Work Up! Physical! Pre-op Admissions! 26 days to go!

I had my first HUGE pre-op appointment on Monday. The appointment went from 8am-around 1:30ish. It was a super long day and I'm glad it's over and done with.

I took the train in, which wasn't too bad. I grabbed the T at the green-line Woodland stop and took it all the way to Charles/MGH. It took about an hour and wasn't a bad ride at all. I got off the train at MGH and thought to myself, "I could maybe do this everyday... This wouldn't be so bad if I had to work in the city..." As I exited the station, the stench of fresh piss hit my nostrils and all I could think of was "NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE." Haha, thinking back on it now it was too funny how quickly my mind changed in that instance. Also, I have a terrible poker face and I'm sure my disgust was plain to see. LOL!

The worst part of the day was the first appointment which was the work-up portion of the appointment. I had to do 12 impressions (6 uppers, 6 lowers), 4 bite impressions, x-rays, and photos. My jaw was a little sore after but not too bad. We discovered that my face isn't symmetrical. I mean, I know that no one's face is perfect but looking at pictures with me straight ahead it was so obvious. One of my eyes is way funky. And not like, lazy funky. Like, one of my eyes is physically lower than the other one. It took awhile for the tech and surgical resident to map out my face correctly. Jeez! Way to give a girl a complex.

After that, I had a pre-op physical which was pretty routine. They did it right in the same office as the work up so I didn't have to go anywhere which was nice. The appointment was super easy, just had to answer a bunch of questions. The nurse practitioner who did the appointment with me was kind of ditzy but we got through it together, haha. She did give me a packet with information about a blender-based diet (yaaaaaaay. can you hear the excitement?!). There are a few no-brainer recipes on there but a few I hadn't thought about. I bought peanut protein powder from amazon to go into shakes and stuff. Hopefully that'll help. They also recommended to give baby food a go (bleh) but maybe I can find some interesting recipes on pinterest.

After the physical, I had a meeting with a member of the anesthesia staff. She was a CRNA and super nice. Once she realized that I worked in a hospital OR, the appointment went by in a breeze. She was so fun and easy to talk to. It's obvious why she's a nurse cause she was very personable. If you have to go to pre-op admissions and get to talk to "Christina", she's the best. Super nice and very helpful! She answered a bunch of questions I had and even gave me some answers to things I hadn't thought of. I'll definitely be updating the Questions part of the blog soon (if not tonight).

Other than that, I'm good until my final pre-op with doctor keith in 3 weeks. WOW. Time sure does fly.

Spacers finally gone and ... YUP still no molar brackets

First things first! After reading through the Common Questions for Oral Surgery section of my blog, I thought that the original formatting I used was a tad bit confusing. I have now changed it to a table format, left side with the questions, right side with the answers. Please click the links above or click HERE to check out the new updates. I had to use HTML coding for the first time in years so I am quite proud of myself. 

Now, onto the update! 

I saw Dr Klein last week on Thursday. I was excited to see her mostly because I was so done with these spacers. They were difficult to clean and hurt like a bitch the first few days I had them. I had forgotten what orthodontist pain felt like (haven't had an adjustment since the end of may since my teeth are straight)  but the memories came back real quick. Spacers really suck. Anyway, I went back and we tried different brackets. Low and behold, the brackets didn't really fit. Dr. Klein and one of her technicians had been going back and forth with the rep who sells them their brackets. What's hilarious is that he told them that there isn't anyone who exists in this world with molar teeth that small. He assured her that these would fit and well, they really didn't. So apparently I'm the only adult in the world with baby teeth sized adult molars. She was able to fit one bracket on the left side but it was legitimately uncomfortable. I don't think giving it a few days would make it any better, I would be uncomfortable for the rest of my treatment. Thanks but no thanks. 

She decided to take them off and not adhere them. She took some models (i'm such a pro at impressions) and said that she'd review them and get back to me. I probably wouldn't need to have them put on but she has to make doubly sure. Thankfully I have lots of time before my surgery so she has time to make the decision. 

Long story short, I attempted to try to do the molar brackets again and they still didn't work. Basically wore spacers for 2 weeks for no reason. 

My next appointment will be my last orthodontist appointment before my surgery. ;( and at that appointment, I will become "jaws" haha. This appointment is right before my pre-op day at MGH on Thursday September 24th. Every bracket will need to be ligature tied and then tiny little hooks will be placed in between each tooth in the front. I've been told to expect to be sore after so I'm definitely going to take some ibuprofen before the appointment. I've taken the day off too since their appointments typically run long. They told me 1.5-2 hours so I'm planning closer to 2-2.5. I really don't want to go into work late and have to rush around. I'd rather take my ibuprofen, grab a milkshake for lunch and then relax for the rest of the day without having to worry about causing a major hiccup at work because I'm late. 

Dr. Klein is so awesome, she really has a terrific bedside manner. We talked a bit about feelings at this appointment which was nice and helpful. She warned me that 95% of patients become depressed during a long surgical recovery like mine. I loved that she was upfront and honest with me. I know this isn't going to be easy. In fact, this will probably be one of the hardest things I ever do. Talking with me about these things wasn't something she had to do but she took time out of her schedule to talk about them anyway. And we talked about them in depth, a good 10-15 minutes extra from what my original appointment was. Once I have kids, if they need orthodontic treatment, I'm going back to her because she's phenomenal. 

I also spoke with Dr. Keith's new insurance coordinator Viviene. She never did return my original phone message that I left her a few weeks ago. However, I'm going to mark that down as her getting settled into her new position. And the phone number I called may have been an old number, who knows. I did speak with her and she was very friendly on the phone. She easily gave me all the information I needed in order to submit paperwork for my work leave. I'm looking forward to meeting her in person come October. I think she'll have settled in by then and hopefully everything will be a breeze. 

I can't believe summer will be over in just about 2 weeks! Pumpkin everything is already here in Massachusetts. Can't believe how fast it went by! 

Speaking of fall, I've recently gotten into canning! It'll be a great way for me to store some food supplies, especially when I may not be able to run out and grab something at the store. In the next few weeks, I may post an update or two with some info about my canning progress! Look for it soon!

No news is good news!

It's been awhile since I posted an update so here I am.  :)
Teeth have been doing their thing which is good. I've made so much progress and things have moved so quickly it's getting difficult to notice the small changes that are happening.
I had a quick appointment at the orthodontist office just for some impressions. It went very well, nothing crazy happened, haha. One of my lower brackets had been bothering me so I grabbed some more wax and went on my way. Super easy! I didn't even need to see Dr Klein which was nice (not that I don't like seeing her, it was just nice because my appointment took all of 15 minutes). My next appointment is June 3rd where I will have a normal adjustment.
That day is looking like it's going to suck though. I have a regular dentist appointment in the morning for a routine cleaning and then the orthodontist appointment right after. Hopefully they are gentle with me! I'll have to remember to stock up on a few soft foods before then.
Other than that, nothing else to really report. In non-teeth news, I've been recently getting into biking and cycling. There is a trail near my house that follows the Charles River directly into Boston. Don and I have decided to make that our goal and do it together. It's roughly 30 miles there and back so it'll be great exercise! The only thing I have noticed so far with our bike rides is that my jaw is sore a little after. I think I strain my jaw or something while wearing my helmet. Gotta figure out a way to stop doing that.

Here are a few photos of progress! They are from about 2 weeks ago,  just never got around to posting them!