6 Week Update

Well everyone, we have reached the 6 week mark. According to the surgeon, this is the point where things start to go back to normal. yay!
I saw Dr. O last week. She said that I am right on track. I can fit almost two fingers in my mouth, which she said was very normal. She gave me a jaw exercise to do where I place my thumb in the roof of my mouth and my middle finger behind the bottom teeth and then push. Yeah, it hurts. She gave me another Xray cd of my before and after pictures, but I won't be able to post them because I don't have the correct software to read the cd. I have to take them to the orthodontist and get them printed. As soon as I can, I will post pictures!!! I also need to email her to send before photos they took. They are much better than the poor quality ones I took.
I'm starting to be able to tell when my mouth is closed while eating. I wasn't able to do that for awhile because of the numbness. I definitely still have numb patches on the sides of my upper lip and in my chin, but they are lessening. Chewing still takes quite a bit longer than it used to as well, but its not terrible.
I start back at work next week. I'm only working 8 hours a week every other week. It's a one on, one off type of thing.
By the way, today is Steven's and my 3 year anniversary. It's been a busy three years filled with new jobs, job losses, more new jobs, braces, home ownership, BABY, and a double jaw surgery. I wonder what the next three will hold. I know for sure that they wont be filled with Braces, because in 5 months or less, these puppies are coming off, and oh what a glorious day that will be!!!

Jaw Surgery Resouces

I might have already shared this, but here are some of the blogs and websites I used to help give me knowledge and preparation.

http://throughthewire26.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2013-10-22T10:43:00-07:00&max-results=7

doublejawsurgery.com

archwired.com

Triumph...and fails

I'm way overdue for an update. Tuesday last week was my first visit to the ortho since surgery. It was kinda exciting because everyone there congratulated me on a successful surgery and said that it looked good. Dr. O said maybe 6 more months of braces, so latest would be February 2017. That would be appropriate considering I had them put on February 2014 near valentine's day. It would be a great triple decade birthday gift to myself to have them off!!!
Anyways, I had a continuous wire across my top teeth put on (in place of the sectional ones I had before). No tpa arch at the roof of my mouth. Another praise!
I do have to wear a rubber band on the left side across 3 top and 3 bottom teeth. This is to pull them together so they meet. I'm finally in the winding down stages.
I'm allowed to bite in front...yay. except I still physically cant. I try and my teeth don't bite. I end up pulling on the food.
I've tried eating crackers, bread, and pizza. I haven't been too successful on that. I can only fit a finger all the way through when I open my jaw. Trying to get two in.
I was really frustrated this week because the radiology department sent me what I thought was x rays of my jaw. They sent like 5 cds. Turns out all of them are cat scans of my head looking top down. The is completely useless to me. Now I have to call them again and have it resent. My friend B works at kaiser in the next department. She said she could get them for me. That'd be awesome, but she has a lot on her plate so we will see.
So, progress is being made. Steven foes back to work tomorrow so I'm on my own with Abby. It should be fine I think...

I can haz sushi?

I am almost back to normal as far as energy levels are concerned. Been able to take longish walks, make dinner, and have normal conversations.
I still have a lot of numbness in my chin, upper lip, and inner cheeks. Yawning also hurts.
Today I tried eating sushi. I had to mash it with a fork and I couldn't eat the crunchy bits. Some of it got on my face and I couldn't feel it. A friend had to tell me it was there. Oops.
I attempted to chew, but I can only chew on the right, since my left molars don't meet. I was gone all day and forgot my rubber bands and anti biotics.
The stiches on the left side actually came out and left the incision site open. I called the surgeon and emailed her, but she didn't return my call. Luckily it's not bleeding and doesn't hurt, so I'm hoping everything is ok.
Going to the orthodontist on Tuesday for stronger rubber bands and the continous arch.
Abby is cutting her third tooth in the upper. She still has a runny nose, but seems to be on the mend.

Open and say Aah!

So I can smile, although I'm still numb around my mouth so I can't smile normally yet.
I can open my mouth as far as I can fit one finger in.
The molars on the left don't meet together, so I have to wear a rubber band to pull them close together.
Next Tuesday I have an appointment to have a continuous arch put in, so no front biting until then.
Chewing feels weird. It feels like I have dentures. Sticking to soft foods for now

Unwired! Day 12

This morning we left to go to Kaiser oakland. We made really good time and I got my x rays done early. The x ray machine had a case of the Mondays so it took awhile to get it up and running. I got to see my 6 plates under the x ray, which was cool.
After that we got some breakfast.

After trying to drink chocolate milk and spilling it all over my white pants, we headed upstairs to maxillofacial.
Steven had to go to the bathroom, so I was left with a fussy baby trying to escape the stroller.
Moments later....

I was unclipped!!!!

I vigorously brushed my teeth like I've never brushed before. I couldn't open my teeth more than a millimeter, so I didn't brush the back. I'm working on jaw stretching.
I have a mild infection on the right, so I was prescribed anti biotics. And my molars on the right are open, so dr. O put in a rubber band to pull them together.

Now I'm going to eat some mac n cheese.
Hallelujah!!!

I can smile!!! Well, kinda

My hair is a bit messy today due to all the work we did.

First Restaurant Experience since Surgery and the Soup Fail

Today was a big day. Steven started his Workbench Project, which he spent almost 8 hours on. He employed the help of both neighbors, and a friend (who came later). He was busy sawing large pieces of plywood, while I attempted to organize files and such. Abby came down with a cold yesterday, so her nose has been running constantly. She finally took a pretty good nap around 1:00, so I was able to get a lot of work done.
Then my dear friend Rachel came over, along with her boyfriend Chris. Chris helped Steven on his project, and Rachel helped me organize my books and scrapbooking stuff. It was so nice to have more help!
Around 6, we all were pretty tired so we decided to go out to dinner.
We settled on the Alehouse in town. They ordered delicious nachos, fish and chips, and a burger with garlic fries, while I attempted to communicate to the waiter that I wanted pureed soup. He said they could run it through the food processor.
So everyone's food came, and I waited...and waited...and waited...
My soup finally showed up and it was in a bowl...with a spoon. I attempted to use the spoon and it dribbled down my face. So I gave up, and spooned it into a to go cup.
Once we got home, it was still a bit chunky, so I ran it through the blender again. We microwaved it in a cup, and then I had to figure out how to eat it. I tried the syringe with a tube attached, and it was so difficult to suck it up. Then I had to find my pointy syringe and wash it. After that, I was able to suck it up, but once it got pretty low in the cup, I had to ask Steven to tilt the cup so I could angle the syringe to get the rest of the soup. I will admit, I did not have the best attitude about this and I did lose my temper...a little bit. But, I'm a redhead, so I'm allowed right?

9 days post op

Today I finally decided to crawl put of my shell and act like a human being again.
I washed the dishes, cleaned the humdifer, put away laundry, and decided to actually do my hair and makeup.
I was starting to feel like a helpless victim,  feeling depressed with no light at the end of the tunnel.
Last night, my dear friend Yvonne came over and brought me some coloring books and pencils. She also had heard about the tragic cookie jar incident and brought me her parents old bear cookie jar. So sweet. I'll post a pic of it later.
We made smoothies and watched some dancing with the stars. We are still at the beginning of season 20, but we will catch up!!
A discussion with her made me realize just how blessed I am. Sure there are things I wished I had done and I do have some regrets, but I wouldn't trade my marriage to Steven for anything. He is a wonderful man who has done so much for me during this time (and so many others), we have a wonderful daughter, cutest baby ever, and beyond all that, God has truly had his hand of protection over me and I am so grateful.
Thank you everyone for being so supportive through prayer, visits, food, and service.
Hugs everyone!

What I wish I could eat

Part 1
Chinese food

Soup du jour...and smoothies

Trying to have a more creative title than just day 1...2...etc.
Yesterday, my dear friend J came and helped out for pretty much the entire day. She cleaned dishes, vaccummed, watched the baby, and so many other things. I was blown away.
Today there was an emotional breakdown when I couldn't get the broccoli soup to go through the syringe. Yes there was crying people.
My other friend June came and was very encouraging. I rested for awhile while she watched Abby.
Then I made some delicious cheesy tomato soup and I'm now resting with ice on my face.
We've made some really tasty smoothies. I bought Chia and hemp seeds. I put them together with some frozen pineapple, banana, peanut butter, and protein powder.  Oh and we added kale and spinach.

Day 5/6 (losing track)

Yesterday (Sunday) was the worst day so far. I was really sleep deprived, groggy, and incredibly hungry (oh yeah and in pain too).
We had no visitors either and there was a miscommunication about Abby. She was left on the table in her restrained seat, but was able to scoot around the table and she kicked the cookie jar onto the floor. Yes, it broke, and so did all my cookies. Cry....

Today was a much better day for me energy wise. I only took one dose of the high pain medication. My mom came and brought broccoli soup. It tasted so good, but it all got jammed in my teeth which took a long time to get out.
Steven's mom came too and swept and mopped the whole house.
I periodically rested and managed to get enough energy to do a Costco run!!
I was craving mac n cheese so much that I bought a costco pac of instant mac (I know, gross right?). I went home and tried to liquefy it... Its just the not the same. Lol

Day 3-4

Yesterday, I took a lot of naps due to being drugged up on Hydrocodone (that stuff is almost as powerful as vicodin. Only it doesnt make you act silly).
I had 2-4 ounces of food at a time which has included chicken broth, tomato soup, smoothies, Ovaltine, tea, and water.
Nicole from church came yesterday with her daughter. She brought me flowers and a jamba juice, and watched Abby for an hour. Steven and i put up a mirror (okay I held it steady, he did all the rest). I manage to water the plants and get the mail.
For some reason, I sleep better during the day than at night.
Today Sarah from church came and brought chicken noodle soup. We talked about race, nationality, and ethnicity. Theres a fine line between all three of them.
Then I took a nap, and June came with her grand daughter. She brought me a chocolate milk shake.
Steven's parents came around 4:45 and brought some chicken bone broth. They took Abby to their bible group's bachee ball came. lol
I took more pain meds and conked out on the couch. Steven decided to go to home depot. I think he's getting stir crazy. I know I would be. The days are just dragging being cooped up home with no energy. Eating is a serious pain.

Day 2

Yesterday I started "eating." Basically that meant clear fluids such as bone broth, tea, and juice. I had broth for 3 meals. I didn't care much for the juice because the sugar msde.my teeth feel icky. I was provided alcohol free mouth wash to help with that.
After we got home all I wanted to do was nap since i hadn't been able to the night before. I slept intermittently for 3 hours while my husband went to to home depot.
When I woke up, I really wanted chocolate milk. It had hit the 24 hour mark since my surgery ended, so I figured what the heck.
My kind husband made me feel carrot juice. It was soon mesay though, and the pulp got stuck in my wires and a little bit in my incision. It took fifteen minutes to get it all out. I also had more bone broth.
My jaw started spasming quite a bit if I tried to talk much or took off the ice pack.
It was a rough night. Abby woke up twice and I couldn't get her because I'm not allowed to lift more than 5 pounds. It was quite frustrating.
Drank sone vitamin c water and kept replenishing ice packs.
The second tme Abby woke up, I nursed her and then she was put back to bed.
The swelling in my face is getting worse. It's supposed to peak on Sunday and then start to go down. Great. And the spasms in my lower jaw really hurt.
I am able to open and close my lips a bit and can feel the sides of my mouth. The bottom of my nose, upper lip, bottom lip, and chin are very much numb.

Beloved ice pack.

Surgery and Day 1

Pain Level: 3
Inconvenience level: 9 (can't feel my lips to eat)

Hey everyone! Here is the run down of the surgery. Be warned, ugly pictures ahead!!

I was pretty calm when we arrived at Kaiser Oakland around 10am. We had to fill out a bunch of paper work. I was asked if I wanted Advance Directive (meaning, someone who will make decisions for me in case I can't). I took the paperwork for that but didnt fill it out.
I changed Abby's diaper for the last time (for a few weeks). I went into the the Pre Op room on the 2nd floor (area 22). Okay, it wasnt an actual room, more like a station with a surrounding curtain. I was at station 71. There was a two year old little boy being pulled around on a radio flyer, listening to disney tunes. He was getting surgery too. Apparently, he'd had issues since birth because his mom had pre eccamsia and they had to do a C-Section at 26 weeks. The mom has to have permanent c section births now.

I did a pregnancy test (obviously it was negative), tried to nurse Abby for the last time. She kept wanting to grab the IV line though, so we had to take her off. There was lots of crying from Steven and I, prayer, and listening to Kari Jobe's song: "I am not alone." Great song for moments like this. I also listened to Meredith Andrews' "I am not alone!"Steven read scripture, kissed me once last time. Then Dr. O came in and said she was just about ready for me. "I have to put cat whiskers on you," she said, as she took a blue ball point pen and drew scribbles on both sides of my face.
I went to the restroom and then waited to be taken back.

Was wheeled into surgery at 1250. Operating room 5.

This big intimidating automatic doors swung open. First thing I saw was 6 people. 

To the left were black and white pictures of my face. I asked the male doctor assistant, whose name was Austin if I could get copies of those. 

I saw these huge round boom lights overhead (thats best way I can describe them). 

I was moved to a smaller bed with a purple donut cushion for my head. Everyone introduced themselves and what their roles were and then I had an iv put in and started taking deep breaths with a mask over my face. They put a breathing tube through my nose after I fell asleep. 

I remember becoming conscious in recovery room 90 and seeing that the clock said 620. I was trying to write things down on a random paper. I remember thinking that I had more feeling in my face than I thought I would, could feel my teeth, and my throat hurt more than I thought it would. I was told I might be nauseous and throw up upon waking up. But that didnt happen praise God! 

Apparently my friend Barcleigh (whose doing her residency at the same hospital) came in but I don't remember that.

Around 730 I think I was taken to a hospital room on the 8th floor. Room 809

Steven stayed with me for about 2 hours.

I had many different nurses and nurse aids help me. The first one I remember saw my Christian diary and we talked about both being Christians. She showed me some scripture verses on her phone.

She's the only one I've liked so far on this end of things. I've barely been able to sleep and have asked for some pain meds to help twice in 2 hours and haven't gotten anything. They disconnected my iv and I have no idea why. I need fluid too. It'd been hard to get enough with the syringe.

I pumped about 3 ounces of milk around 4:30am. 

The nurse took 40 minutes to show up after I paged her. She answered on the call speaker and asked what I needed several times (hello, can't talk remember!?) 

I asked again about the iv and she said it wasn't necessary since I can get water with a syringe. Sure but not enough to stay hydrated. I asked if I could get a pain med to help me sleep and she said, well it's morning already. Sure lady, it's 5am and I haven't sleep all night.

She put my iv back in with anti biotic and a swelling med. But it started hurting and she said as long as the skin isn't swelling it's ok. I talked too much and then I felt this painful snap in my chin. The nurse slowly prepped the liquid ibuprofen. I had hopped she would have given me something a little stronger but apparently it doesn't matter if I sleep or feel better. Not happy with her.

The earlier nurse was also rude. I asked for hot tea and she said this ain't no 5 star hotel. Then she muttered to the other nurse "patients these days. A patient asked me for wine one time." She told me to ask the cooks in the morning.

At one point a nurse named Winston came. 

One guy told me to take the liquid ibuprofen. I started feeling nausea because my stomach was empty, so I didn't finish it. I asked for morphine in my iv. I also got an anti swelling med and penicillin.

I had a breathing humidifier on. It started clicking because it got backed up with water. 

When I woke up around 730, the resident doctor named Austin answered my questions about the surgery and recovery. I was annoyed that dr. O was once again too busy to see me herself. She did however give good news to Steven. Because dr. M had positioned my teeth so perfectly, I don't have to wear a splint!! Austin commented about how clean my teeth looked. 

My last nurse was a guy named John. He  helped with my discharge. We left around 1245.

A man wheeled me out and told me that he had to have his jaw fixed at age 22 because his ex Japanese girl friend had punched him the jaw so that it broke in 6 places. Apparently he had been cheating. Yikes. That was kind of a funny story.

I'm home now, resting and icing it up. Can only have clear liquids for the rest of the day.
The most frustrating thing for me is that I can't talk. And no one understands anything I am saying (with the exception of Austin). I have to write everything down. 

Me with Tubby, the comfort bear. This was last night

Middle of the night selfie

Just woke up. I got a nasty blemish the day before surgery under my nose, so it looks like a bloody nose, but it isnt. 

I actually do have dried up blood in my nose from the surgery. 

1 More Day


Okay, so it literally took a pillow beating from my husband to get me out of bed today. Between boughts of crying and stuffing my head in the pillow, there was lots of praying too. I also woke up with yet another blood shot eye. I know its not sleep deprivation related. I've had eye issues since last November. I've probably been on 4 different prescription eye drops to deal with it. Sigh.

Today I've been assembling my hospital bag. The only things they said I needed to bring was my Kaiser Card and Photo ID. I'm bringing all my meds just in case. I want to make sure I have the right ones. There's nasal decongestant, saline moisturizing spray, mouth wash, several syringes, Q Tips, liquid pain killers, including Children's tylenol, ibuprofen, and hydrocodone. Yay drugs.
I also have to get my ear piercing taken out and see the orthodontist for my kobyashi ties. These will be used to wire my jaw shut for 10-14 days. I'll post a picture of what I look like with them in.
My surgeon (Dr. O) had mentioned I needed a palatal arch put in by my orthodontist When I went to him today for the ties, he seemed confused about it. He said that for a bi maxillary osteotomy (wow thats a mouthful), it shouldnt' be needed, and that he had called Dr. O's office and hadn't heard back. Soooo... hopefully we don't run into any issues tomorrow.

Oh and its 106 degrees today in Livermore...and our water had to be turned off because apparently the water main has a leak and it was leaking on the other side of the street. So no water for 3 hours. I'm trying not to be in a bad mood about all this, but its a lot to be going wrong in one day. Ive also had this kink in my neck for 3 days.

So a word to the wise...dont wait until the day before your surgery to get your ties put on. Give yourself more time. I put it off to the last minute because i thought the ties would be a major inconvenience, but they actually arent that bad.

Sorry this is a bit of a negative post. I know God is in control of all things.

On a brighter note, my baby has been making cute spitting noises.

See? The ties actually arent too obvious. 

Tomorrow's the big day!! Prayers appreciated. 

3 Days Pre-Op

I haven't done much blogging in several years. I use to be an avid journalizer, diary writer, note taker, and anything else related to writing. Of course, this was before life got busy with jobs, college, social life, marriage, oh yes, and motherhood.
The purpose of this blog is to talk about my jaw surgery experience, hopefully provide encouragement and knowledge to others considering having it, and also share how I juggle recovery with being a mom. Perhaps there will be entertaining moments to help ease the stress and pain that I know will be associated with the surgery.
I am going to post a bit of dental and orthodontic history here, so please bear with me. And if anyone finds this blog and wishes to comment, I welcome that with open arms. I'd love to hear what your Teeth Journey has been like as well.
To start, let me tell you what my actual problem is. It is not a cosmetic issue (although, this surgery will absolutely help in that area). I have a class II malocclusion open bite, and I also developed a cross bite. I have had two series of braces. The first from the ages of 11 to 14, and the second from 27-29 (hope to have braces removed before my 30th birthday!). With my first orthodontist, we'll call him Dr. C, the idea of expanders for a narrow palate was still a newer idea. What he did instead was remove my two upper pre molars to provide more space for growth. He did not have the lower pre molars removed. Has anyone who had braces 15 years ago or more had this procedure done when getting braces?
Anyway, I had my braces taken off at age 14 and I had a lovely smile for about 5 years. I had a permanent retainer put behind my lower teeth and a removable one in the top. Of course, I was quite lazy about wearing the retainer, and stopped after a couple of years.
In 2007, I moved to Southern California, land of desert and DRY weather. I started having nosebleeds, and began mouth breathing too. By the end of the year, I began to notice a small gap between my upper front teeth and the bottom. I kinda shrugged it off. After all, I was a busy college student, with no time to worry about teeth. By the following year however, it was more noticeable, and I started to choke on food occasionally. I thought maybe it was a narrow esophagus issue, but after a visit to a dentist for a cleaning, it was revealed that I was developing an open bite and would probably need braces. Well, a college student with hardly any money and a ton of student loan debt couldn't pay for braces, so I again shrugged it off.
In 2010, I moved back to Northern California, began to work full time and went back to school for a Child Development degree. I was still having issues chewing food, and I began to notice that my back  molars didn't meet on the right side, only on the left. The open bite was worsening, and I would still occasionally choke on food. The mouth breathing got better, since the weather wasn't as dry. I did however, have a tongue thrusting issue, which I believed was a contributing factor to the open bite. But being that I still had a ton of college debt, and could barely pay the minimum balance on the loans, I wasn't going to get braces anytime soon.
Then I met my future husband. He was unemployed for most of our dating relationship, but I knew that God would provide a job for him. A month before our wedding, my husband had a stable job. Praise the Lord.
In 2013, a few months before we got married, I saw another dentist in the area. He did x rays on me and said I had an extreme open bite and cross bite, and explained that the missing pre molars on the top were causing a bad bite relationship. Great. He recommended seeing an oral surgeon. This was my first awareness of the idea of jaw surgery. I saw a surgeon, showed him the x rays, and I was referred to an orthodontist in San Ramon. We'll call him Dr. M.
Dr. M explained that I had 2 options: Surgery with orthodontics, or a partial fix with orthodontics. After much thinking (AND PRAYING), I chose Surgery. This required having my lower pre molars removed to have an even number of teeth on top and bottom. My permanent retainer was also removed.
February 2014, I had braces put on. Just in time for Valentines Day. YAY.
The plan was that the space where my pre molars had been would be closed, and the projected surgery time was August 2015.
The process moved along much slower than anticipated and then I got pregnant. I gave birth to a beautiful daughter December 25, 2015. Yeah I know, a Christmas Baby.
So here we are, 7 months later. My jaw surgery is this Wednesday, July 27th. I'm very nervous, but I have done a TON of reading on blogs (Doublejawsurgery.com, runningonfaithycafeconleche.blogpot.com), forums (ArchedWired), Mayo Clinic, several other medical clinic websites, and Facebook groups.
I've spent a lot of time praying, and reading Scripture (namely, the Bible). I know what to expect, I know the risks, its going to be very hard, but this is a now or never scenario. I don't want to to wait until I'm older and there's more risks. I don't want to do it when my baby is toddling around.
its time to get it done.

Okay, this is a LONG post, but its an intro one, so I guess thats expected. I am going to post pictures of my face, so you can see exactly what the issues are.
I'll probably do one more post Pre-Op as well.

God bless you!

 From the front, looking straight on, it doesn't look too bad

 If I look up however, you can clearly see the open bite. My tongue is kind of in the way too.

 Because of the lower pre molar removal, my bottom teeth were retracted, creating a more severe open and overbite.

You can also see that I have a receding chin. Not pretty. And its only going to get worse before it gets better. Next photo will be a very swollen face.