T-5: Hooks!

I feel like I need to start with a quote from Captain Hook, but I couldn't find the perfect one, so on to my status update...

I started my morning headed to the hospital (it was an eerie foreshadow of next week).  Where I submitted several vials of blood for testing to clear me for anesthesia and I guess to gain final clearance for surgery... hope my blood tests well!    

Then it was straight to the orthodontist. Dr. R and his amazing technician Hope were awesome as usual.  They both did their best to put me at ease and reassure me that it was not really going to be as bad as all that.  Well, at least they were honest and told me that it wasn't going to be a fun experience, but that it was something that I was not going to regret.  Dr. R told me that he has never had anyone come back from this surgery (with my surgeon) and regret the results.  He did say that some people have even told him it wasn't as bad as having their wisdom teeth pulled. (yea right!)
They then added the surgical hooks on to my wires for the rubber bands.. Why you ask, did they add more metal onto my teeth to jab into my cheeks and cut up the inside of my mouth just days before my surgery?  Well as the surgeon will not actually hardwire me shut after the operation, these are used instead to put lots of rubber bands on all these tiny hooks and keep me from opening my mouth too wide and screwing up all the surgeon's hard work.


Up close picture of my teeth, you can see the hooks.
They are the extra bit of metal posts between each of the teeth.

And that is hopefully it for the pre-op doctor visits!  My remaining plan is to continue eating as much as I feel like for the next few days. I do feel a smidge guilty about this with my work colleagues on their New Years Resolution diets eating itty bitty salads for lunch while I scarf pizza in front of them...whoops!

T-6 : Pre-Op Surgeon Visit

So Tom & I met with my surgeon today. I forgot just how laid back he was about everything!  He's been doing maxillofacial surgery for about 35 years and he pretty much told me that this was a "routine"  surgery. (ha!) But he definitely calmed me down on some of my worries. 

I have probably read about 15 blogs from other people who have had double jaw surgery so I had a big list of questions and concerns from some of their rough patches with their surgeries & recoveries. And to many things that were so urgent and awful to [other people in] their blogs, my surgeon said "no problem." Some of them were...

• "So I can't drink out of straw?" - Sure you can.
• "So I can't blow my nose?" - Sure you can, just keep your mouth open when you blow your nose, sneeze or cough.
• "How swollen will I get?'  - I'll be able to tell you after the surgery, but it will increase after your leave the hospital. 
• "When will I be able to talk." -As soon as you wake up after surgery.
• "When will I be able to run again?" -As soon as you can tolerate it.
• "Will I have one of those awful splints wired into my mouth?" - Yes, but it isn't that invasive.  (I'm not sure about this one though, a lot of other people who had this surgery said this was the worst part and their best day when it came out.)

He also gave me a super fun looking book called Dinner Through a Straw; A Handbook for Maxillary Trauma.  I'll let you know if there are any good highlights! 

 

And then one of my biggest worries about this appointment...he then showed me a computer rendition of what my facial profile will/might look like after the swelling goes down.  And I have to say it  was AWFUL! It made me look like a Bulldog. (which as Tom gleefully pointed out is technically my high school mascot, making me already a bulldog...it was a well timed joke and cut off my anxiety).  So I'm choosing to pretend that I never saw that terrible picture and we'll just see what comes out at the end of all of this!

Tomorrow I get my pre-op labs done for the hospital and then go to the orthodontist for the last time before surgery to get my surgical hooks applied to my braces...more wires! It feels like its all happening so fast all of a sudden!

T-7 Days

This morning I woke up with pain in my left jaw from stress clenching my teeth all night.  I am definitely getting nervous about this operation.  (Actually I am not all that nervous about the operation itself, I'll be happily sedated for that portion!) I'm really getting worried about the recovery process and how rough the next 6 months- 1 year will be for my mouth/face/life.

I will meet with the surgeon for my pre-op appointment tomorrow.  Tom will be coming with me so that he can get all my post-op instructions and details on how he can/ will need to take care of me.  I truly have the best, most supportive husband, but it is downright terrifying to me to think that I will be completely dependent on others for 1-2 weeks.

Tomorrow the surgeon will go into detail of exactly how many times and in how many places will be breaking my jaw and realigning it to correct all its imbalances.  I have a good idea of what to expect, but I will find out in gross detail just how extensive this will be.  Also he promised me a computer simulation of what my face will look like post-surgery.  I have to admit this is pretty intimidating!  I try not to be vain, but its so weird to think that the face that has stared back at me in the mirror for 32 years will be different. I'm trying to believe that I'll still look largely like me, this isn't after all a cosmetic surgery, and the doc did promise to make everything look as aesthetically pleasing as possible. However it is a huge unknown and I'm a little nervous to see that image on the screen. 

So to sum it up, I have a empty pit in the middle of my stomach, when I think about tomorrow's appointment.... Wish me luck!



I'm still not very good with the selfies, but in case I forget later here are a couple "before" pics. 1/6/2015

1 month before surgery!!!

So my surgery date is set... January 13, 2015!

I have my final surgical wires on my braces.
The Surgeon is taking all my pre-surgical  X-rays, MRI, molds, etc next week.
I have requested my time off of work.
My wonderful and very supportive husband has requested time off of work to take care of me in my invalid state.
My mother-in-law bought me the most amazing Vitamix blender to ensure I will have adequate nutrition (and my old hand-me-down blender is headed to the donation pile)
Now I just need to stock up on smoothie making materials, Ensure, Chicken Broth, and all the other recommendations from random internet blogs of people who have gone through this (why are they all in England or Canada, where are the Americans?!?)

I'm nervous, recovery sounds awful, but I'm still keeping all the positives firmly in mind (my future self had better thank me for this!) 
Including:

• Teeth that actually touch (oh the foods I'll be able to eat!!)
• No tension headaches from poorly aligned teeth (maybe I'll be smarter if my head doesn't always hurt!)
• Improved breathing (decreased risk for sleep apnea which decreases my risk for a heart attack!!!) 
• but mostly I'm just excited about the food I'll get to eat!  I could make a list longer than this post of food I've missed and will be able to eat again without grinding or rending my fool like the half-bovine creature I feel like I am now.

I'll post again right before the surgery and try to post daily here afterward in case anyone wants to follow along in my recovery with me.

Until then I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Phase III: Orthognathic surgery

09/22/2014

So it is official. I met with my orthognathic surgeon a couple weeks ago and then saw my orthodontist again today and I'm truly gearing up for some serious surgery.  There was definitely a part of me that was so hopeful that the braces might be a mini- miracle and I wouldn't need surgery after they did their part...

Braces Adjustment

February 2014

I had my braces adjusted on Monday.  The Orthodontist popped off and reapplied a couple brackets and upped the wire strength on the bottom teeth.  Not too bad actually.  I'm back to eating soft foods, but not baby food... Thank goodness!

But every time I go back to the orthodontist or tell someone new why I have braces in my 30's, I start the whole anxiety spiral over the surgery all over again.  Its not just that I have a black hole in my calendar between September and January where I can't make plans (which IS really annoying!). Its more the thought of someone cutting up my face terrifies me and that I am voluntarily letting them.  Sure its for quality life, decreasing chronic pain, and ensuring that I have good nutrition by being able to chew food in the future... however this surgery is not like an emergency appendectomy where the doctors go to work and I am not sitting around anticipating it for 2 years.  

So as a habit, after I start getting anxious I scour the web to find someone who had had this same procedure and how they survived/thrived with it.  Most of the videos on youtube.com  that I find are done by ~17 yr old girls in the UK who had a severe under-bite, which is close to what I'm expecting but not quite my problem or my recovery path.  I found this one (below) today.  

The video is designed by an Australian surgeon, but the video is of a girl who has very, very similar bite occlusion and jaw pain as I do. And the positive results she seems to of found are reassuring. It reminds me as to the reasons that I am torturing myself (and draining my bank account)!  So if anyone reading this is wondering why I am doing all this work and willing putting up with all this discomfort check out the video:

PS. It also inspires me to do a video blog.  Don't worry I won't torture you all this far out, but I'll probably record a few pre- and post- surgery videos.

Hello from snowy Virginia!

Hello from snowy Virginia!

Sorry I haven't written in a few months. My orthodontist decided not to change my wires in December which has actually lead to a wonderful 15- weeks of no changes to my mouth. Well any relative changes... I have noticed that my teeth have gotten straighter on the bottom and I am starting to get some gaps between a few teeth on the top.   Not hillbilly gaps yet, but I believe I will get there before this stage is done!

The headaches are starting to return a bit, I never thought for a minute I would miss that chunk of plastic splint, but I guess I didn't appreciate it enough until I had my first 3-day migraine in a year.  Too bad it wasn't a permanent fix!

But truly the best part in the last 15 months has been these past 3 weeks, my teeth have really dialed down on the soreness and I have been able to chew many more foods that have been challenging for the past year.  My front teeth still do not touch (and I don't expect them too until after the surgery) so there is no biting into a sandwich, but I've really been able to chew again with my back right teeth.  I've even been able to eat lettuce/salads and pizza this week!  Unfortunately its back to the orthodontist in another week, so I plan to eat everything under the sun in case the teeth sensitivity flare up again.  But I'm hopeful that maybe it was just so awful because it was the initial 6 months of braces and that the rest of this year will be a cakewalk...well that is until THE surgery.