One Month Post Op

Well big news today, I'm one month post op and I got the splint out today.

Everyone! WOOOHOOO!!!

And let me tell you, that thing was DISGUSTING.

Dr. L says that I'm doing very, very well. I can sleep on my side (I'm a little scared to) and I'm still on a mush diet for the next four weeks. Cream of Wheat, eggs and potatoes. And yogurt and pudding.

My new bite, well, I haven't felt it yet, because I can't bite down or I'll bite off my lower brackets. I have an appointment with Dr. S. tomorrow, so hopefully we can get this fixed very soon.

I'm feeling a lot of muscle tension now that the splint is gone but I'm sure that will pass once my body gets used to it.

So, good news, for the most part. Fingers crossed that Dr. S' appointment goes well tomorrow.

Pictures

This was taken some time after the operation, I'm not sure what time. I asked my husband to take it, but don't remember much else for a few hours into the night. See my nifty breathing tube? It was misting my face and pumping oxygen. It gurgled very loudly and made it hard to sleep.

Day One Post Op.

Taken immediately after the surgeon left after taking the bandages off the next morning. You see that brown crap? That's adhesive, and it took me days to get off. My lower lip will never be the same!

Day Two Post Op. Home and in my special Post-Op PJ's that my mom gave me. Felt like crap. Looked like crap. Didn't care.

Day Three Post Op.

Day Four Post OP. Took a shower. Gross, I know, but I could barely stand before to shower, so I didn't have a choice.

Day Five Post Op. Feeling better. Say Chubby Bunny! says my husband. Chubby. Bunny.

Day Seven Post Op. I forgot to take a picture until after I went to bed. And by going to bed, I mean I turned off a light and slept sleeping up on the couch.

Day Eight Post Op. I had my first appointment at the surgeon since the day after surgery, so I went into work. I had worked from home the day before, but off the Percocet, felt well enough to sit at my desk. Dr. L took out the stitches on my cheeks (which I forgot to take pictures of) and I was pretty pleased to be among the living again.<

5 days Post-op

Well. I'm 5 days post op and mostly feeling ok. Except for about 2 hours into my 4 hour Percocet, then I feel like total crap.

The operation took 4.5 hours and I'm told it went very well. I have two incisions on my cheeks where they went in from the outside to fix the screws. I don't remember much about the few hours after surgery, but Randy tried to stay the night. My roommate was a very difficult patient and kept me up most of the night. My first trip to the bathroom was really difficult and I thought I was going to throw up, but I was able to make it back into bed ok. My MIL Jan was working on my floor that night and came to check on me a few times. She accidentally dumped the water from my hydrating resperator on me some time around 3 am. I was able to get some sleep once my roommate quieted down, but not much.

I was discharged around 2pm, and went straight to the surgeon's office. He was very positive and told me that since I was biting directly into the splint that I didn't have to be banded shut, which is a relief. It's a little disconcerning and I'm worried that I'm messing up the new bite, but it's probably ok.

Once I get my pre-op pictures from my mom I'll post them along with my daily status pictures.

I still look like Monica from Friends in her Fat Suit and am having some yellowing brusing. But it's going ok.

Tomorrow

Well, we're here. Surgery is tomorrow.

I'm totally and utterly nervous, I couldn't even finish my Last Meal burger and fries. I ended up taking home a piece of pumpkin cheesecake.

Which I think I'll go eat now.

:)

Wish me luck.

4 Days and Happy Thanksgiving!

It's 4 days until my surgery and I couldn't sleep anymore. It's also Thanksgiving, which means I could have slept in, if I hadn't been waking up and worrying.

I've been doing a lot of that lately. Worrying.

My insurance is changing on December 1st. My surgery is November 30th. It will literarlly change while I'm in the hospital. It's been a really stressful time, making sure things would be covered...

To top it off, it seems that things are going wrong at every turn. Since my last blog, I've had my insurance physical and my pre-op appointment.

My insurance physical went fine; but I had to go to the hospital to have bloodwork and the EKG done. It was inconvenient as my doctor's office is 20 miles north of the hospital.

My pre-op was fine, I guess, but I don't feel like the splint will fit and that it isn't advanced enough. I guess we'll see.

Yesterday Dr L's office called to say that they were going to cancel my surgery unless the hospital got a copy of my physical, which my doctor apparently forgot to upload to the hospital network. 3 hours of scrambling and phone calls and I got it taken care of.

I'm just scared. Of what can go wrong, of recovery, of everything. It's scary.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving.

I'm thankful for my husband, who makes me laugh and makes me roll my eys and who makes me pick up his socks.

And I'm thankful for my dog, who is always happy to see me, even when she poops on the basement floor and knows I'm mad.

And of course, for my family, my wonderful, fabulous friends both in real life and online and for my life, which I wouldn't trade for anything.

She's Come Undone

I had a bit of a melt down at work today.

Between stress at work, the surgery, our roof problems and banking issues, it was just too much to handle. Sobbing at my desk.

Bad day.

Kobtashi, Tori and Tears...

My surgery date was moved and confirmed to November 30th, so as of today, 29 very short days before my surgery.

I'm still on the diet that I mentioned in my last post, and am down 11 lbs. 4 from slimfast and the other 7 from low carb. 6 more days until the physical and then I can start eating normally, and more importantly, eat some things for the last time before my surgery. I have a list of foods, they aren't healthy, and I honestly don't care. I've been eating lots of veggies, meats and cheeses for the last 2 weeks and I'm entirely ready to eat something horrible for me before I'm confined to liquids for weeks.

I had my Kobyashi hooks put on last Thursday (no new wires). And while my dental assistant is good, and an absolute expert at putting on braces, she's not as experienced at putting on the Kobi hooks and I have been suffering from a migraine since she put them on (lots of torque on my teeth and roots, it was very unplesant).

I've finally adjusted to the feeling of the hooks, and have gotten past the worry that I'm going to bend them, so I'm doing ok.

I had my surgical consult on Friday (they moved the appointment) and it was... bad. Very, very bad.

The dental assistant that I had wasn't good. It's not that she's inexperienced; I believe she assisted on my tooth extraction 3 years ago. But she had a hard time with my impressions and it was the hardest 2 hours I've ever spent in an exam chair - including my wisdom teeth extraction, my extraction 3 years ago, both times having my braces on, and the one time off and any cleaning I've ever had in my life.

I have very pronounced lingual mandibular tori, which has rarely caused a problem with impressions at my orthodontist's office. Usually to get good impressions they can use an upper tray for my lower jaw and it's not a problem. I also suspect that because I'm a rather small woman (height and bone structure) and can readily pass as a 15 year old, my mouth is significantly smaller than most of my surgeon's patients, which is why my ortho's trays fit better - they're for kids. But because of my prounounced tori and the size of the trays, it was hard.

She tried 15 different sized trays, took 5 impressions (2 uppers, 3 lowers), had me brush my teeth 4 times and caused my tori to bleed, she pressed down so hard on them. She tore the gum off of the entire side of the left tori and scraped a lot off of the right. All of this took 2 hours and I was in tears while she took the impressions. By the time she was done (she told the doctor I was bleeding and he told her to stop; she would have kept going) and I was watching the consent video, I was trying very hard not to sob because I felt so worn out and exhausted.

I watched the consent video and the doctor was finally ready to see me. By this time I had been in the office 2 hours and 45 minutes, and was supposed to be back to work. He barely spoke to me because a surgical salesman had followed him into my exam room (poor form, Dr. L, not cool) and took my splint impressions and sent me on my way. I'll see them again the Tuesday before surgery.

Besides that... I'm getting nervous. I had a very scary physical reaction to the assistant pressing on my tori; it felt like my heartrate plummeted and I had to remind myself to breathe. I'm going to ask my GP about it when I see her for my pre-op physical. I've been under general anesthesia once before, so I'm sure it will be ok, but I've never had a reaction to pain like that. Then again; I've never broken a bone... I'm sure it'll be fone.

Do you want to see my Pre-Op Pig Out list? Some of them are local restaurant or eatery specific, as I really like their versions of the food.

Ming's Chinese (sesame chicken, rice, crab cheese, eggrolls)
Pizza (Little ceaser's deep dish pepperoni or pizza hut supreme)
Perrin's landing cheeseburger & fries
Keylime pie
Cheesecake
Pumpkin pie
Lemon poppyseed muffin (olsen's with sugar on top)
Wendy's spicy chicken combo with vanilla frosty

What was/would be on your list to eat before surgery?

Lots of Appointments! And physicals and diets.

Well, I got scheduled for all my pre-op appointments last week!

I have the following appointments:

Dr. S. - October 27th - Surgical hooks and wires

Dr. L. - November 1st - Impressions and xrays

Dr. R. (my GP) - November 17th - H+P physical for hospital admittance

Dr. L - December 1st - Paperwork; wavers and a hefty check for my splint and surgical fees.

December 3rd: Surgery!

I'm very excited, nervous, etc. The next 7 weeks are going to be very busy and stressful.

Husband and I are signing up for life insurance, and have a physical on November 7th, so we are trying to lose those last few pounds that put us in the "overweight" category. I have about 3lbs to lose, which doesn't seem like much, but damn are they hard to shake off!

I did slimfast for 2 weeks and lost 4lbs, but am just so hungry by the end of the day that I can't even muster the enthusiasm and energy to work out, which I need to! So today we went to the grocery store and loaded up on veggies, meats and cheeses and are going low-carb for a few weeks to lose those pesky pounds. Fingers crossed!

After surgery I know I'll lose more, so I am going off diet entirely between after the insurance physical and before surgery. Besides, why force myself to be on a liquid diet NOW when I CAN eat instead of in December, when I won't even be able to open my mouth? This is a better idea. Carnivorism, here I come!

Anyway, that's about it for now... I'll let you know how my hooks and wires appointment goes!

A DATE!!!!! A DATE!!!! A SURGERY DATE!!!

A tentative date, but a date none the less!

December 2nd!

I got a call from Dr. L's office today, and I almost got scheduled for October 22nd, but again, the doctor won't be in town long enough to do my post op, and then there's Thanksgiving, so we're doing it the week after.

I should know for sure soon, in the next few days, after they talk to the doctor and hospital.

Bonus? Two short weeks of work! Thanksgiving is a short week. And I'll be able to eat! Even though I'll spend the second short week and the next week or so after in post-op pain, but it's totally worth it to put this terrible ordeal to an end!

I'm so excited that I feel a bit nauseated.

YAY!!!!!

Obsessed.

Shooting pain on the left side of my lower jaw. It's so bad that every time it zips through my jaw and up into my skull, I wince with my whole body...

The MRI went fine, as well as an excruciating 2 hours can go when you can't move and have to pee, and the tube you're laying in is being jack hammered on. I still haven't heard anything, and may not for a few more days. Fingers crossed.

Our insurance physical is coming up in 2 weeks and I'm thinking of doing a cleanse the week before to make sure I'm considered at a "healthy" weight (I'd need to lose 5lbs, so that's water weight and waste, realistically)... So I'm going to try that next week. Blah.

I'm feeling too obsessed with my body and looks right now. I'm hoping the surgery will quell those obsessions.

I also haven't had any coffee in 2 weeks. I had 2 12-oz diet cokes this weekend. One Saturday, one Sunday. I don't miss it as much as I think I do....

Happy Holidays: Or, How My Holiday Season Will Involve Blended Turkey; Or: Fuck Cancer.*

*Pick whichever title feels appropriate to you.

Well, my last appointment at Dr. S (on the 17th) didn't really bring me any better answers.

I was told "sometime in November or December" and that was really it. It was mentioned that I was supposed to have an appointment with Dr. L in October, but wasn't told to call, or that they'd call me. I have another appointment on the 6th, so we'll see what happens there. I also walked out with turquoise and purple orings. That's what I get for letting the trainee assistant pick my colors.

My jaw has been popping a lot, mostly on the right side, and that's very irritating, especially when my ears won't drain and I get dizzy...

On another note, I'm scheduled for an MRI on Thursday for my leg. 11 years ago I was diagnosed with a malignant hemangiopericytoma. The recurence rate is higher than I'd like it to be, and I haven't been tested in 3-4 years. The more time that has passed since remission, the higher the recurrence rate. Which is ironic and shitty all at the same time, because you would think that the longer you DON'T have cancer, the better off you'd be, right? Wrong.

So... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my streak of making cancer my bitch will continue. Wish me luck.

Pain: Not a damn thing to be done about it.

I've been having a lot of migraines lately, and some of them are from clenching my teeth, some are from stress and food triggers. In short, I've been miserable for the last couple weeks. One day off, three days on (with migraines) and I've been a cranky beyotch because of it.

I had an appointment with Dr. S. today and it went ok. They tried to put a heavier gague wire on, but while the tech Tiffany was putting the power chain on, my upper right canine snapped off. But they're trying to quickly correct the midline problem and it looks like it may be working. My next appointment is in 2 weeks, moved up a week, to try and get things going faster....

I'm going to go. I don't feel well.

I'm not going to lie. It did not go as I had hoped.

Rationally, I knew that there was no way in frosty hell that I would have surgery in time before Dr. L went out of the country. But somehow, silly me, was still holding hope.

Instead, I walked out of Dr. S' office with 4 new top front brackets (I don't know what they're called) and an overwhelming sense of sadness and disappointment. Also, two more appointments in the next six weeks.

In 6 weeks they'll take another set of impressions and we will try again with the surgeon. Then maybe we can schedule.

I am depressed. Sad. Frustrated. Angry. Demoralized.

I can't really be justifiably be mad at the doctors, it wasn't them who didn't do the surgery when I was young. I do feel like this could have been handled better and I shouldn't have to push so hard to get appointments and things moving. But I can't be mad at them if my teeth don't move. I'm 27; I'm not surprised at all that my teeth aren't moving well. I'm full grown and my teeth are set too well in my head.

But I'm angry. And mad. Mad enough to swandive off my diet and eat pizza and icecream before my teeth started hurting last night.

Sad.

I'll let you know.

I have a 4 pm orthodontist appointment with Dr. S. This is the "yes" or "no" appointment on whether or not I can have surgery. I'm nervous, but not expecting good news.

My husband, R, is going out of town for work tonight, which makes me sad. Who will bug me when I'm trying to go to sleep? :)

Frustrated.

Well, nothing has changed since the last time I blogged, besides the fact that... nope. Nothing changed.

I don't have a surgery date yet and am not holding my breath for anytime this month, or September, since Dr. L will be at his practice in Nicaragua in September.

No surgical hooks or wires yet.

To be honest with you, I'm actually kind of cranky about the whole thing.

My jaw hurts a lot lately, and I've been catching myself clenching my teeth almost constantly which then results in a headache.

I know that a lot of you are going through the same thing. The waiting. The frustration. The pain. And I know I'm not alone. But I'm so... annoyed, you know?

What Happened

I was the last patient of the day at Dr. S' office and the girls sent me straight back to the chair with a happy wave. The other girls were punchy and happy because it was the end of the day. They joked and chatted with me as Dr. S looked at my teeth and made notes.

The office is a training office, so frequently you'll get a new assistant who reefs of your teeth as though you were a training head. Theresa, the girl I usually get, who has been at the office for years and years, can change my o-rings and wires with a feather-light touch, and I won't have any pain after. The girl I had today was another matter. She tried. She was pleasant and chatted with me when she realized that I was a regular. She also asked me why I wasn't an assistant, because I kept rattling off random terms, midline, tooth location, etc.

They took impressions, changed my upper wire, took off the power chain (thank god) and the appliance on my front teeth that he was using to flare my teeth out (to make more room in my mouth for my lower teeth after surgery).

I was told to come back in two weeks, in which time I'll be given a "Yea" or "Nay" on whether or not I'm ready.

The only thing wrong now is that my top midline is not straight. It used to be, is all I'm saying.

SO.

What does this mean?

Probably no surgery until October, because Dr. L's trip in September. If he can't do the surgery in early to mid-August, then he won't have the 4 weeks that I'd need him for post-op.

So, I probably won't have surgery until October unless they really rush after my appointment on the 11th. They'd have to schedule the surgery for the next week, which is possible, I suppose, but probably unlikely.

I have a migraine from the new assistant yanking on my wires and brackets, so I'm going to have some cobbler and whipped cream, because its soft and damn tasty.

Have a good night, kids!

4:00 PM EST

I have an orthodontist appointment with Dr. S today. I called in and requested it because the appliance on my front two teeth is really starting to bother me. It's meant to angle my teeth in, and now my bottom teeth are hitting the root of my tooth in the roof of my mouth. LL25 is hitting the root of UL8, if I've got my Alpha numeric codes correct.

I'm also hoping that we'll get an thumbs up that he's spoken to the surgeon (Dr. L) and we can get this actually scheduled for next month. Because I'm going to be pissed if I have to wait until Dr. L gets back from his practice in Nicaragua in October. :(

Wish me luck!

Blue Steel

One of my husband's favorite past times is teasing me. Which drives me totally and utterly nuts, but I know he does it because he loves me. But his favorite thing to tease me about are the faces that I make in the mirror.

Some time ago, whether before or after my orthognathic journey started, I don't remember, I started sliding my jaw forward to try and simulate what I would look like if my chin wasn't so recessed.

Unfortunately, my husband, R, must have noticed. He started calling me Zoolander whenever he saw me gazing into the mirror, my jaw thrust forward in it's correct positioning. It would seem that the face I make is remarkably similar to Ben Stiller's intelligence-challenged male model.

It didn't occur to me that there was anything wrong with the structure of my face until I was 16 and on a youth group trip to Chicago. Demorée, a girl a year or two older than me and a wonderful artist, started sketching portraits of some of the kids. She starred sketching me, but stopped because I was moving too much, and besides, she needed "a subject with a stronger jaw."

Never once before that did it occur to me that there was anything wrong with the way I looked (outside of the standard female insecurities about complexion, hair and weight). It bothered me, and I vowed that someday I would get a chin implant and cheek implants to balance my features. Assuming of course, that I somehow got a fabulous high paying adult job to fund said plastic surgeries. Still waiting for that job, if you were wondering.

I had no way of knowing, despite years and years of orthodontics, that there was anything wrong with my mouth besides crooked teeth. It wasn't until I went in for a 6 month cleaning at my dentist and asked about my lower gums receeding on L27. I was told by my dentist that it was actualy being crowded out and that if it wasn't fixed (by removing teeth and surgery) that I would lose that tooth and others.

I was aghast. Why hadn't this been mentioned to me during the years and years of braces and retainers? Why hadn't anyone mentioned that there was a structural problem with my jaw?

One week later, I was in my orthodontist's office and it was explained to me. When I was a child, orthognathic surgery was not a common practice and in fact, was avoided as treatment. Dr. S (senior) my old ortho was pretty old school. His son, who inherited the practice when I was in invisibles in college, takes a more modern approach and suggested the surgery, explained that many of the problems that I experienced daily (breathing problems, headache, jaw, shoulder and back pain, was all because of my weak chin. He offered an alternative; to shave down a couple teeth and make room in my mouth for my teeth, or put braces back on and have surgery. As you can imagine, I was horrified at the prospects of any more time in braces or major surgery, but in the end I opted to do just that.

And here we are. 4 years, 4 removed teeth, dozens of orthodontic appointments later, here we are. My husband calls me Zoolander and I'm going to be cut open very soon.

And maybe if I'm lucky, he'll call me something else. As long as it isn't Gaylord Focker.

Orthognathic Hullabaloo!

Hi, you can call me Cassie. I'll be your tour guide for the next few months as I navigate through Orthognathic Surgery.

I have been in some sort of orthodontic device since I was eight years old (or 19 years, if you're counting at home).

I started in the third grade with my first retainer; a Frankel that left a perminant impression in the roof of my mouth, which I accidentally left in my lunchbox and my mother threw away. I graduated to braces in the fifth grade, cursed with the stigma of wearing glasses and braces during puberty. And then into clear retainers in the tenth grade, and then back into braces at the age of 23 in preparation for my orthognathic surgery.

When my boyfriend proposed, I pushed our wedding off for a year and a half in the hopes that I would be through with my surgery and could have wedding pictures without braces. Here we are, a month after my first wedding anniversary, I still have braces and haven't had surgery yet.

One week ago I had an appointment with my oral surgeon and was told that my teeth were as ready as they would ever get and that we can schedule surgery.

So finally, for the first time in 19 years, we will be treating the problem and not the symptoms, and I will have my surgery soon, hopefully in 5 weeks.

I am looking forward to it, but am also vaguely terrified. Terrified of how the surgery will go, of how recovery will go, of 8 weeks of a liquid diet, of how I will feel and how I will look. All of which sounds silly, even to me, because I have been waiting for this for so long.

So, stick around and I'll give you a guided tour through the ups and downs of my orthognathic surgery.