Days 5 and 6 *Post Op*

Day 5

Lazy, lazy, lazy afternoon with movies, crosswords, and Sudokus!

The morning was rough again.  I'm learning that I wake up in the early morning from my face aching. I should set an alarm in the night to take some medicine in hopes of curbing the pain, but it hasn't happened yet.  The swelling had gone down some more. Thank goodness! I didn't realize how tight my face was a few days ago.

It was a perfect Sunday afternoon watching movies with family and friends and snuggled under blankets.


Day 6 (1st Post Op)

Aching in the morning, but an ice pack helps relieve some of the discomfort. I dozed off and on until it was time to slowly get ready for my post-op appointment.  I got up, made a smoothie, took all my medicines, took a shower, put on real clothes, and headed to the surgeon's office.

All the sweet nurses and Dr. M kept saying how good I looked for being a week out of surgery. I laughed at the comments because I still feel like a balloon, but I don't know what is typical for these recoveries.

The first thing we did was take a new panoramic xray. It's crazy looking at all the hardware on in my face now!

Plates and screws above upper jaw and to the sides of my lower jaw.

After the xray, two of the nurses took off the small bandages on my cheeks. To my stupid surprise, there were stitches on the cheeks.  I don't know why, but I just imagined the bandages were there to cover some cuts, not stitches.

Dr. M was very enthusiastic and happy with how my bite and profile are looking.  He did have to pull on my lips and cheeks to get a good view, and that definitely didn't feel good.  I told him that the bite still hits on the right side first. This is probably due to a molar that hangs a little low, but he doesn't seemed worried about it.  It will be adjusted correctly with the rubber band connected on the left side of my braces as the swelling goes down or, if need be, shave the tooth down later on.

I have to thank my mom for asking all the questions I don't want to.  She brought up the fact that my pain medicine hasn't been lasting as long as it should.  Dr. M immediately said he could prescribe a different pain killer and a new anti-nausea medication.  She also remembered to ask him about my diet... still liquids until I see him again next week, but I can now do puddings and jellos.

As tasty as smoothies and protein shakes are, I'm already growing tired of them.  My dad has gone on some hibachi soup runs, but something wasn't right. I think it was drinking soup through the syringe that made the flavor taste off, but I quickly lost my appetite.  We were on the way home from my appointment when I thought of something I could finally get a little excited about eating... Chili's potato soup! We brought it home for two reasons. 1) Doctor the soup so I can actually eat it. 2) Save myself the embarrassment of eating in public.  I did not want to ruin this soup with the syringe, so I had my first attempts of eating with a baby spoon.  Thank God I was at home because I had soup all over my face and clothes. I tried my best to stay clean, but I couldn't even tell there was soup on my face because I'm still so numb.

I had barely finished lunch when we got a call from the pharmacy saying they couldn't fill out my new pain prescription. A new law passed last October that requires any narcotic prescriptions to be written on a specific paper, and whoever printed out my prescriptions forgot to print it on that paper. It's a pain because we have to go back to the office to get the prescription since pharmacies cannot take it by fax or over the phone, but I understand it's a new law and an annoying change for any offices.

I think getting out in public today gave me a false sense of recovery.  I almost said we could forego the new prescription because the pain wasn't unbearable, and I was feeling finnnne. No, not the case. It's nighttime again, and I'm hurting. This recovery is longer than six days. I'm still on a liquid diet, can't feel most of my mouth/face, and have a difficult time speaking.

On a positive note, I am going to sleep with a refreshing mouth. I braved some discomfort and brushed some of my teeth with my baby toothbrush. I'm crazy about having clean teeth, and it was killing me not being able to brush at all the last week.

I'll leave y'all with some pictures from today!

On the way to my pre-op

Removed stitches

Removed stitches and bruises

Smiling

Pucker

 Dr. M said to smile and pucker my lips throughout the day to get 

some feeling back to my lips and face. 

Day 3 and Day 4

I'm not too sure how I managed to get the last blog post out because the last three five days have been a complete blur.  None of my memories seem very clear, and I have no accurate measure of time. That being said I will do my best to give you a very brief update on the last day or so.


Day 3 was rough.

Luckily, the night before mom and dad found a humidifier and a Vick's vapor humidifier that helped me sleep easier at night.  Even with that though, I woke up with some congestion. And let me tell you... feeling stuffed up but not really being allowed to cough, sneeze, or blow my nose is awful.  I just want to blow my nose!

We had some friends and family stop by quickly to drop of some beautiful flowers and dinner for mom and dad.  They froze some for me for when I can eat again, but now I can only imagine what it is like to be a dog after smelling all the delicious aromas in the kitchen that I'm not allowed to eat yet.

I did well through most of the day, but I had a mini-meltdown in the afternoon.  My pain medicine was wearing off after only half of the time it was supposed to, my face felt like it was about to pop from swelling, I was already tired of the drinking the same foods, and I couldn't breathe through my nose. Miserable. Mom ended up calling the surgeon's office because of how little the pain medication seemed to be helping.  She spoke with my surgeon's partner and said that the third day is typically the worst with swelling and discomfort, but alternating Advil and Percocet every few hours should help.

I tried my best not to cry because that just makes things worse, but a few cries escaped before a strawberry-banana smoothie made me feel better.


Day 4

I woke up today feeling like I had turned a corner. I felt pretty coherent and jumped in the shower in
hopes of getting rid of any congestion. It helped for a bit, but then I got really nauseous and weak. I jumped out of the shower, yelled for my dad to bring  me something to eat, and ended up falling asleep for another few hours.  That weak feeling is always scary to experience, but I'm just glad I didn't fall at all.

The extra few hours of sleep helped, and I feel like I've turned a very tiny corner.  There is still a ton of swelling, but I don't feel quite so tight in my face.  I am realizing there is a lot of numbness and tingling present though. I can lightly touch most of my face and tongue without there being pain, but everything will tingle/burn, like a foot waking up from being asleep.

I've already had to discontinue use of one of my nasal sprays. Apparently, people can get addicted to it, but that sounds crazy to me. I hate the nasal sprays, so I am more than happy to be done with one of them.

Well, it's dinnertime now, and I want to try something new for dinner, but I'm not sure what.  I'll post some more pictures in the next day or so.

Happy weekend to you all!

Day of, Day 1, and Day 2

The last three days have had its ups and down.  I am just going to start from the morning of surgery until now.  *DISCLAIMER: I look super sexy in a lot of these pictures.*

Day of - Showtime
We got to the hospital in great time! We were signed in and waiting by 7:30, and I was taken into the pro-op area a little before 8:00. After I changed into my hospital gown, some nurses came to check my vitals signs and ask me some last minute questions.  Once that was done, a nurse brought mom and dad back for a while. We were all our usual, goofy selves and got the giggles in the pre-op unit. Oopsies!  Better that than stress though! IT was a bit later when we saw Dr.M, he wrapped my head, and then just had to wait for the surgical team to turn over the operation room.

                                                 Last before pictures

 

At 11:00 the nurses gave me a vial of antibiotics and a vial they describe as "a few margaritas". Man, that description is spot on! It is meant to help me relax as they wheeled my into the OR.  Like last time, I was completely intrigued with everything that happens in there. I had to move from one gurney to another, and then the team all went to work on me.  Some people were putting compression sleeves on my legs to keep blood moving, some were putting warm blankets on me, and a few were rubbing my arms and holding a mask to my face. That is the last thing I remember.

Mom kept a small timeline of what happened. One of the surgical nurses had a cellphone to call and update them as things progressed.  So, this is the timeline of what apparently happened while I was out of it.

11:45 - call from nurse - Dr. M started on upper jaw
12:45 - finished upper jaw
1:30 - Halfway done with lower jaw
3:15 - Dr. M went to greet mom and dad after surgeries. They said he gave a great report, and he seemed really happy and enthusiastic with how everything went.  No nerve damage and no need to be wired shut!

I remember waking up in the recovery room, and again, like last time, I came to doing this little cry moan until a nurse came over.  They gave me some vial of pain killer, and I started to feel better.  I kept falling in and out of sleep there, but the nurses would try to keep me up. Apparently, I wasn't getting enough oxygen.  I'm not quite sure how or why, but I would start to doze off then hear "No, honey! Deep breaths through your nose, and out through your mouth."  I tried my best... while I could stay awake and kept my oxygen level above 94%, but it would drop as low as 87% without the mask and my conscious effort.   I'm not quite sure what that means or how bad it is, but I guess it wasn't good!   It was also in the recovery room when I realized I had a urinary catheter, and my only thought was "Who did this?!" because it was definitely not there before I was under anesthesia (not to mention that there was a really cute guy helping during my surgery)!

By 5:00, I was finally wheeled to my room. My parents were already waiting there.  It's really odd because I remember being wheeled to the room, waiting outside the room while, watching my parents step out, and telling the nurse that she was very pretty (typical me), but I don't remember getting from the gurney to my bed. I'm actually realizing that I am missing a lot memory from the last few days, but I guess being under anesthesia for a large part of the day will do that to you.

Waiting outside my room for the night

Covered in wires! 

Mom snapped before I was even in the room.
 I look like a sad toddler with a black eye.

I fell in and out of sleep some while dad had the UGA game on in my room.  Mom was trying to keep everyone updated with  how things went during surgery.  During this time, a nurse came in to take my dinner order. I ordered chicken broth, sweet tea, apple juice, and lemon jello (which was too thick to eat), and a strawberry ice that I let melt.  Even with all of the food being liquids, I couldn't eat it with a spoon. A nurse brought in a syringe and taught me how to use that to get my food. I have to suction the liquids up then just fit the small tube in my mouth. 
While I was eating, Dr. M came into check on my and tied the cutest balloon on the end of my bed.

First attempt with my chicken broth...

Even with this technique, I still got a lot of food on me. Hah, I can't imagine what it'd be like without the syringe.

Mom and dad were debating on who would stay with me, but I sent both of them home for a good night's sleep in their own bed. I was perfectly fine in the hospital by myself.  I would snooze a bit, wake up, drink a syringe of juice, tea, or broth, then watch whatever was on TV at 2:00 am. I think I settled for some soccer before sleeping again. 

Soccer and the balloon Dr. M brought me.

All of the fluids from my IV and dinner had me needing to go to the bathroom all through the night, which always led to a small nosebleed. On one of my last bathroom visits, I accidentally ripped out the drainage tubes from my mouth. Oops, but luckily they were going to come out in a just a bit anyway. 

Day 1

Mom and dad were back at the hospital by 7:00am.  They wanted to get there before Dr. M came in to check on me. He came in with two other oral surgeons, and they all seemed pleased with how things looked! That's definitely encouraging. My bite looks correct and there are a lot of teeth touching, but the left side of my bite still wasn't touching completely.  Even though Dr. M said the bite was perfect in surgery, the bite was a little off still because of my muscles being more relaxed under anesthesia.  To fix this, one of the surgeons put on a rubber band around an upper and lower hook on the left side.  This will hopefully bring the bite a little closer together.  If this doesn't fix it, we will just have to shave down a little bit of a molar that hangs low on the right side of my mouth. No biggie! At least, it shouldn't be.  

Also, mom asked Dr. M what the side bandages on my face were for. From what I understood, was that he went through this area to screw in some of the bolts in place. Whhhhat? 

Swelling was a little worse, but that is to be expected.

Morning after surgery

Below are the profile pictures my parents think are adorable.
I don't agree so much...

My Francine (from Arthur) face.
Also - that little patch behind my ear keeps my from
getting sick from the anesthesia. Life saver! 

OR my Whoville face.

When Dr. M left, he said I looked great, my color was good, and I could go home early. Little did we know that it takes hours for the discharge papers to get together. I got wheeled to the car and promptly fell asleep again.

Mom and I had already stocked up on some protein shakes and smoothie ingredients for me before surgery.

The first thing I did was set up my recovery station. We moved one of the comfy chairs to the TV side of the room and set up my little medical station on the side of it. 

Living the good life here! 

I was already surprised that I had cards waiting for me when I got home. If you're reading this, thank you, thank you!! I know that later my brother, sister-in-law, and niece stopped by for a bit. They brought me a card and a Sudoku book.  My friend Whitney also dropped by before New Years Eve festivities. She made me the cutest activity book for my recovery. 

Just a few pages of the booklet. 

Day 2

I slept on the couch last night hoping that this would help me keep my face elevated some and reduce swelling. Nope... it was not a great night. I slept through the alarms I had set to keep up on my pain medicine, and I woke up sleeping on my side.  And! I hadn't taken a nasal decongestant before going to sleep, so it was not so pleasant waking up this morning.  I definitely miss my adjustable hospital bed and the morphine drip. 

My magic button

It always kept my pain at bay without making me feel awful.  I have definitely noticed that the pain pills I was prescribed don't work as long as the bottle says they should. My entire face aches and tingles about an hour and a half before I'm allowed to take another. :( 

It's a helpless feeling when you're congested, but can't do anything about it.  I'm not supposed to cough very hard or strain my jaw, so I took a hot shower in hopes of breaking up any congestion.  It felt good to shower, but I was probably a little overzealous with the energy it actually takes to bathe and comb hair, get dressed, and go downstairs again.  I forget how fragile I feel until the smallest motion will make my face ache.  

Nasty bruise from the arterial IV to track my blood pressure under anesthesia.

More swelling, but attempting a smile.

Trying to cover up the nasty corners of my mouth, but look at that bite! 

It's definitely time to get some more medicine in me. I'm not quite sure how to explain a face being completely numb, tingly, and painful at the same time, but that's where I am at. I feel like that from my eyes down to my neck.

But to end on a happy note, these made me laugh once I was a little more lucid.  I hope they can make you laugh too!

1. 

         2. 

3. 

          4. 

Sneaky Surgery

I feel like I have been waiting forever, but somehow surgery snuck up on me! This month has been go, go, go, so it feels strange that it's all coming to a screeching halt. But that isn't until tomorrow. Today was no exception from the busyness. I went to work for a few hours, before I hit the ground running with pre-surgery errands.

I had an orthodontist appointment to get on my surgical hooks and wire lacing up my wires for some extra support. They gave me a sweet surgery survival bag again!

I told my brother and sister-in-law that I feel like the furnace
from Home Alone with all these bars and hooks Haha! 

After I left the orthodontist, I continued my wild goose chase...  When I dropped off my five prescriptions at the pharmacy last week, I was told that they didn't carry the pain medicine elixir (liquid), so I continued to search at numerous pharmacies, called special pharmacies, and asked pharmacists I know where I could find it. Nowhere to be found! I started to worry because, uh, I think I'll want that one through the recovery! So in desperate, last-minute measures, I called my surgeon's office to let them know what was going on.  They called me back a little later to tell me know that Dr. M will give my parents a different prescription tomorrow at the hospital.

Lunch was my last meal with crunchy items for quite a while, then my mom and I went around to collect some things I'll need after coming home from the hospital. We went to Sam's Club and stocked up Ensure protein drinks and fruit for smoothies. 

Once home, I went to work on some teaching applications that I wanted to have mostly completed before surgery. I worked on that up until the last supper.  Haha! A lot of people have asked what my last meal would be, but I never really thought about it.  I'm supposed to eat light the night before anyway, so I just opted for having family over and ordering some pizza.  My niece must have know something was going on because she was being especially affectionate to me tonight. It was a very casual evening, but I wouldn't want it any different.  

It wasn't until after dinner when I realized I actually had quite a bit to think about.  I needed to shower, still wanted to update the blog, and completely forgot that I might need to bring a few things to the hospital since I will be staying overnight this time. I've been so casual about this surgery that I keep forgetting tomorrow isn't just a simple doctor's visit. 

We are supposed to be at the hospital at 7:30 in the morning, and our wake up call be be much earlier than that since we have to combat with rush hour.

Just a recap: I am having double (upper and lower) jaw surgery tomorrow.  They will be bringing my upper jaw forward, and slightly shifting my lower jaw.  Here are two short videos of general examples of what my surgeon will be doing.**This is not specific to me!

Upper

Lower

I am doing pretty well with all of this. It doesn't seem like it is happening tomorrow, so most of my concerns haven't reminded me of their presence recently. I will be very matter of fact about surgery then randomly worry about the pain I'll have, or worry that I won't like how my face or smile changes, or how there is a very, very small chance I will wake up with my jaws wired together. But I need to stop! Why worry about things that may not even be an issue?  Although, I will admit that it is very strange to think about how I will wake up after surgery, and my face will actually feel different.  My teeth will touch more than they have in years, and it is just odd that it can be done in one day instead of gradual movements.

Well, I'm sure there is more for me to say, or something that I am leaving out, but I can't think of anything right now. I'll leave you with some final before pictures.

Smiling

Relaxed jaw

  

      

                   

Sorry if this update is a mess. I didn't get to organize it as much as I'd like to.

Anyhoo... Think happy thoughts for me tomorrow! See ya on the other side.

Oh boy...

This post is a doozy, but first a quick update on the orthodontics from the past month or so.

At the orthodontist appointment in October, Dr. S put some brackets on my very back upper molars.  I knew when I left that they would be a pain because they are wayyyy back there! Since then, these brackets have buried themselves into my cheeks.  It is not just an irritation; you can physically see a hole in my cheek.  It's probably more difficult to eat now than it has been through the whole journey.  The brackets will catch on my cheek, and I will have to do a weird maneuver with my lips to unhook it.  I got a pitiful laugh out of my mom when I told her I felt like a snake because I have to unhook my cheeks before eating anything. I have gotten used to it, and complaining about it won’t do any good. I know they need to be there, and the lack of space is the whole issue of why I’m having surgery. So, for now, I've learned to suck it up and toughen up.

It is a little embarrassing how excited I get for meetings with the surgeon.  I genuinely cannot wait to get there, hear how things are progressing, and what the next step will be.  This was especially true for this appointment because it was the records and Q&A appointment. 

Once I got there, I was taken back for a few different things to update my records.

1. A panoramic dental x-ray was taken.  It is the crazy machine that complete circles your head, so the doctor can see the entire mouth (teeth, jaws, surrounding tissues) in one image.

   

   Just an example!

2. Dr. M took a series of pictures of my face from different angles, both relaxed and biting.
3. One of the wonderful assistants took me to a consult room to make some impressions of my upper and lower jaws. I’ve become a pro at these over the past decade.

   

   The purple impression is needed to make the model (on the left). Again, example!

4. I had to help Dr. M and the assistant use the face-bow. They needed me to guide the earpieces into my ears, while they both screwed certain things in place.  It looks like something that would have been used in medieval torture, but according to The Medical Dictionary website, a face-bow is defined as “a device used in dentistry to record the positional relations of the maxillary arch (upper jaw) of to the temporomandibular joints (the joints that connect the mandibal/lower jaw to the rest of the skull) and to orient dental casts in this same relationship to the opening axis of the articulator (make a representation of my exact bite with the models of my jaws).”
   

After all the records were done, Dr. M examined my face and bite. And by that, I mean he looked and looked and looked at my face... all the while he has his hand gently on the side of my head, and I am trying to figure it out where to direct my eyes, because it just seems a bit too intimate when eye contact is made. Haha!

Mom joins the room while he is continuing to evaluate my jaw's progression. He then takes a step back and says that the upper jaw looks perfect.  He is very pleased with how that has been prepared for surgery. You can almost hear the big ol' "but" (Hahaha!) that is about to happen.

... he then says, "After looking at her jaw right now, I would not feel right going forward with the surgery as we had originally planned.  Because of how great the top jaw is now, it is magnifying the fact that the lower jaw is not correct." 

Great.

He continues to explain that none of us have noticed that my lower jaw is off center.  It is shifted slightly to my left, and if we continued as planned, moving the top jaw to fit with the lower jaw, my mouth would be askew. Mom immediately sees what he is talking about.

And there is my self-consciousness rising...

We have a few options as to what to do from here.

1. Lower Jaw Surgery - He would move my lower just in position with my upper jaw.  Unfortunately, this would not correct the lack of space in the back of my mouth with the upper jaw.  Plus, there was also a chance it would weaken my chin, and genioplasty would need to be considered. There are too many negatives with this, and I'd like to stay as natural as I can.  
2. Double Jaw Surgery - He would end up cutting and re-positioning both my upper and lower jaws before bolting them into place. This would fix both problems, and genioplasty would be less likely. 

So, okay. Double jaw surgery. Okay, fine. Alright. No biggie. 

Will surgery still be the same day?  

 - Yes, but about two hours longer. 

Can we get it covered by insurance in two weeks?

 - The amazing ladies at the office were already on getting it approved before we left. PLEASE, everyone, cross your fingers!! 

How does it affect recovery?

 - It will now be a little longer. 

My biggest concerns:

 - Pain.  For some reason, I have it in my head that lower jaw surgery will be more painful. Plus, it is double the surgery, which means double the swelling and recovery.

- There is a very, very small chance of this happening, but a genuine concern nevertheless. Where Dr. M will cut the lower jaw is very near a large nerve, and IF that nerve were cut, I would lose feeling in my lower lip and chin area.  Again, possibilities of that are slim, but he has to warn me of it for liabilities sake.  Not like I needed anything else to worry about. 

- Two more hours of surgery means two more hours where I could wake up in the middle of a horrific surgery!  Again, the odds of this happening are incredibly slim to none! But that's a terrifying thought! I reached out to a friend who is studying anesthesia who reassured me that everything will be totally fine.  It will not happen, but on the off chance that I do wake up, I'll just hear the sound of chainsaws.... so funny, Becky! 

- What am I going to look like afterwards?  I know this surgery is a good thing. I do! But it's really scary to know that I will look different when I wake up. Luckily, it should only be minor changes because my open bite was not super extreme.  I've never been uphappy with how my face looked, and surgery is going to change it.  I only hope that it will be an improvement!  I've seen a few before and after pictures on the internet where I like the person's before smile better, and it terrifies me to think I might be one of those.  It doesn't help that everyone has always told me how beautiful my smile is and how it is my best feature.  My jaws are changing. I just hope my smile doesn't.  But hey, if I was smiling with a sideways smile, it can only improve, right?

- Insurance not covering the second surgery. I constantly worry about being a financial burden to my parents, and I just hope and pray that insurance approves this surgery. My biggest worry when we found about about needing both surgeries was, "how much stress is this going to add on mom and dad?"

While I am talking about my parents, I just want to give them a HUGE shout out for being so amazing. They have never second guessed this whole ordeal, never hesitated to do something that will improve my life, and insisted on taking care of me while they still can.  Their answer to all of my worries have been, "We can handle it. We are here with you through this. Don't you worry."  Thank you, both! I love you!


On a different note, THIRTY-THREE different countries from all over the world have read this blog!! That's so cool! Thank you so much to those of you who take time out of your day to read this silly thing.  It meas a lot! 

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. 

The Good, The Bad, and the Impatient

I cannot believe it has been so long since I last updated.

It is both good and bad that I haven't had news to write about. Good in the sense that everything has healed and progressed correctly.  Bad in the sense that I haven't had much to update you on, including a new surgery date.

Good News
The gap is nearly gone! It closed up pretty quickly once Dr. S started putting power chains (connected rubber band chain) on the braces.

My expander is out! After a couple of back-and-forths between the doctors, it was taken out last Tuesday. I'm not quite such a metal mouth anymore. :)

Both doctors are happy with how things are progressing.  They haven't always been on the same page, but never to a point of concern. They have worked together many times before and communicate often.  I have complete faith in both of them.

My jaw is definitely wide enough.  The next steps of the process is for the orthodontist to continue to round out the shape of the upper jaw.

My teeth are touching on both sides.  The bite is still off, but I have more than just two molars touching! It is still a strange sensation for me.  I am not comfortable or used to chewing on the left side of my mouth yet, but I think that will just take a little getting used to.

Not As Good News
The next surgery date is still up in the air.  We are certainly getting closer, but neither doctor is wanting to give us a time frame.  I understand that this whole process depends on how I progress, so they can't give me a precise date.  So, everybody cross your fingers that we can get it done in 2014! That means the deductible would already be met for insurance, and I would be able recover and move on sooner rather than later.  That being said, I do not want to rush them or the process because I want this done right!

Hopefully, there will be a reason to update this blog more often in the next few months!  :)