Implant Progress

Monday I had the healing post put on my implant. It was a very quick and simple appointment. He had scheduled it for 40 minutes. It took me only 45 minutes to drive to the dentist, have it done, and get back to work! And it's a good 8 - 10 minute drive each way!

I NEVER have to wait so I was seated as soon as I got there. He had a new nurse with him and his normal nurse, so it was a packed room! He put the q-tip with the local anesthetic so that he could numb me up. He told the new nurse that he always give a shot of stuff "A" first to dull the pain, then he gives the shots of stuff "B" to actually numb you (can't remember the medical terms!). He said the "B" stuff stings, so he likes to give the other stuff first. He gives me the shot of "A" and asks if it hurts at all. I told him that I was still numb over there from the jaw surgery.

Well, that made it MUCH simpler! He goes "Really?!?! Well, let me know if this hurts and I'll give you more novocain." You should have seen the new nurses face! It was priceless! He told her that I would be fine. He never needs to use a lot on me and that I was "tough"! So he exposed the post, cleaned it out, took some pictures, puts the healing cap on, took some more pictures and sends me on my way! He has been taking LOTS of pictures through the whole process. He gives lectures on how to do implants and he said I was a "unique" case to study. I should ask him to give me a deal on it since he is using my pictures!!!

I go back in two weeks for impressions, then three weeks after that I get the final implant!!! The healing post is larger then I thought it would be, but I guess it's getting me used to having a tooth there again!

Here's some pics of the newest metal in my mouth!

Pictures of new appliance

You can see that the new appliance makes my lips look funny! Almost worst then with the braces.


Smiling with the new appliance.

Close up of the teeth with the "things" on. You can see that it is clear plasitc, but it's pretty thick! Also, if you look closely, you can see where the metal and springs are embedded.


Kind of looks like a Hawley retainer. I tried to point out where the springs are. When I put it on, it expands to fit my teeth now. But this is what they will look like when we are done.

New Appliance

I got my new appliance yesterday to close up those small gaps in the back. I’ll take a picture of it when I get home, because it’s kind of hard to describe. I thought that I was going to get an Invisalign tray and that would be it. But no, has anything gone the way it was planned/supposed to? Not yet, so why start now!

I get to the ortho and they give me a seat. I see my molds with this thing on it, and it is NOT like my retainers. Granted, it’s still “clear” plastic and removable, but you can still see it. The assistant goes “Hmmm, I’ve never seen one of these before!” GREAT, this is going to be fun. So she puts them in my mouth. Oh yeah, when I was there last we had decided to just fix the top and then deal with the bottom later. Well, there is both a top and a lower appliance. So the ortho comes over and I’m like “Please explain these, because this isn’t what we had discussed.” He never said that they would be Invisalign, but that is basically what he described. So he tells me that he sent my models to the lab to make the new tray. But that it would take several trays to close the gaps. So the lab and my ortho came up with this contraption. He then procedes to tell me that it’s a new appliance, they just came out with it the beginning of the year. He has never used it. Basically, I am his guinea pig! WONDERFUL! I just love being a test subject. He said that it has great reviews from other dentists, and that if it works on me, he will start using it on other patients. I go back in a month to see how it is working. If it is working, then we will keep going this route. If not, then we will try something else.

So let me try to explain this thing to you (the pictures later will REALLY help. I’m not good at describing things). It is a clear thickish plastic that run along the back of the teeth, and then the front. It doesn’t cover the whole tooth. Kind of weird. The way they make it is they take two sets of models. They leave one set alone, as your teeth are now. They then take the other set and actually cut off the teeth that they want to move, and put them where they want them. So they have a set of how your teeth are now, and how they will be when they are done. They then make the appliance to fit your new teeth. The way it differs from the Invisalign trays is that you only have this one appliance. Where they need to move the teeth, they put springs in the appliance. So basically, when I take the appliance off, it is now my teeth WILL be, but when I go to put it on, the springs stretch it to fit my teeth now. It is suppose to be a more steady movement of the teeth instead of a forced positioning with the trays.

When they were “playing” with my models, they decided that the teeth on the left side, that we were going to take care of another way, both had to be moved the same distance. So basically, they can fix both the upper and the lower without messing up my bite!!! And I got to see the models to prove it to me! That means no crowns for me!!!

That’s basically how my appointment went yesterday. The teeth weren’t sore at first, but around 6 last night they started to get sore. This morning they were pretty sore. Once I put the appliance back in, it doesn’t really hurt that bad. But when I try to eat I feel the pressure, and when you first put it on. But after all that we have been through, we should be use to the pain, so it’s no big deal.

I will take some pics tonight to better explain them!

The verdict

Going to the dentist AGAIN yesterday just left me with more decisions and things to think about. After talking to the ortho, my dentist decided to look at the lower teeth again. They decided that the size of the fillings in the lower left are large and that I will eventually need to have crowns put on them. The fillings in those teeth were just replaced less then 7 years ago (that's how long I have had this dentist, and he replaced them, just can't remember when). So they aren't that old. So my dentist said that I could either have it fixed orthodontically or with one or two crowns. I asked him what was best for my teeth in the long run... putting time, money, pain, everything like that aside. He never really did answer that. But he said that I will eventually need to crown those two teeth. He can just crown one of them and make up for the two spaces. I have NO idea if insurance will pay for these crowns since the teeth are fine right now. So they have sent in a pre-authorization. At over $800 a tooth, I want to know how much I will have to pay before I give the go-ahead.

Here are my choices as I see them:

• Fix the lower spaces with InvisAlign and run the risk of messing up my bite (don't want to do that)
• Put crowns on one/two teeth (depending on what insurance will pay). I REALLY hate the thought of grinding down teeth that are still healthy to put the crown on. And in 10 - 20 years from now I will need to have these crowns replaced. How much more of my tooth will be left for them to grind down then? But, this will save my teeth from possibly breaking, which would lead to me getting a crown... or worst yet cracking which would lead to having the tooth pulled and the whole stud process again (once is enough!) (But if I didn't have this space I wouldn't even be thinking about what "could" happen. I would just be going on my marry, and if something happened, dealing with it then)
• Do nothing for now and wait until I get a cavity from the space. I could also get gum infections because of food getting wedged in there and my CONSTANTLY having to floss or something to get it out.

For right now, I have 4 - 6 weeks to wait for the pre-auth to come back. In that time we will move the top teeth and I will be back to my dentist to get more done with the implant. It really just is too much to think about sometimes. Here I thought that once the braces came off and I got the implant I would be done. But I really think that until I put my foot down and say "NO MORE" they will come up with something else that needs to be done. I have to decide how much time, pain, and money I am willing to spend and after that just say "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!".

That's the new news for now. I go on Tuesday to get my top InvisAlign. Yeah, "braces" for a THIRD time. My sister is going to be SOOO jealous. (she has ONE crooked tooth and wanted braces as a kid. The ortho said it was just cosmetic so my parent's did get them for her. She was jealous when I got mine as a kid, even more jealous when I got them as an adult... and now for a third time. She is going to FLIP. Hey, she's an adult now, she could pay for them herself. But after paying for her son's braces, I think she has changed her mind). I'll let you know how Tuesday goes.

Dentist appoinment today

I have yet ANOTHER dentist appointment today. I got a call on Thursday from my regular dentist saying that he wanted to see me on Monday. So I have to go there today at 3. The scheduler that called me said "Do you want to know why he wants to see you?". And my answer was "Honestly... no." I'll find out today at three. I'm going to assume it has to do with these spaces and with him talking to the ortho. So I'll keep you updated on what the new plan is going to be. It's just too much to keep straight anymore (no pun intended!!!).

My Decision... for now

So I have done a LOT of thinking about what to do with these spaces that the braces left. I have talked to my regular dentist and my ortho to try to come up with the best plans to maintain my current bite as well as maintain the health of my teeth for the future. And right now, we are going to go with moving the top teeth and see how that works out. From talking with both of them, the chances of messing up my current bite is VERY minimal. The risk with doing caps on my teeth is greater then the risk of possibly messing up my bite. And the main reason for this is that the gap on the top that needs to be fixed lines up with where the implant still has to be finished. So basically, they will make the implant to mesh with my “new” bite, and not my bite now. (who would have thought it would be a GOOD thing to have a missing tooth?!?!) As far as fixing the spaces on the top, it won’t mess up my bite at all.

So for now we are going to go with fixing the upper spaces, and see how that works out. Then we will deal with the lower spaces. My ortho and regular dentist were going to talk some more and discuss the pros and cons of each way. Because when I talk to the ortho he leans towards caps, and when I talk to my regular dentist, he leans towards ortho. So I asked them to talk to each other and see what they can come up with. I can see the points in both of their cases, which makes it SOOO hard to make a decision on the lower teeth.

I don’t go back to the ortho for two more weeks, so we’ll see if I change my mind again before then (knowing me, I’ll change my mind again before I even hit “Post”!) Thank you all for your concerns, and please keep sending the advice!

Will it ever end? Please help!

When I was at my regular dentist two weeks ago to get my teeth cleaned, he mentioned the large “contacts” between my back teeth. He had noticed these spaces when I was there getting my implant put in. They concerned him because food gets stuck in there, and he doesn’t want to see me get cavities in there or the gums get irritated because I have to constantly pick food out. He said that the only way that he could fix them would be to have crowns, or veneers put on. And of course that would cost me several thousand dollars. He was so pleased with my results from my orthodontia that he wanted me to go talk to the ortho.

So today I went to the ortho to talk to him about these spaces. Sorry if these seems jumbled, but I’m a little frazzled right now. He first mentioned possibly making the fillings in those teeth cover the gaps. I told him that my regular dentist at first thought that would be an option, but once he looked at them more, he didn’t think that option would work because of the size. So basically, what he came up with was to give me new retainers, like InvisAlign to move those back teeth. Sounds all good and like an easy choice. But of course NOTHING is when it comes to our teeth. My teeth all mesh so nicely now and by moving them, even just a little bit, we run the risk of losing that meshing. I expressed my concern about not wanting to lose all that we have worked for already. He said that if they start to feel “off”, I can stop wearing those retainers and they should move back to where they are now. The operative word being SHOULD. What if they don’t? He suggested that we start with the top and see how that goes, and if it works out well, then move on to the bottom. But he still thinks that getting crowns on the bottom would be the way to go.

I just don’t know what to do. If I do decide to go with the retainers to close the gaps, I run the risk of my teeth not meshing well anymore. The ortho said that if I stopped wearing the retainers they would go back, but is he sure? Then there is a small gap between my number 1 and 2 (between the front tooth and the first one to the left on my uppers) from where the button was. So he said that we could fix that with the retainers as well. But if we do, doesn’t that mean that ALL of my teeth to that side will move? Will this screw up my bite? I have just spent so much money, time, and pain on these teeth that I want them to be perfect. They are so close right now and I am SO afraid that if I do this last step that I will screw it all up. I just don’t know what to do. I am going to call my regular dentist and see what he thinks. I may also call my surgeon and see what he thinks too. This is a new ortho to me because my original one retired and sold his practice. It’s not that I don’t think this ortho is capable, but I just haven’t had enough experience with him to completely trust him. Does that make sense? I am just SO confused and don’t know what to do.

6 Months Post-Op

WOW, I can't believe it's been 6 months to the day that I had my jaw surgery. It truly is amazing how fast the time has gone. I remember reading other blogs about how fast the time flies. I just never thought that my turn would actually happen. But it did, and I don't regret one minute of it!

I posted some pics from today. I took them myself, after a LONG day at work, so excuse the warn out, greasy skin look. After how you all have seen me, I didn't think you would mind!

I go for my first cleaning post-op and post-braces on Thursday! I'm actually looking forward to it. It will be a much nicer cleaning then with braces on. I go back in June to get the next part of my post done, then two weeks later for impressions, then three weeks after that to get the actual "tooth". Then I am DONE!!! WOW, this whole journey is about to come to an end. I still can't believe all that I have been through.

Well, I say it is coming to an end, but who knows. I always hear how people get "addicted" to plastic surgery. I always thought that was odd, but I can completely understand now how that happens. I was actually thinking of getting the TINY gap between my two front teeth at the top filled in. There is one other one from where the button was and the wire wrapped around that I want to get filled in (you can't see it at the angle the pics were taken). But then I read Brandy's blog about how expensive Luminaries are. Well, that won't be happening for me. But I am thinking of getting them whitened. We'll have to see what the dentist says on Thursday.

Anyway, nothing else really new or exciting teeth wise.

Implant Surgery is Done!

The implant surgery is over!!! It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. For some reason I was REALLY dreading having this implant put in. I don't know why, I mean after all that has happened in my mouth, this was easy!

So for those of you that have an implant in your future, or are just curious, here's how it went for me. I have a great dentist who actually called me to let me know that they were running about 20 minutes behind. I wish all doctors did that! Much better then sitting in the waiting room for an extra 20 minutes. So I get there and they take me into the room. While he is numbing me up, he explains that when he gets in there, he may need to do a little more work then we had discussed previously. When he pulled this tooth, he did a bone graft so that I would have enough bone to place the implant. Well, my body did not like that idea, so it slowly got rid of all of the graft that he did originally (yeah, that was nice. Paid like a grand for that graft and it didn't even work).

While he is waiting for the novocain to set in, he takes off the wire that the ortho placed in that area to keep the teeth from shifting. If I need it back in, the dentist will replace it on Thursday when I have my follow up appointment. So, now that the wire is off and I'm all numb, he starts cutting. It was weird to hear the sound of your gums getting cut and pulled away from the bone. After a few minutes of cutting he tells me that I will need to have another bone graft placed in there and a membrane so that my body won't reject it again. This is to build up the outside part of the bone. If he didn't do this, then the implant won't fit nicely and food will get caught under it and could cause an infection. So this means more cutting, more stitches and having to keep my jaw opened longer (which was NOT fun when you still don't have full range back). Throughout the whole procedure he kept taking pictures so that he can show other patients that may need the same thing done what will happen.

Now comes time for the drilling of the hole to place the implant. He get the drill with the small drill bit on it. Since I still can't open too wide, he couldn't fit it in there, so he had to go to a smaller bit... still wouldn't fit. He had to use one of the smallest bits that he had because I just couldn't open any further. So he makes his first drill into the bone. Then he places a small stud in the hole. And off it is to get an x-ray with that in to make sure he has it in the right spot.

So I get the x-ray and he places it where he can see while he drills the hole larger. A few more larger bits and he is done drilling. It really didn't take long at all. Then he places the implant in and starts to ratchet it in place. It felt weird to have someone ratcheting something in to your bone. It didn't hurt, but just felt weird.

So the implant part of the whole procedure was VERY easy. It was the next part that took forever. Along with the incision that had to be made for the implant, he had to make two additional incisions. These went from where the implant incision was down the front of the jaw to the cheek. He then had to pull the gum away from the bone. Once again, it made a weird "ripping" sound. Kind of weird. Next he took the drill and "roughed" up the bone so that the implant would take better. He mixed some of my bone and blood with the bovine bone and placed that where he roughed up my bone. Next he had to measure and cut a membrane to build up the bone a little more. Then it was time to sew it all up. Originally, there was only supposed to be like 2 or 3 stitches. Yeah, that ended up not being the case. I think I have somewhere around 10 - 14. I lost count as he was putting them in. That was the part that took the longest.

After he had me all stitched up, it was off for another x-ray, just to make sure it was all in the correct place. The whole procedure took about 1.5 hours. He said if it was just the implant, it would have been only 1 hour, but the graft make it longer. I was told to take it easy for the rest of the day, ice it some, and avoid rinsing until Sunday or Monday because of the graft. I sort of listened to his instructions! I did go home after it and rest for a little while. Then it was out to party for the night!!! Luckily I didn't need any of the vicodin that he gave me, so I was still able to have a few drinks! We were out until about 2:30 in the morning. Yeah, that's me taking it easy! The original plan was to go to this country bar and ride the mechanical bull. Because of the weather, there weren't enough people out, so they didn't have the bull running :( I guess that's probably a good thing because that would NOT have been taking it easy!

Here are some pictures. I am actually a little swollen in that area. So I've been trying to take it easy the rest of the weekend and keep some ice on it. It really doesn't hurt except for where my lip rubs up against the incisions for the graft. And my jaw is pretty sore from forcing it open as wide as I could.

If you look at the chin and jaw line area, you can see the left side of the picture is a little swollen.

The stitches that come all the way down to the cheek

The other side of the stitches that come all the way down to the cheek.

Because I had to have the bone graft done, I wasn't able to have the "healing cap" placed on the implant (if you look at Brandy's that the "healing cap"). So the implant got all sewed up in there. This means that I will have to go back in a few months and he will have to cut the gum back open and place the healing cap on it then. It may take a few months longer before I can get the fake tooth put on, but this will make it last longer now that the bone is built back up.

Implant on Friday

It looks like I will be having implant "surgery" on Friday. I put surgery in quotes because I don't really consider it surgery, but that's what they call it. It's not like they are putting me under and doing other stuff like they did with Brandy and Mary. They are just numbing me locally and screwing that sucker into place! I make it sound like SOOO much fun!

I have mixed feelings about getting this done. I know that it's something that I have to have. And part of me just wants all of this over and done with. But the other part of me just wants a break. I was fine with it until I was reading my docs "post op" sheet. It says to stay away from hard foods for 2 MONTHS. So basically, if I were to follow that sheet completely, I would be on a soft food diet again for 2 more months. I don't think so!!! I did that whole soft food for 2 months already, and I really don't think I have another 18 pounds to lose. Once I looked more into it, it's just that they don't want you putting too much pressure on the jaw while the bone is healing, so I'll just go each on the bagels and crunchy stuff.

I had to go to my surgeon today to see if I was ready for Friday and for what we were hoping was my last check up (my surgeon isn't doing my implant, my regular dentist is because he's qualified and he takes my insurance whereas my surgeon doesn't. Not that I even really know how much will be covered. Lets hope most of it because these implants are NOT cheap!). He did say I was ready for Friday, but that he would like to see me again in August. This is because he was surprised at how much numbness I still have. He would have thought that at my age, the fact that I don't smoke and am relatively healthy, and since he didn't even come close to the nerves I would have full feeling back by now. But when he did his "poke" tests, I don't have much more then I did at 2 months post op. He still has complete confidence that I will get it back, but that it make take up to 1.5 year. To tell you the truth, if I don't get it back, it's really not that big of a deal. You kind of get used to the numbness, tingly, and biting chucks of your cheeks off! (trying to look at the positives!) But it was nice to see every one's face when they saw my "naked" teeth! They were all SO impressed with my bite and how my smile looks! I am VERY happy with my results, but it is always nice to hear it from people who deal with teeth all the time. It's a nice reassurance!

So, you can all tell me how crazy I am, but I actually have plans on going out and partying on Friday night for all of our friends who have February birthdays! I know, I'm nuts doing that right after getting an implant done. But the way I look at it is I won't need to drink anything to get a little loopy if I take the pain meds! Actually, my dentist thinks I will be fine with this. He said it will be less traumatic then when he pulled that tooth. He pulled it on a Friday and then on Saturday my husband and I had a house warming party. I never took anything for it, and I never took the pain meds he gave me when he pulled my wisdom teeth. I went back to work the next day too. So lets just hope that this follows in line with how those went.

I'll try to post on Friday to let you know how it goes!

Retainers

So I've had my Essix retainers for 2 weeks now. They haven't been too bad, after the first day that is. I was told that I had to wear the bottom one only at night (12 hours a day, do any of you get anywhere near 12 hours a sleep a day? I sure know I don't) and the top one all the time for 10 days, then just at night. Not too bad. I still wear the top one most of the time, but I went 8 hours once, and that HURT.

The first day was absolutely AWFUL. I go to the ortho and they have me put them in. The top one was a little hard to get in, but I eventually got it. The bottom one was made to only go over my teeth up to where the wire is (where the implant will go). Well, they had to use SO much glue to get it to stay, that they had to trim the retainer. So it only goes up to my K-9 tooth on that side.

I leave the ortho and go back to work. They weren't too bad, didn't really hurt, I could still talk pretty well with them in. I thought I was all fine... that is until I had to take them out. I go to the restroom to wash my hands and try to take these suckers out. The bottom was was a little tricky, but not too bad. I wish I could say the same for the top one. I am use to the older retainers that have the metal and there's a little "hook" that you can grab on to. Not so easy with these ones. I had asked the assistant at the ortho how to get them out. She said to use your nails to "pry" them off. Well, she must have never looked at my nail, or lack there of. I have to have some of the thinnest, softest, most brittle nails there are. I have psoriasis, and it effects my nails, so they are pretty bad. So there I am in the bathroom trying to get this top retainer out. I got some weird looks from some people who came in and saw me with my hands in my mouth.

Anyway, I spent about 10 minutes in there trying to get this thing out of my mouth. I even drew blood twice! Once on my gum and once when my nail pulled away from my skin (that's how soft they are, and it HURT!!!). I finally gave up and went back to my desk to calm down. I ended up having to take a paper clip, and after cleaning it, use it to pry this thing out of my mouth. Yeah, over 15 minutes and two places that I was bleeding, I FINALLY got it out.

I had to use the paper clip at dinner that night. I have since gotten the hang of it, but it is still tough to get out. I can only get one side lose and then I have to "wiggle" it out.

Other then that, they have been great. They don't hurt at all, and I can talk just fine with them in. Brandy asked if the bottom one made my teeth sore, like it did for her. But so far I have been fine. I will need a new bottom one when I get the implant put it.

I think the weirdest part so far is not being allowed to use toothpaste to brush them with. They seem to be pretty high maintenance, as far as retainers go. You can only drink water with them in because the stain easily, you can't use toothpaste because it will scratch them, and you can't use hot water because they will lose there shape. So I got some denture cleaner and soak them in that every morning, then just use my tooth brush without any toothpaste.

I don't go back to the ortho for another 8 weeks! On February 12 I go to my regular dentist for a checkup and to talk about my implant. Then on the 19th I go back to the surgeon so he can see how they look without the braces.

THEY ARE OFF!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, can you tell I'm excited??? Pictures first, since that's what I always look for, then the story!

In my car right after leaving the ortho!

Front view of the "NAKED" teeth!!!


Profile. It's hard NOT to smile today!



Close up of the bite

If you look closely, you can see a wire cemented to my teeth so that the gap doesn't fill in before I have a change to get the post and implant put in.

Ok, now for the story! I had a few concerns going into today. I was TRYING not to let myself get too excited about getting the braces off, but I knew that if they stayed on I would have been SOOO disappointed. But they weren't coming off until they were as close to perfect as they can get.

So I get to the ortho and managed to not tell anyone that they were coming off today except my husband. Boy, that was HARD. The hardest was probably my friend Rachel. If you watch Grey's Anatomy, well, Rachel's my "person". One of our friend's husband described Rachel and me as Meridith and Christina, and her as Izzy. Not our personalities, but you can't separate Rach and I! If you remember the post about my best friend and her absolutely adorable get well gift (one gift a day for 14 days)... well, that's my Rach!!!

Ok, so anyway... My ortho has a new ortho that just joined his practice. I bet as soon as the weather gets nice, he will be gone! I can't say I blame him. So I tell him that I want to ask him a few questions before we get to taking these braces off. I asked him about the "black triangle" between the two front teeth. He looked at it and explained that it's just the way my teeth are shaped. The only way to fix it would be to shave off the two front teeth where they meet to make them flat and then move them together. He would do it if I wanted him to. But it's not that bad, and I REALLY don't want to have my teeth shaved unless it's really necessary. I had to point it out to my husband, and he's known me for over 6 years and never noticed it, so I decided to leave it. My back teeth ARE meeting properly. I'm just not use to them actually touching, so I wanted to make sure. And as far as my right eye tooth coming out a little more, it's perfectly lined up with the rest. It's just in my head. And when he showed it to me, they are lined up. It might just be that my midlines aren't PERFECT, pretty close, just not dead on.

So now that fun starts! Time to get these suckers off. I really don't remember ANY pain or discomfort from the first time my braces were taken off. I think that the lower teeth were just amplified since I'm still getting feeling back and where I do have feeling it's SUPER sensitive. The part that hurt the worst were the bands... but that's to be expected. The one that REALLY hurt was the one I was afraid of. When I had braces the first time, they were on for over 4 years and under one of the bands was a HUGE cavity. Food got between the tooth and the band and there was NO way to know it was in there until it came off. So that tooth has a rather large filling and is REALLY sensitive. But the other bands didn't hurt nearly as bad.

So off to the sink to rinse. I was scared to look. I was SOOOO afraid of my teeth being stained and having these big white spots in the middle of each tooth where the bracket was. I'm a big coffee and tea drinker. I do try to use a straw when possible, but who knows if that actually helps. Well, to my surprise, there weren't BIG white spots! YEAH. Now came the FUN part (can you hear my sarcasm?). The scraping off of the cermet. I have very porous teeth, which is good for keeping the brackets on... not so good for getting the glue off. After about 10 minutes of scraping, and scraping, and scraping (which on the lower teeth felt like they were going to pop right out of my head), they decided to have the new ortho take the "drill" like tool to get it off. Man, that was SOOO much faster. Within 10 more minutes, it was ALL gone. The only part that wasn't good was the SMELL. YUCK. And I had dust all over my face. But then it was done.

So off to the sink yet once again to rinse. Next the new ortho says that he's going to FILE my teeth. The look on my face must have been priceless because he instantly said "Don't worry, it won't hurt." I tell him that I'm not worried about it hurting, I just don't want him to file my teeth and then my teeth be more likely to get cavities. He assured me that what he was doing was just what nature never did for me. You know how when teeth cut though they are jagged? Well, since I didn't use mine properly, some of those "jaggs" were still there. So he was just going to take them off, especially since the two upper eye teeth are slightly shorter, they will never get warn down on there own. So after that I decided to let him "file" my teeth. I still don't like that word, but he did offer to do my nails when he was done!!! (ok, so it was the assistant that said it, but it made me laugh, so that's all good!)

Off to the sink to rinse again! Now's time for the impressions for my retainers that I get on Wednesday. Since I'm only 3 months post op, I still can't open that wide. I can get about 2 fingers width, but that's REALLY stretching it. So she finds the smallest molds that will fit my teeth. The top one is first. Not too bad, other then not being able to breath. I'm a mouth breather because I have a deviated septum, so I HATE impressions. But the top one was pretty uneventful. Not so for the bottom. She had a hard time getting the mold in there without any "goop" in it. Yeah, that was a stretch to get that in once the "goop" was in place. So she holds it in place, and she kept pushing on the front of my lower lip to make sure the "goop" was all in place. Now that area is still SENSITIVE, so that hurt like HE-L. But if I thought that hurt, it was NOTHING compared to trying to get it OUT of my mouth. I literal had to use my hands to try to open my jaw further to get that thing out. I really don't know how the impression came out, but I'm sure it was awful since she had to do it at the weirdest angle since I just COULDN'T open any more. But it was done, so I was happy. So off to rinse and brush YET again!

Now that all of the glue is off and my teeth are all smooth, what do they do next? That's right, put MORE glue and MORE metal in my mouth. Man, just when I think it's all out, they put some more in. One of my lower right molars was pulled before the braces went on because of a root canal that was still bothering me. This new wire will insure that the teeth don't try to move closer to each other. This wire will stay in there when I get the stud and until the implant goes in. I already have some bone loss there, so they want to make sure that the space stays. For some reason the wire just didn't want to stick to my tooth. Probably from too much brushing in the last 60 minutes. The glue would stick, just not the wire. But they FINALLY got it to stay. Then... you guessed it... off to rinse again!

So that was my day at the ortho! I get to go back on Wednesday for my Essex retainers. The lower one will have to be cut because of the missing tooth, and they will give me a new one once I have the implant in place. The ortho did give me a little goodie "cup". I say cup because it's a travel coffee mug with lots of GOODIES in it! There is some candy, a Blow Pop and some laughy taffy! All stuff that I couldn't eat when the braces were on. Ok, I should say all stuff that I wasn't SUPPOSE to eat when the braces were on. But gum, man I haven't had that in over 10 years. I may have to give it a try. But not today. My jaw is KILLING me. It is actually giving me a headache from all of the stretching today.

I'll post again on Wednesday to let you know how the retainers go. (ok, maybe Thursday since Wednesday is volleyball night. No, I am not playing :( I have to wait until I am 6 months post-op, so I just go cheer them on and have bar food and beer before the game. Yeah, we drink BEFORE our games. It makes it more fun. We are told a lot that we are a fun team to play against. But that may just be because we usually loss) They told me today that I only have to wear them 24/7 for 10 days, then just at night. But I think that I will probably wear them longer then 10 days because I will be sacred that they will move back.

Until then...

Debracing Tomorrow!!!!

OMG, I can't believe that my braces are actually coming off tomorrow!!! I actually forget that in 24 hours from now I will be in the ortho's chair getting these things yanked off. I think that is because I don't actually believe it. There are a few things that I want to ask him before he takes them off, and if he can fix them, then they won't be coming off tomorrow :( So I am trying not to let myself get TOO excited just yet.

The first thing is that I have a small, as Amy described it, "black triangle" between the tops of my two front teeth. It has always been there, so there may be nothing that can be done about that, so I will just have to live with it (or get veneers or something, but I don't think it's THAT noticeable). Also, I want to make sure that my back teeth are touching properly. Before the braces, my back teeth didn't touch AT ALL, so I have no idea how they are suppose to touch. If they are touching as they should, then that's cool with me. The third, and final thing, is I want to make sure that they moved the "eye" teeth out far enough. When I bite down, my right side top and bottom eye teeth touch, but my left side don't. So I'm not sure if my upper right eye tooth should be moved out just a little further. As badly as I want these braces off, I have learned to live with them, and most of the time forget they are even there. I just want to make sure that EVERYTHING is PERFECT before they come off. I have not worn braces for a total of over 6 years, and gone though surgery for my teeth to be anything less then perfect. I'm sure you ALL know what I mean.

The OS said that he wouldn't start thinking about putting my stud in for my fake tooth until the braces came off (the position that it's in, he just wouldn't be able to get it in there, plus it's close to where the lower jaw was cut, so he wants to make sure it's completely healed). However, my ortho wants it put in ASAP since I have already had a lot of bone loss there. So I almost feel that he is rushing the braces just to get the implant in. But will a few more months REALLY make that big of a difference when I had the tooth pulled more then 2 years ago?

The worrying about teeth will NEVER end. So anyway, those are my thoughts about getting my braces off tomorrow. So I'm trying not to get too excited because I may convince the ortho to leave them on a little longer. Either way, I will be updating you all tomorrow with what happened!

NAKED

I bet that got your attention!!! Well, last week was a good one for me as far as braces go. I went to the ortho on Tuesday and I knew it would be good because I made my last payment for my braces. So they are now paid off!!! YEAH! My ortho is getting ready to retire (at least that's what I'm assuming) and he now has a new dentist in the office with him. So it was nice to get to meet him. I'm not sure when my current ortho will be done, but when I tell you the next part, it won't make a huge difference to me. I AM GETTING MY BRACES OFF!!!! Can you believe it? I'm only 2 months post op, and these braces are coming off already! I will be just past 3 months post-op when it happens. It originally was suppose to be January 9th, but when I got back to work I remembered that I would be in Seattle Washington that week giving a presentation at Boeing, so it will be the following Monday, the 14th! I so never thought that this would happen this soon. I am excited, but yet a little scared that the teeth aren't perfect. The ortho originally thought 6 - 9 months post-op was when the braces would come off... not 3! And going off of his original guess of 6 - 9 months of having them on before the surgery, which turned in to 19 months, I was not holding my breath for them coming off before I turned 30 (I'm only 28 now, so I really was not expecting this!). I'll talk to him again before he actually takes them off, so lets hope that all goes well. I am just still in shock that they are coming off.

So you're all probably wondering why I waited a week to tell you all. Well, I was going to try to keep it a secret, but I just couldn't do it. I still haven't told anyone other then my husband. I wanted to see how long before he noticed, but I SOOOO can not keep things from him. So, other then you all, he is the only one that knows! I want to see every ones face! I'm such a dork. So shhhh, don't tell anyone (ok, that really only goes to my non-ortho friends that read this!).

On the dizzy front... I went to yet another new neurologist last Monday. He was MUCH nicer. He too thinks that it is Basilar Migraines. He said that it may be board line Chari, but if it was, there isn't anything they can do about it. So he was going to get all of my records from all of my other doctors (primary, 3 other neurologists, cardiologist, and ENT) to see what tests they ran. He didn't want to put me though all of the tests if I had already had them and they were fine. I have to keep a record of my headaches and dizzy spells for the next 6 weeks and go back to see him. He is taking a VERY conservative approach because all of the meds that they would give you can't take when you are pregnant, and since we're trying, that would be no good.

That's about all that's new here. If I don't get a chance to write before the holidays (we do lots of traveling, first to my in-laws then to my parents), have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Surgeon and Neurologist

Well, this week has been full of appointments for me. Tuesday I had my 3rd post-op appointment with my surgeon. It was just a check up and to see if he would give me the "green light" to start chewing. HE DID!!!!! It's been just over 7 weeks without chewing. WOW, the time really did fly by. He told me that I am now on an "unrestricted" diet! But that I do have to slowly introduce things back in. Like, don't jump right to pizza crust or steak. Start off slowly and work the jaw muscles back up to it. But in a few weeks I should be back to eating what I was before. That's good, but it's also scary. I have lost 15 pounds, and I REALLY want to keep them off. So now that I am able to eat anything, I will have to be extra careful. I have switched to smaller plates. I'm the type that I will eat what is on my plate. So with a smaller plate it looks full with less food.

I also asked him about when I can get my implant for my fake tooth. He wants me to wait at least 6 months, and until the braces come off. So hopefully that will be at the same time. I'm still not sure if I will have my surgeon do the implant or my regular dentist. My ortho got me confused last time I was there. He said something about having less people in there, so I thought he meant having the surgeon do it. But then he made it sound like if the surgeon did it, my regular dentist would still be the one to make the implant. So I'm confused. But I have time to decide on that. And it's just an office procedure with local numbing, so it's not that big of a deal. I also had to ask when I could play volleyball again. He said he wants me to wait until I'm 4 - 6 months post-op. So that's only another 2 - 4 months. He said that the first surgery went so well; he would like to leave it that way! But I'm hoping that I will be pregnant by then, so I won't be able to go back anyway!!! We'll see though.

So I went to Wendy's tonight with my husband for dinner. I got a Jr. Cheeseburger. It was quiet disappointing. It wasn't nearly as enjoyable as I thought it would be. I still can only open less than an inch, so I had to squish it first. Then because I can't fit much in the back teeth I had to take the tiniest bites. I was actually missing my soup and mushy foods. This will definitely take some time to get use to. I was also noticing that I kept biting my cheeks. Has any one else had this problem?

Today I went to the new neurologist about my headaches and dizziness. WOW, he has to be the worst doctor I have EVER been to. First his "assistant" comes in. I HATE that. They ask all of these questions, and then the doc comes in and asks the SAME questions. Why are they wasting our time? But anyway... she asks me all of these questions and is mainly concentrating on my headaches. I have a constant headache. I honestly can't remember the last time I didn't have a headache. They are just ALWAYS there, granted, some days are worst then others, but it's always there. I can deal with those. It's sad to say, but I've dealt with them for so long, that I sometimes forget it's even there.

My main concern is the dizziness. Oh, which by the way was accompanied this weekend with total loss of short-term memory. I kept asking the same questions over and over and over and over. I finally just quite talking because I was afraid that I would just be repeating myself, and honestly, it scared me. Back to the doc (who I think got his degree out of a Cracker Jack Box)… The assistant keeps asking me the same question, just worded differently. I finally say to her "You just asked me that and my answer was ....." She gave me a dirty look. Well, then stop asking me the same question. It felt like she was trying to trick me. So I am trying to tell her about all of the different doctors and there diagnosis over the past 6 years. She doesn't really seem to care and keeps interrupting me and asking me different questions.

So she leaves and fills the doctor in. He comes in and asks me the SAME questions she just asked me multiple times. Ummm, hello, I'm going to keep giving you the same answer. He too seems to be more concerned with the headaches then with the dizziness. I tell him how I use to be on Depakote, but that I had to go off since we want to start trying to get pregnant. He tells me that I have migraines. NO SHIT, I told you that!!! He tells me that he would give me medicine for it, but that all of them are known to cause birth defects. I tell him that I don't want medicine, I want a diagnosis. And I don't feel that this is a correct and accurate diagnosis. By this time, I am starting to get a little emotional. I cry at the drop of a hat, and today was just not a good day. He asks me what I want him to do. I tell him that I have been dealing with this for over 6 years and it is starting to have a huge effect on my life. I just want to know what is wrong with me, is that too much to ask for? He has me walk over to the wall where there is a poster, and he shows me the signs of Basilar Migraines. I fit some of the signs. But the only way to diagnosis this is pretty much by eliminating other things. He again asks me "What do you want me to do?" I say, "I want you to care. Every other doctor I have been to just wants to shove medicine down my throat. As soon as I tell you I am not going to take any meds, you seem to want to brush me off." "Well what do you expect me to do?" is his response. I asked him "Don't you want to run any tests to make sure it's not something more serious, rather then just giving me a blanket diagnosis?" So he goes "Well, I can order you an MRI. You tell me what tests you want and what you want to be tested for, and I can order them." ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?! Ummm, last time I checked my degree was in Computer/Electrical Engineering, NOT medicine. Isn't that HIS job to figure out what tests to run and what to test for? Both him and his assistant asked if my thyroid was ever tested, and they were both surprised when I said no. But do you think that he wanted to test that? No. So I grab my coat and my purse and tell him that I am leaving. That I will find a different doctor that is actually willing to figure out what is wrong with me. So I go to check out (why I have to pay the co-pay for nothing is beyond me) and he wrote on my chart that he wanted to see me again in 3 months and he had an order for an MRI. SERIOUSLY? I told the receptionist that I didn't need another appointment; there was NO way I was coming back. I didn't care that there were other patients there that could hear me. They deserved to know that he sucked.

So I left his office crying and got to the car to call my mother. She was in shock. She has had some neurological problems since a fall several years ago, and she really likes her neurologist. I am tempted to drive over 2 hours to see hers. At least he is willing to figure out what is wrong with you, and not just brush you off. At one point he even said that my worrying about it is just making it worst. Basically that it was just in my head (um yeah, that's why it's called a headache!). And he told me to make sure that I get enough sleep and don't skip meals. Well, if he were to have read my record he would see that I am hypoglycemic, so there is NO way that I skip meals. I'll get shaky before I get a headache from not eating.

So, that was my lovely day! I now get to try to find yet another neurologist in my area. Everyone that I know has only gone to Neurosurgeons, and not neurologists. So I'm going blindly here. That pretty much ruined my day and put me in a down mood. I was so looking forward to finally figuring what was wrong with me... and I get this guy.

But on a happier note, if anyone is still reading this since I have written a book... Brandy gets her braces off tomorrow!!!!! Are all of us brace-faces jealous? I know I am. But she deserves it. She has been though a lot. I can't wait until I join her!

First Post-Op Ortho Adjustment

I had my first post-op ortho adjustment on the 13th. It was interesting, to say the least. They are all still so amazed at how well I did. They actually thought that I would still be out of work. I was back for 3 weeks at that time! They were saying that the patients that they send to Dr. Lewis (my OS) always seem to heal much faster. He is just SOOOO gentle. Bob and I actually noticed that before the surgery. He is was just so gentle when he would look in my mouth. I would DEFINITELY recommend him to anyone! So if any one reads this and live in New York state, check him out. His website it under my “Useful Links”.

So I FINALLY got my arch wires changed! Which means that the surgical hooks are now GONE!!!! I had those puppies on for over 4 and a half months! It’s amazing how much better the teeth look without them... can’t wait to see how they will look without the braces! I still have the underlacing on. Which only sucks because I was looking forward to flossing without having to thread when they had the arch wires off. Oh well, I got a good brushing in. Which was the first time that I used an adult tooth brush since surgery. Still a little difficult to do that.

So after they took the arch wires off, they put a “button” on the back of my left #2 tooth. If you don’t know what a button is (I didn’t until then), it is like a little button that they put on the back of the tooth. Then they use this “rubber wire” that wraps around to the front to get it to turn out a little. I was actually noticing a few days before that it seemed to be turned in a little. Well, not anymore! I felt bad for the assistant. It took her 4 tries to get the rubber wire to stay wrapped around the button. The first three tries she was trying to be nice to me and trying to just tie the rubber wire in the front around the bracket. Well, as soon as I touched it with my tongue, it would come untied. So she had to do it the “mean” way. She has to force the rubber wire between my contacts (between my teeth). Yup, that hurt! But I think it had moved to where it needed to be by the time that I left the office! It hurt for a little bit, but it’s not like I can chew or use my teeth anyway, so at least I didn’t have to worry about that.

They also gave me some rubber bands to wear just at night. It hooks to all 4 of my “eye” teeth to try to “settle” the bite some. It’s not too bad since I only have to wear them at night. But when I wake up, I notice that my bottom lip and chin are all pins and needles. I wonder if it has to do with the rubber bands.

Oh, has this happened to any of you? I am a clencher at night. I don’t grind, just clench my teeth (yeah, it would wake me up after surgery because it hurt so bad. The surgeon said that a lot of people after the surgery don’t do it anymore, but not me!). Since my bottom lip and chin are numb, I will wake up and realize that I am actually BITING my lower lip. Twice now I have woken up and bit right though it and had a big chuck of my lip just hanging there. I guess it’s a good thing that I can’t feel, because it would probably be pretty sore for a few days after that.

I go back to the OS next Tuesday. Hopefully he will give me the “green light” to start chewing again! I have been trying to chew a little bit, but it just feels SO weird. And since I can’t open that wide, it’s not like I can get much in there anyway.

My volleyball team and spouses all went out for dinner last night. It was my first experience eating in public (other then at work). I was actually pretty proud of myself! I even used a REAL fork!!! I did bring my baby spoon in case I needed it, but I figured I would get some weird looks. I had some really good Mac and Cheese! Granted, in the time that everyone else finished there meals, I ate about 1/10 of mine, but that’s all I can handle right now. If I sort of guided the fork with my tongue, I was ok. I did try using a fork about a week ago at home. NOT a good experience. I ended up stabbing myself in my lip. Of course it didn’t hurt since it was numb, but it did draw some blood! Oops!

I will post some new pics later. Oh yes, I finally got my new camera. And my new car yesterday!!! A Nissan Murano! I LOVE IT!!! Had to trade in my sporty car for a more family friendly one. It was sad, but this means that we are getting closer to having kids!!!!!! I can’t wait.

I hope that everyone has a GREAT Thanksgiving! We are headed to my parent’s and my sister’s for the holiday. So it will be good! I love spending time with my family, that’s why this is one of my favorite times of year. And I want to let you all know that I am SO thankful for all of the support you have showed me. Having every one of you has made this journey SO much easier! THANK YOU!!!

Changes!

Who would have thought a person's looks could go through all of this in only one month? The human body really is an amazing thing in how it heals itself.

Pre-Surgery

5 days post-op

1 month post-op

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1 month post-op. My lips ALMOST touch without me having to force them! The surgeon said after the numbness wears off and the braces come off, they will FINALLY touch!!!

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Pre-Surgery

5 days post-op

1 month post-op

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Pre-Surgery

5 days post-op

1 month post-op

Not much new on the jaw front, but SOOOO DIZZY

I am now officially over 1 month post-op! It's weird; it feels like my surgery was AGES ago, but yet at the same time it feels like it was just yesterday. But anyway...

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been SOOOO sick! I have LOTS of stuff wrong with me, and it's been taking it's toll this week. I have been so dizzy and nauseas it's not even funny. I am pretty use to this and usually I just go about my day and ignore it. If I were to stay home from work every time I was dizzy, I would NEVER leave the house. Well, it got the best of me this week. I had to have my husband drive me home from work on Wednesday because there was NO way that driving was safe for me. Which of course meant that I had to skip class, and of course we are having a test on Monday. I even ended up staying home from work on Thursday and Friday. TWO DAYS!!! That's A LOT for me. I decided to call my doctor on Friday and go in and see her. I use to take a daily medicine for my dizzy spells, which one neurologist said was a type of migraine. If I missed just one dose of this med, within 2 days I was SO dizzy. Well, I have been off of it for over 3 weeks now. I have to go off of it in order to get pregnant; it's known to cause birth defects. So I decided to go off of it when I was home recovering so that way if I got sick, I was already home. The first 3 weeks were GREAT. A few slight dizzy spells, but nothing to even mention. Until this week.

So my doctor wants me to go back to another neurologist and have more tests done. At one point they said that I had Chiari Malformation. Basically, the way I like to describe it, is that my brain is too big for my skull and it pushes on my spinal cord. Then another neurologist said that he didn't think that's what it was, that it was a heart problem. So I went to a Cardiologist who of course diagnosed me with Posterual Orthostatic Tachacardia Syndrom (POTS). The fix for that... beta blockers, which of course lower your blood presure, so he told me to eat more salt (he said it was the first time he ever told someone to do that, usually cardiologists tell you to eat LESS salt). Well, that wasn't working so well, so they sent me to an Ear Nose and Throat doctor. Of course he had to diagnose me with something too. He said it was Menieres Disease. What's the fix for that... a LOW SODIUM DIET!!! Are you kidding me? One doctor tells me to eat MORE salt, another one tells me to eat LESS salt. Needless to say I had my fill of doctors, so I just stopped the beta blocker and try to keep an eye on sodium.

So now they want to do more tests to see if maybe Chiari really is the problem. Of course how do they fix that... Brain Surgery! And I was all freaked out about Jaw Surgery.

It also could be withdrawal symptoms from another med that I had to get off, Celexa. If any of you out there take that, when you go off make sure you do it SLOWLY! I did it in about 3 weeks, but after looking it up, it can sometimes take 6 - 12 MONTHS to get off of it without withdrawal symptoms. I can stay on that and get pregnant, but I would prefer not to be on any meds if I don't have to be.

Anyway, here are some pics from Friday. My sister turned 30 on Friday and her husband threw a surprise party. So of course I HAD to go even though I thought I was going to die (there was NO way I was going to miss my sister's 30th surprise party!). Oh, and of course they live 2 hours away!!! That was fun. Excuse the look on my face. I was holding my sleeping 4 year old niece. Right after these pics were taken, I had to give her quickly to my father and run outside. If I was the throwing up type, that's what I would have been doing. My mouth got all water and stuff like before you vomit, but it never came out. I probably would have felt better. Oh well.

I wasn't kidding when I said I didn't feel well!

So on the jaw front... It's actually doing pretty good. Nothing really new to report. Still doing my exercises. Still on a "no chew" diet, still using a baby spoon. I probably could use a regular one now, but it just feels so weird in my mouth now that I am used to the baby spoon. I have to go to the ortho on Tuesday for my first adjustment. That should be fun! I know that they are putting buttons on my upper back teeth, so I can just imagine what weird rubber band configuration he will give me. I will update you all then!

Thanks for listening to me complain about my dizziness!

Oh, just thought of this. My sister and mother were with some of my sister's friends on Saturday that were at the party on Friday. We are all scrap booking freaks, so they were at a scrap booking get together. I wasn't feeling well, so there was NO way I was making it. But anyway, my sister's friends were saying how good I looked. They couldn't put there finger on it, but that I looked different! My sister explained to them that since the jaw surgery I have a rounder face. I always had such a LONG face. They were all surprised at how much of a difference the surgery made and how great I was looking for just having my jaw cut apart! It was good to hear that others notice the difference. It's hard to notice minor things like that on yourself since you see yourself everyday, and since compared to some of your surgeries, mine was pretty straight forward and didn't make as much of a difference.

First week back to work, visit with surgeon, and a complaint about people!!!

Well, I am done with my first official week back to work. Yeah, I know it's only Thursday, but we just started a new 9/80 work week, so we get every other Friday off! Part of the reason I took that third week off, so that when I went back, it was just a short week! It was good to get back to work. I enjoyed my time off, and I did keep myself busy, but I needed more interaction with people.

It was nice to hear all of the compliments and shocks with the way I look. I guess a lot of people thought that I would still be all swollen and bruised. I'm not. I can still feel a little swelling, but it's not noticeable except to me. I was surprised at how little swelling I did have, but then again, I didn't have ANY swelling when I had my wisdom teeth pulled.

I think I only actually worked a little more then half time this week with everyone stopping by to see how I was doing. And of course running into people in the halls made a quick trip to the restroom take 30 minutes! But it was great to see how everyone cared and was thinking of me!

I had an appointment with my surgeon this afternoon. He took the stitches out, FINALLY! They were really only bothering me on the right side. I had a tooth missing on that side and the end of the stitches were poking though. And of course I couldn't leave them alone and had to keep playing with them. When he was cutting them out I could tell I was getting feeling back because just the tiniest touch KILLED! I didn't think it would hurt that bad, but it was quick. He also gave me some exercises to do. I have to look in a mirror when I do them, and I asked him if it was to make me laugh! It's just to make sure that I am even on both sides since I can't feel my lower lip or chin. Basically, twice a day, I have to say "O" and "E" and hold each one for 5 seconds for 5 reps. That one isn't bad. Then I have to open my jaw as far as I can before it feels tight, then force it opened a few more mm and hold that for 5 seconds, 5 reps. That one HURTS. But he said that I would be surprised how much more feeling and how much wider I will be able to open in just a week. So I guess it's worth it. I have to go back to see him in 3 weeks, right after Thanksgiving. He said that at that time, as long as everything is still going great, he will give me the "Green Light" to start chewing again (of course soft stuff at first, but hey, it's a start). I'm actually kind of glad it's after Thanksgiving that way I can at least avoid one of the big holidays that I put weight on! And I have my 10 year class reunion on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. And most people try to lose weight before a reunion, I have lost it, now I just need to keep it off. I actually am almost down to what I weighed when I gradated High School. Granted, I had more muscle then I do now, but that happens.

Ok, so my complaint about people... I'm curious if any of you have had this. I know that it's human nature to try to sympathize with people, but if I hear one more person compare this surgery to having there wisdom teeth pulled, I will SCREAM!!!!! This is WAY more involved then getting your wisdom teeth pulled. Yes, it's not like getting a liver transplant or anything, but it's more then getting your wisdom teeth pulled. Some people get put under for that, but that's in the office, for about a total of 30 - 60 minutes. They may have to cut the gum if it's impacted, but that is not even CLOSE to having your jaw sawed into many pieces and screwed back together! And being on a "no chew" diet for a few days is nothing like being on one for SIX WEEKS!!! And lastly, the numbness from novocain wears off quickly, where as this numbness could last FOREVER!!!

Ok, I feel better! Thanks for listening! Now off to research some cars! That's what my husband and I are doing on our "off Friday" tomorrow! Then going to get a new camera, so I'm sure I will take LOTS of pictures if I actually buy one (I research things FOREVER before buying them. I have an addictive personality. I was actually "sad" about a week after the surgery that it was done. I think my husband was ready to admit me to the psych ward. I now need to get pregnant so I have something new to obsess over!).

First day back to work :(

So, today was my first day back to work after the big day. I was actually feeling quilty about take three whole weeks off. But now I am glad that I did. Today was a LONG day. The week that I had my surgery we started a new work schedule. We use to work the normal 5 days, 40 hours a week. Now we work a 9/80 schedule. The first week we work 9 hours Monday thru Thursday, 8 hours on Friday, the following week is 9 hours Monday thru Thursday, and Friday off. So we get a three day weekend every other weekend. Which is nice, but HAVING to b e at work for 9 hours sucks. Now, I usually work 8 - 12 hours a day anyway, but at least I only HAVE to work 8 hours. I left my house this morning around 5:30 am, worked 9 hours, went to class for 1.5 hours, and didn't get home until almost 7 pm. LONG day for my first day back. But it was nice to get back to work. I am a people person and I like to be around people.

I got lots of good compliments today. Maybe because I see myself everyday, but I don't notice that much of a difference. The worst part about going back to work was eating. I am still on a "mush" diet and only using a baby spoon. Got some funny looks at lunch as I was heating up my small amount of pasta that was all chopped up. Luckily my husband works at the same place so we eat lunch together and he could let me know when I had food on my chin!

I also had a LONG weekend. My husbands friend from High School got married this weekend and he was in the wedding. So we had to go to PA on Friday and didn't get home until Sunday afternoon. Lots of partying and talking, and of course drinking! Here are some pics from this weekend. By the time that he took the profile pics, I had a few drinks, so I was feeling pretty good then! There are more from this weekend in my "Post Surgery Pics" link to the right.

Bob and I at our friends wedding