Whoa!

My last post was in May. Boy am I terrible at keeping up with this. Not to much has happened since I last posted but at the same time so many things have happened.  I had an appointment in July with my surgeon in hopes she would tell me that I can finally get the pallet expander out and to start putting the braces on my top teeth. To my excitement my wish finally came true. I literally walked into the surgeons office and she said call your orthodontist it is time to get those braces on.I was leaping for joy. I called my orthodontist that same day and asked if he has an opening in the morning. He did and was just as excited as I was. So the next day I head to my orthodontist. I was able to have the pallet expander removed and the first time since march I was able to feel the roof of my mouth and feel the difference that the surgery made. It was amazing!! The roof of my mouth had flattened out a bit and my tongue fit between my top teeth wonderfully. It was no longer narrow feeling. However, it was somewhat painful for it to be removed but it was a pain that I was willing to endure.

So it's been about a month since I've had the braces on and things are moving along wonderfully. Unfortunately  I still have a small gap that I hated for a long time but now it doesn't bother me as much. I have to go back at the end of August to my orthodontist in hopes of getting something that would help the gap close up completely. I cannot wait till it finishes closing. The shape of my mouth already looks great and once my top teeth move into place and the gap closes, its gonna look even better.

Oh right...the most important thing. My bite has changed drastically already. But of course, good drastically. For awhile only one side of my mouth would the top teeth touch the bottom. But now both sides fit rather well and comfortably. It's remarkable how things are moving and coming along.

*will have pics up shortly for everyone to see the differences =)

Quick update

I realize I have not made a post in almost a month. Not much has changed to really make a post. I've been back and work and my doctor told me I can go back to eating anything. Which surprised me Because I only had soft food for about 3 weeks. Which was not bad at all. However certain foods like my chocolate bunny that I got from Easter is still way to hard to bite. I tried eating it and Oww did my mouth hurt. :( I still have the ugly gap between my teeth which is making me feel so self conscious. Many people I talk to said they didn't notice but I'm not sure if they really didn't see it or we're just being polite. I'm seeing my surgeon again next week for a follow up and I'm really hoping she says everythin looks great and maybe I can get braces on my top teeth a bit earlier. I saw her last month and that went well. I also been checking oh what my upper gums look like at least twice a week to see how they are healing and everything looks amazing. All my stitches have dissolved and you can hardly see where they made incisions. However I can still feel it and hope my gums smooth out a little. As for my orthodontist. I haven't seen him in over a month. I figured I'd make an appointment with him after I see my surgeon. Plus I need to get the wire on my bottom teeth clipped or changed. My lower teeth are practically straight now and i cannot stop running my tongue on the back of them. Though the wire is now cutting into my cheek in the back so something has to be done. But anyways. That's really it. No major changes except for some teeth movement. No complaints of pain and as for feeling I still have some weird spots. Just below my right eye feels weird but slowly coming back and the corner or my right upper lip. But that too is getting more feeling. As for my gums there are some parts I can feel but they are still mostly numb. I was told that was normal but I'm still bringing it up at the appointment. But I'll let you all know how that goes next week :)

The waiting game...

My expander has officially been locked in place and I couldn't be any happier. For some reason a piece on the expander was sharp and I noticed that when I slept my tongue would sit up there and it would always hurt in the morning. My othordontist put a piece of plastic and hardened it in place so now its super smooth and I have nothing to cause pain.
As for my teeth my bite is still out of whack. Even though on the right side my top and bottom teeth sort of touch, I can still only chew on the left side of my mouth. But that's now starting to hurt my jaw muscle. All yesterday I could hardly open my mouth bc I think I over extended my jaw because I'm eating a lot differently then I used to. But today it's feeling better.
So now the waiting game has really started. Waiting for my bones to grow so I can get these braces are and start to shape my upper jaw. However, I'm not sure how long that will be. According to my orthodontist it will be at least three months. Though it can be sooner depends what the surgeon things of my bone growth.
There is one thing I want to see, and that is an x-ray of my mouth. I'm sure curious as to what inside my mouth looks like. So maybe when I see my doctor on the 16th I'll ask her if there's a way that I can see how things look. But till then I am still on soft foods and just drinking a lot of water to stay hydrated. I also started babysitting again in the morning and there for I started walking again. A big upset was not being able to use the gym and workout after surgery because as we all know bathing suit season is just around the corner. However, I realized just because I cannot lift weights doesn't mean I cannot do any form of exercise. I've been walking a lot lately and even been able to take my bike out. It was nice being a couch potato for awhile but its time to get moving and get back to my normal life schedule. =)

Ahh...why did that just happen!

I just had my first scare on my way home from work. Lately I've noticed my stitches are dissolving and pieces are falling out. Also last night I had severe pain on the left side of my jaw and I don't know why. I just woke up in the middle of the night and it was awful. But today after work I was driving home and I felt a slight throbbing by the front of my teeth. I did not find that unusual because I expect some pain while healing. Well all of a sudden I realized I was bleeding. I wasn't bleeding a lot but it was enough for me to panic a little and wonder what the heck happened. I immedietely called home and let my dad know that I was driving and my mouth was bleeding and I'll be home shortly. I get home and quickly see that by the incision in the front of my mouth is were I was bleeding from. I clean up the mess and then boom nothing. I wasn't bleeding anymore, no sign of where I was bleeding from. It was really weird. So I'm relieved that it stopped quickly and did not hurt. But it was certainly a scare. My mom tried to call the emergency number to my surgeon and the line seems to be inactive. That's bad b/c I wouldn't know how to get in contact with my doctor. So we just left a message and she should call back tomorrow morning. I have an appointment with my orthodontist tomorrow so I'll let him know and I will see my surgeon Friday.
And because I get paranoid over little things I asked my sister to stay home tonight and to stay with me. Just having someone there always helps. So she kindly obliged and now I can sleep soundly.
Hopefully I get an answer as to why I started bleeding randomly tomorrow. =/

Patience is a Virtue...

It's almost been 2 weeks since I've had my SARPE surgery and everything is healing amazingly. The swelling is practically all gone except for some slight puffiness above my lip but its not noticeable at all. The corner of my right lip is also still partially numb so I hope that comes back soon. As for my gums I cannot feel them yet, and its not expected to have full feeling back in my gums till at least a month. Key turning as gone so smoothly and its been remarkably painless. Just a little bit of tightness at first, but it goes away quickly. I only turned my key twice a day for a week and since friday I have been turning it four times a day. As long as you space out the two key turns and not do it back to back its pretty painless and can easily adjust too.
I made the mistake of trying to eat a slice of pizza the other day. I thought that if it didn't hurt to eat then I'd be okay to eat it. Boy, was I wrong. I seemed to bite into a slight crunchy piece and I felt movement in my upper left jaw and freaked the heck out. So I called my doctor and her response was "Hunny, your jaw is broken. You cannot eat pizza"  I then went straight to the doctors office to check it out. I wasn't in any pain but I was then afraid to turn my key until I was checked out. She said everything was fine and then I got some even better news.  I was suppose to be turning my key till Friday 4/6 but she said movement has gone so well that I can stop turning tonight 4/3.  So then that means my jaw has moved 7mm. I'm beyond thrilled about that because I really did not want this gap to get any bigger. I already feel self conscious about it. I have an appointment with my orthodontist on Thursday just get a second opinion and then have it locked in place. My hopes are now that the key turning is done, the faster my bones will heal and grow and then the faster I get braces on to close this gap. I cannot wait to see the beautiful rounded out shape of my upper jaw.
As for appearance, I don't see much of a change. Which is good because I don't want exterior to change just my terrible teeth.
But now it's just time to wait. Wait for the healing, wait for the braces and wait for a Beautiful smile. I'm trying not to think about it at all because then time will go slower.

I finally have two pictures. They are not very flattering but it's just so anyone getting this surgery will see that it's not bad at all.  This is 2 hours after the surgery. You can see a slight gap between my two front teeth but thats about it. I looked pretty normal right afterwards. It was not till two days later that I really blew up.

This is 12 days after surgery. My gap has grown a lot and looks slightly crooked but I think that's just the angle of the camera. I still have half a millimeter to move tonight and then I should be good. =)

Day 3 after surgery

I was unable to make onto the computer the last two days after surgery. I've been sleeping non stop and not untill today do I finally feel well rested.

So Thursday 3/22 was the date of my surgery. It went really smooth and all the doctors were  great. I'll have pics up soon from a few hours after surgery to today. Before I went into surgery I really wasn't feeling nervous or anything which was good. Next minute I know Im lying on the operating table talking to my doctor and then I'm out. Which is a wonderful feeling for anyone whose never been asleep for surgery. It's the best sleep you'll ever get! After waking up in recovery I had the worst double vision and that made me super nauseus feeling. I did get sick and threw up the blood that was in my stomach but afterwards I felt great. A few hours later my parents took me home and yet again I got sick to my stomach but everything was good. I crawled into bed took a percocet and passed out till the next morning.

Day 1 after surgery: I was still extrememly numb so the pain wasnt hitting me yet. I just didnt like how numb and huge everything felt. I feel lucky because all I had was swelling in my face, no bruising at all =)
I was able to go for a walk with my dad around the block to help clear my head and to get my blood circulating. It works wonderfully, so if you feel up for walking Id advice you do it bc it helps a whole lot with the healing process.

Day 2 after surgery: I just slept ALL DAY! it was great. I woke up maybe twice for at least an hour and went right back to sleep.

Day 3: Today is a so so day. My jaw has been very stiff bc I'm assuming they've held it open when working on the upper jaw so opening it completely is nearly impossible. Out of curiosity I have run my tongue across the gums of my mouth to see if I can feel anything. Right now its just still super puffy and kind of gross feeling so I don't think I will be doing that again. Also, I was able to take a shower today. I felt so gross from just lying in bed for like 3 days so bc I was not in to much pain I was able to get in. I feel so much better and the warm water helps circulate the blood.

As for eating if anyone is curious, I've been living on applesauce and potoato and leek soup. Though for some reason the applesauce is hurting my throat a bit so im madly in love with the taste and texture of the potato soup. It's so creamy there's no effort to eating it at all.

The medicine that i've been on has been helpful too. In the morning and night I use Afrin nasal spray to help with congestion. I also have a mouth wash I use each morning and night. When I'm in too much pain I just take an Advil and it helps enough, but when I want to go to bed at night even if I'm not in too much pain I take a percocet bc it really helps me sleep through the night.

Taking the drive to the hospital

So today is my first surgery. I'm having it done at north shore LIJ in new Hyde park. It's a great hospital but the only downside is that it's practically an hour from my house. But anyway, I'm driving out the hospital with my parents right now and I'm not feeling anything. I don't feel phased about this whole surgery at all. I guess I'm more excited then anything Bc I've been waiting for this day since August. I do realize what I am alittle nervous about is not the surgery itself. I'm concerned how I am going to feel when I wake up. I'm afraid I'm going to be in terrible pain. Though pain killers are a wonderful thing. Prior to surgery my concern was how my stomach was going to feel after waking up. The last surgery I had was when I was 7 years old and i remember waking up feeling super nauseous and dizzy. Luckily this time I was given two pills to settle my stomach. One I took last night at midnight and the other I took about half hour ago. For anyone that doesn't know. You are not allowed to eat after midnight or in the morning. I stuffed my face last night in hopes it would satisfy my hunger long into the morning. Originally my surgery was scheduled for 1130am but was then changed to 1pm. Not to happy about that Bc I'm a person who loves their breakfast so not having it today was depressing here's hoping my hunger stays away till them. But as long as I don't think about it I should be fine. All in all I cannot believe this day is here already. It came so fast and before I know it ill be getting the second half of my surgery done. But I'm trying to take this day by day and not rush the healing process. Thats never a good thing. :)

Bottom Braces and Expander

So today was the day I got my bottom braces on and palette expander in. I don't know why but I was sooo nervous. I was afraid of the brackets hurting and the expander being so bulky that I couldn't even talk. Much to my surprise when I got into the orthodontist office and they showed me the expander and it was this measly looking thing. And to think that I was so intimidated by it, ha! Anyways, my ortho put the expander in and it went in easily but snug. After that he took it out and cemented it in and then came the bottom braces. They went on quick with no issues and they feel pretty good. For now. Once they start shifting I'm going to a cranky baby. =/
I now just have to go to a pre surgical appointment with my surgeon and discuss exactly what will happen and how my mom should take care of me after the procedure. Then I have I my pre-surgical testing at the Hospital on Friday and finally my medical clearance appointment with my primary care physician. I can't wait for all the appointments to be over and I'm in the hospital getting the surgery done. I'm still beyond excited about the whole thing and I hope my nerves stay away.

So here are two pictures.

Wonderful zigzag pattern. Doesn't it look lovely!?



And the measly looking expander that I thought was going to be a huge discomfort and annoyance..







countdown: 9 days

A couple of minutes after writing this post and saying things aren't so bad. I kinda take it back. I can't believe all the built of saliva that is happening.. That's probably going to be the most annoying thing. I have to constantly swallow and that alone is kind of a task within itself because my tongue does not hit the top of my mouth. =/

Waiting....

Nothing has been really happening lately. I got the seperators for my upper teeth put in on the 8th and they were a little uncomfortable. For some reason they were quite irritating, and my teeth were throbbing for a few days. It made eating a bit tough but after popping a few tylenols I was good as new. I now just have to wait 2 more days to get my braces and palette expander in. Though I'm not particularly looking forward to it because i know I'm going to be super cranky that whole day. But I choose to go through with this so just gotta suck it up and think about how happy I will be after the whole process is done. So I just have to think about that.

Countdown: 11 days

Oh how I don't miss these..

On the 23rd of February I got a mold done for my palette expander. The first thing they did was put the 'anchors' on my bottom teeth and cemented them in and then put four on my upper teeth. That is how the palette expander will stay in. Luckily though, the tops were not staying in. They put them in so they can do the mold and then they removed them to place them within the mold. So right now I only have the bottom anchors in.

So for the last several days I've been trying to get used to them again. Like I've said before I've had braces so I kind of know what to expect. I got that wonderful wax that you place over them to prevent any scratches to the cheeks. I also had to go back about a day later to have one side pushed down a bit. The pointy part on the side of the bracket was so pointy even wax couldn't do anything and my cheek was so torn up after one day. But now that's fixed =)
I also had trouble eating dinner that night, not because it hurt but because it was just a weird feeling that I needed to get used to again. But again, after a day or two I'm back to eating normal.

I have about 3 more orthodontist appointments to go to, 2 with my surgeon, 1 with the hospital, and 1 with my primary care physician. I also had to get in to see some other annual doctors as well. I did not want to wait till after the surgery and just wanted to get everything done. So starting March 8th till March 22nd, I'm pretty much going to have a doctors appointment a day minus the weekends. It's gonna be a busy month but I'm looking forward to every visit because it's only bringing me one step closer.

Surgery Countdown: 23 days

Finally got some Before Pictures.

Here's a front view. Kind of hard to tell but as you can see or more or less cannot see, is my bottom teeth. They are behind the front teeth. And I'm just gonna say its the angle of the camera but my face looks crooked =/








Here's a side view. My least favorite view. I don't like when people snap pictures and its my side view. It's just not pretty looking. It's like I'm completely missing the row of bottom teeth. But with this angle you can obviously see the over bite a bit more. What I don't like mostly about this angle is that everything is just so sharp looking, my side view does not have a smooth looking flow to you.

Here's a view of just my teeth. My teeth do not line up like that, I had to move my jaw forward so I can show you all my teeth. Again, they aren't that bad looking and it seems that braces would fix my problem. They would only straighten them and then unfortunetly I'd still have a narrow palette and a set back jaw. =/





Not really a pretty picture, but i just wanted to show how narrow my palette is and as to why I have to get a palette expander. You can also see how my top front teeth are on at the right angle. They seem to jet out and come almost to a point.

Things are moving quick... Alittle more then one month to surgery!

I can't believe how fast everything is moving along. I remember when it was just August '11 and I was told I must wait because of my insurance, and now all my appointments prior to surgery are scheduled. I feel like I have so many things to do still in a one month span. Here's everything so far...
The process of seeing my orthodontist, surgeon, primary care physician and meeting with the hospital begins on Tuesday =)

Feb 21st - appointment with my orthodontist to get separators in
Feb 23rd - another appointment with my orthodontist, this time to get molds taken of my top jaw for my palette expander and to place braces on my bottom teeth. (no braces yet, dates been moved)
Mar 8th* -  seeing my orthodontist to have the separators on top teeth put in
Mar 13th* - back to the orthodontist to have the palette expander put in and place braces on bottom teeth
Mar 14th - Pre-surgical discussion with my surgeon at her office 
Mar 16th - pre-admission surgical testing at the hospital
Mar 22nd - Surgery =)
Mar 30th - follow up appointment

*few dates added or changed.


I still have to make an appointment with my primary care physician to get medical clearance. I'm not to happy with this one because I had to get a new doctor because my old doctor doesn't use my insurance. =(
My mom also wants me to see a cardiologist, because when I was younger I used to complain about chest pains often and the last time I had any form of surgery was when I was 7. Even though everything was fine and the doctors wrote my pain off as growing pains and I haven't had any pain since, my mom just being a mom wants to make sure I'm okay.

Right now I'm feeling ecstatic.. Oh also, I found out my aunts niece went through the same exact surgery that I'm gonna go through. I got to talk to her for a little and it gave me such a reassuring feeling. I haven't seen her in years but she looks great. I couldn't stop looking at her perfect teeth and jaw. =)

Let the countdown begin... 32 days

What's being done

I will be having two different surgeries. The first surgery will be to fix my upper jaws narrowness. I will be having a palette expander placed on my top jaw by my orthodontist and then my surgeon will be making 3 incisions in the upper jaw bone. I will then have to turn a key to expand it. I still do not know how many mm it is being widened so I am unsure how long I will be turning the key for.

My second jaw surgery will be close to the summer or fall. I will be getting my lower jaw moved forward. Again, not to sure how many mm it is being moved, but the top jaw has to be set first before I can get a definite answer as to how far its moving.

I will also have pictures soon....

And so it begins....

Hi everyone,
       Let me give you short background about myself. My names Laura and I'm 23 years old. When I was 10 I had braces, however I was a stubborn child and did not listen to my orthodontist very often. Well here I am today deciding to get jaw surgery because my teeth did not stay straight and my jaw was set back a little.
Back in July 2011 I saw a site that talked about corrective jaw surgery and I knew right away that I would be interested in this procedure. I saw an orthodontist (Dr. Apton) and he said I would make a good candidate for jaw surgery. He gave me the number to an oral surgeon he often works with (Dr. Stephanie Drew)  Immediately I made an appointment with her and it was great. She was probably the nicest doctor I've ever met and was able to answer everything I wanted to know about the surgery. However, there was one problem; my medical insurance. I was not in her network which made me extremely sad because I was so set on this surgeon. But then good news fell upon my ears and I found out the other insurance my job offered was the insurance that they take. So I had to wait till February 2012 for my new insurance kick in.