Brief Update

Hi all!  I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this, but I just wanted to give an update.  It has been almost TWO YEARS since my surgery.  That is crazy!  In some ways it seems longer, in others it seems like it was just yesterday.  It has been over a year since I got my braces off and I have been wearing my retainer since then.  For the first year, I wore it all the time.  Now, I wear it at night and to the gym.  I initially paid extra for the "clear" retainer, which is like the teeth whitening trays.  But, I learned quickly that it doesn't let you close your mouth, still looks funny (and made me sound funny) AND isn't as good as traditional retainers at keeping everything in place.  So, I usually use the traditional retainer.

There has also been another development.  A year after my surgery, I got engaged and earlier this fall I got married!  I met my husband a few months after I got my braces -- during a time when I was certain I wouldn't meet anyone (I mean, really, I was in my 30s and wearing braces).  He saw past them and I fell in love with him almost immediately.  We had so much fun planning our wedding and the day was a blast (one of my bridesmaids even had Invisalign!).  I feel very blessed to have met him -- he makes me smile and show those teeth/that jaw that I worked so hard to fix!

Wishing everyone a fabulous holiday season.  For anyone considering braces/jaw surgery, I recommend it!!!

No More Braces!!!

Just a quick post to say hi and let you all know I've been de-braced! Hope you're all well!

p.s. Thinking of you Brent while you're in surgery today! One of these days I'll figure out how to fix my blogger so I can tell you on your page!!! :)

Pre-Debracing Issues

Hi! Thanks for the recommendations, guys! I tried to post on the comments but blogger still hates me . . . or at least hates my computer. Anyhow, just thought I'd update on a few issues. My debracing may get delayed. I noticed one of my front teeth was turning and going behind the one next to it so I made an unscheduled appointment with the ortho. I saw him on Wednesday and he said it was an easy fix. The only problem is that it actually got worse. I decided to wait it out, mainly because: (1) I thought it might just be a temporary problem that was necessary to get to the right point; (2) I (stupidly) don't want to be a pain (I paid a lot for these babies, I should not feel so guilty about being a pain); and (3) my ortho is in a different office on Thursdays and doesn't work on Fridays so I'd have to wait until next week anyhow. Well, I've decided I can't wait anymore so I just left a voice message trying to get an appointment for Monday. There are now 3 problems. First, the "fix" made it so that the tooth to the right of that one now its my lower teeth and now it's the ONLY point of contact (which is making eating difficult again). Not good. It's actually making that tooth move back and forth. I can see it move (along with the archwire) every time I bite down. Second, the front tooth that was the problem in the beginning is now worse -- it's now moving in front of the one to the left of it. Third, it's causing jaw spasms, I think because of strain created in my muscles by only being able to touch in one spot and trying to overcompensate. I haven't had jaw spasms since before my surgery!!! Needless to say, with just over a week before my scheduled debracing, I'm not pleased with what is happening. Go figure. They were doing fine for the past several months and all of a sudden NOW decide to cause problems. I'm not going to let it get me down. He should be able to fix it. It might just take more time. In the end, if I have to make a choice between keeping it how it was before I went in on Wednesday or having it as it is now, I'd go with how it was before Wednesday -- way less painful on the jaw muscles!

I'll keep you updated.

Hope all is well. Have a good weekend!!!

Retainers!

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been MIA. It's crazy how quickly time has flown by since the surgery. It's already been over 6 months!!! I've tried to post on different people's blogs (Brent, Makay, Dani, Tina, etc.) but blogger won't let me do it for some reason -- I'll type in the authentication words over and over again and it won't post. Annoying. Anyhow, I'm super excited for all of your progress. I can't believe Makay's braces are off (yay!!!), Dani and Tina are well past surgery, and Brent is on his way there any day!!!

In other news, I have my debracing date!!! I was so excited when they told me. The only thing is that I've noticed that one of my teeth is turning in so I have to go back this week to make sure they can fix it before the debracing date. After all of this, I want to make sure it's done right. But, if all goes as planned, my braces will be off before I start teaching again later next month (I feel like I lose just a little credibility with braces . . . but, they do make you look younger ;))!!! I'll have to wear a retainer 24/7 for a year and then only at night after that. As much as it would be awesome to not have to wear the retainer all the time, it's way better than braces AND I want to do what they tell me to do!

Here's my question, though. What type of retainer to get?! There are so many options. Traditional? Clear (like Invisalign -- can only wear those during the day and have to have traditional at night, so it's more money but less visible)? Or, do I go with a permanent one on the bottom? Has anyone had a permanent one? What are the pros/cons?

Would love to hear your thoughts re retainers!

Pre-Surgery Suggestions

I promised I'd put my list of must-haves out there for anyone who could use them. I know everyone's experience is different, but these were the things that helped me most:

• Humidifier
• The machine you can rent through the surgeon/hospital to ice your face. I don't recall the name of it, but it's a water mask that is attached to a machine and it constantly flows water at the appropriate temperature to reduce swelling. It's not cheap -- somewhere around $350 to rent for a week. BUT, it was well worth the price. My surgeon's assistant recommended it at my pre-opp meeting. But, before she said anything, someone in my office who had the surgery a few years ago told me I had to get it. He was right. I have low iron and bruise SUPER easily. But, I wore this thing non-stop (you bring it with you to the hospital on the day of surgery and they put it on while you're passed out) and had VERY little bruising. It's also a lot cleaner than using ice packs and the temperature is more consistent.
• Syringes. I lived off of the big ones to "eat" for the first few weeks. I didn't have to buy mine. I received a packet of items from my surgeon at the pre-opp appointment -- I think that's pretty common. They gave me 2 and then there was a third one for me in my hospital room that I got to take home as well. "Eating" was such a pain but these helped a bit.
• A bucket of some sort. I know this sounds weird. But, at the hospital, they had a little bucket thing for all of my meds, etc. to sit in. The hospital makes you take everything with you or they throw it away (germs, etc.) so I took mine and figured I'd find a use for it. It turned out to be SO helpful. "Eating" is such a mess with the syringe. So, I would put my bowl in the bucket and "eat" over it. That way, when I spilled stuff, it didn't go everywhere.
• Baby toothbrushes and children's mouthwash without alcohol. I didn't return to adult brushes until around the 6th week. These things were super helpful.
• Nasal spray. My surgeon gave me a prescription for one and also put a non-prescription one on the list of meds for me to pick up at the Rx. I had to bring them with me on the day of surgery. They used them a lot right before the surgery to keep everything moist and then I continued using them for about a week or two after the surgery. As much as I hated them, they were super helpful.
• Kleenex and paper towels. It's gross, but your nose goes through a lot and the Kleenex is necessary. Remember you can't blow your nose, though! The paper towels are helpful when eating.
• Protein power and vitamins. It's really hard to get the nutrients you need and these help. You can crush up the vitamins into the blender with the protein powder and liquid food.
• Baby rice cereal -- it has nutrients and is easy to eat after the jaw is unwired. And it tastes good.
  
• Movies, magazines, books, etc. All very necessary. It gets boring. If you can borrow someone's dog, that's helpful too. I was lucky to have Darla and she helped make the harder days less difficult.

One of the other things I'd recommend is to not get over-zealous on buying things. I went CRAZY! I bought way more liquid food options than I needed. I was worried about getting nutrients, so I bought baby food, smoothies, and things like that. Turns out, I didn't need most of it and threw a lot of it out. Because you're not eating as much, you lose your appetite so it's really important to have options of things you actually want to eat. The only thing that sounded good to me for the first few weeks was a chocolate milkshake. So, I just did my best to get nutrients through that -- milk, protein powder, vitamins, etc. After that, I was into soups and stuff like that. To the extent you can just get a few things before the surgery and have someone to help you get more items after, I'd recommend doing that so you know what you actually want and don't end up having to throw out a lot of stuff like I did. Outside of food stuff, I'd also check with your surgeon to find out which supplies they'll give you, like the syringes, etc. You may not have to buy a lot of things because they'll give them to you.

One final thought . . . as you start moving into soft chew, egg whites and polenta are great options. I don't eat meat, so I don't have any meat suggestions. But, these items were great for the transition from liquid meals.

I hope this helps. I'll add other stuff if I think about it. So excited for everyone!!!

3 Months!!!

Wow, I can't believe it has been three months since my surgery! I'm not gonna lie -- the first month dragged a little bit more than the past two. Since returning to work, time has just flown by!

I've had a few appointments with my orthodontist since my surgeon released me to finish up the fine tuning. I haven't seen my surgeon since March and won't see him again until June. My orthodontist said everything is looking really good. They're just having to use rubber bands to get everything set exactly where it needs to go. The first round of rubber bands went really well. How much longer I have my braces on will depend upon how long it takes my back right molars to touch. I mentioned earlier that they did the surgery a little different than originally planned. That resulted in a gap between my top and bottom molars on the right side. It freaked me out at first and I made the decision that I couldn't allow myself to obsess about it (or I'd drive myself crazy), which is why I didn't write about it. Eating salads is still impossible on that side because of it. But, I've decided to have faith and am hopeful it will get all resolved with a little more time in braces. Even though I am always ready for them to come off, I'm less anxious to get the braces removed ever since the surgery. I feel like they're a bit of a security blanket to make sure everything stays in place. I'm still nervous to bite down on anything hard, but am getting less freaked out day by day.

Aside from my fear of hard foods, most everything else is back to normal. I have feeling back almost everywhere and am back to talking everyone's ears off. My gums are still numb and there's still a little tingly part above my right upper lip. But, it's not anything that bothers me. I FINALLY got to start running again this week, which was a big milestone for me. It's how I release stress and it was hard not to be able to have that outlet (I'm fairly certain it was hard for those around me, too -- I can get a bit cranky without that release). My surgeon said I had to wait three months to start running again. Last Friday was 12 weeks; today is 3 calendar months. I had to work all weekend and needed a release so I split the difference and started back again on Tuesday. The hardest part was getting used to the breathing now that my jaw (and nose) are aligned differently. It's so crazy how this surgery impacts different things!

Anyhow, that's about it for now. I hope everyone is doing well. SO excited for everyone who is having their surgeries in May! It will fly by! Very happy for you!

7 Weeks!

Hi everyone! I can't believe it's been seven weeks since surgery! I've been back to work for about three weeks. It's been busy, which is good. When I returned, I was still completely numb on my left side from just below my eye down to my lips. I worried it might never get better because the nerves weren't coming back at the same rate as they were on the right side. But, apparently talking helps because as soon as I came back to work and started yapping, the recovery in that area picked up. I'm still swollen and my nose is still working its way back, but the numbness outside of my mouth is almost gone (my gums are still totally numb, but I think they take awhile longer to recover and I can't say I'm upset -- I mean, the numbness was a blessing right after surgery and is probably the body's way of helping you get through it)!

I also had my first post-surgery orthodontist appointment this week. It was nice to see them all again and they were excited for me getting over the surgery hurdle. They took off all my surgical hooks and wire bands, replaced the archwire, and put back on normal bands (the ones around the brackets). At one point, my ortho accidentally stabbed my upper left lip with the old archwire when tugging to pull it it (it was stuck in there!). I wasn't even that upset, though, because it was the first time I realized I could actually feel it! I have to wear elastics on both sides in the back now, but they're not so bad and it means I'm one step closer to getting the braces off.

I'm able to start trying to chew again. I'm still a little nervous and have been taking it slowly. I've tried a few things, but haven't been too adventurous yet. Last night was Indian food, which was great but still pretty soft. My bands are fluorescent yellow now from the curry, but I'm to wait to replace them and hold out until my next ortho appointment and tell people I did it in honor of St. Patrick's Day.:)

That's about all I have for now. I'm so excited to see everyone who got their braces off this week and others who were told they'll get them off soon. Also excited for everyone who is scheduled to have surgery in the next few months. Very exciting!

Hope everyone is well and has a wonderful weekend!

P.s. Not the best picture in the world, but I posted one from a wine tasting trip we did last weekend for a friend's birthday so you could get an idea of how much swelling is left, etc. at 7 weeks.