The Countdown is on...

Hello everyone! It feels like its been so long since I last updated! However, not a whole lot has gone on dental-wise. Don and I have really been just living life and trying to hold on for the ride. BBQs, yard sales, weekends away, work, it's all just been a little crazy. Not enough time to live this crazy busy life and update the blog constantly. I did have a post that I had prepared but I completely forgot to post it and after re-reading it, it was just whiny and annoying. That was part of why I scrapped it. While I often use this blog to vent, I was just over it so that's why it was deleted.

I did get all my paperwork squared away which was definitely a relief. There was a minor hiccup with my FMLA paperwork but it was worked out. (Hint: this is what the deleted post was about) The paperwork hiccup could have turned into a huge deal if a former insurance coordinator had to deal with it (cough : Mary : cough). I'm happy to report that Viviana stepped up to the plate and took care of me. She turned the process from something I expected to be a nightmare into a piece of cake. Dr Keith has completely gotten an upgrade in my mind. He is a great surgeon and he deserves to have a great staff to compliment him.

I also set up my short term disability which was WAY easier than I initially expected. Compared to the little issues I had with my FMLA paperwork, this seemed almost too easy. The only thing left to do is that I have to call on my last day of work and the wheels will be set in motion.

Today was an exciting day. Today was my last orthodontist appointment before my surgery. Guys, my surgery is 32 days away. The surgery hasn't really seemed real to me until today. Today, I had every bracket ligature tied and I had 6 hooks added (3 on top, 3 on bottom). Dr Klein had told me that it wasn't really that bad and she was right. These surgical hooks are pretty easy compared to the dreaded palate expander. It's just something else for me to get used to. But now that I'm all set with the orthodontist, next comes the pre-op work up, physical and anesthesia meeting. And that's only a few days away!

On a fun note, Dr. Klein asked me about what I'd been up to recently and I told her that my husband and I are doing fantasy football. I told her what my team name and avatar were and she loved them.

For those that can't see, the avatar is a picture of Joan Cusack from 16 Candles. She's the one in the head gear during the movie doing random stuff like trying to drink from a water fountain or this photo, her trying to drink a beer. I thought it was fitting. I need her sweater in my life.

Since I got stuff done for the first time since early June, I finally took some photos! Well, I didn't take them, Don helped me out. But you get the idea. Enjoy!

The 3 hooks inbetween the top teeth are the most obvious however, there are 3 additional hooks on the bottom as well.

You can see how far they stick out. 

Monday is my pre-op where I will get to drop $1500.00 on my surgical work-up. Thank god for flex spend accounts. I'll still cry when I swipe my credit card. Anyway, look for another update soon!

Bilateral TMJ (Arthroscopic) Procedure

On December 2nd I had a bilateral TMJ Procedure. A lot of people are curious about the procedure, what happened and how it helped me. I'll try to be as simple as possible!

The procedure I had was done on both sides (bilateral) and dealt with the TMJ area, specifically the joints connecting the top and bottom jaws. My oral surgeon made two cuts, one cut on each side of my face in front of my ear. From there, he used a very tiny camera to see the joint. The camera was no bigger than the tip of a regular pen (totally cool how advanced technology is). Then, he injected steroids into the joint to reduce the inflammation I had. After that, he stitched me up, wrapped my head in an ice pack (known in the TMJ Surgery world as a face bra, lol), and sent me off to PACU to wake up. The procedure was about 30 minutes (15 minutes per side). I was probably out for a total of 2 hours though. The PACU nurse taking care of me was very surprised that I woke up so quickly. Most of the time, patients have a hard time shaking off the general anesthesia. I saw Dr. Keith before and after my surgery. He even gave me some pictures of my jaw joint after I woke up. It was great to actually see what he saw. After I was awake and had my IV line removed, I was given my prescriptions and sent on my way.

My experience was pretty easy seeing as how I work in a hospital and most hospital OR/Surgical Suites function in the same ways. Here are some tips for people having surgery that I found helpful to myself:

• If you are having any surgery that involves general anesthesia, make sure you have a reliable person to give you a ride home. If you don't give a contact name with phone number when you register, they'll 100% cancel your surgery. My hospital was liable for my care 24 hours after I left. And if I decided to operate a car and drive myself home and then got in an accident, it would be their fault. I'm married so it was a no brainer to me. My husband just drove me home.
• Since I had stitches on my face, I needed to keep my head straight. I bought one of those travel pillows and put it in the car for my ride home after the procedure. It really helped to keep my head from bouncing around and banging my stitches. I also had a light blanket (I'm always cold so the blanket was for added comfort). 
• Wear comfy clothes to your surgery. You'll have to change into one of those uncomfortable and revealing blue hospital gowns but the clothes are for when you go home. I had pajama pants and a loose t shirt and a sweatshirt. There were some people there wearing tight sweaters and jeans and boots. I just can't imagine how they woke up from the anesthesia and put their clothes back on. I know I was barely able to pull my pants up, nevermind figure out boots. 
• Make sure you have everything before you leave. Refer back to the reliable person for your ride home. They can be your second set of eyes. This includes any prescriptions from your surgeon. I left with a whole folder full information along with my two scripts. But don't worry, the OR staff won't kick you out before you are ready. 
• The night before your surgery, have some soft food left overs on hand so you don't have to cook while you recover. Mashed potatoes, squash, apple sauce, jello, ice cream. My husband even made me a smoothie which was nice. 

I'll talk more about my recovery in the next post!

Next Steps, Surgery, and my doctors

It's been quite awhile since I've last posted. Within the last 2-3 months, my range of motion in my jaw decreased quite a bit. I was able to eat small pieces of chicken and a bagel (if i ate it one quarter at a time). But about a month an a half ago, it just became too hard and painful to open my mouth as wide as most foods require.

I was told by my oral surgeon that an arthroscopic procedure would really help with my range of motion and would help dub my pain down a bit. I was not sure I wanted to do it at first but once my condition got worse and I was told the exact same thing by a second opinion, my mind was made up.

I had a little hard time finding other blogs out there talking about the same procedure I was going through. I knew there must be a different name people were calling it cause there was no way that I was the only person going through this. Well, yesterday, all the nurses kept calling it a bilateral tmj procedure. Guess I know what the other name was!

Since I had such a hard time finding blogs about this procedure, I knew I had to write about it. Cause if I had issues finding stuff, then I knew other people must have as well. I'll go over all the things that I went through, the questions I had, the answers I got, and my recovery. In my next post I'll go over all that good stuff so that this post/disclaimer isn't super long.

It also occurred to me that people might want the names of the doctors/dentists/oral surgeon I dealt with. I'm from Massachusetts right outside Boston so I'm spoiled with the amount and quality of healthcare. I'll put their information here to not clutter up the next couple posts.

Primary Care: Wellesley Primary Care (781-431-2345) : I see Dr. Alan Glaser MD and Elizabeth Dewire NP. They are both wonderful and really care for their patients. Dr. Glaser actually called my phone one evening when I was really sick to check up on me. I really appreciated that he took the time out of his busy schedule to call me after my visit to see how I was doing. Really wonderful service. And Liz is just wonderful. She's so sympathetic and a great listener. I feel that some doctors hear their patients but don't necessarily listen. Liz does both which is great. 

Dentist: Wellesley Dental Group (781-237-9071) : Dr. Femina Ali and Dr. Ejaz Ali are a husband and wife team of community dentists. They are wonderful and are the people who realized that I had all these problems. They're committed to going on this journey with me and get my jaw working like normal. 

TMJ Specialist : Dr. Emad Abdallah : He is a part of the team at the Wellesley Dental Group and he has been helping me with my TMJ problems. He's actually one of the only dentists in the country that is also an orthodontist. He's great and will really tell me like it is. Doesn't sugar coat anything which I like. He's also very supportive of my decisions and is on board with my long term medical plan. 

Oral Surgeon: MGH Dental Group Danvers/Boston (978-882-6600) : I visit Dr. David Keith at the Danvers office. He is a world renowned oral surgeon specializing in TMJ and Orthognatic Surgery. He's super nice and again is a great listener. 

Orthodontist: MGH Dental Group Danvers/Boston : I've recently been referred to Dr. Katherine Klein by Dr. Keith. I've only visited with her once but she was extremely nice and knowledgeable. She also made a medical plan for me on my first visit which I liked. 

Ok, so that's it! If anyone out there wants to call any of these doctors and set up an appointment, I highly recommend any of these professionals.