Wednesday, May 8, 2013

The State of My Face - Day 349: She's a Surgery Case

Thanks for the congratulations, face friends!

I had a regular orthodontist appointment today.  I saw not one, but three different orthodontists.  My doctor hired a new doctor, Dr. C.  My orthodontist, Dr. E., has been an orthodontist since I think the late 1970s, so I am thinking he may be retiring soon.  Dr. E. even worked on my husband's teeth when he was a young teenager. Dr. C. just started a couple weeks ago and is sort of shadowing the other doctors to get a feel for the practice.  My office sees a high number of adult patients (which I appreciate!) and it seems like adult patients have more complicated cases.  Also, they're very familiar with people.  Everyone seems to remember who I am and what my mouth's story is, which I like, and I hope Dr. C. keeps up with that atmosphere.  So anyway, Dr. H. introduced me to Dr. C. today and says, "This is Jocelyn.  She's a surgery case.  She's also pregnant."  That's a lot of info to throw at poor Dr. C.!

Amanda brought up an excellent point in the comments on my last post about my surgery being delayed and that meaning a shorter time in braces post-surgery.  I meant to ask one of the doctors about it today and totally spaced.  Originally I was supposed to be in braces anywhere from six to twelve months post-surgery to stabilize my new face.  It would be great if that number were closer to six (or even less!) months. 

The cool thing is that when a woman is pregnant she produces a hormone called Relaxin.  Relaxin softens things up a bit to prepare for childbirth, but has the added bonus of making all bones and tissues a bit more elastic.  This is part of the reason Carpal Tunnel is common in pregnancy, but also speeds up the rate at which an orthodontic patient's teeth move.  I've got Carpal Tunnel this time around (a first for me!) and my mouth seems to be doing pretty much whatever the orthodontists want it to do.  I'm hoping that some of the benefits of Relaxin extend to nursing and hopefully help out a bit in getting me quickly healed. 

I was supposed to have a bracket replaced this morning, but we found that the irritation I felt was from a messed up steel tie-back and a tooth that needs turned slightly, not from the bracket itself.  I avoided having a bracket replacement, which is a welcome surprise.  The assistant removed my wires and asked if I wanted to brush-- brushing without wires is the most fantastically wonderful thing ever.  So I ran over to the sink and gave myself the brushing of a lifetime.  I checked out my teeth, too, and they look so good.  I'm so excited with the progress that's been made.   The team has somehow managed to make my teeth look larger, which I needed to balance out my face, part of it involved adjusting my front brackets to pull my front teeth down more, but that can't be all they did.  I'm convinced my doctors are wizards.

At my next appointment I am having my study molds done for surgery.  Dr. E. also wants to keep an eye on the torque on my right side and make sure everything remains even in the next few months. They moved me up to a higher gauge wire today and put another power chain on the bottom.  The plan right now is to just keep everything in place and move up to heavier and heavier wires in preparation for surgery. 

Friday, May 3, 2013

The State of My Face - Day 344

A lot of things have changed since my last face update.  At this time I was supposed to have been scheduling surgery.  At my last appointment in March, Dr. H. (my orthodontist's partner) had written in her notes that my surgery was to happen in May.

Mouth friends, that did not happen.  But don't despair, it is still happening.  You see, there's been a hiccup in my treatment plan, and my surgery has been postponed until late October or early November, which was actually my original surgery timeframe.  Here is what happened:

16 weeks along, it's gonna be a big one!


We found out in February that we are expecting baby number three! It was a surprise, but a very happy and welcome one.  I am due on October 13, but because my previous labor was very short and I had high blood pressure, my doctor is planning to induce me about a week early.  The Le Fort I has been given to OK to happen at about six weeks postpartum, as long as the delivery goes well.  My obstetrician is concerned about exhaustion and healing having both a newborn and a face to attend to, but my husband has decided to stop working as of May 31 and stay home with the kids (do you know how expensive daycare is for three kids?!) 

My biggest concern right now is that I was able to nurse my first two children and I'd like to nurse my third.  With the surgery, medications, and low caloric intake post surgery, it may not be a possibility.  The plan right now is to start hoarding a pumped supply around three or four weeks, nurse up until surgery day, pump and dump while in the hospital and on medication to maintain supply, and then hopefully resume nursing at about two weeks post surgery.  It's a pretty aggressive plan.  If it doesn't work out, I can be okay with it.  But I'm not going to give up before I give it a try.

Because this is all happening at once, I'm expecting to be off of work from October until mid-January, which means I'll be home for the whole holiday season.  On the surface it's pretty exciting, but I am going to miss out on so much good holiday food!

My mouth is in a weird place right now.  Dr. E. and Dr. H. said that they will just keep me in a holding pattern until November.  They've given me a pretty good sized underbite, so I just have to suck it up and deal with it.  As allergy season starts up again I'm having some sinus pain that settled in my jaw where it is not aligned correctly.  At my last orthodontist appointment, my top powerchain was removed and one was put on my bottom teeth because I actually had too much space on my once-crowded bottom!  My bottom lip is doing this really obnoxious thing where it goes up over my top teeth and looks ridiculous in every picture of me.  I can't wait for my surgery to get everything in its place.

My awkward mouth
In late March I had a regularly scheduled dental check up and cleaning.  I was really excited to find out what is going on with the old Hell Bubble/Hot Mess.  Because I went and got all knocked up, my dentist couldn't run an X-Ray, though.  I'm going back to the dentist hopefully a week or two before my surgery and he can check on my toomah site and get me all spic 'n span before I get mangled. 




I can't believe it's been nearly a year since my braces went on! Believe me when I say that it flies, really really flies by.  I'm starting to get to the point where I'm counting down minutes until the end of this period in my life, but it's still not going as slow as I expected.  After every adjustment I still lisp, develop new places for food particles to hide, feel tension in my jaw, have pokey wires, but I don't really mind it.  It's annoying, sure, but I know that progress is happening.  It's happening a little slower, especially now with my five month holding pattern I'm going to be in, but I feel so much more confident that I made the right decision getting braces as an adult. 


Monday, February 25, 2013

The State of My Face - Day 277


I had my last orthodontist appointment on February 7. This was a long one, about 90 minutes total. Dr. E.and I talked a bit and he told me he was still on target for my jaw surgery being between April and June. I don't think it'll be April, though, because I scheduled my next appointment for March 25 and there was no mention of surgical hooks. I'm thinking if I'm having surgery in April I'd get my hooks on at the end of March. He also has been working on "torquing" my teeth. I kept hearing him say this at my appointments but had no idea what he was talking about. I finally asked and torquing means to make the teeth flare out a bit instead of point inward.

A lot of changes were made at this appointment! I knew ahead of time that he was going to have my two central incisor brackets removed and placed differently on the teeth. I didn't realize that this was so those teeth can be pulled down more and made longer! I'm growing longer teeth, y'all. The polishing part was a bit uncomfortable, but I survived. The assistant also let me brush my teeth without the brackets on and that was totally weird. My teeth felt so smooth and small.

Then they surprised me a bit. Previously my very back molars (second molars, number sevens, whatevs) didn't have brackets or bands on them. Dr. E. decided it was time to put brackets (not bands) on those teeth. One of those is a crown so that one was spared brackets but the other three have them and that was a major adjustment for me. I didn't think they would change my mouth so much but they did. I have been lisping and spitting a lot since they've been on and they are pokey and catch my cheek. Now that I've had them a few weeks they aren't as bad as they were at first, but they're not totally dandy either. Chewing food was hard for about five or six days. And I had to resort to using wax again which I hadn't used at all since I was first braced.

Then surprise number two came along. I know, how lucky am I? Dr. E. used a Drimmel tool-type thing with diamond coated grindy bits to grind down my fangs. Z.O.M.G. I don't recognized myself without my fangs. He is going to refine them more toward the end of treatment, he mostly just flattened off the tips. I look completely different. My fangs weren't especially bad but because I had my lateral incisors removed he had to make my canines look more like lateral incisors. I was skeptical that this would work but they really do fit right in now. Other people haven't noticed but it's been a big change for me. Also, having your teeth ground off kind of hurts. Just a heads up. One of my braced friends clued me in that if I know in advance they're doing that I should use sensitive toothpaste for a few weeks before-- noted!

The final surprise... my powerchain is gone! Dr. E. didn't say anything about removing it, so I'm not sure if it's gone by mistake or if I've actually graduated from powerchaindom. Either way, I'm happy about it. My teeth are much easier to clean and it's incredible how much my top braces seem to disappear without a gray powerchain. For a long time I kind of thought the Clarity brackets were a rip off because they were so noticeable... nope, just my grill chainz. I take it back Clarity, please forgive me.

I need to get a picture of all this business. Looking back my face has changed a lot since I last took some. It's on my to-do list.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

The State of My Face - Day 210

I had an adjustment this morning and am still stuck with the power thread argyle sweater of torture. The assistant said I'd be in this configuration for a long time. But, she was kind enough to give me a few minutes to brush after she took my power chain off so I could get all the crap out of my teeth. I have not felt so fresh and so clean in a long time.

I had a nice assistant helping me out, very chatty and if I remember correctly, she's also the one that is very good at not leaving little pokey things at the back of my mouth. No pokey things yet, and they usually appear within a few hours of an adjustment. My extraction gap is all but closed now, Dr. E. said it is still open "a hair", which is a very technical term.

My next appointment isn't until February 7 and at that time I am getting several of my brackets removed and replaced to a different part of the teeth. I think it's my top teeth on my canines, but I'm not sure. Dr. E. is trying to rotate some of my teeth some more before I get where he wants me.

But guys, here's the major development: after those teeth are rotated into place, I'm ready for surgery. No joke. Dr. E. said Spring, so I asked "like April?" he said, "April or May, maybe June. But it's looking like Spring."

source: www.reactiongifs.com



source: www.reactiongifs.com


Dr. E. was running a bit late today so I was in the chair for about 45 minutes, my normal time is generally under 15. While I was hanging out the assistant was talking to me about the tumor/parasitic twin/alien implant. It's hard to believe I'm coming up on a year since it was first discovered. Tomorrow I have an appointment with my lady business doctor and need to update my file so that they know I'm a Fibroma Making Machine. The assistant who worked on me said that she had an ovarian fibroma removed a few months ago, then a cyst-like thing grew on the back of her head. She is getting that removed in January and it will be biopsied to determine what it is. She thinks it may be another fibroma instead of a fluid filled cyst. She and I were talking about all the joys of finding weird growths growing in our bodies and the fear and confusion, it was nice to have someone who had been there and done that. Her medical team had pretty much told her the same thing, some people just get them. There's nothing we can do to prevent them, they just happen.

When I had this business adjusted last time the second and third days were pretty much no chew days due to the discomfort I was in. Tomorrow is my husband's 30th birthday (the whole apocalypse this is his fault). I planned a big party for him. I'm really hoping I can at least enjoy some of the top secret super awesome cake I had made for him.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Fibroma Making Machine.

That's me, the Fibroma Making Machine.

This is not tooth related, but interesting and I figured I'd throw it out there because I haven't had much new Hell Bubble material in a while. I went to my ophthalmologist for my annual check up yesterday (spoiler alert: I have horrible vision) and this is the first he saw me since my tooth bling was installed. He asked when I got the braces and I told him that I got them in May, but I was supposed to get them in January. The bracing was delayed because I had a tumor.

My dentist and surgeon thought it would be a good idea to let other doctors know about my Hell Bubble/Parasitic Twin/alien implant/Central Ossifying Fibroma because I am more prone to get fibroids in other parts of my body now that this is my body's prime objective. I didn't really think ahead of time that the eye doctor would need this information, it just sort of came up. So I tell him I had this tumor that was removed in March, and I was supposed to talk to my doctors about it, but I didn't report it to him at the time because "it's not like people get these on their eyes or anything, hardee har har".

He looks at me. Deadpan. "yeah they do..."  Somehow a fibroma in the eye sounds way worse to me than one in the jaw.

So there's the fun fact of the day, kiddies. You can get fibrous tumors in and around your eye.



PS- also, possibly, maybe, about six months until surgery! It's starting to feel real.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Photo Dump

October 31, pre adjustment

October 31, pre adjustment


October 31, pre adjustment extreme smile!

October 31, pre adjustment

October 31 pre adjustment

November 19

November 19

November 19

November 19, close up of my torture device
The torture device in this last photo is my power chain but also power thread and a thin wire woven around each bracket. It hurt like a mofo going on. The pain is lessening. This was super hard to photograph, but look up by the brackets and you can see the criss-crossy stuff going on against my teeth.

You guys are going to have to excuse the hot mess-ness going on. A stomach bug has been circulating my house for several weeks now. We all feel gross.

November
Check out my gap closure guys! The mid-line shift is obvious, too.
May



Friday, November 2, 2012

The State of My Face - Day 162, What Fresh Hell is This?

Oh friends. Friends, friends, friends.

I had an adjustment on Halloween. I strutted in there like I knew what was up. I was so wrong.

Dr. E. came across as his usual cheery self, even disguised as Captain America to conceal his truly evil intentions. I should've known better. He stopped by the chair and gave the assistant the instructions. This is what I heard with my untrained ears:

Assistant: Should I give her rubber bands?
Dr. E.: No, she didn't have them before, no reason to start now. She had a power chain, right?
Assistant: Yes, a six chain with an extra link (me here, this was for my gap)
Dr. E.: OK, I want you to put in power thread, tie six to six, put in a number (something? didn't get it) straight wire.
Assistant: Power chain?
Dr. E.: Yes, stick with grey

I'm all hurr de derp gettin mah mouth fixed

Source: www.reactiongifs.com


Y'all. They put me in a torture device. I usually don't have much discomfort or pain while the assistant is putting in a new wire and making adjustments but this hurt like a mofo. She did this zig-zaggy thing with a metal wire and a stretchy wire that was kind of like a braid up against my brackets. Then, she twisted or tied them together in the back and used the tweezery things and cranked them as tight as she could. I'm pretty sure I heard my face splitting in half. From what I've read people usually have Power Thread or Power Chains, but I'm a lucky bastard because I have both. Go me! Dr. E. continues to give me the grey power chains because they are stronger and because he likes to implement his instruments of torture (uh hi, have you heard of Article III of the Geneva Conventions?) on my delicate face.

The good news is that if my face survives this iron maiden I will likely have my gap closed by the end of the year. I'm guessing that this adjustment alone closed another .5mm or so.

Dr. E. and I talked a bit about his goals right now, mostly at my urging. I think I deserve the right to interrogate him after he orders this atrocity to my jaw. The goals right now are: Close the Damn Gap, Give Me a Massive Underbite, Shift my Mid-Line. My mid-line is almost where it needs to be. That may also come by my next adjustment. It's weird to think of but before this whole orthodontic mess I didn't think my mid-line was even an issue but my teeth were shifted over a huge distance, like the width of a tooth. My underbite is also coming along well.

I also asked about my estimated surgery date because this is my new hobby. This time I asked if I were going on summer vacation, when would be a good time to go (I'm sneaky). Dr. E. said to go as early in summer as possible, like right after the kids are out of school. Then, we would do surgery upon my return. Husband and I haven't decided on vacation quite yet, I want to save up paid leave to help with my disability pay (which is only 70% of normal pay).  But! Now I'm thinking June or July 2013 is my surgery. I should've been a detective. To think my investigation talents have been wasted so many years!

OK so day of adjustment, I did great. I was in discomfort but I did all the Halloween things I could. We didn't get many trick-or-treaters though with the storm, plus it continued to rain throughout the evening. But I felt all right and entertained guests. The day after? not so much.

I felt like someone had taken a brick and bashed my face in to try and move it to the right a little more. But maybe they bashed it repeatedly. It was awful. I couldn't eat. Even drinking hurt. I just wanted to sleep, but that hurt. Today is now two days post adjustment and things are improving but if I don't take ibuprofen every four hours I am not a pleasant person. The Husband and I are going out for Turkish food tonight and I think I may just end up eating an entire bowl of hummus for dinner.

Also weirdness of late-- I keep getting zits over where my tumor/parasitic twin/hell bubble was! They'll go away, and just as they start to heal, a new one pops up. My tumor was inside the bone, it's not like it was on the surface of the skin or even the surface of my gums. How the hell does that happen? I swear I've had like a permanent zit in that spot. I wish there was someone to ask this about, but I don't know anyone else who has had a fibroma in their head/face/jaw. I imagine if someone had one somewhere in their back I could ask them, but I don't think there's a proper way to say "so, tell me about your bacne" and on top of that I don't know anyone with a tumor in their back.