Houston, we have progress!

I cannot believe how sparse the posts have been, but there truly hasn't been much news for the months I didn't post.

Today, I finally have some news worth sharing, but first just some updates....

I went to the orthodontist last week.  I have been fairly often, but more often than not, it was just a small adjustment on the braces, and I was sent on my way until the next month.   Dr. S was happy with how things looked, and his opinion was that I was pretty much ready for the next surgery.   He told me to ask Dr. M about a date for the next surgery.

At this appointment, Dr. S went ahead and put on brackets on the last two "naked" teeth. There are now brackets on my very back upper molars. Unfortunately, they have been a huge pain! Literally. I have been told by at least one doctor through this experience that I have a small mouth, so that means there isn't much room for those back brackets.  That means a lot of irritation and rubbing on the inside of my cheek.  I do have wax to put on, but even that can be hard to get back there. It doesn't feel good, but it has to be done! C'est la vie!

I was genuinely excited for my appointment with Dr. M (the surgeon) yesterday.  I'm sure it was from what Dr. S said and the fact that I was hoping for some sort of news.

Thank goodness, that's exactly what I got!  He looked at my bite (He said my arcs looked beautiful... *hair flip* Hah!) and examined my profile while tapping on my nose, lips, and chin. After a nice "You're going to look marvelous!" we got the okay to start setting up appointments for surgery. I'm really thankful for a flexible schedule this year because we really just had to work with the dates given. 

So, here's what we have so far...

October 28 - Regular orthodontist appointment 

December 10 - Surgeon's appointment... This appointment will consist of a lot of xrays and models being made. Dr. Maron will use all of this information to construct a virtual model of my jaw and go through the exact surgery before physically doing it on me. This is also an appointment for me to bring any questions or concerns I have.

December 18 - Pre Op day: 11:30 at Dr. M's office. 1:30 at the hospital.

December 30 - Surgery! Unlike the last surgery, this is in-patient, meaning that I will be staying overnight at the hospital.  So, I will be coming home from the hospital on New Year's Eve... Gonna get rowdy! Hah!  At least I've got a reason to live it up next year!

***

It has been a while since I've uploaded any pictures, so here are a few 
to see how things have changed over the last few months.

Regular smile... Gap gone!

Closed mouth

My mouth stays open when I have a relaxed jaw. 
Cute, I know...

Profile

Relaxed Profile

Bite on 9/25/2014
Teeth touch on both sides of my mouth. However, it seems that after the expansion of the upper jaw,
I now have somewhat of an under-bite (bottom jaw is  further out than the top) along with the original open-bite.
Eating has not been super easy recently.