Dare I say Deband?

Well it's been about 5-6 weeks since my last post. I went for my f/u last week where my ortho was debating removing my braces. I was shocked. I was very tempted but I knew I wasn't ready as my last molars on both sides of my mouth were not touching. Also my lower right canine needs a little bit more tweaking. So after explaining this my ortho recommended something similar to what I was already doing. In other words, more of the same. My arch wires were changed to a more flexible wire to help move a couple molars as one is tipped a little bit in. I am to wear tight "Debbie" bands at night in a box formation at night and then "Bummers" during the day. On the left I wear a upside down triangle only while sleeping. On that side I can wear less resistance since we are just trying to keep everything in place. Overall the ortho is very excited with the results. I know my case was a bit difficult and my teeth are a million times better than what they were. He said the brackets will come off at my next appointment which is January 7th. At this appointment I will finally receive my retainers.

The plan was a 2 year treatment. My estimated completion date was set for april 2009. I have to admit that I left this appointment shocked. I didn't really expect to be done this early. But then I recalled the OS saying that after surgery that the teeth tend to move faster post surgery. I have a feeling that there will be a couple things that I will not be happy with but I need to realize that is nearly impossible to have every single perfect. Its weird to think that next month I will be able to eat random foods and worry about food getting caught to my braces and then having to run to brush my teeth. Looking back it feels like this process has taken forever but in reality its only been and its crazy to think its only been a little over 19 months.


Lastly, we have the dreaded numbness. The numbness seems to be getting better. As of right now the right chin/lip is still lagging behind the left but even its getting better. The right side feels what the left side felt like back in september/october. I am hopeful that in 2-3 months things will level out...hopefully. I honestly think that things will be at least near normal. I have feeling all over. It just feels tingling when I touch it. All in all I still do not have any regrets. I am happy with the choices that I have made. I might have considered the other procedure a little bit more but the idea of 6 weeks completely wired shut is not something I would like. The good thing about being banded shut is the bands will give after a while. And the funniest thing is I have only used my magic bullet once since I have been unbanded and I have only had 2 smoothies. LOL

My Mouth Is Not My Mouth

Well its been quite a while since my last post and felt it was time for an update. Nothing dramatic has happened since then but there have been some changes. As of right now, the open bite in my left molars are finally closing. I never thought this would happen but slowly but surely I think my teeth will finally touch. I have been living in elastics for quite a while and yes I am still sick of them but I know its necessary. The right side is looking pretty good. Everything is touching and I am starting to be able to chew much better. I am one of those anal people who tend to eat slow and chew foods like 32 times. But everything just doesn't feel right just yet. Which brings me to the title of this posting.

Numbness. I never realized how much numbness can affect everyday life activities. I pretty much still need to brush my teeth in front of a mirror or else I will end up with saliva mixed with toothpaste all over me. Eating and chewing become interesting. I used to be able to feel the foods that were stuck in my brackets but now I have to constantly check after eating and definitely need the use of a pocket mirror to make sure I have everything out of them. The cool recent development is now the left side has returned some more sensations and NOW the right side is slowly returning. But there is one spot that is still lagging behind. The right side of my lip. I still can not feel much there. But when I touch around it, especially the right side of my chin, my chin and lip tingles like crazy. I know that this is a good sign and honestly my lip and chin has been tingling quite a bit as of late but I just want the feeling in my lips back. Kissing is very strange without feeling the lower lip. The corner of the left side of my lip is great and even the inside of my mouth on that side is good. Im just hoping the right side will catch up. I should know more in a couple of months as that was how long it took to get the left side the way it is.

I go for my next ortho adjustment next week. I am sure they will check my bite and tell me to continue wearing these lovely elastics. I can't wait until I can adjust to this new bite. I currently feel like someone has placed their bite into my mouth and now I am forced to use it LOL

10th Week Post Op!!!

Hard to believe that its been over 2 months since I had surgery. Time has flown by. Its hard to believe that a couple months ago I was hating the state I was in. Its been a crazy roller coaster ride from the get go. I am looking forward to the 6 month time frame. Im told it is at that time that I will have a good idea if there would be any permanent numbness. So far things have been moving along. Every time I drink something cool or cold, it feels like something cold is running down my chin. Its a very strange feeling. Im am told this is a good sign. The feeling on the left side of my lip is gaining for feeling. So I can finally feel things there now if only the rest of my lip will catch up.

I keep my schedule on my phone. On sundays I like to look at the week to see all the things I will need to do. Well on wednesday I noticed that had a follow up with the oral surgeon at 8am and a dental cleaning at 10am.

During my last follow up with the oral surgeon he stated that I only needed to see him if I had trouble with my ROM or if I was having pain and complications. I wasn't having any of those but I did want him to check up on me just to make sure. I check in and make it to the exam room. I didn't have to wait long for Dr Edwards. He smiled and remembered me and asked how things were going. He took a look at my ROM and my bite. He was surprised at how much ROM I had and was also surprised at how quickly I am gaining feeling. I was like this is slow LOL He said it takes about 6 months to get most of the feeling back. My main concern was my bite with my molars. My bite finally closed on the right side but its open on the left. He said it actually looks good and that the elastics will move everything quickly. He said when surgery is performed in the lower jaw, the metabolism of all the structures is sped up so my teeth will move quicker. Which is good news. He asked when Dr Brust (ortho) said I would be done which was 4 months from my last appointment and he agreed. Dr Edwards said he doesn't feel I need another follow up unless I have any questions, concerns, or complications. It was a strange feeling to think that this portion of my treatment is done. All the people I met in the oral surgery have been really nice. As I walked to the check out counter, some of the fellows and docs recognized me and asked how I was doing. One of which said I looked great. I left in a great mood

I grabbed breakfast then it was off to the dentist. I checked in and nearly waited 30min to be seen. I am growing sick of waiting for these appointments LOL Everything went well. I was worried at being banded up for 5 weeks after surgery but looks like Ive done a great job because the hygienist said things look great and that I have been doing a great job. She only had to scrape one spot and I think it was the small gap where I was drinking all of my nourishment through back in august. LOL But it was minor. So a quick floss, polish, and rinse and I was done. Then it came time for fluoride. I do not like a lot of flavors so I always opt for mint as I love peppermint. Well they were all out of mint and I had to choose from grape, cotton candy, orange, and banana. Banana sounded disgusting so I opted for orange which was fine. My regular dentist was off on vacation which I was bummed about. Her name is Dr Sud and she's a cute Indian lady. She was the one who convinced me to get started in all of this and I wanted to show her my progress. But the cool thing is by the next time she sees me I will have my braces off since I go back in april. Another dentist takes a look and said there is no signs of cavities. She asked about my surgery and I said things are well as I just saw the oral surgeon. She was worried about my numbness but I and the hygienist tell her its normal which freaked me out a little. I wouldn't think a dentist would know every surgical procedure but should know about the process regarding this type of surgery as it is fairly common nowadays. Oh well.

I leave the office and now feel good about my teeth. I guess it pays off to be anal about cleaning my teeth. LOL

Alls well....

Nothing really new to report. My bottom lip is in a constant state of feeling like its asleep and I still get the random tingling around my chin and lip. As stated earlier, I have feeling slowly coming back on the left side of my chin and lip which is encouraging. Can't feel anything on the right. Eating is going well although I get weird shots of tingling through my lower jaw that goes all the way to my chin/lips when I bite down with my molars. I think that is a good sign that there wasn't much (if any) nerve damage. *crosses fingers*

Update

Well its strange when something new happens. It always come as a surprise. So after surgery the tip of my tongue, my lower jaw, and bottom lip were numb. It took 4 weeks to get the feeling back in my tongue. All of the swelling is now pretty much gone and I can actually feel what I think are the screws and plates in my lower jaw. So now all there is left is getting my jaw inline and hopefully getting all of the feeling back. Last weekend I received a nice surprised. I usually shave every 2-3 days so during my routine shaving last saturday, I felt the blade on my chin. I couldn't believe it. I immediately touched the area and noticed I could feel my finger (barely) on the left side of my chin. Its still pretty numb but I can feel around that area. I also noticed that I can feel a little bit more of the left side of my bottom lip. While this isn't a milestone, its nice to know that the feeling is actually returning.

Well another surprise after surgery was I noticed that I could not only feel the inside of my bottom lip. Even weeks later, I noticed I could not feel the inside of my cheek and my gums. Well today during brunch, I noticed something. I felt the food on the inside my cheek and lip but only on the left side. I ran my tongue down the area and was surprised to feel in that area. It is so weird at how random the feeling comes back. I really do look forward to getting the feeling in my lower lip and chin. I could live without feeling in my chin but it does suck not feeling liquids run down your chin. I just hope that my body continues to heal well. The good news is that my bottom lip and chin have the feeling of being "asleep" and I also feel random tingling, shots of pain, and spasms in the numb areas

A New Plan, the Test, and "Bummer"

A New Plan

Well I have been documenting the pain of rubber bands for quite some time. It is this pain that has forced me to see my ortho after just seeing him for a week. So on friday, I saw him. I go to check in and as usual, I am greeted by the receptionists. Well there is one whom Ive known the longest who didn't see me last week. Immediately she says, "Didn't you have surgery?". I laughed and said yes. Then she says, "Wow you look really good". I don't think she realized I am over 7 weeks going on 8. I get called in by one of the techs and she is also amazed at how good I looked. She comments on how a girl just left who had surgery before me and who is still quite swollen and sore. The girl is a teenager. Poor girl. I empathize with her but am glad that I heal pretty well. She asks how I was doing and I inform her of all of the problems I have. Some spacing issues, open bite with my molars, poking archiwires, an incisor tipping, and of course the dreaded rubber band at night. She looked everything over and agreed. The ortho makes his way over and he spent quite a bit of time looking everything over and agrees with my complaints. He recommended a change of my archwaires with some minor adjustments on the wire for some of my teeth, power chains for gaps, and a new rubber band set up. All of which he informs the tech to correct. I have a class II bite in my molars. Just like last week, he stated that I am almost done with braces and that everything looks pretty good. Just my midline of my lower jaw is slightly off. I can't believe how stubborn my jaw is. But I will say that it is getting in line. Just very slowly. The bad news is I still have to wear rubber bands. 2 on each side in the shape of a triangle and of course the dreaded band in the front which I will wear only at night when sleeping. The good news is I was given rubber bands with less tensile strength. I was told the one I was using was the highest strength which is ironically called "Bummer". LOL The new rubber bands are called "Bill". After this appointment, I feel so much better. My teeth were pretty sore but mentally I was so much happier. The tech did say that with "Bill" it would take longer for my jaw to shift. But I didn't care as I rather have less pain.

The Test:

So night time rolls around and its time for bed. Just in case, I took some Lortab before putting on the new rubber band. I needed a full nights sleep. I placed the new bands on and everything was so much better. I had some pain but no where near the pain I had before. I woke up with some minor TMJ pain on the right side. Saturday night I was extremely exhausted but didn't want to take any chances just yet. I again take some Lortab and placed the band. Overall, it was just as good as the night before and in the morning I realized that I was in less pain than before. So there is a glimmer of hope after all.

"Bummer"

Well I have come to pretty much hate the "Bummer" rubber bands after all they have created much havoc (in terms of pain) in my life. But I have been wearing them on each side with no problem. So today (sunday, 2 days after my ortho appt on friday) I have the day off. I decided that I will do some much needed laundry and some cleaning up of the apt. Since I am going to be home for most of the day, I thought I would band myself up like I would do normally when sleeping. I put on the bands and noticed that "Bill" wasn't shifting my jaw anymore. It just wasn't strong enough as I think my jaw is actually shifting now. I was shocked. So after staring at the bag of "Bummer" I finally decided to give them a try. Normally I would have taken some Lortab but I had already taken ibuprofen prior to placing the "Bill" band. I am not one to overdose on meds so I decided not to take any Lortab. I place the "Bummer" band on and looked in the mirror. As usual it shifts my jaw a little past the midline. Now I would just wait for the pain to kick in. It usually takes anywhere from 15-30min. After an hour of cleaning, I realized that I wasn't in any pain. I was shocked. It only took 2 nights for me to handle "Bummer". Wish I would have started off with "Bill" then I wouldn't have had to endure all of that pain. LOL Now I have all of these bags of "Bill" bands. Well knowing my jaw, I might need them tonight. I just hope that I can now move forward with Bummer which in turn means that there will be no more delays in my progress.

Yup...Still In Pain

Its funny how when I was first received braces, I was intrigued spacers. When I read the testimonials regarding them I was glad that I didn't need them. As time progressed, I learned about rubber bands and wondered if I would ever be in them. As the one year mark passed, I realized that I probably wouldn't need them but they still intrigued me. Well lets just say I am absolutely no longer intrigues by them. LOL They are wonderful tools but they hurt like no other. Well everyone says they have a high pain tolerance. I don't think I do but doctors and nurses have said otherwise. I didn't need any pain meds after knee surgery and I didn't use much pain meds after jaw surgery in the hospital nor at home.....well that was until I was rubber banded. My right TMJ was in a tremendous amount of pain that lasted about 6 days. Well I will not get into that again since I have already documented that horrible time. LOL

Well now I have 4 rubber bands as mentioned in another post. All of the bands are fine except the one at night. I have tried advil, alieve, tylenol different nights at varying amounts and to no avail, I still had intense pain. Suddenly I thought about the bottle of Lortab thatI still had from the jaw surgery. I barely used any so I had this full bottle left. I thought that if this didn't relieve the pain then I am done with this band. So on the first night of Lortab, I still felt the intense pain in my ear/R TMJ but the difference was the Lortab took a little bit of the edge off. I was even able to sleep thanks to the meds. Then I realized that I am not sure if it might not be a good idea to be on these pain meds every night just for these bands. But I needed to try something since this would help shift my jaw. I was able to sleep for 8 hours. The second night, I wasn't so lucky. I made it a whopping 15min until the intense pain started. I took off the bands and threw it off the side of the bed. LOL

So I was fed up. Something has to give. I decided that since I already had 2 poking archwires that I might as well go see my orthodontist and explain to him what was happening. I wanted to wait to see if things would improve but they haven't. And not sure if they worsened but sometimes when I chew I get this weird feeling in my ear/TMJ like something isn't in place. I even feel it when I am talking. I will give it another try tonight but I am having my doubts. I go from being so curious about rubber bands to hating them. I guess its like how I can't look at canned soup nor Ensure/Boost the same way.

Oh the Pain....THE PAIN!!!!

So for the most part these rubber bands have been uneventful....UNTIL LAST NIGHT. So I have one band on my right side in the shape of a triangle which is helping to lightly shift my jaw during the day. At night, I am supposed to place a band in front of my teeth that go from the upper right to the lower left at night when I am sleeping or when I am just sitting around at home and not talking. So when it was time for bed, I replaced the band on the right and put on the band in front. I am really tried so I go to bed. An hour later I am awaken due to this intense pain. I toss and turn and even sit up trying to endure the pain and attempt to fall asleep. Impossible. This pain resembles the same pain I had when I was first banded that dreadful day out of the hospital. After spending 30min in bed trying to endure the pain, I am forced to remove the central band. Sadly that didn't remove the pain. The pain lasted for quite a while so I took a couple of Alieve and headed off to bed in pain until I feel asleep.

Well in the middle of the night I woke up again to go to the restroom. I decided to give the band another try. Maybe this time the pain wouldn't be as bad since my midline is set with the one band on the side and the Alieve in my system. WRONG! I put the band on and things look and feel good. I lay down for bed only to be awaken 30min later in intense pain. It was unbearable. I then decide it will be impossible to wear this band at night. So I decide that I will just have to wear this one band at this point for the next 6 weeks. Maybe I will try again but at this point I can't endure the pain and I can't be on Lortab every night for these bands. Id be a mess everyday! LOL

First Ortho Visit Post Op

Well I have been looking forward to this day. I haven't seen my ortho since mid July and I have been wondering what would be next in my treatment. I knew that my stubborn lower was still not matching up with my upper jaw so I knew that would have to be addressed. I also have some small gaps and of course the issue of my small open bite on the left side of my molars. My appointment was too eventful. So the first thing was the removal of those horrible and dreaded surgical hooks. The funny thing is I was a bit nervous of receiving them but once they were put on, I was ok with them until the second day. They irritated my mouth and wrecked havoc on my mouth after surgery. So I enjoyed every single hook being removed. As the last hook was removed, the tech noticed a broken bracket. I thought I escaped surgery without a broken bracket but no. The lower canine on the left was off and replaced. After everything was removed, my ortho came by and checked everything out. He was really happy with the results. Said everything looked great. He wanted to address the midline issue of my lower jaw and start work on the open bite. Three hooks were added and 4 rubber bands were placed on. 2 of which will work on the open bite and the other 2 with work on shifting my jaw. I am to wear one most of the day and at night. The other I am to wear only at night. I recalled all the chaffing people complained about rubber bands and thought there wouldn't be a problem.... That is until I ate my first meal. The insides of my poor jaw was chaffing. After about 9-10 hours, I had to take it off. Hopefully I will last longer as the weeks progress. I will go back in 6 weeks.

At the appointment, we looked at the before pics. It was surprising to see how bad my teeth looked before I started orthodontic treatment. It was kind of embarrassing. It is really encouraging to see what a 1.5 years of treatment could do. My ortho says if everything goes well, I could be completely done as early as 4 months! I can't believe I am nearing the end of this whole process.

I still have complete numbness in my chin and bottom lip. I also realized that the inside of my lower lip and the front of my lower gums are numb too. I think I am starting to gain minor sensation at the left corner of my lip and when I brush on the left molars I feel a tingle that goes from that too all the way to my chin. I hope this is a good sign to show that the nerve only had a small amount of damage and will heal properly. Only time will tell. Until then, I will continue to enjoy the joy of eating.

Full Day of Food.....Unbanded

So for this entry its going to be all about food. I am currently in Houston for a tourney at Rice University. So one of the reason why I was so disappointed with being banded for an extra week was that I wanted to have a week of practice eating under my belt before heading off on this trip. This left me less than 8 hours to see what I could do. Things so far is a lot better than I expected with a few roadblocks.

Breakfast:
We headed for breakfast in the hotel at 9am where we ordered from the menu. At home I do not go for a huge meal and on the road I typically go for the oatmeal or a small breakfast that would sustain me till lunch. I took a gander at the menu and noticed that I would struggle eating half of it until I saw a few items that I do like. I ended up ordering a small bowl of oatmeal and brown sugar, 2 soft scrambled eggs, coffee and a yogurt. Two things to note. This was the first time since surgery that I have had coffee and my stomach isn't used to eating so much foods that I became full fairly quickly. I didn't even touch the yogurt let alone finish the oatmeal. I devoured the eggs. It felt like this was the best meal ever.

Lunch:

We headed to the mall as with most female teams, they want to shop. I went along with the staff and we went to jamba juice. I originally thought that I would grow sick of smoothies since I had at least one every day for 5 weeks. Surprisingly it was ok. I ordered an aloha pineapple with a shot of whey protein and a cranberry orange mini loaf. The task was to see if I could handle the loaf (which was pretty much a muffin in the shape of a loaf). To my surprise, I was able to eat it with minor to no issues. Granted it took about 20min to eat since I had to pinch of small pieces but again it was pretty good.

Dinner:

Since we are in texas, we opted for a good Steakhouse. I knew I wouldn't be able to eat a steak but good thing there is fish. Looking at the menu, I pretty much ruled out 80% of the items. Knowing I wouldn't be able to eat much I had to find things that I would be able to eat and sustain me till bedtime. We were served monkey bread which was very delicious. I noticed that the soft inside portions was very easy to eat and did not require much chewing. I would typically have a salad but veggies would be a nightmare to chew since they aren't cooked so I thought soup would be a great idea. On the menu there was one soup that caught my eye which is the split pea soup. This soup never really appealed to me before so since it said "our famous soup" I thought I would give it a try. I was glad I did. I do like peas and this split pea soup was very flavorful. It came with 4 croutons and I knew I wouldn't be able to take on those so I made sure to soak them in the soup to soften for consumption later. When looking at the menu for the main course, I noticed two types of fish that I was interested in: the mahi mahi and the wild salmon. We asked the server for a recommendation of the two and he opted for the salmon. So salmon it was and it was great. I was shocked at how easy it was to eat. It melted in my mouth along with the side of whipped potatoes. I was in heaven.

An Aside:

During dinner, we had a visit by 3 time olympian (Walton) Glenn Eller. He won a gold medal in Beijing and wanted to meet the team. He actually had the medal with him. The girls weren't impressed with he came to the table as no one knew who he was. When it was announced by the manager that he was an olympian and that he had won a gold medal, the girls went nuts. He had the medal with him and he actually left the medal with them so they could take pics of it and what not. I was surprised that he actually left so the girls could play around with it. After seeing the medal on tv through out the olympics, I must admit it was cool to see it close up.

Im Free!!!

I never thought the day would come. The day of when I would finally be released from the things that have held my mouth closed for 34 days and yes I counted. Every since I was told that I would have to be banded tightly for 3 extra weeks than expected, I literally became depressed. My friends today were telling me that they could tell I wasn't my normal happy self. Well I wasn't happy and I wouldn't say I was depressed. I was disappointed that I got my hopes up when I shouldn't. I went into today's appointment thinking I would get these bands off but I was prepared for them to stay but I wasn't going down without a fight. Not this time.

So today was a crazy hectic day for me. I woke up for a 7am meeting, ran home to eat (er..drink LOL) and then headed off to the appointment. I made it well before my appointment time and after 15min I was called back. After 10 minutes, a new fellow who I haven't met before comes in and takes a complete history. She apologized that she was going over everything but felt it was necessary since she hasn't seen me before. Everything looked good to her and she asked what was my chief complaint. I clearly stated through clenched teeth "These rubber bands!" We both laugh and she said she will make sure Dr Edwards understood. So she heads out to update him. So I read while I wait and I notice that time is slowly ticking away and there is no sign of the doc. Other techs were poking their head in to check up on me and made jokes about me finishing my book before I would get to see the doctor. I didn't really find this funny because it was now 2 hours and I haven't seen the doctor yet. So around 2 hours and 15min, Dr Edwards walks in with his crew and apologizes for being late. He looked like he's been running from patient from patient all morning. Basically he was overbooked with patients. Once I heard this I understood and was no longer upset. I just wish someone would have told me earlier. Anyway, he checked my sutures and my bite. Said everything looked good. He asked about my numbness and said everything from the itchiness, short stabs of pain, tingling, etc are all good signs. The fellow informed him of my chief complaint and Dr Edwards laughed and said "Well I have some good news, you are definitely getting out of those bands". It was music to my ears and I couldn't help but to have the biggest smile ever. I had to contain my smile as he removed each dreaded band. LOL He checked my bite a few times and started to say he will add one band on each side but in mid speech he checked my bite again and changed his mind. He said he likes my bite and thinks I didn't need them. I couldn't believe it. He said I can progress slowly to solid foods but to take things slowly. He said I do not need to come next week for my 6th week follow up but to schedule an appointment for my 10th week. He said I do not really need to be seen unless I am having trouble with my bite and range of motion. He say he wanted to see me once I had my braces removed. I had a couple of xrays and pics taken and was finally sent on my way.

It was now 3 hours later and I headed off to work. Everyone gave me a warm reception. They seemed so happy for me which caught me by surprised. Really showed me that everyone understood my frustration. It is strange to talk again with this new bite and I am still lacking a bit of ROM. I am at 1.5 finger widths so I can just fit a fork/spoon to each. My first meal was a naked ancho chile chicken burito from Qdoba. I found out that I could most of it but struggled with the chicken and the pinto beans. I need to mush them with the fork to be able to eat it. Rice was perfect and the cookie was no problem. I had pizza that night and leaned pretty fast that it wasn't a good idea. I won't lie, I did bite into the pizza and it was so cool (and weird) to bite into something with a normal bite. I didn't really chew the pizza which was the problem. Pizza isn't the most ideal thing to eat on a soft food idea. Chalk one up for lesson learned. The day reminded me of my first week at home after surgery. That week I had to learn what tasted good in liquid form so now I need to find out what soft foods to eat. All in all, I do not have any complaints. Im just happy to be able to talk and to be able to eat with utensils and not a straw. LOL

To Sneeze or Not to Sneeze?

Ok when people tell me that I have thought and prepared for everything, I think I now believe them. So for the past 7 years I have been working on health. I knew I needed braces, I knew I needed oral surgery, and I knew I wanted lasik surgery. But before I did any of those, I opted for immunotherapy for allergies. Ever since I can remember, I grew up with allergies. No known food allergies but to grass, pollen, dust, mold, etc. As a child, I only had to worry about ragweed in august and september. My allergic reactions were moderate when I was younger but as I aged the severity lessened but I found that I was reacting to more things through out the year. So I felt it was time to get tested and see what happened. The test itself was one of the most uncomfortable things I have ever experience. Yes even after oral surgery. Just imagine someone poking various allergens in your back and watching the reactions. The worse part is I reacted fairly quickly. Some immediately while others took less than 5min. Unfortunately for me, the protocol is to wait 20min! My eyes watered due to the intense itchiness and I left a huge pool of sweat.

Well I underwent immunotherapy for over 4 years and yes it does work. But you have to deal with injections weekly for the first 6 months then biweekly then monthly. Needles do not bother me but after awhile it gets annoying especially when I had to shots in each arm. LOL So I finished up in may. And have noticed a huge difference. I rarely take allergy meds and its usually my eyes that only itch on occasion.

There is a point to all of this. LOL Well august is usually the worst month for me due to all of the ragweed and we have been getting great weather 70s and low 80s which ragweed loves. I have been working and thinking about surgery so much that I never though about my allergies post surgery until I was discharged. So I started to worry a little. The thought of being banded shut with intense TMJ pain and sneezing didn't sound appealing to me. I was worried mainly because when I sneeze, its not just a small sneeze. The earth tends to shake and I nearly explode. So I started to worry. LOL But soon those worries went away because I realized that I never had to sneeze for some odd reason. My biggest concern was pain and trying to yawn. LOL

Today was different. A coworker sneezed pretty hard today and I realized that I haven't sneezed in over 3 weeks. I stated to my coworker and she was shocked as was I. So I had the afternoon off and settled down to have late lunch at home. As soon as I sat down I felt the urge to sneeze. I didn't sneeze once, nor twice but three times! Once it was over, I realized that it wasn't all that bad. I am just happy that this happened today than 3 weeks ago.

So I wrote this huge entry to merely state that sneezing while being banded shut isn't all too bad. LOL

DENIED!!!

This entry will be short.

Well it seems that emergency visits are only for mondays so I will just have to wait until the 27th after all. Sucks in a way but its ok. I started a countdown on my fridge. 15 more days. LOL Sounds depressing but in essence its only 2 weeks and should fly by.

I also changed my orthodontist appointment. It was originally scheduled for the 20th but since I will be banded still the appointment would be useless. I will see him first week of September instead. It would be cool to see the ortho in the same day. Would be awesome to have rubber bands and surgical hooks removed. But at this point, my appointments with the OS is so unpredictable that I think it would be best to wait and see what happens on the 27th.

Banded Mouth:1 Me:0

Well I have been counting down the days from last wednesday. I couldn't wait to see Dr Edwards and maybe have these bands removed or at least be told to come back next wednesday which would be 28days post op (4weeks). But alas none of that happened today. I go in and have one of the fellows take a look in my mouth. The sutures look good and incision is healing well. Dr Edwards wanted xrays so I get taken back. Dr Edwards walks in while I was in the xray room and comments that he doesn't see an open bite and that everything looks good. He is happy with my midline and my overall recovery. This was great news....until I go back to the evaluation room. The original resident Armond from last wednesday walks in and says my bite does look better but I would have to be banded tight 2 weeks from this wednesday. I was floored. I even asked to make sure he meant 2 wednesday away and not next wednesday. Armond stated I have to come back on the 27th. So this shatters my whole world. I immediately become depressed. I check out, schedule the date, and slowly head back to work. The nice thing was everyone was rooting for me at work and they all empathized with me when I told them the news. I moped around for several hours but now I am feeling better. On sunday, I had a rough time with some blended soup so this threw me back. I added some rice but the rice wasn't small enough to fit in small spaces in my teeth. I even tried the syringe and I ended up wearing the soup. LOL But today, I found that Campbell's chunky Chicken, Broccoli Cheese, and Potato soup is not only delicious, but when blended comes out very smooth. So I am now trying to put together a list of soups that blends well. Classic chunky chicken noodle works well also. Well if I had known I would be banded for 3 weeks, I might have decided to go for the other procedure where I would be wired shut for 6 weeks. But then again, I will only be banded like this for 3 weeks total so not too bad. I might call the office just to make sure I have to wait 2 more weeks. I am just worried about getting out of these rubber bands so late. I travel with work that weekend where meals will be in restaurants and sometimes we would get subs and chips. I am just hoping that I will be able to increase some ROM within 2-3 days so I can at least eat with a normal sized fork or spoon. And with a numb lip and chin, I am sure I will be wearing my food. LOL I am not worried about what foods to eat in restaurants. I will be fine with mashed potatoes, soups, and/or flaky fish. I was just wish I had at least a a week under my belt so that I could have some time work on ROM. Now that I am thinking of it, I think I will try to have the appointment date moved up to at least monday of that week instead of wednesday. I will call tomorrow to see if its possible. I know its not much but having at least 2 extra days will be helpful. I think it would be a good compromise. I need to hurry as that monday may be full.

3 Days Banded Completely Shut...and counting

I would just like to say I hate being banded shut. LOL It truly does suck. I find myself looking in the mirror questioning my bite. I mean questioning everything. I do know that it will take an army to keep me banded shut when I go see the Dr Edwards on monday. I personally can not handle being shut like this. Eating is a huge pain and these rubber bands are a nuisance. I already broke a band on one side on friday. Not sure when it happened but probably in the morning since I found it broken at noon. I even found a piece of a rubber band on my tongue after having soup for lunch today. I freaked out a bit as I didn't know what it was. I managed to push the band between my teeth and pulled it out with some tweezers. I was shocked when I pulled at it and it stretched. This even didn't help matters either. Well the fellow did say he is attempting to fix an open bite on one side but at this point, I think I rather have my ortho take care of it. I mean, I can only handle one thing at a time. I can't deal with work, finding ways to eat, finding new things to eat, having mouth banded shut, trying to heal from jaw surgery, etc. I will be much happier if I can cut the being banded shut. Its been 16 days of liquids and I need to move on to some other foods. My teeth feel like they are fused. I can't move my jaw even 1mm. Not even a wiggle. I guess I am finally becoming jaded. I wish it is noon on monday so I can head to the clinic. LOL

The funny thing is I miss the simple things. My tongue is used to surveying everything in my mouth. Being restricted to the inside is frustrating. I can't lick my lips, can't really survey the inside of my mouth, can't check my braces with my tongue, nor check sutures (which in all honesty is probably is a good thing)

With all of this, I do not have any regrets....as of yet LOL My swelling is down and I can now feel the surgical site on my jaw. One thing I have noticed is that my cheeks have been sore. I wonder if its just muscle soreness. Well whatever it is, I hope to either be unbanded on monday or at least most of this mess taken off or I will be forced to do so myself. LOL

"THE" Follow Up

As you know I had my follow up today. It was an interesting appointment. I have come to learn that this clinic is really slow in all areas but that is medical clinics for you. Well I get in at10:45am for my 11am. I get called back at 11:10am. I sit around for about 20min then one of the residents came in and took a look. They have been working on shifting my lower jaw over since my midline of my lower jaw is off by 1.5mm. The resident wanted the chief resident to take a look as he didn't know what I should get next. He answered a few of my questions, took off my current bands, then left to get the chief resident who was in on my surgery.

SO FINALLY!!!! I WAS ABLE TO BRUSH THE INSIDE OF MY TEETH!!!! I think I brushed my teeth for 5min. I was in heaven. The resident kind of laughed at how fast I jumped up to brush my teeth.

The main doctor is off on vacation so the chief residents are running his clinic. Eventually the chief resident enters with several med med students. He took a look and is happy that my midline has progressed but not enough. So he added a few for rubber bands in different positions to see if it would hold. While I was waiting, I over hear one of the residents say "I do not know what to do to Mr Turner's mouth based on these molds". I thought to myself, thats the last thing that I would like to hear. After about 10-15min, the chief resident came back with less students and my molds. He explained that there is a slight open bite on my left side. He feels the orthodontist may be able to take care of it but feels we should take care of it now if we can. So he had one of the med students hold my molds while he applied the bands based off the molds. Now I am heavily banded. Before my appointment, I was able open my mouth a little. Now its completely closed. He wants hold everything tight into a good position and have my doctor take a look at it when he gets back on monday.

Normally I would be bummed about this turn oof events but surprisingly Im pretty cool with everything. The worst part is over (the surgery) so now all I have to do is recover and wait to see what the doctor will say on monday. I can't see it getting any worse than it is right now. I will just be sure to take some ibuprofen prior to my appointment just in case. LOL I am not in any pain. Being banded completely shut is uncomfortable but it feels similar as getting an adjustment by the orthodontist. I just feel a lot of pressure on each tooth from the bands. The good news is I will not have much time to worry about my mouth. I go back to work full time on friday and things will be pretty busy from here on out. And whenever I am busy with work, time really does begin to fly by.

Some questions the resident answered for me:

-Surgical hooks will be on for awhile (will assume off after week 4)
-Next ortho appointment at 8/20 is good
-Had plates put in and not screws
-Order of follow ups are 2, 4, 6, and 10 week intervals
-May have rubber bands removed at week 4 (only 2 more weeks!!!)
-I could technically eat soft foods now with the plates but want me to wait at least 4 weeks.
-Can finally stop peroxide/saline rinses for my incisions.

I might re-ask these questions again when I see the doctor on monday just to make sure.

Good Eats...

Well originally I wasn't planning on making a post today since my first post op is tomorrow. But today I have been thinking about food. Not all kinds of foods but my food and my diet. I am surprised that I haven't made a daily menu of the things I whip together. At least a drink of the day. I think I avoided this because time really does fly by. I remember not too long ago I was wishing and praying for a week to past then wishing for my post op to come and tomorrow is the day. Time flew! I hope it continues to fly because I need to eat some solid foods stat.

Well back to the subject. I find it funny that I bought a ton of stuff to prepare for my recovery. From juices, frozen fruits, peanut butter, chocolate syrup, canned fruit, etc. Eventually I grew tired of the same smoothies from my smoothie and juice book that I had to branch out for more. Ok I only use about 20% of this book because 80% is filled with juice/smoothie concoctions that I wouldn't give to my worse enemy. I mean who really wants a smoothie made with avocado? Not to mention that I had avocados. Just plain disgusting. Ok well I moved to online searches and I began to see more and more recipes calling for protein powder and surprisingly oatmeal. The funny thing is I bought a huge variety box of Quaker instant flavored oatmeal and it has been sitting on top of my fridge. I noticed it at the right time too because my body was getting used to these smoothies and I was becoming hungry after a couple hours of consumption.

So my diet consist of 3 blended smoothies with some "snacks" in between. For breakfast, I would whip up some kind of fruit smoothie. I make sure to add yogurt, soy milk, bananas, and now oatmeal. The oatmeal seems to help tide me over to lunch. I change up the juices and frozen fruits. I love frozen strawberries and pineapple juice. Sometimes I would touch off the drink with a splash of pomegranate juice. I have other juices and fruits but those mentioned seem to be the main stay. One thing that I do is I pulse the oatmeal first until its powder like with the centrum vitamin.

For lunch I would have something savory. Early on after surgery I had campbell's tomato soup. I made sure to pick up some sour cream and parmesan cheese to make it rich and creamy. Unfortunately I grew tired of this after the second day of it and needed something different. I also had chicken broth but with it being only 20 calories per can, it wouldn't last long in my system. So I knew I needed to go out and buy something else. But what? I had a can of beef stew a friend gave me when I was sick but I haven't eaten it because beef soup is the last thing anyone would want to eat when sick. LOL But seeing that can gave me an idea. I needed something hearty with noodles, rice, and potatoes. So I headed to the store and bought some chunky soups. I warmed it up in the microwave and blended it in the magic bullet. 4 days after surgery, I couldn't believe that I didn't think of blending soups to drink with a straw. My first soup was classic chicken noodle. At first sip, I was in heaven. It did taste different since everything was blended together but it was so good to have something other than tomato soup. Sadly I have like 20 cans of tomato soup. At least can goods can keep for some time and once I am debanded I will have a field day cooking different stuff with it. I even bought some baby gourmet potatoes to mix in with some of the soups for more carbs. I also remembered that I have a bunch of rice and cooked some up and added it to some vegetable soup. I even added chicken broth to the vegetable soup to help expand it and make it last a couple days.

I would usually get hungry several hours after lunch so I go for a snack. I would either come up with a juice or attack some applesauce with a straw. One time I blended some fresh watermelon, grape juice, and pomegranate juice together and it was interesting and tasty.

And lastly comes dinner. My dinner is not your normal dinner. At this point, I am tired of the healthy fruits and juices. I also do not crave anything savory. So I go for a milkshake. I made everything from vanilla, banana, chocolate, strawberry-chocolate, and even peanut butter-chocolate-and banana. I make it somewhat healthy by adding soy milk. I am slightly lactose intolerant so soy milk is perfect. I bought regular soy milk once and hated the taste but now I have vanilla flavored. I haven't tried the milk outside of a milkshake nor a smoothie so I do not know how it taste but I do know that I can't really tell when its mixed with other things.

I also drink 32 -48oz of water to make sure I stay hydrated. So in a nutshell that is my diet. So tomorrow will await to hear how my recovery is going. Hopefully all is well and I will be able to brush the inside of my teeth and possibly stop swishing with peroxide and saline.

Back to "Normal" with Elastics...

So its been 10 days and I am beginning to feel more like myself. I haven't really been in any pain aside from the occasional headache. Sometimes I would notice a sharp shooting pain in my right TMJ but that occurs when I suddenly move my jaw. Which brings me to the elastics. I think the elastic shifting my jaw is the culprit. The good news is my midline has shifted. It funny how I thought that it wouldn't work. I should have known better as elastics are used for a lot of things in orthodontics especially involving the jaw. It is amazing learning about the technological advances of oral care. But I do have slight issue. I think my midline is beginning to shift a little bit too much due to this dreaded elastic from hell. I am hoping that it doesn't cause problems. I think it will be more likely that at least this band will be removed at my follow up on wednesday. At least I am hoping it will be. I don't mind the other bands but band alone nearly drove me to tears. I think once this band is removed I will be able to progress to other foods aside from blended soups and smoothies. I would be able to open my mouth a little bit more and hopefully able to brush the inside of my teeth. LOL

Oh so the magic bullet is a blessing. It can liquiefy anything. Today I had a chunky potato soup with bacon bits and cheese. It was great. And tonight, I am excited as I have a treat. My favorite cake in the world is german chocolate cake. Under normal cicumstances (pre susrgery), I would eat this dedacent cake with some vanilla ice cream. I would even mash it up with the ice cream then eat it. But I have the ice cream and no cake. I had to go to the grocery store today for bananas so I thought I would pick up a few more things and maybe look for some cake. I headed to the local kroger and noticed immediately the store has been completely revamped. This has everything from a sushi bar, salad bar, to a new soup bar. Its even larger as it took over the store attached to it. I looked around and didn't really see any cakes that I would like to buy. I didn't want a whole cake so I settled for the 100 calorie pack of cupcakes by hostess. But I decided at the last minute before checking out to look one more time in the bakery. I noticed there was a table of sliced cakes. I looked through the pile and noticed there was one last package of GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE!!! I was so excited. I pick it up without hesitation and headed for the checkout. So on the ride home I cegan thinking of a way to enjoy this treat with my magic bullet. I felt that the ice cream and cake mixed together would still be too thick with a straw. Then I remembered my vanilla soy milk that I use for milkshakes. I could use soy milk to thin out the cake. Oh happy day! Its funny how the littlest things makes you happy. LOL Now if only I can find a way to enjoy chicago's Garett's popcorm while being banded up.

Sleepless In Michigan

So weird how things can change in a moment. So last nightg I decided to try sleeping in my bed. Well that didn't last very long. I laid in my bed tossing and turning for almost 2 hours as I couldn't find a comfortable position plus my right TMJ was acting up even though I took ibuprofen an hour before bed. So go to my good ol trusty recliner. For some reason this was working either but I did manage to sleep for several hours. At this point its like 5am and I am pretty groggy and I was in dire need of sleep. I headed for the last comfortable place in my apt. I am pretty lucky, I have a very comfortable couch. But then again both my bed and recliner are very comfortable too. So I laid down on my coach and pretty much passed out. At this point, I was too tired to care about my jaw. It was sore at first but then it stopped. I did manage to sleep for 4-5 hours on the couch so tonight I may try the couch first.

Ive been doing some online searches for smoothies. A google search yielded quite a few results. The unique thing that I have found is that I don't measure exact amounts according to recipes. I just add ingredients as I feel. The smoothies do turn out pretty well. And this morning I found a apple smoothie that called for applesauce, apple juice, orange juice, nutmeg, cinnamon. I did add a banana to add some calories, carbs, fiber, and a little protein.

I don't see any major changes today. The tip of my tongue still feels numb but the numbness feels the same of when your foot falls aslweep. Not the pins and needles nor the pain. Its very strange. I can tell its improving because I can feel the contours of the inside of my mouth. The part I hate most, and I know I sound like a broken record, is I can tell I really need to brush my teeth on the inside. My chin and bottom lip are the same as always. Although I did notice that my chin was feeling itchy. Its the same kind of itchiness I get when I need to shave so maybe I am slowly getting feeling back? We will just have to see. I still have a little bit of right ear pain. Feels like an ear infection and if I get up too fast I feel a little dizzy. This has been happening for the past 2-3 days and I am not sure if its normal but I will ask the OS when I see him at my follow up.

There is one unique thing that caught me by surprise while I was out walking the other day. While walking I notice that my teeth would touch each other as I walked. But the difference is my molars were touching. It was strange to hear the sound they made since only a couple of teeth touched for most my life. It was a very refreshing moment and I finally realized that I did the right thing in opting for surgery....Now if only I could have a steak

7 Days Post Op

Well 7 days have come and gone since surgery. Its funny how last week I was itching time to fly by and honestly it has. Pretty soon I will be sitting in the doctor's office for my 2 week follow up. There aren't any major changes other than decreasing the amount of meds I have been taken. I currently take ibuprofen in the morning and then before bed. I am also not having much TMJ pain anymore but I still have the right ear ache which I can do without. I still do not have feeling in my chin and lower lip. I also have some numbness at the tip of my tongue but it feels like my tongue is very slowly getting better. I honestly do not mind the numbess. I am more concerned about getting looser bands and being able to eat foods other than smoothies. I have been thinking that the swelling is going down but I think I am just getting used to the look of puffy cheeks. Feels like the swelling is going down on the right and very slowly on the left. I still ice through out the day but I think I may incorporate some heat soon. Walks at night seem to be going well. I still feel tingling through out my chin and lip when walking. I am noticing that I am able to control my bottom lip a little bit better as my smile is improving. I tried wrapping my face but I notice that it irritates my jaw after a few hours then my teeth become sore. I even tried to wrap lightly and this only produces the same results. But still my biggest complain in all of this is not being able to brush my the inside of my teeth. I even looked at my bands to see if I could get away with taking them off, brushing, then replacing them. But looked like a rocket scientiest placed the ones on my molars so I don't even dare. LOL

Well I hope these days fly by as I am ready to have a nice juicy steak. I am excited because I have already decided to buy a bbq grill. Im not buying it yet because I don't want it taunting me from my balcony LOL

Are things looking up? 6 days post

So when the doctor first put on the rubber bands and saw the pain in my eyes, he said that the pain would last about a week. I thought to myself, THIS PAIN WILL LAST FOR 7DAYS?! How would I be able to handle that for such a long time?! Well at least I had meds.

So today I awake and notice that my TMJ wasn't hurting as much. Honestly it wasn't really hurting at all. I was surprised and worried. So I went back to sleep as I thought I was only dreaming. I finally get up and notice that it was 9am. I was well passed my next dose. So I took some ibuprofen with a grape juice chaser. I have to be honest, my meds do not taste terrible but I think I am getting sick of the taste. Out of all the juices that I have, I find that grape juice goes well with both Lortab and the ibuprofen. I also take a look in the mirror and I want to saw that the swelling is slowly going down but I think its just my eyes. Well tomorrow with be 7 days post op and I will take some pics then to compare.

Prior ro surgery, my friends were worried about my potential weight loss. I am not the heaviest person around so losing so I could see where I should be worried about losing a ton of weight. Before surgery, I weighed in at 145-146 but yesterday I was at 140. The doctor did say that the more in shape you are the less weight you may lose. I just hope that I do not go past 135. I haven't weight that since undergrad and that was like 10 years ago.

Now if only I can get rid of this knot in my left shoulder blade I would be on cloud 9...

Rubber bands, headaches, and hot flashes...Oh my!

So it is now day 5. This is the dreaded day that everyone told me to watch out for. I thought I would be ok but that was not the case. I had a good day yesterday and even discovered that Butter Pecan Ensure is actually pretty tasty. I also noticed how badly I would like to brush the inside of my mouth/teeth but alas I can't. I am pretty anal when it comes to the hygiene of my teeth and this is killing me lol I pray that I will be able to brush the inside of my mouth/teeth at my adjustment. If not, I will beg. So I had company over and they were surprised at how well I was able to talk and how not too swollen I was. I go through bouts of pain but usually in the middle or near the end up my dosings of meds. I tried to wean myself off the Lortab and used mostly ibuprofen yesterday. Well once my company left, I became exhausted. So I opted to shower and head to bed...er...recliner...instead of going for a walk. I took my meds and headed off to sleep. Well this was the worse sleep since surgery. My right TMJ was sore, I couldn't get comfortable due to a sore shoulder muscle, and random hot flashes. It was pretty miserable. At one point I felt a pop in my mouth and I knee something was wrong. I also noticed that my right TMJ wasn't sore anymore. So I got up and looked in the mirror to see what is up. Well of course one of my bands broke and I stood there thinking how in the world will I fix this. This particular rubber band is in charge of shifting my midline over. And not only that, this band is double banded on itself. In other words, this one thick rubber band is flipped on itself and placed on hooks to form a tighter fit. So after fighting with several bands, I managed to get the band on after 30-40min. I know I did it right because I immediately experience intense pain in my right TMJ. Since it was time for my next dose, I opted for the Lortab and attempted to get some rest which was useless. I did manage to sleep 4-5 hours after that. For breakfast I tried a pinneapple juice, oreange juice, banana, strawberry yogurt, and a little dash of pomegranate/mango juice smoothie. This actually turned out really well. Since my jaw was still sore, I opted forthe syringe instead of a straw. I did my usual of updated friends and family, checked email, and watched some tv. Eventually, I grew tired and feel asleep. I awake and notice I was sweating. It was strange since I had the AC at the same tempt since I returned home and the temp outside wasn't any hotter. I touched my head and noticed a pool of sweat and that my head was hot. Surprisingly my cheeks were ok considereing. I have been icing like mad since surgery. I think the swelling has stabilized for the most part. So I am either getting used to my cheeks or I think I am actually getting better. I doubt the latter. So at this point, I feel really hot and have an intense headache with the TMJ pain. I felt miserable. I also felt helpless since I had like 4 hours before I could take my next dose. I managed to get through it after a couple hours of rest and take some ibuprofen and I immediately feel better. I turned the AC up a little and a fan. Crazy I know but it working. I need to take my temp to make sure I am not running a fever. Later on I take my temp and notice it is only 97.1F but at this point it is much later than when I experienced most of my sweating. I think it was due to all the swelling in my face which made me hot. Well if it was a fever, at least it broke. I did go for a nice 30 minute walk. Unfortunately, it wiped me out. So I drank an ensure, showered, and went to bed. I made sure to take some ibuprofen before bed instead of the Lortab as it seems to work longer and better. Went to bed at one and slept comfortably until about 9am. Thinking back, aside from being reubber banded for the first time, this is by far the worst day. Dreaded day 5....

My Poor Mouth...

So last night, I decided to go for a walk. I felt like I needed to get out for a bit. The walk was really nice. The interesting thing was that my chin and bottom lip, that has been numb since surgery, started to tingling with intensity. I think I am slowly getting feeling back into my lower face which would be nice. My biggest complaint in all of this is the being banded so much to move my midline of my lower jaw. I go through bouts of pain which tend to mainly occur at night when I am trying to sleep. I went to bed only to wake up at 3am with intense pain. So I took some Lortab and went back to bed which helped. I can't wait for my follow up because I do not know how much more I can take of this pain. I am told it will last about a week but my follow up is in 2 weeks. I am also having pain in my TMJ on the right side which I am sure is due to the rubber bands. Well I have been told that around day 5 is the worst. I hope I am going through the worst now cause I can't imagine things being any more painful.

The good thing is smoothies have been going well. The smoothie book has come in handy as a good guide. The thing that I did not anticipate is my craving for savory foods. I do have some tomato soup where I add sour cream and parmasean cheese. Yesterday I wanted something different so I opted for the chicken broth until I noticed it only has about 20-30 calories which would make me hungrier. So I just added the broth to the tomoato soup and it turned out pretty well. I have been trying my best to stay hydrated which the dr said is one of the things his patients forgets. He suggested 80oz of fluids. I pretty much hit this mark but it does feel like a lot. I think I may have to pick up some bananas so I can try some of the other smoothies. I am loving the magic bullet its definately a great buy. Now id only the head wrap I bought would come in then I would be all set.

Trial and Error

So last night was the first night that I slept through the night. I didn't have any nurses or techs constantly checking my vitals nor random lights, voices, waking me up. I was really tired so I took a brief nap and woke up with an intense pain in my jaw on the right side. Thanks to the bands pulling my midline into the proper position. Since I took a Lortab 4 hours ago I had to wait 2 more hours before my next dose so I decided to set my alarm and wait. I toss and turned until 11:15pm. My alarm was to go off at 11:30pm. So i went ahead and had my next dose and drank some water with it. Huge improvement. I also wrapped my face and iced. Went back to bed around 12:30am and slept through the night until 8:45am. I ended up taking the wrap off as I feel as it my face is being squished to death. LOL

So I woke up looked in the mirror to see the chipmunk cheeks still there so I decided to shave my head and face since it was getting a bit scruffy. I notice the tip of my tongue is still numb but slowly getting some feeling back. My lower lip and chin is still numb but I am still feeling random sensations so hopefully the feeling will come back soon. I noticed that there was some twitching in my chin which I think is a good sign. I touch around my lips and on the left corner, I can actually feel pressure. Its funny how the littlest things gets me excited. I took some orange flavored liquid ibuprofen and started to look up some food. I wanted something with fruits but instead I thought I would make something without using a book. I pull out some chocolate Ensure, peanut butter, a little Nutella, coffee yogurt, and a liquid multi vitamin. I whip out my Magic Bullet and go to town. I take the first sip and nearly gag. I think it was way too many ingredients and the multivitamin was over powering everything else and I come to learn it tastes like crap. Looks like thats $30 thrown down the drain. So I start to feel a little nauseated from the drink and decided I should have went with my first instinct. Something with fruit. So I whip out my new "Juices and Smoothies" book by Hamlyn and start searching. I found an easy recipe that called for frozen strawberries, pineapple juice, and strawberry yogurt. So I wizened up and added one of my Centrum multivitamins to blend. Cranked up the magic bullet and voila a good tasting shake. I had to add a couple packages of splenda to make it a little sweeter. So in hindsight I learned to just stick to the recipe book, avoid liquid vitamins, and customize much later once I find out what goes with what. LOL

Surgery and Home Again

July 24th:

I had a lot to get accomplish before my scheduled arrival time so I left the apt at 9am to take care of last minute errands. I return home just in time to shower and get picked up by my friend Harold who works at the hospital. I arrive at the hospital around 10:50am (a cool 10min before my scheduled arrival time) One thing I noticed is the surgery waiting room is PACKED. To be U of M Hospitals, this room was pretty small. But eventually I find an open seat and wait. Harold stops by to check up on me and give me some last minute words then heads off to work. Around noon, I see my oral surgeon walk down the hall for I guess his lunch break and then I realize that his surgeries will be pushed back. To my surprise, a few minutes later, I am called back to pre op. I go through all of the usual pre op stuff. Met with nurses, anesthesiologists, fellows, residents, and my oral surgeon. It was pretty cool seeing him. I was referred to him at the last minute and had only met with him once for like 5min. Seeing him in the pre op relaxed me a bit as he seemed pretty eager and comfortable with my procedure. He planned that I will be done in 1.5 hours. My surgery time was 1pm but they didn't take me back until 2:15pm. Didn't matter to me much because I was in no rush. I was staying overnight regardless. They wheel me in and I go from the rolling bed to the skinniest surgical table known to man. come to think of it, the table for my knee surgery was just as small. There were people in the room getting ready then all of a sudden, I am told I am about to receive the shot in my IV which will knock me out.

The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery. I was told surgery went as scheduled and the doctor came by to tell me that everything couldn't have been better. First thing I noticed is that my lower lip, tip of my tongue, and chin is completely numb. Seemed pretty routine which made me happy. I was told I would only be in recovery for no more than 2 hours but the hospital was pretty crowded. My attending nurse kept saying they are waiting for a bed since I was ready to leave. He was shocked that I wasn't in any pain but the only thing I wanted was water so I was given some. Harold stopped in to check up on my and said I looked pretty good. He said he noticed a difference. On his way out he picked up my cell phone from security so I could contact people. Eventually I get word that they have a room for me and I would be on the same floor that my other friend works on.

I am taken to my room and I meet Teressa and Calvin. Teressa would be the nurse taking care of me for the night and Calvin was filling in for Steve who was the tech for the night. Everyone was really nice and friendly. Everyone got a kick after learning that I am an athletic trainer for the university. I even had a good heart to heart with Teressa who wanted to be a PT but didn't like clinics which was the same for me. She was awesome and took really good care of me. She didn't really know how to handle my case very well but it was good that I know a few things about this surgery so I asked for ice to help with the swelling, the doctor wanted me to drink a lot of water and so I did. I drank so much water that I was taken off the IV after my third trip to the restroom and my third 32 oz cup of water. Between the IV and the water, I never urinated so much in my life. They had to keep track of all my fluids too so I would lose between 300-500ML. In the morning I lost upwards of 550-600ML. I was given morphine shots a couple times, IV drips of an antibiotic, and anti nausea meds. I slept at random bouts for 1-2 hours. Since I had to sleep at a 45 degree angle, I would snore once then wake up then go to sleep just to snore once again. This was repeated thru out the night/morning.

The staff change over occured at 7am and I met Peggy (nurse) and Raymond (tech) Breakfast is served and its cream of wheat, orange juice, milk, and custard. I hate cream of wheat so I ate some of the custard. I was first greeted by my friend Kyle who is a 10min walk away. It was good seeing someone I know who was visiting. He was surprised at how well I was talking and how different I looked. Much of the swelling haven't kicked in yet either. He left to go to work and Harold stopped by briefly. Again I noticed the nurse was a little worried about my case as she didn't have experience with lower jaw surgery. Both Peggy and Teressa have asked why would I need such a procedure which I explained to them. Steve thought I was hit upside the head and had a skull fracture lol. Well Dr Edward's residents and fellows come up to see me and are happy with my status. All I would need is to be heavily rubber banded then xrays and then I will be discharged. He even said he has written the paperwork already. Around 9am I am taken down in a wheel chair to the oral surgery clinic. I noticed that the place was pretty busy. A couple of the physicians I knew and have met the past 2 weeks stopped and said hi and how good I looked. So first come the dreaded rubber bands. First the fellow tries to band me up but has problems with my bite since it was slightly off. Dr Edward's resident comes in and does the banding. This was the worse pain I have every felt through this whole process of being braced. It was very uncomfortable. Once I was banded I had to wait 15min to see if my bite would adjust. Well my muscles didn't like this very much and I relapsed. So I was banded tighter and then waited 20min. Still this wasn't enough then I had to wait 30min. After this time I did not know what to do. The pain was nearly bearable. I felt dizzy and nauseous at some points. My happy mood changed immediately as I was centered on the pain. After 30-40 min, xrays were taken and the resident and the xray tech were amazed how the change in my bite. I tired to get excited but the pain took control. Next I was wheeled up by one of the guys who was with the girl who wheeled me down. He immediately noticed a change in my demeanor and how I couldn't talk very well. I told him what I just went through and he was speechless.

Back on my floor, I ran or wheeled into my friend who is a nurse on the floor. We caught up for a bit and he hung around my room until he was paged. He informed me that I shouldn't be on this floor. I told him about how the hospital was booked and he explained to me that the nurses on this floor do not have experience with a case like mine. Then I realized how Teressa and Peggy reacted when they saw me. It was sad to see Teressa go. In a way I had hoped I could have stayed as she was returning tonight. Both Peggy and Teressa said it is not often where they get a healthy person in after surgery. Around noon Kyle returns with some soup, gatorade, and a starbucks energy drink for me. He didn't realize that it was a energy drink and Peggy pointed out that I could not have that type of drink in the hospital nor would I want one but it was a nice gesture. For lunch there was creamy tomato soup, chocolate ice cream, apple juice and something else I couldn't remember. Kyle eventually leaves. I was not hungry but Kyle and Harold felt otherwise. After a few evil texts from the clowns I drink some OJ and Apple juice. At least it was some calories. Soon I begin to notice that I am talking much better. I also notice that I am bleeding a little bit more and swelling has increased big time especially on the left side. I then notice that one of my rubber bands (the one causing the most pain) had come undone. I tell Raymond who gets Peggy. Peggy tries to get the rubber band on but when she sees the blood she freaks a little and then pages my doctor. She informs me that I am being discharged and that I need to call the person picking me up. She also says that the dr wants to see me before I leave to fix the rubber band. Harold comes up within 10min with my bag from security. but being discharged takes over an hour. I was so frustrated at this point. Harold tells me how U of M patient's biggest complaint is how I was treated with a lot of waiting and not knowing whats going on. So finally I get discharged then I ask Peggy to call down to let my dr I am on the way. I wait in the waiting room for over 40min (Harold goes back to work) Another dr who I knew fixes the rubber band. At first he couldn't see what the problem was since my jaw already adjusted to my new bit but he tried anyway to get the rubber band on which he frustratingly did. He was a real trooper.

Then it was off to the hospital pharmacy to get my drugs of Lortab (Hydrocodone and Tylenol) and liquid ibuprofen. Well my insurance did not cover the ibuprofen so the Lortab was filled. We headed off to CVS to pick up some last minute stuff like peroxide, the liquid ibuprofen, and straws. I finally make it home by 5pm. Sad that after being told I will be discharged by 9am, I am not discharged until 1pm. At this point, I am just happy to be home.

Right now feeling in the tongue is better and I am starting to feel sensations in the lower lip and chin like tingling and itchiness. After a quick shower, I take some meds, and prepare some tomato soup and add some sour cream. I also add a nice big cup of water. I have to stay hydrated. Now that I am home, I hope that I will not be going to the restroom ever 3omin LOL

D Day!!!

Well the food has been purchased, appointments well attended, and work has been called off. The countdown has finally ticked to zero. At 11am, I will check into the hospital and prepare to have surgery which is scheduled at 1pm. We'll see if they are actually on time. If its anything like my knee, I will be waiting an hour or 2 later. But it will be ok. I am no big rush. As long as the surgery happens tomorrow then I am good. I am at the point where I just want a normal bite and this will get it for me. My main concern now is good night's sleep tonight. I want to be well rested for tomorrow. My achy body say otherwise. LOL But my sleepiness wins in the end. So with that said its time for bed...

Nightmares!?!

So Im an avid dreamer. I dream most nights and they are usually detailed. I started to keep a dream journal since my dreams were all over the place. My dreams are pretty random. Sometimes they have to do with whats going on in my life or maybe something to do with the last thing I was doing before bed.

Well last night, I had my first dream regarding my oral surgery. It was very freaky. So I went in to the hospital so they can start prepping me for the surgery. As I laid on the bed, I began dreading this process since Ive been through it for my knee surgery back in december. First the nurse comes in and prepares the IV. I told her not to use the veins in my hands because the last nurse who tried spent 30min trying to and was very unsuccessful. The nurse for my knee surgery, eventually noticed my forearm veins and hooked up the IV in less than 5 min. Sadly, my hand was bruised and swollen for almost 2 weeks. So as I am explaining this the nurse says "I am done" then leaves the room. I look at my hand and the IV is through my hand. I was frustrated since she didn't listen but at least she was able to get it on the first try I guess. Then its time for the waiting game. Some nurses come in check my vitals then leave. Eventually the doctor and his fellow come in to explain everything and makes sure we're on the same page then they leave. The anesthesiologist comes in and go over her role in the surgery and tells me what she will be using. I had no idea what the drug was but I asked her to use the same thing that was used with my last surgery. She smiles then leave injects some meds to make me drowsy into the IV. Suddenly I get a little anxious and start freaking out but there was nothing I could do. My whole body felt heavy and I felt like I couldn't move. I tried to talk but nothing was coming out of my mouth. Slowly I am being wheeled to the operating room. I see random people moving about then everything goes dark. It felt like the darkness lasted an eternity. Suddenly I feel something tapping my left shoulder then I hear a faint voice which is inaudible. Then suddenly I sit up and I feel myself gasp for air as if I was breathing for the first time.

It was at this time that I actually woke up. I noticed that I was breathing heavy from the dream as it felt so real. I look at the clock and notices it was 4am and I had at least 4 more hours left before my alarm would go off. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well the rest of the time. LOL

Hooking It Up

So yesterday, I had surgical hooks placed on my brackets in preparation for surgery next week. I was actually dreading getting these things on. I heard how they can chafe the insides of your mouth and cleaning them when food get caught. More of an annoyance than anything. After they were placed, you can really feel there is something taking up your mouth but it isn't as bad as I expected. I was told to avoid moving them around as they can break. I was also told that I can push them back if they get in the way or annoy my mouth. First thing I did when I got into the car was to look into the mirror and check it all out. Didn't even look bad but I started to push the hooks back as some were already poking.

Its been a full day so far with them and I have to say its truly not bad at all. Now if only I could speed up the next few days then I will be a happy camper.

Food Glorious Food

So one week left until surgery. Crazy to think I only have 7 days to prepare for this day. You can kind of say I have been waiting half my life for this. Being told I needed this surgery when I was 16 to now is crazy to fathom. But can't deny that its almost here. I am thankful that my last 2 weeks are filled with busy things for me to do such as work, appointments, or different outings with friends. My schedule is pretty hectic but I like it. It keeps me from thinking about surgery too much.

So today was kind of my non busy day. I purposely slept in but didn't think I would sleep for over 10 hours, which I did. I headed to target first to pick up a dry erase board, baby toothbrush and some other junk that I didn't necessarily need but hey its Target. LOL Then I headed off to Sams Club for the essentials. I bought things from applesauce, pudding, ensure, broths, soups, oatmeal, orange juice, fruit chillers, yogurt, peanut butter, hershey's chocolate sauce, frozen fruit etc. I plan on buying some fresh stuff such as bananas, eggs, milk, etc next week. I just want to be as prepared as possible as I do not want to leave my apartment for the first week. I will walk around for exercise but I want to make sure I have all I need.

I picked up the magic bullet today that was waiting at the rental office and awaiting the jaw bra. Im pretty excited to get these things accomplished. My friend Harold will be dropping me off on surgery day then picking me up to take me home when I am discharged. My stepsis confirmed that she will be in town on the 28th and not sure if my dad and stepmom will make it. Well the good thing is I will have friends and family around if and when needed. Next I will start to gather recipes for smoothies and such. I am trying to think of everything or at least most things and I think I have most covered. I am sure there will be some hicups along the way but thats ok.

Tomorrow I get to have surgical hooks put on, taking harold to lunch, and the annual Ann Arbor Art Far Pub Crawl. Getting all the fun out my system before surgery LOL

Relief....well somewhat

So today I had my surgical work up for BSSO oral surgery. I have been covering a volleyball camp at work which requires me to be at work from 845am-830pm so I was a little concerned about the time. So last week I called the OS office to see how long does these appointments take and I was told about an hour. I would go to my appointment at 7am and head to work early and get things set up. So it was all figured out with a great plan.....or so I thought. Well I check in at 7:05am and no one but myself is waiting in the waiting room. After 10min, I glance at the receptionist who smiles at me. I smile back but little does she know its 7:20am and no one has called me back. Finally a second later a tech calls me back.

Ok I must interject. I am so not a morning person. Not even remotely close to enjoying the morning. It used to be so bad that my old roommie from college would be too scared to wake me up in the morning for anything due to my grumpiness and I guess evilness? LOL But yeah I get pretty grumpy in the morning and the earlier I have to get up the worse.

The tech knows he is late getting me but he seems a bit out of it too which annoys me even more and tries to make up with random convo. Like how am I doing and where do I live? He assumed that I wanted to get and be wired shut for 6 weeks. I told him of the 2 procedure I was told I could chose and I opted for BSSO. He was a little shocked and explained to me about the possible nerve injury and loss of feeling to my chin. I told him that I was told this and I explained that I do not want to be wired shut for 6 weeks. LOL Well these random questions occurred at the weirdest moments and wouldn't relate to any of the current convo. Poor guy, well at least he tried. So first we start with digital pics. He takes full face, 45degree, and profile pics. All with relax jaw and with big smile. Then more pics of my upper and lower arch using the mirror and my "fave" the pics with the forceps. He takes a bunch of measurement of my face, jaw, nose, teeth, mouth, lips, any and everything LOL It was interesting at how many measurements were taken. So after this, I am sitting in the chair wondering whats next but then I smell smoke from matches and him mumbling to himself about nothing working out right today. Sadly there is a big clock staring at me in the face and I sigh as he works some torch. The room begins to reek of expired matches and I am slowly becoming more and more agitated as precious time ticks away.

So 740am rolls around and I think to myself, well I should be done in less than an hour so I will be ok. It only takes 5-10min to get to work from the hospital. So he gives up with the fire and starts fitting me for the bracket that will house the molds. Well the molds they had were too small and he comments about how large my arch is and does not fit their molds. In the back of my mind I was thinking "Is this an indirect way of saying I have a big mouth?". Well it made me laugh for a sec. And got my mind off of the clock for a sec. So we finally finds a bracket that fits my upper and lower arch. Then starts up the fire and is happy to have it working. He molds one bracket and it fits perfectly.

So he fits my upper arch first but when he pulls it out, the mold stays on my teeth and the bracket comes out without the molds. So he cleans the tray and tries again. And this time he pulls it out way too soon and the mold is a mess. He gives up on the mold for a sec and moves one to this wax thing that I had to bite into. I guess its to see where my teeth are now touching. Well something was wrong with the first one so a second one was done. Then he returned back to getting the mold of my upper arch. While the mold is in, he apologizes for the delay and asks when I have to be at work. I tried to tell him but when you have the big tray with the molding in you can't really talk. He pulls it out and states that it was better. Then he starts on the bottom. Well after 3 tries he gets it. Mind you through all of this, I have this molding caught in between my teeth and brackets and all over my lips. It was a mess. I felt like this was a nightmare.

So now its 825am and I pretty much need to leave now so I can get to work on time. He informs me that I will need xrays and then I will be done which shouldn't take long. Suddenly, he goes back to mixing something and from behind me he produces another tray with molding to do the top arch AGAIN! I about lost it. I couldn't believe this was happening. I just wish I knew this a head of time so I could have prepared for it all. But alas, I am stuck there. He pulls out the tray and states that this is the best one. I would had hope so after the 4th try. He states he will put me on the list to see the xray tech now.

He leaves to sign me up for xrays and comes back. Dr Edward's fellow comes in to meet and talk with me. He did a short visual eval, observed my bite, etc He asked which procedure I wanted and I told him. He gave me the same lecture of possible nerve injury with a 10% risk with BSSO and a 1% risk for the VRO. I told him that I knew the risks but I would rather have rubber bands. He said the bands would be similar to be wired but then I stated but at least I will have movement after a few weeks which he agreed. He went over the usual things like I would have to stay in the hospital overnight and that I could it could take up to 2 days. He asked if anyone would be around to take care of me and stated yes. He also inquired about my next ortho appointment for the surgical hooks which is this friday (July 18) He asked if I had any questions (which I did) but my mind was so tired and brain dead that I was able to thing. He smiled, shook my hand, and said see ya next week. LOL I can at least saw that I really do like Dr Edwards and the fellow. They both are really nice.

So its 835am and there's no way I will make it to work. I become a little desperate and try to think of what to do. The thought of leaving my appointment cross my mind many times LOL I should have suggested on coming back later or a different day. The tech comes back and take a few more measurements with a tool I can't even begin to describe. Some metal tool with wings that I had to bite down on and I had to hold up with my thumbs. I think it was to see the level of my teeth? I ask him how much longer and he states very soon.

Suddenly I remembered my student helper and I decided to call her but guess what? I have no cell reception and there is no phone in site. I realized I am in the basement of the place. So I leave the room and head outside to make the call. Its a good thing the ER exit/entrance was close by. I call up my student and the coach in charge to let her know my situation. Fortunately, my student is able to cover for me. Great something comes through for me.

I head back to the room and I sit down slightly relieved and a little agitated. Its 9am and the xray tech calls me ready to go. A panorex, frontal, and profile xray are taken. After the pics, the tech had me wait until everything was printed properly. The fellow comes into the room and looks through some charts. I then remembered a few questions. I asked him about a splint and to my delight he said I wouldn't need one. I also jumped for joy. Then I asked about follow ups which are 2. 4. 6 and 8 weeks. then after that its 3 and 6 months. He said I will also be seen prior to being debanded but I am getting invisalign to finish off the last bit so I might be out of braces sooner.

The xray tech hands me printer copies of my xrays and I head back to my exam room. I wait 5 min before the original tech comes in and is shocked to see me there. He states that I was done after the xrays. I simply smiled, said thank you for coming back, and left the office ASAP

So now I plan on doing the bulk of my shopping tomorrow for food at sams club. I will also pick up my magic bullet that I bought a couple days ago and is waiting at the rental office. Time is flying by and pretty soon I will finally have this surgery behind me!