Expansion Day 13 - 19 Turns Total

Today is13 days of expanding and 18 days post SARPE surgery. I had 3 really rough days before today where my jaw joints were aching and the pressure in my cheeks, nose and front teeth really got to me. I am expected to return to work tomorrow for half a day, then off Tuesday for New Years and back half a day on Wednesday. Tomorrow just happens to be a 2 turn day so I may be taking a nice afternoon nap when I get home.

The gap is growing quite a bit each day. I have now successfully made 19 turns which is a total of 4.75 millimeters of expansion in 13 days. I have had about 4 stitches fall out, not sure how many are left but still feels tight. My top lip is still very numb and now has some sores on the back part of my lip. Medicated blistex seems to help with them as Vaseline was not doing anything for it at this point. I have another 12 days yet before I see the surgeon again.

The cold weather really bugs me when I go outside. Any longer then a minute out in the cold and I start to ache because my top lip cannot come down over the front teeth to block the air from going through the gap. Night time dries it out pretty good too so I am pretty parched by the time morning comes. It's going to be looong winter!

Gap after 13 days of turning with 19 turns in total

Bruising is still a little noticeable on my lower left cheek

Expansion - Day 9 (13 turns)

I made it through the holiday festivities! It was definitely challenging at times but overall it went better then I expected. I was able to actually eat mashed potatoes and stuffing drowned in gravy as well as the insides of perogies. It was like heaven to have some real food!

The gap has gotten quite a big bigger in the last 4 days which you will notice below. There have been 3 stitches so far that have fallen out but I'm not sure how many more there are to go.  Visible swelling in my cheeks have been very minimal but the inside goes up and down throughout the day. I try to control it with the mortin that the doc prescribed for me. T3's don't do a whole lot but help a little at least for expansion.  Looking forward to getting some much needed rest the next few days before I have to go back to work on Monday.

Hope you all had a great time this holiday season!

Day 9 Expansion with total of 13 turns

Expansion Day 5 - 7 Turns Total

This will probably be my last update for a few days as our Christmas festivities start tomorrow. There has been a lot of progress over the last couple of days in regards to swelling reduction and expanding. The front teeth are clearly separating from each other now and the expansion turns are giving off a little more pressure in my cheeks/nose each time we expand. I most definitely have to make sure to take some pain medication at least half an hour before we expand otherwise I pay for at least an hour after.

Today marks 10 days post SARPE and I am still not able to smile as the stitches are still intact. Over the last couple of days a few of them have slowly started to hang down a little bit onto my teeth so maybe another week and they will start to fall out like the surgeon said. Wish me luck on our 3 days of family Christmas starting tomorrow.

I had a true victory in regards to food yesterday as I was able to get down some Alphaghetti! I can definitely do smoothie's no problem and tonight I added some crackers to my soup. I still find it a challenge to clean the top of my mouth properly but truly happy that I am slowly expanding my soft diet choices.

Here is an updated picture of my gap after 7 turns in total in 5 days:

Day 5 Expansion - 7 turns total

Expansion Day 3 - Post-Op Appt

Today marked 8 days since my SARPE surgery. I got to see the surgeon for my 1 week post op appointment. He was happy to see that my two front teeth were not discolored and that I do not have an infection. He said sometimes after these surgeries the teeth can become discolored from blood entering through the roots and settling inside the tooth. Luckily this did not happen to me! He said that I can expect to be swollen for 2 - 3 weeks. Some people are good to go after one but my case will definitely be 2 - 3 weeks of swelling and discomfort. I now have a new set of pain meds to help me get through the next couple weeks. I have no moved onto T3's every 4 hours as needed and 600mg of Motrin every 6 hours. He noticed that I am still not able to smile and he felt bad for me but said I just have to hang on another 1 - 2 weeks and then I will be able to smile without pain. If I attempt to smile now it can literally rip my wound open and the pain of even attempting to smile instantly puts tears in my eyes. This has been really hard the last couple days because it is so against my nature not to smile. My sister-in-law sent me a funny Christmas video via text last night and had to throw the phone away because I attempted to smile. Needless to say my blog from yesterday exclaiming I had a fairly painless day was very premature. I spent the last 3 hours of my night in tears and pain. I am extremely worried about Christmas gatherings coming up in just a few days because of this. How cruel not being able to smile at such a happy time of year for a bubbly me.

I also found out today that I am aloud to use the waterpik as long as I do not use it by my front teeth. My surgeon had a patient who used it by the two front teeth that were expanding and it caused a major infection that caused her to lose her teeth. I have decided just to wait to use it until I am healed a little more. I am also supposed to keep an eye on the gums between my two front teeth. If I start to notice that there is a divot starting I have to back up the expansion by one and wait a day to keep going. He also expressed that if I have any questions or concerns at all even during the holidays I am supposed to call him regardless. I really do have a great feeling about him and I am happy that he is very knowledgeable with what he does.

My next appointment with him is in three weeks to make sure everything is expanding properly and symmetrically. I'm sure by then I will have a nice redneck gap going on. I think that's all for today. Exhausted and ready for bed now.

Day 3 - 4 turns total (Swelling mostly around top lip and cheeks)

Day 3 Expansion Gap (4 turns total) That is a stitch hanging down on my tooth

Expansion Day 2 - 3 turns total

It has officially been one week since my SARPE surgery. I made it one whole week already! I am finding that taking one day at a time is the truly the only way to get through this process. I was joking last week that I feel like I have a baby again and that baby is me because if I ever try to leave my house I have to my own "baby" bag full of teeth cleaning items, boost bottles for food and pain meds. Now I truly feel like I am the baby because I find that I can only make it about 4 hours max being awake without feeling completely exhausted and have to go sleep it off. I will have to ask the surgeon tomorrow at my appointment how long I can expect this kind of thing to last. I'm sure it's different for everyone but I can't imagine work would enjoy that too much. I can't imagine saying to my boss, "Oh sorry hold that thought while I go take a 3 hour nap." If I said that she just might have to take away the promotion I got right before my surgery. That would not be a good start to the new year. haha *Brenda if you are reading this, I promise I won't always be like this lol *

I have also already noticed the gap is starting to appear after the 2 turns we had to do today. You can see the picture below showing that my two front teeth are now starting to separate from each other a little more. After today's 2 turns and 1 yesterday that's 3 turns so far in 2 days. I did one turn this morning with pain meds and the 2nd turn tonight without just to see if it is actually painful. I would not describe the expansion turn as painful but more less a very eerie feeling as I can actually feel the middle of my pallet expanding. I can feel the front teeth have a lot of pressure with the separation and it burns/throbs for a little while after but not painful per say. My jaw joints have been just "OK" through this last week. I find that my right joint is causing quite a bit of discomfort. There is quite a bit of swelling in my upper cheeks, top lip and around the jaw joint area. My chin and bottom lip have almost no swelling left. The bruising is slowly fading away each day as well. I am still not capable of smiling as it is impossible with the sutures, swelling and pain. It's sad that I can't watch any funny TV shows because if it makes me smile or laugh I I'm in dyer pain. It's kind of comical just listening to myself try to laugh without making any facial expressions. Try it! I bet you'll laugh at yourself too.

I think that's all for today. I have my post op appointment tomorrow and will be able to let you know what he thinks of the progress this last week.

Day 7 Post Op - Day 2 of expansion with 3 turns total

Expansion - Day 1 (Post-op Day 6)

Today has been a better day by far. I still have quite a bit of swelling but not as much pain as the last 6 days. I was so worried last night that I was getting an infection because the incision was throbbing and burning so bad. I was able to control the worst of it with ice and morphine and tried to sleep it off as best I could. I don't feel that burning sensation this morning thank goodness, just a lot of tenderness.

Also a big step in the progress is expansion which started this morning. I got up 45 minutes before my husband had to leave for work so that I could clean my mouth and take my medication in order for him to turn my key. When the time finally came for him to turn it, it was no big deal at all. He was able to do it within a couple minutes and it didn't hurt one bit. I hope that's how the rest of the expansion goes! It could have also helped that I medicated before hand. We'll see how tomorrow goes as I have to turn it twice tomorrow. I am looking forward to getting a wider upper jaw and just hope that the pain is manageable throughout.

The second biggest victory of the day is that I was able to eat pudding! After trying smoothie and some other blended stuff I was not able to get it down as it was way too thick and hard to get down around my expander and sore mouth. So I figured out how to get the pudding under my tongue and down my throat with the least amount at the top. This is huge for me as I have been on liquid for what seems forever. One day at a time though, hopefully in a few more days I can progress to some scrambled eggs. I just need all this swelling to go away and my stitches to dissolve and then I'm sure it will get easier.

Swelling less today and more yellowing from bruising (Top lip still very swollen)

Post-Op - Day 5

Ouch is the word of the day. I had a rough night of sleep due to pain and not being able to get comfortable which didn't help my start to the day. I had to be up to my orthodontic appointment by 11:45 and it took me nearly 2 hours to get fully ready. By the time I cleaned my mouth, too my morning meds, showered, washed my hair, dried/straightened my hair, did my makeup, ate my Boost for breakfast, cleaned mouth again and got dressed 2 hours had already gone by. My sister in law (Pam) picked me up as I am in no shape to drive so thank goodness for her and my kids went to daycare. Big thanks to Amy (our sitter) for taking the boys for longer hours this week. Big thanks to everyone really, you've all been a big support for me this week.

Anyways, back on track! The orthodontic appointment wasn't very eventful, he checked the expander to make sure it was still glued in place and that it was ready for expansion starting tomorrow. He said he couldn't really tell me much more then that as the surgeon will be able to on Thursday when I see him. However, I am running low on good meds so I walked over to the surgeons office since it was right next door to see if I could get some more pain meds. Unfortunately (as my luck has it) the surgeon was not in today so she said I'd have to call tomorrow and they would talk to him and fax the pharmacy a new prescription if I need it. So I have enough to get me through tomorrow and probably Wednesday so if I can hold off until Thursday I will.

The swelling has subsided a little bit but still very much so up there. Much more yellowing on my cheeks and under my eyes a little from the bruising. I am to expect a few months of being swollen but the worst of it is in these first 5 days which I have made it through! My next big hurdle is starting my first expansion tomorrow. Just a reminder that each turn of my key is 1/4 mm of expansion. So by the time I see my surgeon on Thursday I will have already manually expanded 1mm in 3 days. The biggest challenge will be being able to open up my mouth wide enough with the swelling to get my hubby to turn the key.

The events from today really knocked me off my feet and as soon as I got home I was able to drink a cup of tomato soup and then straight to bed I went for 3 hours. I woke up to have some more Boost, water, rinse my mouth , do up this blog and will be going back to bed shortly. I am down 12 pounds as of this morning and still have a hard time talking. Luckily for me, my husband has learned my new muffled language and even when no one else understands he's got it the first time. My boys are doing much better today too so that's always helpful. Hoping to be in better shape by Sunday when our Christmas festivities start. Can't believe it's already here!

Day 5 Swelling/Bruising (Still can't smile or move upper lip)

Side shot of the bruising/swelling (lower lip much less swollen)

Teeth last day before expansion. This is as wide as I can open.

Post-Op - Day 4

Made it to day 4 post SARPE. Nothing too new to report today as it has been pretty much the same as the last few days. The main difference today is that you can now see some yellowing on my cheeks from bruising. Swelling is still way up but I have moved onto drinking boost drinks twice a day as my meal replacement. Hoping to be able to try a smoothie tomorrow for different tastes.

 I had to remove the elevation from my bed as it was causing too much lower back pain. I have resorted to just propping up some extra pillows to keep me a little elevated. I have discovered that I can use a tooth brush to clean my bottom teeth but have to use the sponge they gave me with the peridex rinse for my top teeth as I cannot get at them with all the swelling. And the sutures are all along the front under my lip so I have to be careful not to disturb them too much. They are supposed to dissolve on their own in 10 - 20 days.

We also have added another challenge the mix as our boys are sick with colds. Mostly nasty sounding coughs and whininess but that's to be expected. I got up and moved around this morning trying to do things that do not require me to bend or tilt my head down. I was able to straighten my hair this morning and then by the time that was done I was spent. So back to bed I went. At least I was up and about for a bit.

I am running low on my morphine meds so I have been trying to stay away from taking it unless I absolutely have to. I am trying to save some for when I start expanding. I see the orthodontist tomorrow for my surgical check so we'll see if he wants me to start turning tomorrow or Tuesday. I apparently have one more day yet for swelling to get to it's max so I hope by Tuesday everything starts to go down.

Day 4 Swelling - More under my chin and bruising starting to show

That's all for today. We'll see what tomorrow brings after the orthodontic check.

Post -Op - Day 3

Well day 3 has come. Still swollen, still in pain but managing. I am finding that more of my mouth inside is swelling today. The top of my pallet is now swollen to the top of the expander and my bag molars are swollen as well. I am trying to get up and move around a bit more today to get some blood flowing. My lower back (tailbone) is actually hurting from laying on it so much the last few days so I need to move around. I am still pretty weak and tired but standing around for a little bit will defiantly help. I drank some tea this morning with fibre powder mixed in it. I am going to try some jello a little later this afternoon and see if I can get that down. Tomorrow I should be able to try and get off the clear liquid diet.

It's amazing how much we all take advantage of a good meal and snack foods. I am really missing being able eat anything that is non liquid. I have a long way to go yet but am looking forward to the day I can eat real food again. Expansion starts in a couple days and I am a little scared about that but also ready to just get it going already. The sooner we start turning, the closer I am to the finish line.



Day 3 swelling



Post-Op - Day 2

What can I say about Day 2 post-op? The best way to describe today is that I am in a lot of pain and now look like one of the characters from planet of the apes. I can no longer moves my lips, barely open my mouth and cannot eat/drink more then a few sips of water at a time. To top it all off I just learned about the poor kids that were shot in an elementray school this morning? Such a heavy heart to boot.

Swelling is creeping up to my eyes now I am having hard time talking. Still 3 more days until the swelling reaches its max. I dread what it will be like tomorrow let alone 3 more days. The swelling inside my mouth has now almost caught up to my expander appliance. Not much room left in there at all. I have been icing my face almost all day trying to control the swelling and it helps relieve a little bit but not much. Hoping tomorrow is a little better but not expecting it to be. One more day of clear liquids yet and then maybe on Sunday I will be able to move to some boost or other liquids to fill me up. I haven't weighed myself in a couple days but I am sure I will be down at least 10 pounds now.

Here's to hoping tomorrow is a better day.

Day 2 Swelling

Post Op - Day 1

Pain and swelling is the theme of my day. Lots of pain and lots of swelling. My husband has been doing an amazing job of taking care of me and the kids. I have been able to get down some chicken soup liquid and sips of water so far. I have been sticking to my pain meds every 4 hours and icing my face throughout the day to help control the swelling. We have my bed elevated as I have to sleep upward for 2 weeks. I can feel space between my two front teeth already. I am expecting more swelling and bruising to show up over the next couple days. Right now I cannot smile or talk much as everything is pretty tight. Lots of rest and movies for this girl. Might have to see if Netflix has anything good. That's all for now. Time to relax. More updates tomorrow.

Day 1 post op

SARPE Surgery Day

I survived! It was a rough day but made it through surgery and home by 9 pm. I made it to the hospital by 815 am this morning and into day surgery ward by 830. My surgeon had 3 surgeries scheduled today but cancelled the first one before me because he apparently broke his wrist and was getting a cast put on. How calming!! He reassured me he was just fine and that he was most likely only going to do my surgery today. Again lucky me! My procedure was supposed to take an hour but because he was going slow and making sure to do a good job it actually took double the time. I was really calm and my husband ans the nurses were amazing. Without them I would have been a mess before surgery. I did however come out a mess and I am absolutely sure that was the most painful experience of my life yet. Yes I would rather give birth over doing this again. It took them 20 mg of morphine to get my pain to a 5 out of 10 which was given in about 6 shots all spread minutes apart. I probably cried for 3 hours straight. They also made me take 8 pills before surgery with one tiny little shot glass of water.That was a challenge but I got them down. I have not eaten anything today so far and will be on a strict clear liquid diet for 3 -5 days. I have a facial icepack to help with pain and inflammation. So far I am a chipmunk and there is movement of my teeth already so over the next few days I am expected to see even more swelling. Also whenever I tilt my head forward or swallow water my nose bleeds. So attractive I am!

 I do have to say though that I notice a difference already with being able to pull more air through my nose.  That's a bonus. I will be updating this blog with pictures each day for the next week so we can see the swelling changes. I am very thankful to my husband, the nurses and doctors today who helped try and make me the most comfortable I could possibly be. Time to drug up and get some rest. More tomorrow.

Morning of surgery

My son and I morning of my surgery

Just some of my meds

Teeth close up after surgery

Looking like crap when I got home. Swelling started and lots of pain.

Dec.11 - Day before surgery

The time has come. Surgery is just a sleep away. I am feeling pretty good considering what is about to happen to me tomorrow. Definitely nervous and I'm sure the reality of it will hit me once I smell the hospital in the morning. Surgery is at 10:45 for an hour but I have to be there by 8:00 am. If all goes well I should be able to leave around 4 pm. I picked up my prescription drugs today and I have a feeling that they will be my best friend over these next few days.

Big thanks ahead of time to all my friends and family for your support and help with my boys along the way. I will be back up and at 'er in no time so lets do this! I will post pictures post-op each day for the first week so stay tuned. :)

Pre-op Day

Today was a great day! I finally got to talk to the surgeon for my pre-op information. I will try to remember all the details before they slip my mind. If you are a squeamish person you should probably stop reading here lol

Basically the idea of surgery is that they will be cutting between my two front teeth all the way to the back along the top of my pallet bone. The thing is though, they won't be cutting from the inside where the expander is they actually will be going through the inside of my lip up through my nose and cutting down that way. And now after reading that, I have probably lost half my followers. They will close me up with dis solvable stitches and then hopefully I will be able to go home later in the day.

According to my surgeon the only reason they would keep me in is if I can't hold any liquids down or if I was bleeding too much. I'm sure I'll be fine and ready to go home later that day. I will be on straight liquid diet for a few weeks slowly working into a soft diet. He has my return to work date of December 31st and then light duties until Feb.1st.

For pre-op care he has prescribed me liquid morphine, Peridex rinse to keep things clean and Naproxen which is an anti-inflammatory. He told me that he doesn't prescribe antibiotics because with good oral hygiene his patients never have problems. SO what's the plan for Post-op?

Starting day 5 after surgery I will have to start to turn the key. Actually I should have said my husband will have to start turning the key for me as I won't be able to do it myself. The doc showed Logan how to do it today and I am so thankful for that!Each turn of the key is 1/4 mm, so on the first day of turning it one turn, the second day is two turns, third day is one turn, fourth day is two turns etc until the expander reaches it's maximum limit. My surgeon said that in surgery he will be turning the key 10 times which is a total of 2.5 mm's after he has made the cuts so I will notice a change pretty much when I wake up from anesthesia. Apparently it takes about a month to reach maximum expansion and then braces go on to bring everything back. The expander will be in for 3 months after the last turn of the key. So for 3 months I will have braces, expander and a giant gap between my front teeth. Sexy!

The need for a second surgery will be determined down the road once they see how everything moves into place. He said there may not be a need for another surgery but they will reassess later on. With that being said, he did say that sometimes they have to do this first surgery a second time. It's not common but it can happen if they need more expansion to be done. I'm not too worried though, I am staying positive that everything will work out just fine the first time around.

They also gave me some recipes for smoothies which I will basically live off of for a few months and a little care package of ice packs and cleaning sponges. Just in the last week alone I have lose 5 pounds from already having to start my liquid/soft diet and I haven't even had surgery yet.  I know it's all worth it in the end so I am staying positive and looking forward to getting this ball rolling.

The funniest part of the day is that we realized my surgery is on 12/12/12. I should probably buy a lottery ticket that day. Anyways... I think that's all the info I have for now. Next update will be on D-Day which is really only 5 days away so I am going to enjoy my busy fun filled weekend. Wowzers!

Day 3 of Expander - No turns yet

Today is day 3 of the expanding appliance. I am slowly getting used to the appliance but having a hard time with any kind of food that is not liquid. Every little thing seems to get stuck in all the crevices and above the appliance. My tooth brush/paste, mouth wash and water with a straw have been my best friend the last couple days. After every couple of bites I have to take a few sips of water to try and swish the food out of my appliance. I have mostly stuck to foods like soup, and scrambled eggs with a boost for breakfast. Today I ventured a little further and had mini ravioli. It went pretty good but takes forever to eat!

Talking has been a completely challenging task. A lot of people have told me the I don't sound  not as bad as I think I do. So sweet of them. :) 

There is still no pain because I won't be turning the key for expansion until surgery which is now 1 week away. I am looking forward to my pre-op on Friday to find out answers to the million questions I have. Only a couple more days and then I"ll be able to answer so many more questions that I know a lot of you have been asking too. One day at a time! :)

First day of the dreaded expander

Today was a big day in my SARPE world, the expander has been put in. Today was my third appointment with the orthodontist and I was only expecting to make sure that the expanding appliance (that we took molds of my jaws for last week) was made correctly. It was my impression that I would try it on and then they would give it to the surgeon to put in during my surgery. Well that was not the case at all!

First of all I had to sign my life away stating that I understand the risks of braces and that it's solely up to me to keep my teeth healthy.Then I had to give up $3,600 of my savings, ouch! We decided to do clear brackets on the top jaw and metal brackets on the bottom for my braces when they go on in February.

After they took all my money and all the papers were signed, I was sent to the back room where I spent the next hour getting the expander cemented into place. The glue tasted horrible but the actual process didn't hurt at all. My first reaction when they let my mouth close was the gag reflux symptom. I can feel the expander at all times, even when my tongue is just resting at the bottom of my mouth.It has been incredibly hard to swallow my saliva or any liquid for that matter. I am hoping that after a couple days I will be able to retrain myself how to eat and drink with this thing in there.

After my appointment I realized I had no special cleaning tools at home. So off to the store I went to get dental wax (for the brackets that pinch my cheeks), a little mirror to be able to see the expander keyhole and an extra toothbrush/floss for work.

The orthodontist had already given me the expansion key but fortunately I won't have to do this until after surgery. They warned me that a lot of people can't actually do the tighting process on their own and that so I may need my husband to do it for me. I was also told to expect a nice big gap between my front two teeth...great! From looking at other people's blogs, it looks like they got between 8-11mm gaps which is almost an entire tooth worth. So not only do I sound ridiculous with the expander in, I also get to add a giant gap and braces to make it even better come February. Lucky me!

On my drive home, my oldest son Nolan kept asking me what I was eating because when I talked to him it sounded funny. I had to keep telling him that mommy isn't eating anything and that she is going to sound like this for a long time now. He asked why and I tried to explain to him in the most child friendly way that the dentist is going to make mommy's teeth all better. He seemed to be ok with that and never asked anymore.

When I got home with my boys, I was SO hungry and then reality hit. What the heck am I going eat? So after about 30 minutes I managed to get one of those little Tomato Cup-o-Soup's down. I had to drink/rinse my mouth every few sips because the soup was thick and would get stuck above the expander and made that gag reflux feeling come back. Not fun! But at least I got in some soup. Tomorrow will hopefully be better and I can try more semi solid foods. I am terrified of having to eat like this at work.

In a way I am actually kind of glad that the orthodonist put the expander in now and not during surgery. This way I know what I am in for and will now have ten days to practice how to survive with it. My liquid diet has started much sooner then I anticipated and of course my speech is horrible but at least I am now on my way to a better future.

Expander in

Next step is pre-op on Friday, Dec.7th. Stay tuned for that update and wish  me luck on my eating adventures. I was really looking forward to a pre-christmas meal that my wonderful mother in law was going to make. I really hope that I can eat real food by Sunday.

Beginning stages of my SARPE journey

Well, I've done it. I have accepted the fact that in just 16 days I will be going in for my SARPE (Surgically Assisted Rapid Pallet Expansion) surgery. I am in the prepping stages with my Orthodontist and I have to say that it has not been very fun so far.

Last week the orthodontist little rubber bands between my molars to make enough room for the metal brackets that will hold on my expander appliance. The rubber bands don't sound too bad but when you have very little room between your teeth as it is, it actually has been very painful. The first 3 days my jaw joints ached and my teeth were so sensitive that Tylenol/Advil/Ibuprofen alone would not even dull the aching pain. Luckily for me I had some left over T3's from a couple months ago which helped me get through. The last day and a half have been a lot less painful but I still cannot chew with my molars. My front teeth don't touch so I have a really hard time chewing anything. The sad part is, I haven't even had surgery yet and I am already on a soft diet.

I had another orthodontic appointment today and they actually took molds of my top and lower jaws so that they can make the appliance this week. They also put larger rubber bands between my molars to make sure the space stays how they need it to for next Monday when I try the appliance on. I go back Monday (December 3rd, 2012) to try the appliance on and then I see the Surgeon for my pre-op on Friday, December 7th, 2012. 

I should also give a little bit of insight to my dental history. When I was about 13 years old my teeth were actually alot worse then they look now. I was required to wear a stretching appliance for about a year without any surgery and a full set of top and bottom braces. A major metal mouth! I remember the pain like it was yesterday. The agony of the constant pressure and sensitive teeth got the best of me those first few months. I think that is why I am a little scared to have to go through this kind of thing all over again. But I know I did it once and that I can definatly do it again! After all, I have had two children naturally and if I can do that, I can do this!

I got my braces off when I was just about 17 years old. I had a few good years without any problems until my wisdom teeth started to bug me. The wisdom teeth were actually pointed directly at my other teeth and of course after 9 months of waiting for a surgery date, I got all 4 extracted. That was a huge pain itself as I developed a "dry pocket" in the bottom holes and if anyone has ever experience that, it is absolutly the worst pain you can imagine. It's like blowing cold air on a nerve without being able to stop it.  Then a short time after my wisdom teeth came out I started to develop some TMJ (Temporo mandibular joint) issues. It started off with aching jaw and headaches/ear ache. A lady at work had mentioned her husband also suffered from those symptoms and that it was from TMJ. She mentioned that he would go to a chiropractor to get his jaw realigned when it got bad. So I took it upon myself to find a chiropractor that specialized in TMJ realignment. I had been going to this Dr off and on for the passed few years now and it is slowly getting worse and worse as the years go on. I had even gone back to the Orthodontist a couple times to see if there was anything he could do in the meantime. He explained to me that my mouth is just the way it is because that's how I was made and without surgical intervention there's nothing he could do. So over those 9 years, my jaw slowly relapsed which in turn made my jaw joints worse. Which brought me to the situation I am in today. I knew the only option for me to get better was to go and see the Oral surgeon.

I had my original consultation with the surgeon back in September and was told the surgical waiting list would be 3 - 8 months. I was lucky enough to get a surgery date within that 3 month time frame for December, 12, 2012. I will know more details about this procedure and what to expect when I go for my pre-op next friday.

I have two big fears going into this. The first is the fear of extreme pain and how I will mentally be able to handle it. The second is wondering how I will be able to balance my healing process with spending quality time with my two beautiful sons and wonderul husband. I thnk about these a lot but know that I have a lot of support around me and hopefully some good drugs.

I will be taking  pictures and videos throughout the whole process. My goal with this blog is to help others understand the process and hopefully help those who may have to go through the same thing. I know I have the most amazing family and friends on my side so it just a matter of braving the inevitable.

Take a look at these pre surgery pictures taken Monday, November 26th, 2012

This is my bite (before)

Top Jaw with Large rubber spacers (before)

Lower jaw (before)

Left side profile biting my molars together

Straight on shot

Right side prifle biting molars together



The before photo



~Wish me luck on this crazy adventure~