Pre-op round two.

I’ve just come back from my last ever appointment before the surgery and it was just to go back through everything – the risks, what I’m having done etc… And to have my pre op’s done again, these are just when they take your height, weight,  MRSA swabs and all that jazz.

This time though, one of the orthodontics team claimed I had to have some blood tests just to check what blood type I am, just in case I lose more blood than usual during the operation. Now, I know blood tests are nothing to worry about but in all of my 22 years I’ve only ever had one! So the thought of having one without warning freaked me out, I’m such a wimp! But the nurse who took my blood was so nice and chatty, it was over in minutes!

I’m a bit concerned though because my weight this time around is 2kg less than the last pre op I had for the cancelled surgery. How can this be? I’ve made a proper effort to eat a lot more than usual to try and fatten myself up because you do tend to lose a bit of weight during the recovery. Bizarre.

If anyone has any questions, leave a comment below and I’ll try my best to answer them, as you know three years in, I’ve researched a lot!

 I probably won’t post anymore till after the surgery, unless I do one the day before! But if not, I’ll see you on the flip side!

T-Minus 1 week till surgery & I get shingles!

 After what felt like months of waiting for an operation date, I was finally given one in August for November 4th 2016 .

I was all prepared, excited even (coming from the girls who 7 years ago was terrified at the thought of surgery!) It started to creep around very quickly, 10 weeks turned into 5 and then it was 2 weeks away!

It was my brother’s birthday the week before the surgery date and we went zip lining at Go Ape in Woburn Safari park (so much fun btw!), that morning I had developed a slight rash in-between my lower boobs and a pain that felt like someone had kicked me in the ribcage. I didn’t think nothing of it and just assumed I’d had a reaction to something. So we all celebrated my brother’s birthday and I ignored the now growing rash on my torso until I started feeling ill with it. The following Wednesday (two days before my surgery) my Nan was still worried about me and this rash that has got worse and ordered me to go to the doctors, thinking it was shingles. Me being me and only focusing on the surgery was in denial and was praying the rash would just bugger off. So off I popped to the doctors and was seen by a doctor and nurse and they confirmed that my Nan was 100% right (when are nans ever wrong?) I had shingles and they advised me to call my surgeon to see whether he wanted to continue with surgery.

 After speaking to the surgeon on the phone he advised that we postpone the surgery to another date as it is not a life threatening surgery and that dealing with a recovery from shingles as well as a recovery from double jaw surgery would be far too much for my body to handle.

I’m not going to lie; I had a mini breakdown at work, crying like a right looney. One of the girls at work stated that it just proved how much I wanted it done because I was getting so upset.

We’re now in the new year as I type this and I can honestly say that as much of a inconvenience it was having shingles right before the planned surgery, I’m glad it happened because one I got to enjoy my nans 75^th birthday celebrations in Liverpool (great city by the way!), two, was able to enjoy all of the pre-Christmas festivities that I wouldn’t have been able to do if I was house bound and recovering.  Three got to fatten myself up throughout the Christmas period by eating whatever the hell I want! So now I’m 100% ready for this surgery and really what happens in January that is remotely exciting!

So now my new surgery date is 27^th January, exactly three years to the day that I had my wisdom teeth out! It like it was meant to be…

So…I'm getting double jaw surgery?

*Warning - Heavy post alert*

 I've been umming and ahhing  whether to actually start this blog post. One because this process has already been going on for quite a long time already (three years and counting) and didn’t really know how to start when I’m already so far down the line into my treatment. And two, I’m not even sure that anyone would be remotely interested in little old me and my jaw.

However, I’ve decided to bite the bullet and just start typing about my jaw surgery journey as I’d quite like to look back on this one day and remember the hefty process I went through.

 I suppose we start from the beginning, when I was a pre-teen around 11/12 my dentist told me that I needed braces, obviously at this age you’re actually excited to have them because everyone else at school was having them. Even cooler for me because I was the first out of my friends to have them put one, so in a way I was the guinea pig of our friendship group. I had the typical train track braces on for about four years as well having four teeth out due to overcrowding (I have a small jaw and too many teeth!) Halfway through my treatment my orthodontist as well as my regular dentist explained that I had something called an ‘open bite’ which is where your front teeth don’t actually touch, they told me that I would have to have surgery to correct this. But being a 13 year old who has never has any type of surgery I freaked and declined the opportunity to consider surgery (even if I had accepted I would still have to wait until my body had stopped growing to even start the process of surgery) and just went on my day to day life struggling to bite into everyday foods like sandwiches and pizza, at least I knew I wasn’t having to have surgery.

 Fast forward a few years and I’ve finished school, braces have come off and entered the working world. I started to experience pain and more overcrowding in my mouth, this was due to my wisdom teeth starting to make an appearance but they were growing sideways and forcing all my other teeth closer together. But still, it wasn’t enough of a drastic change for me to change my mind about surgery even though It was always an option, as my dentist had pointed out to me every time I visited her.

 As I grew older, I noticed my issues with my jaw a lot more and started to come round to the idea of surgery. Like I said earlier I struggled to bite with my front set of teeth which this led to me biting quite hard on my back molars to compensate my lack of bite at the front, as time went on the strain on my back teeth and my jaw would leave me in agony. I was noticing more about my jaw not feeling right, my lips only meet when I make a conscious effort to do so, meaning that most of the time I breathe through my mouth. I could no longer look at pictures of my side profile; my upper front teeth had grown on an angle where they were tilted backwards at the gum line causing my open bite to be worse. Long story short I went back to my dentist and asked about the surgery.

Once all my dentist referrals were complete I firstly had to go on a waiting list to have my four wisdom teeth removed  and because of the way they had grown I had to go under general anaesthesia which made me face my fear of surgery.  After a lot of crying to my mum in those sexy gowns and stockings I was wheeled into the operating theatre and then what felt like 20 minutes I awoke in the recovery room next to what I though was Arg from TOWIE (A British reality show), it was probably the anaesthetic to be honest…

 I’m now more than three years into my treatment and I’m now on the home stretch to finally having my jaws realigned as well as a genioplasty on the 27^th January 2017.

 Keep checking back for more posts of my journey! Especially the one when I was supposed to have my surgery in November 2016!

Wherever you may be during the road to jaw surgery, I'd love to hear about your journey, or even tips/recipes you may of used during your recovery!

xx

aw15 LUST LIST

As you all know, I'm a typical Summer girl, but there's something about updating your wardrobe for the seasons ahead that would get any shopaholic excited! 

Here are just a few items that are on my lust (will hopefully buy!) list!

Top row:

Striped tee - Zara 

Whistles Clutch - ASOS 

Leather Brogues -  ASOS

Bottom row:

Roll neck - ASOS

PU skirt -  ASOS

UNIF jumper - Urban Outfitters 

Pyjama set - Missguided

Are you excited for Winter? Is there anything you are lusting for in particular?

Daisy xx

A little injection of colour & pattern.

If i'm being completely honest, I really struggle to buy clothes (shocker!) around this time of the year. One day it's a typical autumn day, then the next it's clear blue skies with temperatures nearing the twenty's again! How are we supposed to buy Autumn/Winter gear when summer is still making an appearance.

Mind you, even though I haven't been proper shopping, i.e just having to stop for a coffee because you've bought the whole of Topshop, I have purchased a couple of items which I know will be my staples throughout Autumn and Winter.

                                            

 Look! There's no black! (except the black on the leopard print!) BUT how sassy are these boots! I love them, They look great with blue or black jeans or an all black outfit (staying true to the monochrome!) They're not too high so they are perfect for everyday, I managed to wear them for about 6 hours without feeling uncomfortable! These beauts are £45 from ASOS - same style here or similar here, 

Finally, THE jumper. Is it possible to love a jumper this much?! 

You'll probably all seen the Crayola jumper from UNIF, the primary colour version of this jumper, but UNIF has released the Frost jumper, which is the pastel version. I had to have it as I've have my eye on the Crayola one for some time now, so when the Selfridges Instagram posted this, I ordered it straight away with no hesistation! It's so cosy and warm and slightly reminds me of the 80's, I love loud and bright jumpers you can really wear with anything as they are an outfit in itself!

I purchased mine from Selfridges here in an XS and I'm so glad I did. The way it was packaged was amazing, I've never shopped on Selfridges online and it certainly won't be my last!

I posted a photo of it in it's packaging on my instagram - @daisygraceox

What do you think?

Are you as obsessed with these type of prints like me?

Daisy 
xx

P.S I also love it when brands name their clothes! (Is that just me?)

University gift ideas for a loved one!

 A couple of days ago my baby cousin ventured off to start a new chapter in her life by going to University! As a girl who loves to give, I wanted to get her something useful and cute for her to take to her new place,  but since I've never been to University, I was at a loss on what she would need. In the end I went for a 'little luxuries' hamper that she wouldn't necessarily buy/afford when away from home.


If you know me well, you'll know that I can never just give one present, I always get far too carried away. So after days on the internet trawling through what to put in this hamper, I finally made a list on what to put in it.



Here is a list of the items I bought:

- Mini shampoo & conditioners.
- Dried pasta.
- Savoury rice.
- Hot chocolate sachets.
- Chocolates & sweets.
- Shot glasses.
- Cookies.
- Chewing gum.
- Nutella (a real winner!).
- Can of an alcohol mixer.
- Fluffy pyjamas.
- Fluffy socks.
- Paracetamol (obviously)
- Cold & Flu relief.

As you can see it all escalated pretty quickly and I had to buy a bigger box, you can get some really cute boxes for less than £4. But even the box I used couldn't fit in the pyjamas and socks, so they just went in my original box I had for the hamper.

I thought this post would be handy for anyone who's friend/family are heading off to Uni and wanted to give them a going away present. This is just my take on a typical University hamper, but you could change this to the particular person you are buying for and what budget you have.

I hope you found this interesting or even helpful, as Uni season hits full swing!

Did you get a University hamper? What would you put in one?

Daisy xx

            

Recipe - Peanut Butter & Chocolate chip bites.

I know everyone does the whole 'My New Years Resolution is to eat healthier' and never really sticks to it, I am definitely one of those culprits! 

Especially when working next to a Greggs, where fresh sausage rolls are made by the hour! Seriously, how am I meant to eat healthy?!

I've been trying out different recipes for dinner but yet to find a good healthy snack recipe that's quick and requires little cooking!

For me, I'm a right sucker for snacking whether it be crisps, chocolate or even cheese!

So when I stumbled upon this recipe on Pinterest (yes I finally caved and I bloody love it! You can follow me here!) I had to give it a try.

The base of these snacks are just 3 simple ingredients that you could probably find hidden in your cupboard! 

- 1 glass full of Rolled Porridge Oats. 

(I used a half pint glass as my measurement)

 - Half glass of Peanut Butter.

- 2 tablespoons of Honey. (Any type, I used pure honey.)

However, I add my own 'extras' to give it a bit of variety.

- 2 tablespoons of Coconut Oil.

- A handful of chocolate chips.

- Teaspoon of Vanilla Essence.

- 1 tablespoon dried Coconut shavings.

Obviously you can change the recipe to how you like them, this is just a guide to how I do it.

As you can see, these 'bites' are pretty healthy compared to a bog standard chocolate bar, and they make a decent sized batch (around 10-15 balls, sorry, there was no other way to describe them!) 

1. Measure out all your ingredients as stated above.

2. Melt your Coconut Oil in a small pan over a low heat until it's transparent.

3. Put all your ingredients into a bowl, dry parts first and then the wet ingredients after.

4. Mix all the ingredients together until they make a paste.

5. Once all the ingredients are mixed, get either a tablespoon or ice-cream scoop and scoop out bite size pieces of the mixture onto a plate.

6. All that's left to do is pop them in the fridge for 10-15 minutes and wait patiently (the hardest part for me personally!)

7. Finally you can eat them until your heart is content without the guilt!

Usually they last about half an hour in my house but if you don't have a growing teenage boy as a brother you could just keep them in a container in the fridge and take them as and when you please!

Let me know how you guys get on!

Daisy x