Meeting the Surgeon

Most of you have met your surgeon either when you start this journey or at least midway through. I've only spoken to mine on the phone, exchanged some emails and have heard about how great he is through my ortho and other patients. I was finally able to sit face to face with him yesterday for my pre-op appointment. My greatest fear was him seeing me and saying "Oh, you're not at all ready! Sorry, go home." But after 3 hours of measurements, pictures, xrays, molds and just long hard stares, he confirmed I was ready. Yay and gulp.

Dr. Henry's long stare

This ruler measured every single aspect of my mouth.

Here is the diagnosis:

Maxillary Retrognathia (8-9mm)
Anterior Open Bite (2mm)
Mandibular Retrognathia (18-20mm)
Nasal Airway Obstruction

He will perform the following:
Maxillary LeFort I or III (tbd after a weekend with my molds) - Advance 4-5mm
Bilateral Sagital Split - Advance 10mm
Bilateral Inferior Turbinectomies (scrape out the junk blocking my nasal airway)

I have to say I really feel better after meeting him and spending such a long time talking through my issues and surgery.  I will have a feeding tube from my stomach coming out my nose (like Terra) that will be used to drain blood and junk out and that they will use to pump nutrition in while I'm still out of it. He keeps most of his patients in the hospital for 3 nights, or at least until he's sure enough calories are taken in and nausea is under control to take oral pain meds. He says the first two weeks are the worst and the first 4 days are worse than that. My goal is to get out on day 3 after 2 nights.

I'm so grateful that Jeff came with me and sat through the entire appointment. He actually feels much calmer after hearing about the procedure and being walked through what my issues are. It's easy to forget that our friends and family don't pour over jaw surgery blogs and have no idea of our problems just by looking at us.

This is my post redeye flight look

Love this guy!

I will post again before Tuesday.

Cheers,
Amanda

Getting close...

It's been a crazy month that has flown by. I've been so busy with moving and work that I haven't had a lot of time to stress about surgery. It hit me this past weekend and I was REALLY panicking. But I've transitioned into a calm before the storm. I'm sitting here, zipping up my suitcase, packed with a blender, feeding syringes and sweaters, about to hope in the car with Jeff and head to LAX.  Tomorrow is my pre-op appointment with my surgeon and Tuesday is game day.

The only thing keeping me sane is this blog world. I'm so grateful for all your posts, keeping me company while I bite my nails in anticipation.

xo,
amanda

T Minus 20 Days

I can't believe I'm 20 days out till surgery... yikes. I have really been distracted this month and time is flying by. I'm happy to say I am in the process of moving!! I am very excited to be moving in with my boyfriend and his 8 year old son. It's just crazy how everything happens at once. When we were trying to figure out timing, it was either NOW or wait a few months until after my surgery when I'm able bodied. So, we are in a mad dash to get everything moved in and organized so that I can have a week of sanity before we leave for New Hampshire on Oct. 11th.

We will also be celebrating one year dating on Oct. 17, the day after surgery. We will mark the occasion by Jeff wiping spit and blood from my chin and toasting plastic syringes.

Hip hip hooray!

my new man:) he has recently asked if I will be able 
to eat tacos without a knife and fork after my surgery.

Blogger Pow Wow!

I had such a great time meeting up with Dani and Rhianna this weekend for lunch!!! Is there a better way to prep for surgery than to sit down with two all-star bloggers?  I'm feeling much more relaxed about my impending date after asking the girls a ton of question. It was also amazing to see how they are both doing now over a year after surgery. 

I still wasn't decided on braces and jaw surgery when I first started reading blogs. Dani and Rhianna's were of the first that I came across that made me more excited to say 'yes' to this whole process, so it felt fitting that they have helped send me off to the chopping block. 

Look at those (two) beautiful bites!!! 

Me, Myself and My Jaw

Ok, I've never planned a real honeymoon, but I can't wait for the 'honeymoon' I've planned for me and my jaw. This is what happens when your surgery is across the country.

First class plane tickets? Check!  (thank you mileage). Two and a half weeks off of work? Check! One bedroom suite at boutique, downtown hotel? Check! Picturesque, New England town in the middle of Fall? Check! Boyfriend? Check!

I am really excited for this trip... except for the fact of that I'll be having my face sawed in half. We arrive on Friday for my pre-op surgical appointment and my surgery is on Tuesday, so at least we have the weekend to enjoy it:)

The question is whether I'll be able to enjoy the biggest pumpkin festival of the year, happening 100 feet from my hotel, 4 days after my surgery.

Surgeries-R-Us

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been busy reading all of your blog posts! There have been so many surgeries lately and it seems they aren't slowing down. Is this the busy season or something?

Here's a list of us soon to be under the knife, sorry if I've left you off the fall surgeries, I'll add you!  And good luck Nathaniel!

Nathaniel - Aug 17th
S.N. - Sep 19th
Amy - Sep 24th
Sherry - Sep 28th
Tiff - Oct. 1st
Terra - Oct. 5th
Sarah - Oct. 11th
Me - Oct 16th

REALLY Open Bite

My orthodontist told me at the beginning of this process that my bite would get MUCH worse before surgery, but I didn't believe him. I thought "How could my teeth look ANY worse than they already are?" Oh my, was he right. My bite is so open I can stick out my tongue while completely biting down. If it was just aesthetics, I wouldn't even mention it, but the biggest thing I'm dealing now is the way I speak! I have developed a CRAZY lisp. I think I had a bit of one before the braces, but now it's a full blown speech impediment. I didn't realize how bad it was until I tried to make a video about a month ago for a post. I was shocked (horrified) when I played it back.  I cringe every time I speak!

Here's a comparison of my original vs. new, more open bite: