Here is comes, almost a month post surgery! Since there isn't really much to say, I shall just make it short and sweet.

The swelling on my face has either completely or 90% faded away. As for food, I'm able to eat almost everything save crunchy or any that are too hard to chew, I had been eating much harder foods the past few days such as brownies, sausages and chicken rice (glad to finally eat rice once again) and didn't experience any problems chewing on them. I'm still anticipating the sensation to return on my gums and part of my lips which takes about 2-3 months according to my doctor.

I had another appointment with Dr. Danny today and it was a thorough one, had an oral cleaning and those rubber bands were back on each side of my jaw (not again...). I was supposed to have the plastic plates on my upper teeth removed but it broke in half last Friday while having my dinner and luckily, my mum was able to assist me in removing the hooks on them otherwise I would have to spend a hundred bucks at A&E. The rubber bands gave me irritation but thankfully it didn't affect my eating habits. I have also been informed by him that in two weeks time, the metal plates at my bottom teeth will be removed and be prepared for the pain that is about to come (oh crickey!).

I'm really glad that I'm finally able to almost eat anything as it was tormenting to stay away from so many of my favourite dishes and snacks, my lifestyle is back to normal I can say.

So it was National Day on 9 August and that means it was a public holiday too. I wasn't really bothered about the National Day Parade, it was monotonous from my point of view and there weren't any appeal compared to the parades held over 10 years ago. Instead, I thought of taking advantage of the day off to visit Gardens by the Bay with my girlfriend not only to see the flowers but to take lots of pictures on my trustworthy Nikon D5100.

There are two domes, the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest. We decided to visit both domes and paid $15 for both entrances as there was a National Day promotion going on during that period of time (Usual price is $20 for local residents). We visited the flower dome first and upon entry, there were various zones with different flowers to welcome us. It took us roughly two hours to complete the first dome and my review of this dome is a worthy visit. Here are some of the pictures I took from this dome.

   

Next was the Cloud Forest, and the main attraction is the waterfall which is about 8-9 stories tall. It was quite cold the moment we entered but that was nothing for me to be honest as I'm used to even colder temperatures. The real tour starts from the 7th level and spirals down till the basement which leads to the exit, each level containing a different theme such as cloud walk which is an aerial walkway around the top of the mountain giving both a closer view of the epiphyts growing on the outside of the mountain, and a view from above on the entry level below. The Cloud Forest is slightly smaller than the Flower Dome but it is higher and replicates the cool moist conditions found in tropical mountain regions in South-East Asia, Middle- and South America. whereas the latter replicates a mild, dry climate and features plants found in the Mediterranean and other semi-arid tropical regions. Below are some of the pictures from this dome.

Overall, it was a worthy visit to the Gardens with a different and a new experience but I wouldn't go too often. A great day off spent without regrets.

It's almost 2 weeks since I underwent surgery and recovery has been going well. The swelling has gradually reduced and it should take at least a few days to a week more till it fully goes away according to my surgeon.

I had another appointment with Dr. Danny in the morning today to get my stitches and rubber bands removed. The nervousness of getting my stitches removed came to me when I entered his room as I've read up from some other bloggers online the night before that removing the stitches hurt. First, he removed the remaining rubber bands and did the usual oral cleaning before taking the scissors to remove the stitches *panicked!!!*, I was so nervous that I tensed my body as I could feel him removing them and to my surprise the pain wasn't that bad as expected, just felt like an ant bite (guess it was due to the result of him doing it slowly and gently as said by him :P). Once everything was done, he said that he would be removing the plastic plates on my upper teeth on the next appointment which will be 2 weeks later and being a hungry soul for harder food, I asked him if I'm able to eat a larger range of foods and his response was noodles, fish and pasta. (Yay not too bad, but I still miss my chicken rice and steak!!!)

Now that those rubber bands are gone, I'm finally able to move my freely and had a mini celebration rewarding myself with a Sundae from Baskin Robins (yummilicious!). I'm also finally able to chew in the middle rather than the side which I had been doing for years prior to the surgery, it felt a little odd but guess that's how it goes for natural human instinct *khekhekhe*.

I'm really glad that everything has been going well and that I didn't experience any problems so far.

Hooray... one week has passed since I went under the knife and I'm feeling a lot better. 

The swelling on my face has subsided and I have begun eating more varieties of food such as spaghetti and, lasagne but solid food such as steak is still out for me. The only time I felt pain was when I laughed and being a person who laughs rather easily, I couldn't hold it and my upper jaw stung. 

Sleeping has been a lot easier and almost everything is back to normal, though I feel a little different as I have not been lifting weights and I'm waiting for the green light from my surgeon to resume doing it. Speaking has gotten easier too and I don't have much trouble moving my jaw, but the rubber bands are kinda irritating and food can get stuck in between and I will have a hard time trying to remove the food particles stuck.

Thank God that my recovery is going faster than normal and that I'm out of those ensure milk for good. I will be visiting my surgeon once again tomorrow for oral cleaning and change of rubber bands. Hope that week 2 will see the return of little harder foods. I miss my steak, chicken chop and satay!!! :(

(Day 4)

I woke up at 7.30am, to prepare for my appointment scheduled at 10am. Breakfast was the same as the past 3 days and still struggling to use the syringe, I even attempted to drink using a straw but it failed miserably.

After over 30 minutes of travelling, I finally arrived at the National Dental Centre to see Dr. Danny. The waiting time was less than 10 minutes, first he removed the bandages around my chin (like finally!), removed the rubber bands around my teeth and proceeded to clean them. I then proceeded for an X-ray and once again he was pleased with the result, to the point saying that I'm one of his best patients due to the expected speedy recovery. Lastly, he put on 2 rubber bands (one of each side) and all was done and the next appointment with him will be on Friday. 

Finally I was able to speak much clearer and the freedom of opening my jaws a little, I could even eat more varieties of liquid diet. The first thing I ate other than ensure milk was soya beancurd (tao huay) from Mr. Bean for dessert, as there wasn't anything prepared for lunch I had a can of vanilla ensure milk followed with a few scoops of ice cream with chocolate fudge (yummy!). Dinner was better as mum was home to cook those tiny letter pasta with chicken soup, boy did the sense of some sanity return. We then headed to the nearby supermarket to stock up on more liquid diets such as soup, horlicks and oatmeals for my meals the next few days.

It was definitely a sense of relief to be out of the syringe, ensure milks and using spoons and straws once again. Though my face is still puffy, it will eventually die down slowly within the next few days as told by my surgeon. It was also great to take my medication in tablet form as...  
IT TASTED HORRIBLE WHEN CRUSHED!!!

(Day 1)

I had a horrible sleepless night the day before but felt much better today. Gone were the dizziness and the urinary catheter was finally removed, though it stung like hell when the nurse was removing it, but hey there weren't restrictions any longer and could settle nature's call in one shot.

Finally, I woke up at 7am in the morning knowing that my surgeon along with his team would come to check on me anytime soon. They came and I told them of my experience the night before, everything sounded fine to them and said they would see once more later in the evening. I was then wheel-chaired down to the dental clinic to get my teeth cleaned and had an X-ray to check on the recovery. I was also taught on how to clean my teeth on my own, it was easy as I had no problem doing it after. After which, I saw myself on the mirror for the first time since the surgery and to my surprise, the swelling wasn't that bad as expected. Breakfast was my first time having ensure milk and it tasted jolly good, this would be used for all my meals for the next few days.

The remaining morning was spent dozing of trying to pass time and in the early afternoon, Sarah came down to visit and accompanied me throughout the next hour. It got pretty annoying having my mouth completely tied with rubber bands as all people could hear coming out of my mouth was "mmmmm" and being a chatty person, this was never my game. The only way to communicate effectively was through written or text messages. After Sarah left, I was transferred to the normal ward and attempted going back to zombie mode after having ensure milk once again for lunch but failed. When evening hit, Amri (secondary school friend) along with my mum and bro came down and kept me company till 9pm. My doctors came down once again and updated me on the recovery, they were pleased with the results shown on the X-ray taken earlier and said that if everything went as expected, I would be discharged by afternoon the day after (Sound of joy from the inside!) The IV was then taken off of me and felt the freedom of moving my left hand though the needle was still intact in case of any injections needed, I was also able to take a stroll around the hospital compound with Amri and accompanied him for dinner, ensure milk once again for myself and Ayam Penyet for himself (drools...).

The night felt young but I couldn't do much and anticipated my discharge.

(Day 2)

I slept much better last night and woke up at 7am once again, anticipating the arrival of my doctors to drop the good news. When they finally came down, they did a thorough check on me and said the words I have been anticipating "All's good, you will be discharged by afternoon". I grabbed my phone and sent a mass text to my mum, girlfriend and friends informing them of my discharge and left the hospital by 12 noon. 

I was prescribed antibiotics, panadols and supplied with cans of vanilla and strawberry ensure milks. Sandra arrived at the right time to pick me up and was my speech translator for the day, we took a cab to my home and got myself to shower the moment i arrived, I felt so fresh and excited to pass the day as I usually do.

In the evening, Sandra and I went for mass at Holy Family (Though I was just discharged, I'm still mobile and fit of course!) and accompanied her for dinner at Katong Laksa. It got real depressing after the sight and scent of the food got to me as I'm still on ensure milks and it got stale, but the words of encouragement from Sandra kept me standing firm and I said to myself that this suffering is only temporary for a lifetime result. I wore a mask out to conceal my bandages and puffy face as being a self-conscious person, I wasn't ready for others to see me in this state.

When I got back home, I had my dinner and it took longer than usual due to the sudden usage of syringes and I wasn't used to it yet. I just couldn't wait for my next appointment on Monday to remove the bandages on my chin which got real annoying,

25th July 2013 has finally arrived and it's time to fix my underbite yipee-ki-yay!!! Woke up exactly at 5.00am after receiving a wake up call from my friend whom will be accompanying me for admission (Thanks Sarah! Owe you a meal).

Registration went smoothly and once again I was on the receiving end of the needle for blood test (counted to a total of 8, had blood donation for this surgery a few days earlier and the nurses ran into some trouble, oh great!). Thank goodness I had companion to chat with as I would be completely silent 9 hours later. After donning the surgery gown, it was time to proceed up to the operation theatre. Said goodbye to my friend and sending messages to my mum and other friends to update them, after which I proceeded up and was being stretched to the operation theatre. A team of surgeons were there (along with Dr. Danny Tan) to greet me and were all prepared for the 7 hours long surgery. Once again I received the needle not once but twice (that made it a total of 10 times for the week) for IV drip and my pack of blood to be donated back to myself, the last moment I recalled was Dr. Tan saying "Everything will be fine" before getting passed out by the general anaesthesia.

I woke up at approximately 5pm and the first words I heard were "The surgery was a success", 9 hours have passed but I felt like only a few seconds have passed. There wasn't any pain, but the dizziness made me uncomfortable and nauseous, vomiting while my mouth was shut wouldn't be a pleasant experience so I tried my best not vomit and made myself as comfortable as I could. It took 30 minutes for my ward to be ready and by 5.45pm, I was on my bed. The first thing I wanted to do was for my hand-phone to be returned to be my side as I wanted to update everyone and inform them of my current ward. 

I had a few visitors for the night though I didn't had the energy to open my eyes nor speak due to the dizziness. First were my friends from secondary school followed with my mum and lastly my girlfriend along with her family and by 9pm the night was all to myself, the first thing that struck my mind was for this dizziness to fade.