mandag den 9. november 2009

26. October Visit with the surgeon

The removal of stitches went really well. There was only one left. My surgeon said, he was happy, he had used blue thread so it was easy to see what was left.


Then I showed him the discolored tooth, and I was so confident that he would say like Rita and Kate that it was no problem at all. Instead he said that it had never happend to him before, and he couldn't understand it. He checked with the x-rays that were taken right after surgery. And he was nowhere near the roots of the tooth. I asked if the tooth was dying, and he said maybe. But nothing can be done untill the splint is removed. I am scheduled to have it removed on 18. november. I just can't wait. Talking is so annoying. And I am also starting to feel pain from the rubberbands and hooks in the front. But I have to wear them for 2 months 24/7 and then I have to wear them at night for 2 months. I am allowed to have four breaks for one hour when I eat.

When we were looking at the x-rays regarding the discolored tooth, the surgeon showed me, how many screws that had been attached to my jaw area. I counted almost 30!!! Yikes. No wonder I have been swollen and bruised for so long. He said that some of the bruising were a bit stubborn, but eventually it will all go away.

For the next period of time I have to exercise my jaw.

Here are some pictures where you can see what I look like 4 weeks post-op.


lørdag den 24. oktober 2009

Visiting my orthodontist

This friday I saw my orthodontist for the first time since the surgery. He said things looked okay. My face is still swollen, and I have a light green bruising on my throat and on my cheeks. Sadly enough he didn't remove the splint. My surgeon wants it to stay on untill wednesday the 18th of november. What a bummer. It makes it soooo difficult to talk. The hooks and rubberbands will also be staying on.


The orthodontist couldn't do much, but he noticed something that worries me quite a bit. One of my front teeth has a different colour. It's kind of a light pink, and this is a sign of internal bleeding in the tooth. I have to talk to my surgeon about it on monday. Maybe they have to go in and stop the bleeding. On monday they will also remove the stitches. Hope it doesn't hurt too much.


Here is picture of my cat doing a great job of being supportive :-)



torsdag den 22. oktober 2009

Update

Sorry, I am not very good at updating.

On monday october 12th I saw my OS for the second time after the surgery. He didn't do much. My face was still very swollen. The only thing, he wanted me to do, is to wear three rubberbands on these two hooks that are placed in my upper jaw and my lower jaw. It looks kind of like a big fang. In fact I think I scared the postman when he had to deliver a package. He took one look at my bruises, swollen face + fang and disappeared very fast.

I have started to get into the routine after the surgery. I eat and drink, clean my teeth, go for a walk and start all over again. I only have two things that I find a bit annoying: my splint (it's so difficult to speak) and the ever present drooling. But I guess it goes away eventually.

The autum weather in Denmark has been very nice. Here is a picture of me enyoing the sun.




Tomorrow I see my dentist for the first time since the surgery. I hope that he will remove the splint, but I have my doubts. On monday I have my next appointment with my OS.

søndag den 11. oktober 2009

Getting better

My mother called my surgeon and he prescriped some new pain medication that doesn't upset my stomach as much. I have been able to eat quite regularly and I have also been able to sleep the last couple of nights.

I think I hit my all time lowe friday morning when I got up. I just started sobbing because I was so tired, in pain and just fed up with being in my body. After I cried, I picked myself up again. I know the only way to get better is to eat as much as possible and do what the doctor says.

Things are getting easier, but it is still no picknic. I could not have gotten through this without my mother. She has been here for me every step of the way. She brings me my food, water and medication. She picks me up when I am down.

I have lost four pounds this first week, but I guess this is what to expect. The swelling seems to have gone down a bit. All in all I think things are improving. I will post some pictures tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I also have to go to the hospital to see my surgeon. I hope my jaw is healing like it is supposed to.

torsdag den 8. oktober 2009

Surgery - not as easy as I thought

Surgery was monday the 5 th of october. I am glad I didn't really know what I was putting my self through. Its been a hard couple of days. After the operation I got so sick that I vomitted blood for five times. After I had gotten that out of the system, things seemed to be going fine. But I had a hard time sleeping. I was convinced that I couldn't breathe through my nose. And the next morning I nearly fainted in the bathroom all by myself. I tried to call out for help but no one heard. After some time I pulled myself up from the floor and got into the hospital bed again. I really thought I was going to die on that floor. Spooky.

I was in the hospital from monday till wednesday. When I got home I got sick again. It seems like my body doesn't like the pain-medication. I keep on vomitting. So now I will try to do with out all the pills, but my face is hurting. I don't know whats worse: vomitting all the time or feeling the pain. I just want time to fly so I will get through this. I didn't think it would be that hard.

My surgeon is very optimistic and says that things went very smoothly and that I only lost about 10 ml blood. Thats way below average. They also say that my face isn't as puffy as most other jawsurgery patients. So things should work out fine.

I really hope the pain and the discomfort soon goes away. I will post some pictures when I feel better.

lørdag den 3. oktober 2009

Almost time for the surgery

It has been a while, since I have posted anything. I have tried to be more relaxed about the extra time I have had to wait for the surgery, but it has been hard. 16 months in braces before surgery is a looong time, no matter how you put it. And I know I still have at least 6 more months to go. My patience is really being tested to the limit, but it is out of my hands.

Monday is the big day, and I can't wait to get it over and done with. I have seen my orthodontist. The surgical hooks have been attached to my braces. The hooks annoy my mouth, and I have a lot of cranker soars. I have seen my surgeon, and he is a very nice elderly man with a lot of dry humour. He wants me to start talking and eating right after surgery. If he sees any boards with me writing on them, they will be confiscated. I hope I will be able to talk, but with surgery in the upper jaw as well as the lower jaw, I just don't see, how I will be able to.

I will propably have to stay in the hospital for three days. After that my mother is going to take over the cooking and cleaning, which is quite nice for a change. :-)

I am a bit "hyper" with surgery closing in on me. I am not worried about the pain, because usually my body is pretty good at taking care of that. I run a lot, so my body produces a lot of endorfins. But I worry about, what my face will look like. Will I like it? Or is it going to be like looking at a stranger. Things are going to change, and the big question is, will I be ready for it?
And will everything work out as they have planned??? What if the bite doesn't come together???

fredag den 14. august 2009

Appointment and Madonna concert

This tuesday I went to my orthodontist, and boy was I in for the big treatment. 2 1/2 hours thats how long it lasted. First they removed some of the hardware and then they started making molds of my upper and lower jaw. They needed six molds, but I went through 8 because the 2 first molds weren't perfect. Then they took some pictures of my face, then x-rays and they finished it off with measuring my face and asking a lot of questions about my medical health. Unfortunately they discovered a hole in one of the teeth, so I have to visit them to remove parts of the braces before I see my regular dentist.

To top it off I have to see them twice when I am vacationing in september. The surgical hooks have to be fitted by then. I also have to go to the hospital to get some tests done. My boss is not going to be happy when she gets back from her holiday.

After seeing the orthodontist I rushed to get to Copenhagen in time to hear the Madonna concert in Parken. I had a nice evening but all of a sudden I could just feel how much they had been putting my jaw through. My muscles get really strained when I have to keep my jaw open for a long period of time. But it was worth it.

mandag den 13. juli 2009

Date for surgery in October :´(

Finally, my orthodontist called me. I had been trying to get in touch with him for almost three weeks. I had left my phone number by the secretary 5 times. Wednesday, last week I got to talk to him, but he had forgotten my molds at his house, so he couldn´t give me a date before looking at them. I couldn't believe my ears. Then he said he would call sunday, which he did. But he had disappointing news. I am ready for surgery, but I can't get a surgery date before the 5 th of October. There are just no openings before that.

This means that I will have to wear these darn things for four extra months. I understand that surgeons go on holiday. I would understand if my teeth weren't ready. But I don't understand that this professor in Orthodontics can't schedule a surgery date at the hospital in time.

I wish that my regular orthodontist was in charge of my case instead of this lazy, absentminded professor. He is not the one, who has been preparing my teeth. He was supposed to call me three weeks ago. Morten, my regular orthodontist, had prepared everything and he said that I should get a surgery date in august, because I was ready. I hate this eternal waiting and not having control over anything. And all I can do is wait and live with the increasing pain in my jaw, which develops into headaches...

torsdag den 2. juli 2009

Waiting by the phone...



Time is too slow


for those who wait


too swift for those who fear


too long for those who grieve


too short for those who rejoyce


but for those who wear braces


time is eternity...


I am just waiting for my orthodontist to call and tell me, when I can have my surgery.

tirsdag den 16. juni 2009

Upper jaw surgery too???

Well, there is only one thing I can count on, when it comes to braces and jaw surgery: "You can't count on anything".

Usually I feel in control of my life, but going through this, I just have to go with the flow. I had a check-up today, and the message was that I am almost ready for surgery but they are thinking about performing upper jaw surgery as well as the bilateral saggital split.

I don't know what to feel right now. I had gotten used to thinking about lower jaw surgery, and it didn't feel like a big thing, but adding an operation to the upper jaw is just making me nervous. What is it going to feel like? What about the pain and discomfort?

tirsdag den 19. maj 2009

What is in a name?

I had a check-up with my orthodontist. They took some new molds, which almost made me vomit. I am just not good at opening my mouth high enough for them to get the molds out. My orthodontist said that things are going in the right direction. On my next appointment they will be taking pictures and preparing for the surgery. I asked him, what the technical term for my jaw surgery is, and he said that it's called a bilateral sagittal split. So that is what I am getting.

My next appointment is june 16. I know they won't book my surgery until after august 8. I asked them to wait because I am going to a wedding. It's one of my oldest and best friend and I could not bear to miss out on that. It is going to be a long braced summer...

tirsdag den 12. maj 2009

One year in braces

Well, the one year mark for wearing braces approaches. It seems like time has just flown, and yet some how it also seems like it has taken forever.

I try not to think too much about wearing them, but I do. I feel them constantly. I don't want to bother my family and friends with my endless talk about the changes in my mouth or the discomfort of braces, but I find myself doing it all the time. They will make a sigh of relief when the surgery is over and I can start focusing on something else.

The comments about my brace-situation are some times hilarious. This little girl of four or five years old came up to me with her father. They had a question, which I began to answer. All of a sudden she spots my braces and says: "What is that in your mouth?" Her father kind of froze. I could feel him thinking about the worst case scenario she could say. I started explaining my situation and worried about her response. But all she said with the sweetest smile was: "That looks so cool. I want braces too". O what a cute little girl. For 10 seconds I felt good about myself. But then she returned and said: "Don't you think that I am nice for saying that?" Arrgh. All my illusions disappeared. Well, but she was sweet though. :-)

tirsdag den 5. maj 2009

I am roadrunner - with braces

Found this on one of the other blogs and thought it was hilarius. I have just started running again to try and focus on something else than my braces and jawsurgery.






onsdag den 22. april 2009

Operation in august

I went to the orthodontists yesterday. When I saw them in march I had gotten very disappointed. I was so confident that everything was proceeding according to schedule, which wasn't the case. The molds they had taken showed that my palate needed to be widend and they had to reposition my upper and lower teeth. The technician said that I might be ready for operation in september after the summer holidays. I litterally dropped my jaw and couldn't hide my disappointment. Initially they had said 1 year with braces, then operation followed by 6 months with braces. Mentally I wasn't prepared for 4 months extra. 4 months extra with this metal stuck in my mouth. It's getting increasingly worse to chew and eat, and I am starting to loose weight. Wonder what I will look like before the operation.

This time I didn't have my hopes up. It wasn't too hard. They just had to make minor adjustments to the braces. At the end of my visit they said that they would try to book a surgery date in august. So august it is.

mandag den 12. januar 2009

Background for this blog

For some time I have been searching the internet for information about jaw surgery, which I have to go through some time this spring/summer. During my search I came across a lot of blogs, which have helped me in my quest. Maybe this blog will help others in the same situation.

I have never been friends with my teeth. Since I was 13 years old, dentists have tried to improve my bite, but with no luck. Last summer I got braces for the third time. There was nothing left to do. My bite had been getting increasingly worse, and my face had changed a lot, in a bad way. I didn't have much of a chin, and my overbite had grown.

Today I have had my braces on for 225 days. That is a long time. Every night I cross off the days in my calender, because I am so impatient to get to my goal. It seems like there's still a long way to go. On my last apointment my dentist said that on my next visit in febuary, they would make some molds of my teeth to see if I was ready for surgery. Today he said that maybe it would be postponed to march 24.

I try to be patient, but it feels like the braces are ruining my social life, because I am always so preoccupied with my braces and eating and getting food stuck in my braces. I really hate eating in public.