Picture (not so) Perfect

Late February,  I received the phone call I had been praying for from my OMS office.  TMJ concepts gave them an exact delivery date, and I was officially scheduled for surgery on May 8^th & 9^th.  I was relieved, excited, and terrified. 

Before I knew that my surgery was postponed, I scheduled professional photos on March 4th.  Since I have muscular spasms and tightness, I am frequently unhappy with pictures.  

The Friday prior to the date, I couldn’t get my youtube to work, so I had to read to my students.  A day of nonstop reading and talking caused my jaw to ache. 

That night several girlfriends came over to celebrate the birth of my friend’s baby.  We ate, we drank, and we laughed.  It was a fantastic night with a great group of girls.  

Unfortunately, the combination of talking too much, laughing, and eating must have been too much.  Not giving my jaw a break exasperated my symptoms, and I awoke at 3am in horrendous pain.  It hurt to breath, it hurt to walk, and my entire face felt like it was on fire.  I took an Excedrin and laid back down; however, I didn’t fall asleep for many hours.  I wasn’t even sure if I would make the photo shoot.  Once I fell asleep, I woke up numerous times.  Finally, I stayed up. 

I was tired and my left eye was dropping and twitching.  My head hurt and my hair was sensitive.  The left side of my head was in extreme pain.  It hurt to turn my head to that side and my vision was a bit off because of the twitching.    

Eventually, I sucked it up and met my two girlfriends (Danielle and Heather)  at our normal meeting spot.  Luckily, my friend, Danielle, drove to Miami.  I was still pretty miserable as my face hadn’t let up enough for me to get comfortable.

Once in the studio, we took turns getting our hair and make-up done. I learned that no amount of make-up can erase pain from my face.  I took pictures in four different outfits and in different settings.  

The photographer took approximately 300 pictures in total.  From that 300, I needed to narrow it down to six.  It was easy. Here is a montage of what I looked like in my most of my pics:
                    
                                                                                         I made strange faces:

                                                              In some pics I had a triple chin (how?  I'm extremely thin!)

Sometimes I thought I was smiling normally, yet I wasn't

And in several pictures it looked as though someone was performing an exorcism on me

Needless to say, my pictures were less than stellar.  In fact, even my mom said that I looked angry/unhappy in all the pics (which is ironic because I was having a wonderful day besides the pain).  My friend’s pictures, on the other hand, were fabulous, beautiful, and amazing. 

We all managed to pick six.  Then we walked to Wynwood, which is my favorite place in Miami.  Danielle took beautiful group pictures of us there.  Once I arrived home, I took a double dose of muscle relaxers and went to bed.

So why was taking pictures important to me before surgery?  I will use them as a reminder of what my face looked like previous to the stitches, the swelling, and  any strange side effects (like paralysis, etc). 

                                                                                    Look at my face-ugh.  I look miserable

                                                                          This is one of the better pics and I still don't like it

                                                                                 This is a cute pic of Heather and myself

I have decided to keep a photo journal of my post op for anyone who is interested and for those who are suffering with TMJ and having to decide whether or not to get TJR.  Though it goes against every inch of my vain existence,  I will look at it as part of the healing process.