Day 139 - 4 Months, 16 days

Hi Everyone:)

In my last post, I mentioned I had an appointment for the installation of a palate expander to widen my upper arch a bit (Jan 24th). I missed that appointment and made and skipped 2 more, delaying this whole process by a month. But you know what? I really don't care that much. Yes, I do want these things OFF, but I'm not as anxious as I was pre-surgery with the "hurry up already" state of mind. I was also in no hurry to be in pain and discomfort. Now that I've had the expander for a week, I know my concerns were not overstated... I HATE THIS THING! It's as if I've reverted back to my first week post-op. I can't eat properly, speak properly and my mouth hurts. I could actually speak better after surgery than now. My next appointment is in 3 weeks. I can't wait to get this thing OUT.

My lovely "spring" expander. You can't tell, but there's
quite a bit of room between the metal and the roof of my mouth.
I can slide my tongue above it or store food and nuts for winter. 

Each day gets a little better, but I'm TOTALLY OVER extreme measures.

I'm too lazy to take proper photos, so I've thrown a few in here from trips we've recently taken to Paso Robles and Petaluma, CA. They actually aren't wine trips, but beer trips. Jeff and I are craft beer/IPA geeks.

Dani and I recently talked about the difference of seeing photos of ourselves now compared with before surgery. Before surgery you delete 9 out of 10 photos, now you keep 9 out of 10. It's fantastic.

LOVE my straight (normal) bite. 

Day 102

Ok, so I missed my appointment for the palate expander installation bc I was running late from work. I have to admit, I was not that disappointed. It's funny, this is the first time that I am not anxious to get an appointment as quickly as possible. I remade it for Wednesday, but Jeff and I are going away for a long weekend on Thursday and the last thing I need is to have a piece of metal equipment across the roof of my mouth and for my teeth to be too sore to eat. So I might put it off for another week. I've waited this long, what's another couple weeks??!!

I also wanted to share that last weekend I skied for the first time!!! We went to Mammoth (which was AMAZING) and I took two days of group lessons. I was tearing it up! My body is so out of shape, so it was a workout!!

Here are some pics that show my jaw and teeth better than my self portraits;)

Day 100!

Hi all! I hope everyone is doing great. The subtitle of this blogpost was going to be "I'm going to be in braces forever", but I didn't want to plagiarize Sarah's latest post:)

I went to my ortho last week and he was not happy with the width of my upper arch:( It's 30mm and he'd like it 35mm. My gosh darn 3rd molars are anchoring my teeth in too well and won't let them move at a proper pace. So, I'm going in this afternoon to have an expander installed. You know, that piece of equipment that 2nd graders wear before they have braces put on? He thinks I'll need to keep it in for one to two months. Ugggggg. Not very happy about it. At least its the kind that I don't need to wind with a key.

I'm happy to say that I don't think about my jaw all of the time. Though, I still examine my teeth and jaw every single time I step into my office elevator.  After all this time I still have numbness above my top lip and chin. It's not too bad, but it's definitely weird when I move my mouth. My top gums are almost completely numb.

I do have some pain when I yawn, but this has been easing over the last month.

I realized I can now move my tongue all around my mouth and can touch every tooth with the tip. I know this may seem weird, but I used to try to explore the inside of my mouth w/my tongue and it would cramp up if I tried to extend it too much.

I can ALMOST open my mouth three fingers wide. I can't really move it side to side.

Another issue is my skin... my forehead is so broken out, worse than I've ever experienced. It seems like this is a problem other people have after surgery. It's just weird that it's hitting me months after.


This pic is from about two weeks ago. The shadow makes it look like my face is out of whack, but it really is pretty symmetrical.

Day 61 - Two Months!!!

Celebrated two months by going on another run...only second time since surgery. I am not as tired today as I was after the first time out. Did an interval of 1 1/2 min run, 2 min walk x 6. It felt really good.

And just to mix it up, here's a pic of my dog Pepita, who we call Pippip.

Happy holidays.

Cost of Surgery...sit down

Ok, I always knew that there was something wrong with my country's healthcare system, but you can't quite appreciate the dysfunction until you are actually confronted with substantial medical bills.

I have now received all bills for my surgery and DUMBFOUNDED at the huge difference between what is billed and what will actually be paid out. It makes me thankful that I have insurance and realize how unjust it is for someone, without insurance, to be billed the ENTIRE amount, when my insurance company and I don't come close to paying that amount. I know a handful of the top surgeons in this country don't take insurance and now I know why.

Below is a breakdown. My portion is 30% of the negotiated insurance rate. My annual deductible is $550 and maximum out of pocket is $5650 (Meaning, I don't have to pay any medical bills after I've hit $6200 for the year). I've had other doctor's appointments this year, so you'll notice my insurance company has to pay a bit more on the hospital bill b/c it maxed out my annual obligated amount.


P.S. I almost had a heart attack when I saw the hospital bill.

Surgeon Fee: 18,750.00
Paid by Ins.: 3,205.28
Paid by Me: 1,373.66
Difference: 14,171.06

Anesthesia Fee: 4,140.00
Paid by Ins.: 1,276.48
Paid by Me: 547.06
Difference: 1,769.04

Hospital Fee: 47,139.88
Paid by Ins.: 8,073.06
Paid by Me: 3,245.94
Difference: 35,820.88

TOTAL BILLED: 70,029.88
TOTAL INS.:12,554.82
TOTAL ME: 5,166.66
DIFFERENCE: 52,308.40

Day 56 - Week 8

Hi All,

Not much to report. I have an ortho appointment next week. My mouth can open a little more than two fingers, some joint pain from all the chewing. My most numb area (my chin) is no longer completely numb, but has some feeling. My lips are the next in line, but I really feeling them coming back to normal in the next month. My gums are another story, but who cares!


Today's pics:

I recently came across my notebook from the hospital and thought it was worth sharing. Aside from pathetic pictures, I think it really captures how you feel right after surgery:)

 "was scared of suction of suture" Written after waking up and the nurse is using the suction tube in my mouth and I pushed her and it away. I was horrified that the line of sutures in my mouth would be ripped out. Right?!

"nauseous not yet" meaning "not yet nauseous"

"remember vegan! most have dairy. I can't feel it going in. am I really drinking. i am now!"

"I'm scared of getting nauseous on pain meds my tummy is a little sensitive right now"

"it's amazing i can actually feel my teeth overlapping w/my tongue -overlapping. R my glasses around? I'd like to do a quick blog post." with blood splatters on page:)

to my doc "do people really start talking by now?" he said yes. i could only grunt... to jeff: "did u eat? u eat? T.Y. your phone works?"

t
To the nurse who said my only food choice was dairy: "boo & b.s."

These last two are my last entries, they are from the morning. I was semi-talking after that. 

Brought to you by...

Day 49 - 7 weeks!

Hi all,

Feeling great. Still totally numb on my chin and gums. Semi-numb on lips, checks and nose, but really fading.

Jeff had dental work today...I was so excited to have him numb with me! I kept telling him, now try to drink something! Go ahead, now eat! He actually did pretty well:)