still got a bit to go on that. The numbness in my face should go away in 6 months to a year. Its a lengthy process but if this procedure has taught me anything, its patience. My splint is still in place, he says that he normally doesn't remove it until the 5 week mark but seeing as how I am leaving to college next friday he's taking it out on Wednesday! The full liquid diet is here to stay for at least another 2 weeks. My weight loss up to this point is up to 27 pounds. The antibiotics are almost out, just two more days! My social life is starting to return slowly! I made my first public appearance yesterday! Let me share the highlight of my day yesterday with you guys! So i was at the store and i was looking around and i had a friend come up to ask if i needed help and i went to shake his hand to say whats up. He did not recognize me! He hesitated on the handshake, he looked at me for a few seconds and then he finally recognized me! Hahaha! It was awesome!

   I finally got some front shots for you guys! These are pretty cool too but for me they're not as exciting as the usual side profile shots! The biggest difference i notice in this pictures is in my nose! Thats just me though, what do you guys think? I think i also  look exhausted in the third one! Well guys as always thanks for reading and to anyone about to undergo this procedure good luck to you! Stay smiling my friends, and EAT. EAT EVERYTHING YOU CAN. JUST EAT. This is Juan "The Handsome" Blancarte signing off for now!

  

Recovery Day 13

   Hey guys, well im getting a lot better in the swelling department! Plus just one more day and i finally see my doctor for the first time post op! I only have to take my medication for 4 more days so thats good also. Eating and drinking has become a lot easier and I am exploring the possibilities of what i can eat but it is all still liquid. My nose is healing quite nicely too, and up to this point i have felt absolutely no pain. I am not feeling as fragile as i was the first week. I can finally sleep in different positions besides just facing up. The drooling has also cooled down, i can actually feel the drool on my face as opposed to not feeling it until it hit my chest. The congestion in my nose has finally cleared up. All looks well from here guys. The hard part is finally over and i just have to let my jaw heal day by day. Hopefully i can catch up on my social life pretty soon! Thank god for Netflix!

   The progression in the picture is Day before surgery, Day 7, and Day 12. The swelling has gone down quite a bit so hopefully soon i can get a good idea of what the final results will be. As always thank you guys for reading this blog, make sure to share it please, and to those who are about to go through this procedure, i wish you the best of luck! I'll try to post on the day of my doctors visit and ill try to post some front shots! As always this is Juan "The Handsome" Blancarte signing out for now!

Recovery Day 8 / First Before and After Pictures

  So hows it going guys, nothing too new over here! Im feeling better and better with each day that passes. The swelling is slowly starting to go down, i want to say i have finally entered a little routine! Usually ill wake up drink my meds then ill have a tropical smoothie, then some soup and apple juice for lunch and the same thing for dinner. I am proud to say the syringe is completely out of my life! Most of my day consists of Xbox, Netflix, and a few books I have decided to read. I must say i am not as bored as i thought i would be. I have my first post op appointment next Wednesday, so just one more week! Its crazy that its already been 8 days since my operation! You know the first few days were definitely the hardest, and i know i even told a few people that i didn't know whether i had made the right choice. It was a decision based on what i had experienced for almost 20 years of my life and it was scary to say the least. The first few days were really kicking my ass, i want to say it was a near depression. I was completely miserable, i found myself wanting to cry on one than more occasion. Then i found what i was looking for, and that was reassurance that i had made the right choice. This is about the rest of my life, its a challenging 3 month recovery, but after that this will just be another chapter. I know i have made it through the hardest week fo them all. That leads me to these ridiculous pictures guys! These are the first before and after shots at the one week mark.

   I'll go ahead and say it right now, this was most definitely worth it. To anyone who is debating whether to have this surgery, do it. The risk is worth the reward. The changes are just awesome and i still have 11 more weeks to get my final results. Once again i want to thank my doctor and his whole team who helped accomplish this. Words can't even begin to describe what this means to me. After years of stares and mumbled comments i can finally not worry about being self conscious or what my side profile looks like. As alwasy thank you to everyone who is reading this, and to those who are going to have this procedure done good luck to you. Stay smiling my amigos :) this is Juan "The Handsome" Blancarte signing out. 

  

Recovery Day 6 / The Miracle Of The Straw

   Hey guys well not much to update today pretty usual stuff but there has been some progress! The swelling is coming down and i am proud to say that i look somewhat human again. I have also received the amazing gift of being able to use a straw, it has totally made this whole recovery a whole lot more endurable. On a scale of 1 to 10 the pain at its worst has been a 2, seriously i haven't even taken pain medication since Thursday and that was to help me sleep. I'd say thats pretty good after having my face rearranged! Sleeping has become a lot easier also, the problem with not always getting enough sleep though is that when i yawn it hurts and i have to try to hold it back but even then its not so much pain as it is annoying. I've also been doing little jaw exercises, nothing much just closing and opening my mouth. I should be seeing my doctor in a little under 2 weeks and i honestly can't wait. For one i will most likely not be swollen anymore and second reason is that hopefully i can get this splint removed. The only reason i can't even eat noodles or pancakes is because the splint in my upper tooth will not allow me to chew! What i would do right now for just a cup of ramen noodles. Anyways now that i am on the subject of my liquid diet, last Tuesday i weighed in at around 216 pounds and this morning i stepped on the scale and the number 197 came up. That is a 19 pound weight loss and a total of 8.8% off of my weight!! Thats freaking crazy, once again i am not complaining haha

   Well guys as always thanks for reading, and good luck to anyone who is about to undergo this procedure. It is not as bad as you think, just a lot of patience! Stay smiling my friends, signing out for now, Juan "The Handsome" Blancarte.

Recovery Day 4/ Home!

   Im finally back home! I can't even express how excited and relieved i am to be home guys. Im finally free, the swelling has gone down and hopefully ill be at normal size in 1 week. I had a good few days and i was very to lucky to meet some awesome people including my nurse, Jenny. I want to thank you Nurse Jenny for making the past few days so much easier and showing my mom as much kindness as you showed me. You were truly a blessing, and my mom and i just want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts! 

   The only thing i can complain of right now is the diet, i miss eating regular food so much. Every time im laying down and catch one of those fast food commercials, i DIE a little inside. Don't take chewing for granted people. Another thing, showering is so scary when you can't feel your face. I can't even feel the water hitting me. I can't breath. It is a life changing experience. Hahaha 

   I got all my meds too. I got some antibiotics, decongestants, and of coure pain killers. The pain isn't even that bad. Another terrifying experience is swallowing capsules when you can't swallow correctly. Oh man it is horrible, you feel like you're going to choke and die. As far as the food i have taken a liking to tomato soup and to pineapple mango smoothies! I've also lost 10 pounds since Tuesday! Well hopefully the swelling goes down soon guys and i can make more progress! Thanks for reading, stay chewing my friends, signing out for now, Juan "The Handsome" Blancarte.

Recovery Day 2

   Whats up guys!? So today has been the worst day pain wise, my face feels extremely swollen today but everyone is telling me that it has gone down. I think im frustrated for the most part, im just tired of staying in the hospital and having to eat through a syringe. Last night they took out my rubber bands so i have been able to open my mouth a little more. They also started taking me off the IV and off the pain medication temporarily! My body was so sore today, my heels and thighs were killing me. When you're under the knife your body still reacts to the pain and it constricts! Just imagine constricting your butt cheeks for 6 hours hahahaha The good thing is that now i am able to stand up to go to the restroom and to walk around!

   I haven't seen my doctors yet today so hopefully they give me the good news that i can go home soon! Its getting a little easier to eat but the swelling does bother me quite a bit! Today i had a little scare when i moved my head forward and all this mucus and blood started coming out of my nose! Scared me big time hahahaha Im really happy that all the nurses and everyone else around here have been very patient with me and helping me out as much as they can! 

   At least i got a tv in here! I've been watching nothing but NFL Network and The Olympics. A 16 year old girl won 2 gold medals and i am here recovering from jaw surgery hahahaha Hopefully i go number 2 today i think thats the only major obstacle i have in my way of letting me go home! I wanna say i slept last night but not more than an hour at a time, it was just uncomfortable and i also had to wake up to get my blood pressure and temperature taken! Hopefully tonight will be my last night here so i can rest and recover at home! 

   Once again guys thanks for reading and ill make sure to post as often as i can! To anyone who is getting ready to have this surgery done, good luck to you and it is not as bad as you think! Thanks for your time guys! Stay smiling my friends! Signing off for now, Juan "The Handsome" Blancarte.

Recovery Day 1

   Whats up guys! Well im doing awesome! I can open my mouth more and i don't have a catheter anymore so i can pee whenever i want! I haven't been able to eat anything just yet, all i have had today is Oj, Coffee, and Iced tea!

   This morning they gave me some jello, grits, health shake, coffee, milk and some orange juice! I could only handle the pure liquids! I can swallow but not too well! I've lost a few pounds already! Now i got some really awesome pictures to show you guys of the results! I finally got the CT scan pictures i took last night, and i must say the results are pretty amazing! I wish my swelling would go down already so i could see them! 

   On the left side i have the before pictures! As you can see they moved all my upper teeth together and theres a huge incision right down the middle of my upper gums! you can see the doctor did an awesome job on everything! The next picture is the one i extremely excited for!

   Isn't that just awesome? I was ecstatic when i saw these bad boys! Seriously guys this is way more than i ever expected! You can see major changes in these pictures, my teeth are now aligned correctly, and you can see the screws on my lower jaw. My nose also had some work done hahahaha Yes folks i have received a nose job. Aren't these pictures ridiculous! Thats just bone structure though, we still have to see my real face. At this point I would like to thank my doctor, Dr. Trent C. Filler, and his staff for this truly amazing job! You guys have no idea what this means to me, this is life changing to be quite honest. I've been telling everyone that my life is going to be split in two parts, before the surgery and after the surgery. I will be forever grateful to everyone who played a part in this, i would also like to thank Nurse Jenny for being wonderful and really caring! This is the start of a whole new act in my life, i just don't know how to thank you guys enough, and of course above all thank you to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for watching over me and blessing these doctors with amazing talents! 

   Huge shout out to these guys for making my day! My friends Jose Guillen, Luis Ramos and Eric Herrera! Thank you guys for visiting me and cheering me up. I love each and every one of you, it means a lot that you guys would take time out of your day to come and visit me. I'm glad you guys were able to be there for me during this whole experience and i appreciate the support! 

   Thats the most recent picture of me hahahahaha I should get a good idea of what i'll end up looking like in two weeks or so. For now all i can do is wait! This whole hospital experience has been amazing thus far, i have no complaints whatsoever! Once again as always thank you for everyone who asked how i was feeling and thank you to all those who are reading this blog, i hope you guys enjoy reading these as much as i enjoy writing them! Ill try to post again tomorrow guys when i am finally at home! This is Juan "The Handsome" Blancarte signing out for now, thanks for reading guys!

Surgery Day/ Post Op 1

   So whats up dudes! Sorry i didn't post earlier i wasn't feeling to awake hahahaha Im telling you they got me on all these good drugs! Well i had an awesome experience before and right after the surgery! I came in and they got me set up! The most surprising part is that the most pain i have felt is when they put in my IV! The scariest part for me is having this catheter! Its a tube in my pee hole that take out the pee!!! I was like hell no when i woke up but i got used to it hahaha

   Thats me in the morning rocking the teddy bear outfit! It was scary because they couldn't find my vein and i mean the gauge of the needle wasn't exactly a small one either hahaha After that they took me into the operating room and i don't even remember falling asleep! Next thing i know i woke up and couldn't feel a single thing!! The doctors say the surgery started at 8:41 am! I woke up at around 3! Next thing i know my parents show up and im having my picture taken! 

   When i first saw myself i thought i looked something out of planet of the apes!! I was like got dayuuuum! The doctor also said i did a lot better than expected and i am recovering well! At this point i still couldn't feel a damn thing! But hey i wasn't complaining! The only thing that bothered me was that i couldn't swallow and the frist time the used the suction tube the only thing that came out was blood and phlegm! Gross forreal! I haven't been able to sleep for more than 2 hours straight but i don't feel too tired! All i gotta do is press this little button and i get some drugs into my system and im able to sleep again! I didn't get moved into a private room until midnight! Then at around 3 am they took me to get a CT scan! My mom also told me that the doctor took a lot of pictures and video of the operation! Hopefully i'll be able to get my hands on some of that! 

   I'm not able to talk very clearly but i can talk! I've learned the very awesome talent of smiling with my eyes! Hahahaha Guys i can't even describe how hot it feels in this hospital bed! I can't stop sweating! My mom says she can already see that i am going to look different but i can't really see it! Also i haven't eaten since Monday night, i haven't drank anything either! Im also getting hiccups which isn't too pleasant after having your jaw broken hahahah I felt something in my mouth earlier guys and the sad part was that it turned out to be a full set of upper teeth! I didn't even know what having a full upper set of teeth felt like! Im feeling great though guys!

   The swelling was supposed to reach its peak today but i actually think it has gone down! I can open my mouth and talk a little more clearly but only to a certain extent because there are rubber bands holding my jaws together! Im either going to go home today or for sure tomorrow guys, but i wouldn't mind staying another night to be on the safe side! Hopefully i get to drink water and eat today hahaha I had dreams of food! Can you believe that! Well thanks guys for all your support and get well wishes i couldnt have done it without you guys! 

   Ill try to post later on again guys! Thanks for reading! See you soon!! This is Juan "The Handsome" Blancarte signing out temporarily!