Roller coaster ride

I had my otho appointment on Thursday, June 27th. My ortho said that she was just as confused, maybe more confused than me as to why my surgery was canceled for July 2nd.  Once I suggested she call the surgeon to see what was going on, she left and placed two calls in the time that I was there, even asking if one of the interns could call to speak with her. Of course, no one was available at the time. I was keeping my fingers crossed that I would hear something from someone yesterday, but that did not happen. The next hope was that I would hear from my ortho today, but that did not happen either...so frustrating!! I did call the ortho, she wasn't even in the office today.  I also called the scheduler person at the surgeon's office.  She is aware that the original surgery date was canceled, and she said that she would talk to the one intern to see what was going on. He said that it is definitely something that needs to be worked out between the ortho and the surgeon.  I waited till the afternoon, but I called back with a different question and at that point as we were talking, I said that this is just due to a miscommunication. If they would have been able to reach my regular ortho on Friday (she was teaching a seminar and they couldn't reach her) this whole thing could have been avoided!!! The scheduler did say that the dr is booked all of July now because I was asking if they could pencil me in on a date while the two doctors figure it out. (The ortho said they would try to get me back on the schedule and get it done this month.) At this point, I told her that I am panicking that it won't get done and be delayed for 6 months, but she said for me not to panic, she will talk to the doctor and maybe the doctor could get me in when she normally isn't scheduled for the O.R.  I really hope that's the case. I want as much recovery time as I can get, and the summer time is it for me.  Keeping fingers crossed. I will post again as soon as I get an idea of what's happening, you better believe that I will be calling them next week!!

change of plans...

I had my pre-op work up appointment with my surgeon today and as you can tell from the heading of this post, it did not go according to plan! I had a nervous feeling for the past few days that something was up and I was a little worried about the appointment. Well, the feeling got verified today when my surgeon said that I am NOT READY for surgery, which was scheduled for JULY 2!  Did not want that news.

The problem seems to be some lack of communication between the surgeon and the orthodontist and my ortho just put a new wire on me at the last visit with the springs and my teeth are still changing too much to even do the molds, etc for them to make surgical splints since my teeth would keep changing in the meantime!  I only had to drive an hour and a half each way, and in a monsoon on the way home! I was stressed, to say the least!!

The surgeon said that I need to be in a straight wire to maintain things steady for at least a month before they could do the molds, etc. Well, there goes my summer timeline to get this done and heal up a bit before returning to work in August.  But, the surgeon did say that she thought the best result would be to do the top too, (in three parts), the bottom and the chin. I asked about how much time off they would recommend and was told three weeks. I also asked about diet at that point of recovery and the intern said that I would not be wired or banded(the splint is just attached to the top) and that I would be on a soft diet-anything mushy that I don't have to chew. At that point, I would just be worried more about energy level to go back to work and deal with kids all day long and do lots of talking. I do reading groups with kids in K-4th grade, and it can be alot of discussion. I guess I will have to prompt them and let them do all the talking! :)

So, given my work schedule, I set a tentative surgery date for December 17th, I would still have to take a few days off, but then would have two weeks for winter break from school and that would give me about 3 weeks off.  That should also give the ortho and surgeon enough time to make sure things are absolutely ready for surgery!!!!!!

I'm just trying to look at the positive side of things, even though I am so frustrated with the situation right now. But if reading all the other blogs has done anything for me, they've shown me that this happens alot and I really need to be prepared for anything! I am reminding myself that this is not something that I want to rush and I want the best results possible so if it takes a few more months, then I'll roll with it.  I have an ortho appointment next week, (which was supposed to be for surgical hooks) so I will see what goes on then and try to update after that.

Updated Plan / Ortho Visit / 30 day countdown

I went to the ortho again on Thursday, May 30th. I was due to get my first set of sure smile wires and molds done (to be sent to the surgeon).  The assistant took my old wires out and did the molds, the ortho also did a bite mold, but it wasn't the typical sheet of wax since they were fed-exing the molds to the surgeon, and heat in a shipping truck would ruin the mold, so the ortho used what looked like a caulk gun to squirt goo on my teeth then I just had to bite and hold it so the material could set up.  It was easy, didn't taste bad or anything, but different.

The molds are another story, I hate doing them to begin with. I dreaded having it done for the first time with the braces on.  The bottom one wasn't bad and the first top one went ok too, until she came back with the tray full of goo again and had to re do the top, that one was more challenging since there seemed to be way too much goo in the tray! yuck, hard to breathe on that one!

Then the assistant had to wrestle the wires in place and they also added springs in a couple spots to open up space between a few teeth on top, since now the ortho is saying the top needs work too. Now, the was news to me, since the surgeon really only wanted to do the bottom, unless the top isn't wide enough. Well, I guess when the ortho and surgeon had their latest consultation together, they decided the top needed to move too and this is the first I am hearing of it. So as the ortho is casually showing me on the computer how they are going to move the top, I had to stop her and ask for clarification. Now, as far as I know, insurance has only approved for the lower jaw. When I asked about that, my ortho said she had seen that it was approved, but couldn't find it in my record at the moment, so I am waiting on confirmation about that. I am at the 30 day countdown point right now!! Yikes, at least I don't have too much time to worry about double jaw surgery, I was finally getting settled with the thought of what was going to happen to the bottom. I am having more feelings of "what the heck am I doing?!?" at this point. Now I am worried about requiring a splint, longer period of liquid diet, etc. I guess I better get my list of questions ready.  Has anyone had the upper jaw done (in three pieces) and NOT need a splint for any period of time? I am thinking I need to be ready for anything at this point!!

I really wanted to call insurance yesterday, but had to leave work early due to touch of a stomach bug, thanks to my sick family-they are so kind to share their germs! I was too out of it to call anyway. I will have my daughter at the ortho on Monday for her own appointment-I wish they gave family discounts- maybe I'll get the insurance information I need then, otherwise I will be calling several different people to find out what's what! I am waiting for the insurance person to call from the surgeon's office though.  Anyway, I will end this post as it's rambling on a bit! Hope to update soon with the insurance confirmation-that will help put my mind at ease...

Problem solved...

This seems to be a recurring theme with my teeth, I was flossing last night, when yet again that crown popped off! It happened a few months ago, before I got braces on in January. That was an old crown and it had a lot of decay under it, so it was good that was found and taken care of, then the temporary popped off, also while flossing! So when I got the permanent one in, they used stronger cement. When I was eating yesterday, I did feel a weird crunch on that side when a piece of food found its way to that side. I don't normally chew on that side since it feels uncomfortable ever since I got my braces on.  So again, flossing that side and Pop! I admit, I freaked out when that happened.  The only thing I think of is how much more money will this cost me?!

I took the day off of work to deal with this problem. I was lucky that I got into the dentist first thing and got the crown re-cemented, but they had to trim my wire that ran to that bracket so then I had to run to the orthodontist.  I am due to get my sure smile wires next week so they actually didn't give me a new wire today, they just looked at things, trimmed the wire even closer to that next bracket and let me go. They didn't want a new wire to change anything before I get the sure smile wires.  She also told me that she would put the surgical hooks on closer to time and change to a surgical wire also about a week before my surgery.

I made the appointment for my physical and history and also moved my dental cleaning closer to time of the surgery since I won't be able to get a cleaning for a while afterwards.

So, crisis averted and everything seems back to normal! I hope it stays that way!!

Surgery Date!!!!

So after asking the ortho at my last visit if I would be ready for surgery next month, she said that she and my surgeon both agree that I will be ready for surgery. So,  I tried calling several times to get on the schedule. The weeks in June that I was hoping for a date were already booked but they did have June 11th open. But I needed to talk to someone else in the office first, so once I called later in the day, I was told that date was taken then too.  It would have a been a little rushed to get things done by then, but I wanted to go for that date! The insurance approval was only good through the 14th of June, so I had to talk to that person to get it extended, which it now is extended until July 31st.

The next available date was *July 2nd* so I took that date. That gives me time to do the necessary appointments-the history and physical and the 2 hour appointment with the surgeon 2 weeks before the surgery. That also gives me time to get things organized and ready around the house. I will have a little down time to relax also (I hope!)

 I am so excited. I have been waiting to know the date, but now it feels weird to know that it's more official now that it's on the calendar. I wanted to put a count down gadget on here, but I haven't figured that out yet! It's not quite 7 weeks away.

My next ortho appt is May 30th.  I get molds done that day and get the sure smile wires then too, unless they are ready sooner. They said they would call, if so. I guess I will find out at that time what other ortho appointments I would need before surgery.

I hope the time goes by a little faster than it has been, it's been kind of dragging along to this point.

I hope to see everyone's updates on their recovery, since I am close now, I am really interested in seeing how others are coping!  I will update again after the 30th appointment.

...and more braces!

I had an ortho appointment back on March 5th where they put new elastic ties on, but kept the same wire and placed spacers between my very back molars to make room for more bands. Yes, I was really looking forward to that! I guess I am just a big baby, but those spacers killed me the first time around. They actually weren't too bad this time. I actually forgot they were in after a few days and tried flossing that spot and popped one out! I  used the ortho's technique of using floss to put it back in. It turns out that the contacts of my teeth are too tight to use the plier type tool thing so they had to floss several of them in(both times). Anyway, I got it back in there and it stayed, so that worked out!

So the follow-up appointment was just today to get the  bands placed. Not too pleasant, but obviously not as bad as getting the whole set of braces on! I just feel like I don't have room that far back in my mouth for all this metal! I also got heavier wires placed today. I think they said 15's but I'm not sure exactly what that means!

I did get good news recently that the insurance approval was extended for another 90 days (good til June 14th) I wasn't worried about it, but just needed to get it done. The ortho talked to the surgeon today before my appointment (good timing) and the surgeon still thinks that just doing the bottom jaw is the way to go, she is worried about changing the top since when talking and normally smiling, it looks fine and she doesn't want to change that. My ortho will be making adjustments to make sure the bottom fits the best way with the top without changing the top. She did say that I will be having the biggest jaw advancement that can be done (10mm) That's huge!!  She also said that I should be good to get the surgery done before the insurance needs to be extended again. As long as I stay healthy, which might be a little challenge since I work in an elementary school and the germs have been flying lately!

The next appointment will be at the end of April, so not too long away really. That appointment will include impressions, pics and scans to send to the surgeon and between the ortho and surgeon they do their digital surgery planning-cool! I'm glad they do it that way, since they only get one crack at my face and I want them to know the plan ahead of time!! I guess as the treatment goes on, they will see how things are looking/fitting to see if the top needs done too. I just want the best result if I am going through this!

I think they said I would get a new wire at the next appointment  too and they would be planning the surgery wire from the impressions for all the hooks and things.

I also need to ask when I need to see the specialist she was referring me to, so I can check  that my jawbone is good enough to withstand the surgery! Has anyone else had to do that too?

Braces!

Okay, so now that I got the metal installed today, I am having a lot of "what am I thinking?!" moments right now! My appointment was at 2:30. I met with the ortho and went over a few things before they started with the braces but I didn't even leave until about 5:00. They had some trouble fitting the band on the upper right tooth and now those two teeth (top and bottom) are the only ones touching when I bite down. This will be fun to eat on!  They did say they would probably refit that band when I have my next appointment but that's not scheduled till the beginning of March. Should I call and tell them or is this just part of the process as things start moving anyway?

The ortho did say that we will probably be able to set a surgery date for the summer when I see them in March. That would be fabulous! She is still sticking to the 4-6 months timeline of braces before surgery. I guess I am comitted to the process for sure now that I have the braces on! I went to the store and got a lot of soup to eat. My mouth already feels torn up inside. I will have to baby it for awhile.

Going back to work on Monday and doing a lot of talking will be lots of fun, I'm sure! Things are on the move now, literally! I started this process back in August so it's good to finally get the braces on and start seeing some changes-for the better!:)