Picture Update

I promised pictures so here they are! Pardon the quality, they were taken with my cell phone.

Regular head shot. You can see my top jaw is off center compared to my bottom jaw.
This is quite common with people like me.

Side View. My teeth are together and you can really see how far off
my bite is from the side.

Me biting down fully. Look at how large that gap is! This picture really shows how messed up my
teeth really are, just blows my mind. 

Guess what....?!?!?!?!

The palate expander is GONE! Outta here! I saw my orthodontist yesterday and she was quite pleased with how well my bottom teeth looked and with how much space the expander gave her to work with. She also put on top braces (SO EXCITING!!!!) so I now have a mouth full of bling. I was so happy that I almost started happy crying in the chair. 

My jaw and teeth are pretty sore today. Along with saying goodbye to PEA 2.0 and getting the tops put in, I had to take a couple pictures where my lips were stretched back using these plastic grip things. I've used them before and they can be pretty uncomfortable. I've been on a diet of mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, oatmeal and ice cream for the past day and a half. I'll probably continue on the soft food diet for a few days until my teeth calm down. 

I haven't had time to take any photos (my bailey burrito had surgery today so I've been a nervous wreck!) but I will post them either tonight or tomorrow. My top teeth are pretty jacked now, haha! You can really tell how much smaller my lower jaw is compared to my upper jaw now. I will definitely post some pictures very soon! 

Happy December 1st!

Hey all! It's been a couple of weeks since my last flossing incident post and I thought it was time for another picture update.
Again, not much has changed but I figured it would be nice to have a couple "before" photos. In this photo, you can see how messed up my bite really is. And yes, I am biting down completely.

It's amazing to think that it's been 1 year since my first jaw surgery! What a difference a year makes! It's kinda sad but this time last year, I could barely smile at all, never mind one like this.

My next orthodontist appointment is Wednesday December 10th. That appointment will mark the start of my next braces chapter. My orthodontist will be back from maternity leave and we will start to plan out the next steps! That includes getting rid of PEA and finally getting top braces. You have no idea how excited I am to finally get rid of this stupid expander. I really miss sandwiches.

I plan on stuffing a sandwich into my face as soon as this contraption is removed. Maybe even two!

I can't wait!

Flossing just got more dangerous...

Well, I've reached a new low since starting on this jaw journey. I somehow got a paper cut by flossing. Don't really know how I did it but it happened. One second I was fine, then I felt something weird on my finger and low and behold, a paper cut from where I was holding the floss.

Because flossing doesn't already suck enough I now have to worry about getting paper cuts too. Great. Just dandy.

Seriously, how does this stuff happen to me?!

A very merry dental halloween

I had my long awaited orthodontist appointment yesterday. The tech who I worked with was a lot of fun. He kept trying to convince me to get Halloween colored bands put on my braces. And when I said no to orange and black, he spent the rest of the appointment convincing me to get brown because brown is the color of thanksgiving. Haha! I ended up getting red.

Since my orthodontist is out on maternity leave I had to see a different orthodontist (Who I can't remember the name of unfortunately). She was very nice though! She looked at my teeth and saw that one of them wasn't moving the way it should have. She had to tie wire around it to stabilize it a bit more and to direct it to move where it's supposed to.

It didn't hurt when it was happening but I always take some ibuprofen before all my appointments. I sometimes walk into an appointment not realizing that I have to have a lot of work done. Later that day, my left side (where they had worked) really started to hurt. It started to bother me in the afternoon and has persisted all day today. I haven't had much of any dental work done since the end of July so yesterday was a little bit of a wake-up call. I had almost forgotten about my braces and PEA (I said ALMOST, not completely haha!)

The nice part is that my next appointment is in another 6 weeks which is December 10th. There was something in my file about "bracket" work to be done at my next appointment which means that I might (MIGHT) be able to say goodbye to PEA. !!!!! Very exciting. I'm going to try to not get my hopes up but it's very difficult! The appointment is only 30 minutes long though so I don't know if that's a long enough appointment for bracket installation and PEA removal. I am so ready to get rid of this thing though! I just can't wait!

Nothing to report, small life update

Well, it's been a very long time since I've posted anything. Almost 2 months to be exact!

I really don't have much to report dental-wise. Still in that weird holding pattern. I do have a check up next week on Halloween. Maybe having my braces tightened will deter me from eating a boat load of candy. My teeth are still a little sensitive but not as bad as before. And I also have another dental cleaning in November. Here's to hoping that the 'almost drowned' tag won't be used again!

These last couple of weeks have been super hectic and relaxing at the same time! We just spent the last 10+ days on vacation! We try to relax but there's so much that we want to do that we end up doing everything and then we are exhausted by the end of the week. We went to PA to celebrate a wedding with some of our friends and their families. It's probably one of the last weddings we'll have to go to in awhile before we start getting invitations for (gulp) baby showers! After the wedding, we decided to drive the extra 2 hours down to D.C. and spend the week with one of my close college friends. She put us up in her house and we roamed around DC for 4 days. After that, we drove back up to New England and went to the Berkshires to the in-laws. Lots of fun. Along the way we made another short detour to Troy, NY and ate dinner at Dinosaur BBQ. OMG, it's my favorite bbq place and it's SO good. We went there to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary. Nothing says romance like brisket and spicy barbecue sauce. 

After that, we came back to Boston and we were in the area for 4 days. Then we left again and flew to Tampa, Florida to spend time with my aunt and her family. My cousin got married and it allowed me to see a lot of people that I haven't seen in a long time including my two cousins. We flew back on Tuesday and now we are seriously back to reality. 

Surprisingly, I only gained 2 pounds while on vacation! I'll call that a success since I drank like a fish the whole time. :P

In other news, I have accepted a new position at the hospital. I now work full time in the main OR at my hospital. I haven't really said a whole lot about it because I've been so busy, but it's official! It'll be a great opportunity and I like the fast paced environment. I'm very excited to learn a lot more clinical-wise. My hours are now 10am-6:30pm which is really nice. This schedule allows me to actually spend time with my family and it even gives me the flexibility to go to all dental/medical appointments in the morning before my shift starts. This was more of a lateral move so unfortunately, no pay raise. But I should be getting one in January when my yearly review comes up. 

Ok, that was probably boring and pointless but whatever. :D Next week I will definitely post about my Halloween dental appointment!

Recent progress photos

I want to try and be better at posting some progress photos. So here are some recent photos. I'm in a weird holding pattern so my teeth won't change much again until December when I get top braces on. It does kinda suck because whenever I smile now, it looks like I've got silver teeth. Not really something I like but I'm pretending it doesn't exist. Enjoy!

Progress Photo - Taken Sept. 2014

Worst day ever. In the history of ever.

Word of advice to anyone with a palate expander: DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT get sick.

Vomiting with a palate expander installed was probably the worst thing that's ever happened to me. It is something that I will avoid at all costs in the future. Hell, I might even sell my first unborn child if I could guarantee that it would NEVER happen ever again. I won't go into detail because even thinking about it turns my stomach. But just imagine the worst thing that could happen in this situation and that's what happened to me.

PEA 2.0, I will make you pay when this is all over!

Dental cleaning from hell

Well, I had my quarterly dental cleaning last Thursday. I know I said I would write about the visit right after but I left the office a little angry. Nothing terrible happened to me but holy hell, I had to cool off before I wrote about anything related to that day. I had a very, VERY large glass of wine when I got home.
I went in for a routine cleaning and when I got there, I had a different hygienist than normal. Usually, it's not a big deal; I've had a different hygienist before when mine went on vacation. This time was different. I saw a girl who I've seen around the office but she was just a technician last time I was there. Apparently, this girl was working as a technician while going to school for dental hygiene. She must have graduated from her program and given a full time position as a staff hygienist while I was out recovering from my surgery.
Anyway, I went in and had the worst dental cleaning I've EVER had.
Now, I'm all for giving people a chance but this girl seriously needs more time apprenticing with another dental hygienist. I almost drowned not once, not twice but THREE times! I swear, my life flashed before my eyes. She was using the water pik thing to clean off the plaque from my teeth and didn't use the suction thing correctly. Thus, my mouth would fill with water and then I would start to choke. The third time it happened, I coughed and choked while the instruments were in my mouth. I had to wave my hands to have her stop and then raise my chair to a sitting position so I could cough out all the water that went into my poor lungs.
When I wasn't choking on dental water, I was waiting for the girl because she probably left the room about 6 times. I'm not sure if she was leaving to ask questions or something else but I sat around waiting for most of my exam. Dr. Ali even came in to check on me and was a little confused why I was still at the office. The last and final thing that totally blew my mind was that she had no idea how to floss my teeth! I had to show her how to floss teeth with braces! I couldn't believe it! I almost did one of those hysterical "I can't believe this is happening to me" laughs. And not in a good way.
An hour and a half later, I was finished. The reason it took so long is because after my last surgery I spent 3 weeks on a Chlorhexidine mouthwash. It's supposed to keep your mouth clean (in my case, the stitches after surgery) so you don't have any complications. It does horribly stain your teeth though. But a regular dental cleaning can take that all off. Before I scheduled the appointment, I told the office that I would be using the mouthwash after surgery. They thanked me for letting them know and told me that they would write a note in my chart. Chlorhexidine can be a pain to remove but it shouldn't take over an hour and a half. 45 minutes, maybe an hour tops.
After I was done, she asked me if I wanted to schedule my next cleaning and I almost dropped to the floor to praise Jesus because I had the BEST excuse! I told her that I needed to talk to the billing manager because I had to pay a balance that I owed and that I could just make an appointment with her (which was totally true by the way! I really did have to pay a bill). I can't tell you how happy I was to OWE money to someone!
When I saw the billing/office manager she asked me how my exam went. The exam was awful but I still felt kinda bad. I know all she needs is time and more experience to become a better hygienist. I just don't think I'm the right patient for her to practice on. With my braces and all my surgeries, I think I need stability and someone who knows what I'm going through. I told the billing manager that I can't spend an hour and half going through a dental exam with my jaw issues. She apologized and agreed with me that I should have the same hygienist every time. I made a future appointment and it's with my regular hygienist (THANK GOD). On a good note though, the girl did do a good job cleaning my teeth. They were sparkling and shining when I left. She just took for-freaking-ever to do it.
I really do love the office and office staff though. Everyone there is very sweet and caring. And I've been going here for almost 2 years and this is the first time I've had a bad visit.

On a side note, I never thought "almost drowned" would be a tag that I would EVER have to create in relation to this jaw journey. As per usual, I was obviously mistaken.

No more key for me and a question!

I had my orthodontist appointment this morning and I can gladly report that I am DONE with cranking PEA 2.0! Hurrah! Dr. Klein is confident that she has enough space to move all my teeth around which is wonderful! For now I just play the waiting game.
My next orthodontist appointment is Halloween and I won't be having any work done that visit. It's basically just a check up to make sure everything is going good with my bottom teeth and bottom braces. Dr. Klein will be on maternity leave during this time so it's great I'll only have to see someone different once. After that, it's another 6 weeks and Dr. Klein should hopefully be back by then. She was so super sweet and gave me her email and told me to email if I had any questions while she is gone. She's just an awesome lady.
We talked briefly about what happens when she comes back and it's looking like I'll get top braces on in December. This is exciting because when the top braces are put on, I'll be that much closer to scheduling my next and final surgery. Apparently, once the uppers are on, straightening them should be very quick. Since there's a lot of room now, she won't have to squeeze the teeth into alignment. They'll all just kinda fall into place. And I guess the upper teeth could be straight in as little as 4-6 weeks!
She also mentioned something about leaving PEA 2.0 in until January (;_;). I kinda gave her the sad face and told her that I had hoped to have PEA 2.0 removed before my birthday and Christmas. She told me that getting it removed a few weeks early shouldn't be an issue (^_^) but that she'll evaluate me in December and make the decision then. If all looks good, then I'll have it removed. If not, it'll stay in until she says so. Basically, I was told it shouldn't be a problem but to not get upset if things change. I can respect that so I'm cautiously optimistic. I'd rather deal with food getting stuck in my braces than having food stuck in the back of my throat.
A question for people out there reading this blog: does anyone have the nutri-bullet? I've been contemplating getting one for myself, especially since I know I will be using it next year after my surgery. I've read reviews online but most of them are very vague ("It works great!" just doesn't cut it for me) and  I want details! Did you buy yours in store or online through a retailer (like amazon)? I have a ninja blender but it is just a little TOO big, especially if I'm the only one using it. I really want something I can use on-the-go and with easy clean-up. Is there something else out there that you recommend instead of the nutri-bullet? I really want to use it for making smoothies and blending small quantities of fruits/veggies. Let me know here in the comments section or on facebook! I'm very curious!

Unless I have another braces malfunction, I'll probably keep the posts down to a minimum until Halloween. The hubby and I are super busy starting in September so I probably won't have time to post much anyway (weddings/vacations/more weddings/family gatherings/etc) until Halloween. I do have another dental cleaning coming up in a week or two so I will probably post again after that. Don't forget to let me know about that nutri-bullet if you know anything about it!

Good News, Bad News

Well, I saw my regular dentist yesterday and he gave me good news! The pain/sensitivity that I'm experiencing is not a cavity and does not require any extra work to that area. That was the great news! He thinks that it's a braces issue. Since my teeth are moving, he thinks that one of the bands on my right side might be irritating the tooth when I chew in certain ways. Maybe the band is pinching a nerve? The bad news is that he couldn't really do anything for me so I'll have to wait until I see the orthodontist (which is a week from today). He didn't want to disrupt anything that she had done (which I completely understand). So I'll just have to wait a week until I see her next.
I did have to get 1 cavity filled (the one in the front that was hiding behind the other tooth). It wasn't a big cavity though so he actually did it without using Novocaine. Oh yea, who's a bad ass! I'm totally hardcore. Haha! It made me pretty happy though since administering the local anesthetic can cost some money and I've already maxed out my dental insurance. So anything else will have to be paid out of pocket (which totally blows, btw). Also, today is the last day turning PEA 2.0 twice a day. Now I go down to once a day until next week!
Just thought I would share, nothing else to really report. As I said, my next orthodontist appointment is a week from today. I will write again in about a week then!

Super psyched about the dentist (no, really I am!)

I never thought I would say this but, I can't wait to go to the dentist tomorrow! I'm pretty sure I just need a cavity filled. Once I find out the exact problem, I'll post a more in depth blog entry tomorrow! Let's hope it's just a cavity and nothing worse!

Progress Update #1 with Photos!

It's been exactly a week since I got PEA 2.0 and things are becoming more normal. However, certain teeth are now seriously sensitive. I'm hoping that they are just cavities that have become revealed since my teeth have been moving a lot recently. I'm hoping and praying that I don't need a root canal because I don't see how I'll be able to afford it. I have temporarily changed my toothpaste to Sensodyne until I can talk to my dentist about it. I have a dentist appointment Tuesday morning so I will post an update after that.

Other than the sensitivity, I'm really good. I had a week off for vacation and had tons of fun with my friend from college. We went up to Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont while she was here. I had a great time and hope she did as well.

It's been awhile since I posted any pics of my progress. Here are the most recent photos that I took yesterday.

This is me with my 'normal' smile. As you can see, my teeth don't touch.

A closer view of my jaw. Again, doing a 'normal' bite down.

View of PEA 2.0 and teeth movement

Today also marks 6 weeks since my surgery! It's unbelievable how much can happen in such a short time! To most people, my teeth don't look like they've moved a lot but to me and my doctor's the progress is really good. My front tooth (the one slightly behind the other) used to be hidden much more. Now it's more visible which is exciting!

Pea 2.0 and yet another mini-rant

Things have been pretty busy for me this past week. I've had 2 doctor's appointments since Tuesday (both routine, nothing wrong). I'm also on vacation since my college friend is up here visiting for a week. 

Yesterday, I had a routine orthodontist appointment which went a lot better than the one I had a week before. 

Now, I understand that the office is busy and they see a lot of patients. One of the technicians comes up to me with my new palate expander and says, "Ok, let's try this one on and see how it fits." and then has a very confused facial expression when she sees that I already have one installed. It really irritates me because it makes me feel like I'm just another patient that you are working on. It doesn't kill you to take a quick 2 seconds to look at my chart and see what work I've already had done. That way you don't have to go and search for my orthodontist and ask her while she's in with another patient. My orthodontist does a great job of knowing what's going on with my case and just knowing me on a personal level. I don't feel like I should have to tell the technician (who I've been seeing for almost a year now btw) that I already have a palate expander installed. In fact, I think she was the one who helped to install the palate expander the first time! 

Ugh, I'm sure I sound ridiculous. Just wanted to get that off my chest. 

Yesterday though, I got PEA 2.0! Apparently, I found out that I "graduated" to an adult sized palate expander. The one that I had before was so small that it was child sized. So now I have a full sized PEA. And this one sits a lot better on my teeth than the last one. It also is practically flush with the roof of my mouth so I haven't had as much problems with food getting stuck up there like I did before. I've been instructed to amp up my expanding. I turn the key 3 times a day for 1 week, then 2 times a day for 1 week, then once a day until I see my ortho again. The space in between my two front teeth has kind of closed. But that is a good thing! It means all the teeth are moving to accommodate the added room I have now. Since the crowding is so bad, I won't really have a huge space between my two front teeth which makes me happy. Who knows, my teeth might even been pretty straight by the wedding we are attending in October! Very exciting! I also got my bottom wire replaced and some new colored o rings. So my teeth are a little sore today. 

Well, time to go and have more fun on my vacation!

More impressions and PEA 2.0 is on it's way!

Well, on Thursday, I had my 5 week post-op check up with my orthodontist. She seemed happy about my progress with PEA and told me that I would need to graduate to a bigger palate expander. In order to get a new one, they needed to take another impression. (Which makes this impression #17 since I started this journey) This involved taking PEA out, doing the impression, then reinstalling PEA.
I'm not going to lie, it was actually pretty uncomfortable. Getting PEA taken out sucked. A lot. It's glued in place and just didn't want to come out. Apparently, the technician didn't use anything to help remove PEA, she just yanked him out. That's probably why it hurt so much! My orthodontist ended up yelling at her though (since I just had oral surgery but NBD). And when she took PEA out, she bent one of the brackets a little making it almost impossible to put back on. They finally got it on but it sits lower on my teeth than it used to so now it's been irritating my lips and getting caught on my upper lip.

Thankfully, I'll only have to deal with PEA until Wednesday. My new palate expander should be in and they'll take the old one out and replace it for me. Can't wait to deal with the pain of getting it removed again! ;_;

142 days left!

Well, I've had PEA for a little over a month now and I can happily say that I am totally over it! I'm sick and tired of food getting stuck up in there. I'm tired of flossing 5+ times in one day. I can't stand that all the foods I used to like, now suddenly leave a metallic taste in my mouth that never really goes away. Mexican and really spicy food are the only things that really taste the same. And the WORST is that my lips are constantly getting caught on the two brackets on my canines.

UGH. Only 142 days left!

Sarpe Recovery - 3 Week update

Well, the last of my stitches finally fell out! It's been roughly 3 weeks since my surgery and I'm so happy that all my stitches are finally gone. The last two stitches were in the center of my incision and have been really bothering me the last couple days. I really wanted mother nature to just take its course and wait for them to either dissolve or fall out. But if they hadn't fallen out by next week, I was going to mention something to my orthodontist at my next appointment. Thankfully, they fell out on their own so I don't need to mention it to Dr. Kline.

I can now sorta use my tongue to feel the scar around my upper jaw and it sorta freaks me out a bit. I try not to do it a lot but most of the time I can't really help it. I also got some feeling back into my upper right teeth which is good. Makes me feel like I might not accidentally drool on myself as much anymore.

Still cranking PEA but now only once a day. I initially did it 4 times a day for 1 week and then 2 times a day for 1 week. Once I get fitted for PEA 2.0 then I'll probably go back to 2 times a day until I'm completely finished.

surgery weight loss

Recovery has been going really well. The bruises are all gone and almost all of my stitches have fallen out. I just have 1-2 more stitches left near the center of my top lip. I really just want to yank them out but I'm trying to be good.
Some of the stitches fell out over the holiday weekend. I was drinking a glass of juice and felt something in my mouth. Apparently, I had a huge giant clot near the top of my mouth. It fell out while drinking my juice and it even had a few stitches still in it. Totally grossed me out. I ended up throwing my juice out and brushed my teeth for a good 10 minutes after. Thankfully, I didn't vomit. Can't imagine that throwing up with PEA would be any fun.
Since my surgery,  I've lost roughly 10-12 pounds. And I've kept it off too! Its made me realize that I should try and make healthier choices. Since the weather is nice and its july, I want to try and fix up my bike. I might not be able to do much but I can ride a bike! And Don's parents have an old stationary bike that I might be able to use. That way I could use it all year long. I've been good and stayed away from bread and I think it's working. I can't say no to pasta all the time but I can say no to bread. We shall see!

SARPE Recovery - 10+ days

I am now 11 days post surgery and I feel pretty good! My bruising is very minimal and almost completely gone. I also have a noticeable space between my front 2 teeth. Food is still somewhat difficult to chew and process which is why I'm still eating a lot of softer foods. Fish, applesauce, yogurt and ice cream are some of my favorites. Mostly it's hard to chew because things get stuck in PEA or they get caught up in my scar/stitches and it's uncomfortable to fish them out using my tongue. I feel that this will be the way of things for a while. I'll just have to get used to it I guess. :)
Bread is still one of the harder things to eat so I've decided to just forgo it as much as possible. I think cutting out bread will help me to keep off the weight that I've lost. I didn't realize how much bread I was actually consuming before my surgery. Crazy because I didn't think of myself as a huge bread eater! I really only like french toast and sandwiches but I guess I was eating them all the time. I had a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch today and I think that'll be the last sandwich that I have for a while. I felt kinda yucky after eating it and it took me almost 25 minutes to eat the darn thing. Thanks but no thanks.

I have 2 more orthodontist appointments in July and was warned that I will probably need to get refitted for a new PEA. It'll be PEA 2.0! I guess the screw that widens your jaw only has so many turns and it looks like mine are going to run out before my jaw gets to be the right size. AKA they get me a new PEA with a reset screw. Thankfully, I won't have to turn it forever.

Now that I'm 10+ days into my recovery, I know for sure that this was the right thing to do. Yea, it was a little difficult and I know I have a long road ahead of me but I know that it was part of the journey I'm on. If anyone is thinking getting this done but is on the fence about it because they are afraid of surgery or the recovery after the surgery, please don't be afraid. Yea, I was a little sore and bruised after the surgery. And the whole soft food/liquid diet thing was a pain in the butt but it just doesn't compare to how I will feel when everything is done and I have a brand new smile. The confidence boost alone will change everything. I can't wait!

Updates for the next few weeks might be a little sparse because the 4th is coming up along with my vacation! I'll try and post some short updates after my orthodontist appointments. Until then, Happy 4th everyone!

Sarpe Recovery - Day 7

It's been a full week since I last had surgery and I feel pretty good! I went back to work today which was exciting. I've been given a special project at work that doesn't involve answering the phones or lifting anything too heavy which is exactly what I wanted. I'm just glad that I don't have to stay home anymore because I was starting to go a little stir crazy with all the free time I had! Although I probably could have spent another 3 or 4 days power-watching the 2nd season of Game of Thrones that I recently acquired. Oh well, work is better anyway! Gotta save that earned time and make some money!

I've slowly started to eat tougher foods but not a lot. I had a hot dog and potato salad for dinner tonight which was perfect. I might go and have a bowl of ice cream before bed. It's sorta calling my name. :P

People at work have been very supportive. However, I don't think some of them expected me to come back so soon after surgery. I work in a larger department so I don't get to see everyone on a regular basis. Some people work a limited schedule and quite a few people left for vacation the week before my surgery. Now, the bruises around my face are slowly starting to get worse, especially now that I am talking more and eating a wider variety of food. They've gone from a yellowish-green to a greenish-purple in some spots. When I came back today, a lot of my coworkers seemed surprised at the bruises around my mouth and along my jawline. I guess people were just surprised that I came back so soon after surgery with the way the bruises look. I honestly don't really care. I'm not going to let a couple bruises stop me from going back to work and doing my job. One coworker said that it almost doesn't look like a bruise, it sorta looks like I got bbq sauce on my face and was too lazy to wipe it off! It made me laugh which I appreciated.
I'm sure some people thought I had just taken a week off for vacation, lol. A Blue Cross Blue Shield vacation maybe, HAHA. It was just amusing to see people's reactions. As one of my coworkers put it, "They broke your face!" Which, yea, they kinda did but in a not so bad kinda way.

I've got a teeny tiny space starting to appear between my front two teeth which is exciting! My front two teeth are still kinda numb though. When I brush my tongue up against them I don't really feel anything. I hit one of my front teeth with a spoon yesterday and expected to feel something but didn't. Doing some more research online, I found that this is actually quite common and the feeling will come back eventually.

Since my teeth have started to separate, I've discovered that I have a cavity on my front left tooth. It was hiding behind the other tooth! However, I'm not sure when I will be able to get this cavity filled. I might have to wait awhile since I don't know how novacaine will affect my upper jaw now that there are stitches and such up there. I'll ask the orthodontist tomorrow what she thinks and go from there.

Anyway, here are some more images of my recovery!

Sarpe Recovery - Day 7

Attempting to smile.

Sarpe Recovery - Day 5

Today was the big day! I had my post-op appointment this morning at 10:30am. My surgeon was happily surprised at how good I looked. My jaw has started to bruise and I was a lovely shade of yellow/green when I had my appointment. However, according to my surgeon, most of his patients who go through the same procedure bruise more heavily than me. He said the bruises will probably become more pronounced within the next couple of days but to just keep using the heat pad to help promote blood circulation. They should slowly start to diminish as I heal.

He told me that I can start to amp up my diet (which makes me very happy). This means I can eat more than ice cream, yogurt and mashed potatoes. My local grocery store had a sale on some really nice looking salmon and wild cod so I think I'll make that tonight to celebrate. Oh man, just thinking about it makes me so hungry!

I was also told that I can now take ibuprofen again. You have no idea how happy I was when he told me that I could start taking the ibuprofen again. Tylenol helps to take the edge off but doesn't even come close to what ibuprofen does. If I want to take the ibuprofen I will have to amp up my diet though because my stomach will be very upset if I take the ibuprofen without eating first.

I am still not allowed to blow my nose or use a straw. I can do both starting next week which is good cause I've been dying for an iced coffee and to be able to blow my nose. I think I can wait a little longer though.

And lastly, the best part, he gave me the ok to go back to work! He told me that it was up to me and how I felt but that if I wanted to go back, he said he was fine with it. He was a little concerned with me over-doing it though so he suggested a modified lite duty. For the first week I'm back, he doesn't want me to do any heavy lifting and to limit my talking on the phone which I'm totally fine with. I work in a pharmacy and there's a bunch of stuff I can do without answering the phone or lifting heavy stuff so I'm not concerned. I have another appointment tomorrow morning at the hospital where I will get cleared to go back to work. I can't officially work until occupational health clears me. It's a little bit of over-kill but I understand why they do it. Patient safety comes first and they need to make sure that I'm well enough to work so that my patients leave happy and healthy. I'll just have to talk to my boss about coming back early and hopefully she'll have something for me to do.

There was a slight hiccup with the orthodontist though. Apparently, I was supposed to also have a post-op appointment with my orthodontist. When I was last there, I asked about when I should see her again, and was told 6 weeks after my surgery. So that's what I scheduled. When I told Dr. Keith that, he said that there must have been some kind of mistake because I should have had an appointment to see her 1-2 weeks after my surgery. It doesn't really surprise me, the people at the front office can be super spacey. And they have a lot of new staff that aren't that familiar with schedules. But he called my orthodontist and fixed everything. Now I have an orthodontist appointment Friday morning at 8am. I'm not looking forward to driving into Boston on a Friday morning but I will do it.

Anyway, I feel a lot better and am looking forward to getting back to work.

Sarpe recovery - Day 3

Nothing really to say today. Feeling a little better every day that goes by. I actually took a shower and interacted with real people (meaning not the hubby, the dog,  or immediate family) which was nice.  I went to a bridal shower for a good friend who's getting married in October. I knew I couldn't let a little swelling and bruising get in the way of me wishing her well. Plus, she couldn't believe that I had made it there only 3 days after surgery. It's cause I'm a badass, haha! Actually a lot of people were surprised that I made it. But seriously, I didn't do anything to get there. A friend drove me to the party, I sat and absorbed the sun (it was beautiful out today!) and then a friend drove me home. It was probably the best first outting that i could have gone to. Lots of sitting around, talking and a few easy going bridal shower games. I ate some mashed potatoes before the party and then almost a while pint of chocolate ice cream when I got home. Not too shabby.
I also ate a hot dog! I cut it up into really small pieces and was able to swallow it with minimal chewing. It was nice to feel like a normal human again.

I did nap though. We hung out at a friends house to watch some fifa soccer games after the shower and I napped while everyone was watching that on the big screen. I'm still not taking the narcotics (wahoo!) But I think the decongestants I'm on do a number on me. They just knock me out. I get so tired after taking them that I have to take a nap almost immediately. But other than that I feel good!

It's been practically 48 hours since taking the narcotics so I think I'll be Ok to drive myself to my post op appointment on Tuesday. It's after rush hour so I won't have to contend with traffic which is good. I don't know what he will say on Tuesday but I'm hoping that I can go back to work Thursday or Friday,  maybe do some light duty. That way I won't have to use all of my earned time. I'm sure there will be something that I can do at work that isn't too strenuous.

Any who, time to relax and watch my stash of movies. Heavy weights is up next!

Sarpe recovery day 3

SARPE Recovery - day 2

Well, it's been roughly 48 hours since my operation and things are going good (i think? haha)! I've been a little weak but that's probably because I haven't had any solid food in two days. My face is still swollen but you can tell that it's slowly going down. The right side of my face is definitely worse than the left. I've been putting ice on my face when I remember (trying to do the whole 20 mins on/20 mins off is hard!) and generally just relaxing and taking it easy. When I'm tired, I sleep. When I'm hungry, I eat. When I'm thirsty, I drink. All that good stuff.

I actually haven't been in too much pain. It's been 48 hours since my surgery and I haven't needed to take any narcotic pain meds today. I did take some tylenol but other than that, I've been pretty good. I am still very sleepy though. I've been mostly taking the nasal decongestants and nasal sprays.

Yawning is really hard. And my nose hurts a little. More than my jaw anyway. I also can't blow my nose which I'm dying to do! I can just feel all the gunk in there and it's bothering me a lot! My ears hurt a little too. Basically, everywhere on my face besides my mouth hurts, lol. Very strange.

Last night, Don helped me to turn PEA for the first time. I definitely felt the turn but it didn't hurt. I've read some blogs where the writer felt the palate expander was the worst pain ever. I feel the pressure but it's not painful. I've been turning the key 2 times, twice a day. Generally, I've been doing it in the morning when I wake up and right before going to bed. I might also have an advantage since I've had PEA before and know what to expect.

Not a whole lot to say but I'm getting there, if a little slowly.

SARPE Recovery - Day 2

SARPE Surgery write up

So, after sleeping a bit and resting, I finally feel ok enough to write a more in depth account of my surgery.

My surgery was scheduled for 11:30am but I arrived at the hospital at 9am. Once I was called in, I had a nurse do my vital signs (take my blood pressure, temp, and pulse) and then I changed into the very stylish johnny and robe. I even had to remove my underwear which was kinda horrifying! I made sure to wear natural cotton undies but they still had me remove them!
After getting registered and changing, I spoke with a really sweet nurse. She asked me all the regular questions. Name, date of birth, what surgery I was having done, meds I was taking, ect. I finally broke down and asked the nurse about the underwear situation. I really didn't want to go into surgery without SOMETHING protecting my modesty. Plus, I was freezing! The nurse assured me that it's just a precaution because they want the OR to be very sterile. She gave me some PJ pants to wear in lieu of underwear and I was so happy! Definitely better than going without. After that was done, they brought in my hubby to sit with me. By that time, it was around 10am. I was able to watch the first half of Let's Make a Deal. Soon after, I said goodbye to my hubby and was transported to the pre-op area.

Now MGH takes cleanliness and everything being 100% sterile very seriously. I went through 2 check points before going into the operating room. Day surgery pre-op where I got registered. I also had to change out of my clothes and leave any other belongings there. Then I was transported to the OR pre-op. What sucked is that my hubby couldn't come into the OR with me. He had to say goodbye at that registration point. Hopefully since the next surgery is way more major, I'll see if he'll be able to stay with me until the last possible second. 

In the OR, I was able to watch TV however, I had to leave my glasses and all valuables back with my hubby. So I was unable to actually really see anything on the screen, lol. Once in the OR, I met with my surgeon, the surgery team, anesthesiologist and nurses. I had my IV put in along with all the good drugs. If you are at all concerned with the procedure or drugs they will be giving you, speak up and tell your nurse, surgeon and anesthesiologist. They will be able to answer all your questions. I was concerned about the narcotics making me nauseous and vomiting after. If you know you have a weak stomach, request a scopolamine patch (it helps against motion sickness and nausea). I got one and it definitely helped.

After that, I was brought into the operating room and put to sleep. My surgery was roughly 45 minutes long. I went in on time but I guess it took me a long time to wake up from the anesthesia because I don't really remember anything until I got to the post op area which was around 3:30pm. My nurse, Joan, was just wonderful. She was an older lady and was very motherly. She was the perfect nurse and I couldn't have asked for anyone better. We didn't leave the hospital until 5pm. The only thing that sucked is that we left at the height of rush hour. I don't know what was worse, leaving at rush hour and getting stuck in traffic or not eating all morning and getting home late.

After the traffic, I went home and immediately lied down. My hubby and brother in law went to the pharmacy for me to get all my drugs along with some other stuff I needed. After that, I just iced my face periodically and relaxed. I even ate a bowl of chicken broth. It helped a lot.  They pumped me full of fluids while in the OR so I've been peeing like a racehorse since yesterday!

I am still very swollen. I've been icing my face constantly. My nose is very sore. I can't blow my nose or sneeze with my mouth closed for awhile. I can't wait until tomorrow when I'll be able to hopefully eat more solid food again.

Here's another photo, you can tell that the swelling as gone down dramatically since yesterday. Under my upper lip and near my cheek are where the stitches are.

Day 1 Recovery

Today at 5pm I will be turning the key in PEA for the first time. I'm sure it'll suck but I'll hopefully write about that tomorrow!

SARPE post surgery - recovery day 1

Hey all, so here I am roughly 10 hours into my surgery recovery. Surgery went very well (at least that's what I was told). I am pretty swollen and sore, especially on my right side. I'm a little numb around my right cheek and my nose. But all the doctors and nurses were very impressed because I had practically no bleeding. I guess this type of surgery may have a significant amount of bleeding just because it's in the mouth. But so far so good! I actually feel Ok, kinda hungry.
I've been put on a clear liquid diet for the next 36 hours which totally sucks. I'm basically limited to chicken broth and water with gaterade and apple juice. Depending on how I feel, I might try some apple sauce tonight,  maybe that will help to fill me up. I know that's not a clear liquid but I don't care. Lol. I should be able to eat a more blender based diet on Saturday night which I'm looking forward to. Milk shakes, yogurt, ice cream, and the mashed potatoes I made are all looking pretty awesome right now.

I want to go into more detail about my 2nd surgery experience but right now I'm very tired. Just wanted to write here that everything went well and that I'm starting to recover. Hopefully I'll be able to write a more in depth account of the actual surgery later today if I'm feeling up for it.

Here's a picture of me just out of surgery,  feel free to look away cause I'm sure it's not pretty by any means.

4 hours after surgery in the post op area.  I'm trying to smile but my face muscles are still really sleepy! 

The big day is here!

Today is the big day! Surgery number 2 is here! I'm currently sitting in the waiting area waiting for my name to be called. I'm already really hungry (haha no surprise there) and would really like a large coffee. Lol.
Don't know if I'll be up to writing a whole blog entry after surgery but I will try. If not, I will shoot for tomorrow.
I've already got a stash of movies to watch while I recover including the first season of game of thrones. See everyone on the other side!

Braces Malfunction

Holy hell. I thought spacers were terrible? Let me tell you, what happened to me over the weekend blows those spacers out of the park.
Yesterday, I went to a graduation party for a very good family friend. We were chatting and eating and generally having a good time when I bit down on something, heard a pop, crunch, and another pop. Apparently, when I bit down on something, the wire popped out, bent, and then popped back in. At first, I was ok. A little sore but not bad. But as the day wore on, my mouth pain got worse and worse. So bad that I almost burst into tears on the way home. My hubby spent the night at a friend's house (FIFA world Cup soccer is happening and he's completely hooked!) so I had the bed to myself. I'm so irritated because I woke up every 2 hours or so because of mouth pain. I couldn't enjoy having the bed to myself! What a bummer! I also had to work today and could barely function, the pain was that bad.

I'm sure some of you are wondering, why not take some pain meds and call the dentist? Well, I called the dentist on call and they said that there wasn't really anything I could do today (it is Sunday after all) and I totally understood that. I was nervous because this pain was so bad that I didn't know if I should go to the emergency room. I was worried that maybe part of my tooth broke when I bit down on something, who knows! And I was freaking out because my surgery is on Thursday! Less than 4 days away! She told me to take some tylenol and to call the office first thing in the morning but that she didn't think I'd need to go to the ER unless I got dizzy, nauseous, and started vomitting. She also told me that my wire was probably just in the wrong spot and that if I could, try and pop it back in. And the meds thing? Well, since I'm having surgery on Thursday, I can't take any kind of medication that could thin my blood or cause bleeding risks. All NSAIDs (like Ibuprofen and Naproxen) may cause bleeding risks so tell all surgery-bound patients to stop all NSAIDs a week before surgery to minimize bleeding. I feel like I can never catch a break! Something like this always happens to me.

Well, I ended up leaving work early. I went home and took some more tylenol. Then, I started to fiddle with the wire and then suddenly, I felt another pop and the wire went back in. Oh. My. God. The relief was so instant that I burst into tears. I cried for a good 10 minutes, no joke. I was so happy that I had fixed it and that I wouldn't need any additional dental work. This pain was so similar to when I had an infected tooth and needed a root canal that I wasn't sure if it was a braces thing or an actual tooth thing! I've never cried tears of happiness before today but after everything was ok and I stopped crying, I felt wonderful. I was very tired (since I practically didn't sleep last night!) but I was just too happy and relived that I didn't care.

Thankfully, I'll know what to do should this happen again. And I guess I still have to go to the dentist tomorrow because the wire might be bent and could pop out again. But at least I'm not in a crazy amount of pain anymore!

One week to go!

It is officially one week before my surgery! Ahhh, starting to get nervous! I'm not nervous for the actual surgery, I know my surgeon will do an excellent job. I'm more nervous for the recovery I think. And I'm worried about feeling hungry but not being able to eat. I don't want to be hangry!

I posted a question to my friends and family on facebook regarding Ensure/Boost/Carnation Instant Breakfast asking what people's opinions are on any of those. If anyone out there has any advice on any of those, please leave a comment below! 

Rant #2

About 3 weeks ago, I completed my phone screening with a nurse of the MGH anesthesia department. We went over the normal stuff regarding general anesthesia and various things before surgery. Things were going great until we started talking about my specific surgery date. She mentioned that my surgery was going to be a single overnight surgery. I was very confused because my oral surgeon and I had discussed this surgery at length and he told me that it would be a day surgery only. When I mentioned this to her, she said that maybe my doctor saw something in my chart and decided to book me for an overnight just as a precaution. But she also advised me to call my surgeon's office just to clarify what was actually happening so I could plan to have a ride home or not.

So, a few days later, I called the surgeon's office and left a message with the insurance coordinator. I've had some issues with her returning my phone calls in the past so I didn't expect her to return my phone call that day. However, after a week of nothing from her I decided to call back and see if she was in the office. I got some office worker who was pretty rude to me. "Well, Mary is here in the office but she's very busy talking to insurance companies all day today. So..." I'm sorry but that is not something you tell a patient. Thankfully, I work in healthcare and am an understanding person and realize that she is very busy. And I'm sure she only has a limited window in which to talk to these insurance companies. But seriously, it won't kill you to give a little white lie or something. Tell me that she's in a meeting or that she's out of the office that day, anything besides what you just told me over phone. Telling someone that they are on the phone with insurance companies implies that insurance companies are more important than the patient who is on the phone asking a very important question regarding a surgery they are having in less than 2 weeks. I was pretty annoyed and offended by how rude they were to me. Especially since I've been going to their office for over a year and will be experiencing multiple surgeries with them. I'm spending a lot of money; I don't think they should speak to me (or anyone for that matter) the way they did.

After I left a second message, I decided to wait out the rest of the week and see if she'd call me back. She never did. Finally, after waiting for almost 2 and a half weeks, I gave in a called the office a 3rd time. Thankfully, the nice receptionist answered the phone and remembered me very quickly. I told her what was going on and she said, "Oh, Mary is in her office! Do you mind holding while I go and ask her?" Very simple and easy. I said no problem and waited. She came back on the phone after a few seconds and said, "I'm going to transfer you to her office because there are a few other things she wanted to talk to you about as well. Here's the number in case we get disconnected." Note the professionalism BTW!

Well, I spoke with Mary and she informed me that my chart said I was spending 1 overnight at the hospital. Do I have any other questions? I explained to her everything I had told 2 people and her voice mail twice. It was like she never even listened to my messages. She told me that she would clarify with Dr. Keith but that she was 98% sure that I was going to spend the night. I thanked her for the info and ended the call. She never even apologized for not returning my messages. I'm very tempted to say something to Dr. Keith when I see him at my post-op. Seriously just irritated me.

But wait! The best part about this whole thing? I realized I had a voice mail once I got into work. It was Mary telling me that there was some sort of "mix up" and that Dr. Keith told her that my next surgery was a day surgery. My 2nd surgery would require me to spend a night in the hospital.

I think the thing that irritated me the most was that my question was simple, yet important. And still she never called me back. If she had looked into Dr. Keith's schedule for next Thursday and asked about my specific case, he would have told her that it was to be a day surgery. THEN all she would have to do is call me back and leave a message on my cell phone. In total, it would have been 10, maybe 15 minutes out of her daily schedule. So irritating!!

I can't wait until this whole thing is over. I'm ready to start recovering so that I can get on with my life.

Sorry about the rant, just needed to get some stuff off my chest!

Meet P.E.A.!

So, not a whole lot to say. Palate Expander still sucks. I hate typing out palate expander every single time I want to talk about it though. So, from now on, I will now refer to it as PEA (palate expander appliance)! Haha, I'm so clever! LOL.
Food is slowly getting easier to navigate. Talking is still hard. It almost sounds as if I'm deaf. It's a very strange experience. I'll have moments of clarity where my voice sounds like it used to. But then, all of a sudden, I have to say a word that I didn't anticipate being a difficult word so I sorta kinda just spit it out. It's almost like I'm tone deaf on certain words. Very odd and weird. I don't know how it sounds to other people, but to me it sounds like I was deaf at some point.
I've also learned to eat with my head tilted slightly back. Not sure how that will work once the surgery happens and I have stitches but I'm sure I'll manage somehow.

Now, I'm sure some of you are curious what PEA looks like. Luckily, I have a hubby who's willing to take some photos for me, even if they are slightly awkward.

Now, PEA is obviously the spider looking metal contraption. It is hooked onto 4 teeth and cemented in with glue (that blue stuff around those teeth is the glue). This picture really shows how much crowding I have. You can see the front 4 teeth are really crowded. Once I have surgery, I will be able to crank PEA and make my jaw wider. In order to make my jaw wider, I will need to crank PEA with a special key. My orthodontist instructed me that I can't loose it because the company only makes one per person. And I must bring it with me to surgery because they will start the cranking process while I'm under the anesthesia. If you look at the photo above, you can see a small slit in the very center. You take the key, insert it into the slit and you can watch it grow wider and wider. After awhile, my teeth will start to spread and I will actually have a space in between my front teeth! It's hard to believe since my teeth have been crowded for so long. 

This "key" is quite an expensive tool. It's 95% made of flimsy plastic with 5% curved metal. It almost looks like someone unbent a paper clip and glued it onto a piece of plastic. HAHA. I've had PEA before so I was not surprised with how flimsy the key looked. But it's a lot stronger than it looks. I guess one of her patients forgot the key at home on surgery day and she had to rush over with someone else's key. How someone in the OR couldn't just fabricate something on the fly blows my mind but whatever. I've been told that it must remain with me surgery day so I'll follow my instructions and bring it on surgery day.

I guess on surgery day, Dr. Keith will take my key and crank PEA at least 4 or 5 times to get my mouth started. Then, once I am in recovery, someone will instruct my hubby on how to crank PEA since I won't be able to. I could when I was a kid but I didn't have stitches or a broken palate haha. 

It's very strange but I just realized today that I don't have any more doctor's appointments or phone appointments. Surgery is my next appointment! O.O!! Holy cow!

New appliance installed!

Well, it's official! I've gotten my palate expander and it sucks! I'm a little sore and I'm having a hard time talking. I've been told that it takes a few days to get used to the appliance. The brackets on my two eye teeth have been bothering me the most. They stick out quite a lot and rub the inside of my lips. Thankfully, I've got lots of wax. But I am also drooling like crazy.

Eating food is so difficult now! I brush after eating ANYTHING. I even swish my mouth with mouthwash after drinking certain things (like smoothies and junk). Eating kinda sucks now which is really sad cause I love food. ;_;

Only 182 days until I can loose this appliance and eat/talk like a normal person again. (AND YES, I've started a count down!)

Another one bites the dust

Things have been very hectic! We've been going with the flow and preparing for my surgery when BAM, life kicked us where it hurts.

Last Monday night (roughly two hours after my spacer part II dilemma), my husband was playing soccer with some friends when he got hurt. He ended up tearing his achilles tendon in his right leg. We had to rush to the hospital and suddenly our lives got a whole lot more complicated. We made an appointment to see an orthopedic specialist (the next day) and he confirmed our worst fears. His achilles was torn and pretty badly. He recommended surgery and soon. They were able to fit him in for surgery the following Friday.
I've been preparing for my surgery for months, I can't imagine being told, "Yea, you need surgery. Lets do it on Friday." Unreal. My hubby is a trooper cause I would have been a hot mess.
Friday comes and we go in for surgery. Luckily, I didn't have to miss work because he came to my hospital and had his surgery. By the time he got out of the OR, my shift was over. The best part? My husband is one of those people who is VERY HILARIOUS when coming off anesthesia. Since I work there, I was able to check up on him in the PACU (which the nurses don't typically allow in PACU cause their patients can turn critical very quickly if something goes wrong). After I checked in and said hi, I left to let him fully wake up.
The next time I saw him, he was sitting up at the day surgery recovery. He saw me and his face lit up. After I sat down next to him, he started humming and then busted out some awesome rap lyrics. I knew I should have come in with my phone on record. Would have made for an awesome youtube video. Now he is recovering and being a typical pain in the ass patient, haha! He came out of surgery in a splint because of swelling. But last Thursday, they took that off, checked his stitches and put him in a hard cast.
I was amazed because the incision is much larger than I thought it would be. I figured 2 maybe 2 1/2 inches max but he's got a good 4 inches of stitches. He didn't just tear his achilles, he also shredded it as well. The shredding carried very far up his leg. The doctor said that it's the worst shredding of a tendon that he's ever seen (great, should have known that don wouldn't do anything half-assed! haha). So now, he's in the hard cast until June 12th when he'll be fitted for a walking boot. He'll be stuck in the walking boot for a minimum of 6 weeks.

Don's bright orange cast to match his bright orange hair!

Now, since it was his right foot, he hasn't been able to drive. His coworker lives nearby and has to drive by our house in order to get to work so he's been picking Don up and driving him in when his schedule works out. Unfortunately, we aren't sure when Don will be able to drive again. And he was supposed to be my "reliable person" to drive me to and from the hospital on my own surgery day. Hopefully, he'll be able to drive by June 19th but if he can't, we have a few other people who could potentially drive us into Mass General.

In other news, tomorrow is the big day where I get my appliance placed. I'm hoping that it's smaller than it was when I was a kid. I'm sure this will now increase my 15 minute brushing and flossing ritual to closer to 20 minutes now, haha. Although I do have to say that I will be very happy to be able to floss my upper teeth again. Not flossing because of the spacers makes me feel like my mouth is never fully clean.

Well, tomorrow is just another chapter in this journey. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Kinda stupid but that's how I'm trying to look at it. :D
More to come (hopefully) tomorrow. I make no promises that I won't be a giant whiny baby though!

Spacer dilemma Part 2

Well, I went back to the orthodontist to see if they could replace the spacer that fell out. Apparently, it's not that easy. Typically, they'll replace the spacer and have no issues. However, the reason my spacer fell out is because it did its job and a little too well! There's now a pretty large space where the spacer used to be. If they try to put another spacer in, it'll just fall out again.
This time, they put a thicker spacer in its place and it was such a BITCH. God it hurt so bad after they placed it. They warned me that it could fall out again though. If it does fall out again, my orthodontist told me to not worry about it. So long as it stays in for a few days, everything should be fine. I was just worried about loosing the space and then having an issue when they go to put the appliance in on the 4th. If the appliance doesn't fit when I go on the 4th due to a spacer malfunction, I'll be really upset. But I'll trust Dr. Klein! She knows best so I'll try not to worry...too much!

EDIT (May 26th, 2014 @ 7pm)
The spacer just fell out again!! Darn thing! I hope it's been in for long enough to do what it needed to! I can't wait until the 4th to get all these stupid spacers out cause they are really irrating me!

Spacer dilemma

Well, it's finally happened! I had a slight braces malfunction yesterday. And it only took 24 hours for it to happen, haha! Not a huge big deal, but one of my spacers on my top jaw popped out last night while we were hanging out with some friends. It was on my left side and I'm pretty sure it was the very back molar. I'm just happy that I felt it and spit it out before I swallowed it!

Unfortunately, I don't really have the time to put the spacer back in until Wednesday. I have to work Monday and Tuesday from 7am-3:30pm. And Monday after work, I have a dentist appointment at 4pm. I might as well go to the orthodontist on Wednesday when I have a day off work. That way, I'm not rushing around like a crazy person trying to run to an appointment right after work.

After the spacers were placed, my jaw was ok. But later that evening my jaw started to hurt quite a bit. After the spacer popped out, my jaw felt a little better (uh...no duh!). But nothing to worry about, I've got 3 weeks-ish before the appliance goes in and that's plenty of time to get the spacer replaced and do it's thing.

Back to reality

It's been quite awhile since I last posted. But I haven't had much to post about since I haven't gone to the dentist since the beginning of April. Today, however, I went back to the orthodontist for the first time in several weeks. Today was the big day that I got the dreaded upper spacers put back in. I took ibuprofen before the appointment so I wasn't too sore. Now, almost 8 hours later, I'm starting to feel a little sore. I took another ibuprofen a few hours ago so hopefully it won't be too bad overnight.

I think I'm in for a rough night though. I returned to wearing my night guard after my spacers came out the first time. It helped me to sleep easier. But now that the spacers are back in again, I won't be able to wear the night guard since it won't fit. At least I'll get to sleep in if I do end up waking up a ton. Until I get used to these dumb spacers, I'll probably have to do the whole 600mg of ibuprofen 3-4 times a day.

In other news, I found out that my orthodontist is pregnant. I can't believe I didn't notice last time I saw her. However, she was only 4-5 months along and wearing a rather large lab coat. But today, she was definitely pregnant! Haha. The nice thing is that my timeline and her timeline match up quite perfectly. After my surgery in June, I'll need to have at least 6 months of healing before the top braces will go on. She's due to give birth in September which means that she'll be on maternity leave from September thru December. And once we hit January, she'll be back and I'll be ready to continue with my treatment. I thanked her for timing it so perfectly because this means that I won't have to post-pone my treatment or my future surgery. She laughed.

My next appointment is June 3rd and that's when I get the appliance fitted and glued. So I'll have a few weeks to get used to the expander before my surgery. Wish me luck!

So many dates!

Now, I'm not upset because I have a 2nd surgery date. But within 2 days, I now have 3 appointments in less than a week.

Here's my calendar so far (note: this is far from complete BTW):

Tuesday May 13th @ 3pm - Doctor Appointment

Friday May 16th @ 1pm - 5 week Orthodontist Check up

Monday May 19th @ 4pm - Regular Dentist appointment (check up/cleaning)

Wednesday May 21st @ 8:30am - Ortho Appointment to replace spacer
Wednesday May 21st @ 1pm - Cavity filling with dentist
Wednesday May 21st @ 2pm - Pre-Op Appointment with PCP
Wednesday June 4th @ 2:40pm - 3 Week Orthodontist Check up (Appliance Installed)

Thursday June 19th @ 11:30am - Surgery @ MGH
Tuesday June 24th @ 10:30am - Post-Op Appointment with Oral Surgeon
Wednesday June 25th @ 9am - Occupational Health Evaluation to Return to Work

I'm probably going to need at least 2-3 more Ortho appointments after the initial 5 week ortho check up too. 

My calendar is soon going to be too full to have much of a life.

2nd Surgery date scheduled!

I finally got a surgery date for surgery #2! Yaaay!

The big day is Thursday, June 19th, 2014 at 11:30am. Thankfully, this surgery is before noon which is great for me! Last time I had surgery, it wasn't until 2:30pm which meant I had to go without food for most of the day. It was beyond terrible. Dr. Keith came in before my surgery and asked me how I was feeling. My answer? Starving!

I'll have to be at the hospital 2 hours before my start time which means that I'll arrive at the hospital by 9:30am to get set up. Way better than last time. :) I also spoke with the insurance coordinator for my oral surgeon and she said that most people are out for 7-10 days. But that if I wanted to go back after a week, Dr. Keith could write a note saying that I can only do "lite duty." She said that if it still hurts to talk, he can even write me a note saying limited phone answering or something like that. I don't think it'll come to that, but it's nice that he's willing to do that. She said that he would make the final decision on when I can go back to work at my post-op appointment.

My boss was very supportive and was ok with the date since she hasn't done up the next schedule yet. I'm just happy that it's set and out of the way. Now I can book other appointments and get things rolling.

The only bad thing is that the surgery is the day before the Wakefield Walk for Relay that I had planned to participate in. A bunch of my friends are walking and I'm wicked bummed out because I don't think I'll be up to walking the day after my surgery. I'm going to see if my hubby will walk in my place. And maybe I'll bring my spirit and my lawn chair and just hang out. I'll bring my drugs, it'll be all good! haha!
And then there's a cancer walk in Salem the Sunday after my surgery. I just can't catch a break! Such a bummer.

But at least it's happening and now I can move forward!

RANT RANT RANT

\RANT BEGIN

Ugh! I'm so irritated! I have been waiting for a little over a month now for the insurance coordinator to call me and schedule my 2nd surgery. It's really difficult to make any future plans and I can't move forward with any more orthodontic work until we know the date of the surgery.

Well, she called me today and I missed her call! And when I tried to call her back, she gave me the number to call her back at a different office (which I know she isn't in that office on Wednesdays). And I'm pretty sure she got confirmation that my insurance company will cover the surgery and was calling to schedule my surgery! UGH!!!! I don't want to wait anymore!!!!!!!! ;_; 

I just want this stupid thing scheduled so I can move on with my life and get things planned!

/END RANT


On a lighter note, I'm pretty sure that my bottom teeth are completely straight! Hopefully, I won't need another wire to tighten them again cause they look pretty good to me!

Good News, Bad News, and Even Better News

The Good News: I went to the orthodontist today and was told that I will not be getting my top braces on until after my SARPE procedure. This is GREAT news because top braces can be pretty uncomfortable. My orthodontist said that my teeth won't be able to move until after the SARPE procedure so why make me uncomfortable in the meantime? I say hell yes!

The Bad News: Since my surgery is looking to be sometime in May/June, the spacers I had put in 2 weeks ago had to be taken out. It's bad for my gums to have them in for longer than a few weeks. They will have to go in two weeks before my palate expander gets installed. These spacers totally suck. To go through them twice just really blows.

The Better News: Because of the spacers and my SARPE surgery, this has pushed my time line back a little bit for everything. After the SARPE surgery, my jaw needs approx. 6 months to heal before having another procedure. So I won't be able to have my surgery until December/January at the earliest. This is GREAT news because I was worried about job security if I had to have my surgery earlier than January. That is one less thing I have to worry about. 

PS: A friend introduced me to boloco today after my ortho appointment and I can't believe I've never been before! I might have found a new food love. :D 

Surgeries and Next Steps

Yesterday, I went to see Dr. Keith (my oral surgeon) to talk about how screwed up my jaw is and what needs to be done to fix it. Don came with me because I would have been a hot mess without him. He really kept me from not bursting into tears and hyperventilate.

Tip: If you are going to any kind of important meeting, bring someone who you 100% trust. They will help to keep a level head and maybe might ask questions that you didn't think of. 

After talking about my jaw and about the results of the work up I did in January, Dr. Keith told me that I will require 2 surgeries. He told me that I have 2 problems.

Problem #1 : My upper jaw is too narrow. This is why my top teeth are so crowded. They don't have anywhere to move to!
Problem #2 : My upper jaw does not meet my lower jaw in the correct place. This puts strain and pressure on my jaw joints. It also makes chewing very difficult.

If left uncorrected, my jaw joints will become inflamed (again) and could potentially lead to bone loss in my jaw joints. This bone loss could cause me to not be able to open and close my mouth anymore. Basically, I wouldn't be able to eat solid food or talk without extreme pain. For that reason alone, I've decided to get both surgeries done.

The first surgery is known as Surgical Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion (or SARPE). This surgery will widen my jaw to give my teeth the space they need to become straight. This will require day surgery at Mass General Hospital in Boston. Because I'm an adult, my jaw has stopped growing. This makes it really difficult for my orthodontist to move my teeth to make them straight. In order to do this, my oral surgeon will have to cut into my upper palate; one spot in between my top front teeth underneath my nose and near my cheek bones. It will be done from inside my mouth so I will have those lovely dissolving stitches. I've been told to expect to be out of work for 10-15 days. I've also been told that I'll be pretty uncomfortable for the first week. I'll have to sleep sitting up for a little while and won't be able to eat solid food for awhile after.

I'm not going to lie, I was really disappointed when I found out about the 2nd surgery. I've been resigning myself to this huge surgery and then BAM! I'm told that I need an additional surgery. It really sucks. When you are expecting one thing and then are told another, it can really play with your confidence. It made me have second thoughts about this whole process.

Thank goodness I have a really awesome support system. My family and friends have all been great throughout my journey. And I couldn't do this without my rock, my partner and best friend. I'm proud to call you my other half and my husband. Don, I love you more than anything. Thank you for always being there for me and making me laugh. The laughter is what makes me forget all my worries and to keep pushing on. Again, I couldn't go through this without you.

Since I'm going to be going through a lot in the next couple weeks, I'll hopefully be able to post more. My next dental appointment is March 5th where I will be getting my top braces fitted. And I think we will be starting the process of getting my appliance made. More on that to come!

Day 1 - Getting Bottom Braces put on

Well, today was the day that I got braces... sorta. A small hiccup at the dentist's office yesterday is the reason why I have to wait 2 more weeks for the top braces to be put on. I have a couple cavities that the orthodontist wanted filled before the top braces went on. But that's ok, not a big deal. It'll give me time to get used to the bottom braces that I had put on this morning. Neither the brackets or the wire hurt. What hurts the most is the spacers I had placed for the back molars. God, those elastics are such a bitch! I was told to try and do all my chewing on my back teeth. However, the teeth are really sensitive now so I could barely eat any of the dinner I made tonight. Bummer. This will probably happen fairly often from now on. Le sigh.

Also, apparently, getting colored O rings (the little rubber bands that hold the wire to the bracket) is no longer cool anymore. The technician automatically put grey bands on my teeth. I asked for colored O bands and she seemed surprised that I had even asked. She told me that they were thinking about not ordering the colored ones because no one really uses them anymore. Not even kids! Last time I had braces, I had all the colors! But she told me that she'd redo the bands if I wanted colored ones. I figure that I might as well have some fun with it! I got pink for Valentines Day HAHA. I think next time I'll either get purple or teal. Depending on what they have. Hopefully they don't stop ordering the colored ones because I want to have fun with this stupid braces thing.

Here is the first of many photos.

Day 1 - Getting Bottom braces on (pink)

Next Steps...

Hope everyone had some happy holidays! I got The Little Mermaid on blue ray so of course was Christmas was great.

But, back to reality! Right before the holidays, I had my 2nd appointment with the orthodontist. It included getting some more x-rays, pictures, and the dreaded impressions. After Dr. Klein and I spoke, she told me that I would have to schedule an Orthognathic Work-Up with my oral surgeon. I'm still a little unsure of what exactly will happen at that appointment, but I was told that my surgery team will form and they will decide exactly what type of surgery I need. They told me that I can expect anything from blood work to x-rays to an EKG. Unfortunately, it is not covered by my insurance (GRRRR) so this will have to come out of my own pocket. And it's not a cheap appointment. $1500 for a single appointment! Ridiculous! Thankfully, it's a new year and my FSA has just started. I opted to get the max my company offers. With the $1500 work-up and braces, we will definitely use it up no problem.

Speaking of braces, I have my appointment to get them on. Wednesday, February 12th is the big day. Now all I need to do is decide on a sweet color. Hmmm, decisions, decisions! I'll have to search online and see what all the cool kids are doing.

Well, hopefully I'll update again in a few weeks after my work-up!