Going in for the Op

My boyfriend came to the hospital with me and we asked the nurse if he was able to wait. She didn't seem as if this was normal and said he could but we would have to wait in the 1st waiting room as the others are split male/female as people would be in their gowns. I was happy with that, as long as I didn't have to wait on my own. She took me into a room asked some questions and checked my blood pressure and temperature. My temperature was 37.8 and normal should be 37 - this wasn't good. I asked if it would make a difference to me getting the op and she just said we would have to keep checking it and hope it goes down. I was so stressed about this, what if I couldn't have the op and it had to be postponed. I didn't feel ill and knew the reason was just because I was so stressed so coming again at a different time probably wouldn't make a difference.

The nurse came and told me we could go through to the next waiting room as there were no other female patients scheduled for the afternoon. I changed into my gown and got comfy. Conversation was minimal really between me and my bf as I was too scared, but it was just good to have him there. They kept coming and checking my temperature. Everytime it had gone down but only a tiny bit and not enough to make a difference. The anesthetist came to see me and asked what he needed, then I had to go and see one of the team of surgeons I was having. All the questions were pretty much the same repeated but I suppose they have to do it! They checked my temp one last time and it was normal enough for me to have it... PHEW! :)

I was left for a while and then the nurse came in to say it was time to go down. All of a sudden I burst into tears and couldn't control myself. She gave me a few mins with my boyfriend then it was time to go. As I walked down to the theatre I couldn't stop crying, I felt stupid. I think mainly it was a culmination of all the stress leading up to it. Plus I was SOOOO scared! I got onto the table and they started hooking me up to machines. They put the IV in and away I went...

I woke up in recovery about 2 1/2 hours later. The first thing I started doing was feeling round my mouth with my tongue to see what was numb. Only the top. That meant I must have had only a lefort 1 done. I felt really rubbish, in pain and sick. They asked how I was feeling then decided to give me a concoction of painkillers and anti sickness stuff. The anti sickness worked a treat and I felt much better. They kept coming and putting an oxygen mask over me as I was coughing a bit. I hated this as it hurt the inside of my nostrils. After about 1 and 1/2 hours they rang my boyfriend and took me up to the ward. I was so lucky I got my own private room which I wasn't expecting. This was much better than having to share when feeling like that!

I waited about an hour and a half until it was visiting time and then my Mum, Dad, sister and boyfriend  turned up. This was so good to see people close to me. I've never been in hospital and wasn't liking the experience much as I preferred to be at home. I was doing quite well, managing to speak quite a bit and they said I didn't look as bad as they thought I would. I got my mum to take a snap of me before leaving. When they left I watched some tv and tried to get some rest. I didn't end up even trying to sleep until about 1am. Here is a lovely pic of what I looked like just after:

Not too swollen really!

Surgery Day!

So surgery day is here and I am so scared its unreal! I managed to stay fairly calm last night but now its the morning its just took over! I am allowed to eat a very light breakfast before 8am but I couldn't actually manage any so that's that for proper food I guess for the next 6 weeks! hmmmmmmmmm... I keep saying to my boyfriend do I have to go? Which I know is hard for him. He doesn't want to see me go through this but also knows I obviously do need to go!

Not sure if I can have anyone wait with me at the hospital before I go down for it. I really hope I can have him wait though. So scared and sitting there on my own with just my thoughts to take over will be too much. Not sure what I am scared of most, the anesthetic, the actual surgery or the recovery! :(

See you on the other side guys!

More metal in my mouth

I went to go and get my surgical hooks attached to the brace. Now this was something that I was really scared of for some reason. I didn't really find a lot of information on it beforehand and so didn't know what to expect. This should have probably pointed me to the conclusion that is isn't a big deal!!

It was fine, a little bit of pressure and that's it! You can hardly even see them either. I thought they were going to be these giant monstrosities that took over my mouth! The ortho did tell me to use some wax on them but i am pretty anti wax, i'd rather let me mouth get used to it. They have rubbed a bit, but not as bad as when the braces got put on. My teeth are sore but I think that's mainly from the work he did on my wire and a bit of tightening prior to putting the hooks on!

Last surgeon appointment - before pics

I'm due to get surgery for my Open bite this coming thursday - 3 days eeeeeeeeeeeek!!!
I saw my surgeon last week for my final appointment to find out whats going to be happening. When I saw her a few weeks ago they weren't sure what they were going to do yet and needed more time to think about it!

I've been told since I was 15 I needed it done but its sounded to scary so I just put it off. Its now starting to affect my health and I didn't like my teeth anyway so I decided to just get it over with! I'm lucky enough to be getting it done for free on the NHS and haven't had a big wait. I had my braces put on March last year and here I am ready for my op. I've been told it will probably be between 3-6 month of orthodontics after the op!

Anyway so I went last monday and she still wasn't 100% sure. She said my xrays looked like there was a big gap and showed I needed bi Max but when she looks at me in person she thinks it will just need the top jaw doing. She doesn't want to go through with bottom jaw unless she REALLY has to. So we've decided on a Lefort 1 posterior impaction (where they are tilting the back of the jaw down I think!) She did say this will bring my chin and bottom jaw forward slightly! If she gets in and does that and it isn't a class 1 occlusion she said she would do a bit of work on the bottom jaw!

The only problem I have is I wanted a more balanced profile. I predominately came into it wanting just a better function but now I want to sort out the aesthetics too. She did say after I am healed if I'm still not happy with my profile, as she said it isn't as balanced as it should be we will plan a genioplasty separate which she said is just a day case! hmppppph things are never easy are they!!! I'm off to the hospital again later today to get my surgical hooks on! 

Here are some before pics:

Me before braces

Normal smiling face

Normal relaxed face

Close up of teeth -this is my bite completely together (only very back teeth touching)

Side smiling

Side relaxed

Waiting game...

Just thought I'd give a quick update. I'm kind of managing to stay positive about everything. I'm also researching Lefort 1's like there is no tomorrow. I'm hoping if I manage to trick myself into thinking I;m only having one of them if I get double it will be a bonus. My meeting is now 10 days away, which I'm hoping will go speedily!!!!

My mum has booked the time off to come with me and I'm hoping the appointment doesn't bother her too much. She isn't very PRO surgery (for anything) and the thought of it all freaks her out a bit. My boyfriend normally comes to the appointments with me as he's good at asking the questions I forget when I get overwhelmed but he is on a work training course that day that he can't get out of :(

Me and my mum have organised to go out for a nice lunch though afterwards! Should take my mind off it all hopefully as I need to enjoy that last week as much as I can! Me and my boyfriend have just moved house and are in the processes of doing it up. STRESS CITY ha.... trying to get things sorted a little bit better before the big op!

Disappointment

So I went to my pre op/ pre surgeon appt and to get my impressions etc done! As you can see from previous posts I was so excited to finally find out what was to be done in the operation as its not long off. I was concerned that my impressions and xrays were only booked in for after my appointment with my surgeon but I thought they must know what they're doing so i left them to it!

First I went in to see the pre op nurse and was in there about 50 mins - WOW was not expecting it to be that thorough! She told me I was probably having bi max surgery which I was happy about as they weren't 100 percent sure at the beginning of the process but I felt this would give me better results aesthetically rather than just functionally. She went through some things like how long I'll be banded shut, need off work and what the hospital stay may be like. She also weighed me, measured my height, took my blood pressure, did some tests for MRSA and booked me in for more blood checks to test my kidneys and liver.

After this I went in to see my surgeon. She had a look in my mouth and at my bite and couldn't believe how much my bottom teeth had expanded and moved out. She originally wanted to do bi max - rotating the top jaw and bringing the bottom forward, now she weren't sure about doing the bottom jaw. I felt gutted. I expressed concerns with just doing the top jaw as I don't like my weak profile/chin. She agreed that it wasn't balanced and said if they don't do the bottom jaw they could possibly look at doing some chin work? But everything was just speculation really and I couldn't ask questions as she didn't have answers for them. She said she needed to see my impressions and xrays first and do the mock operation on them prior to deciding what she will be doing. I get that this needs to be done but it was  just so frustrating as I thought I'd find out today. She put some warm wax in my mouth and  asked me to bite down on it whilst using some sort of measuring device on my face. Not sure what this was as it wasn't explained but I seemed to thin it could be for a splint? Not sure if I'm even having one of them!

So I went to my ortho's room and got my impressions made. He looked at my bite as said he thought it was a large gap not a small one but my surgeon thought it was a small one. So... now I just have to wait and see. My next appt is on the 20th Feb - which is 9 days before my surgery! I was so frustrated and sad after that appointment but I've managed to calm down and relax about  it all. the main thing is since starting this journey I have developed a complex with how I look - my profile especially. Which I didn't have before. Its saddening to be told that they may not  sort this. I came to jaw surgery for functional reasons but now need to sort physical things too as I think I'd still be unhappy afterwards!

I was told by preop 4-6 weeks off work and 2 week tight bands - liquid only, 2 weeks slightly lighter bands - mushy foods such as rice pudding and 2 more weeks lesser bands so soft foods. Not sure if all this applies if they do decide to just do one jaw.

Watch this space!

Time flies

When I first got my braces put on 10 months ago I felt that time would stand still and I'd never be ready for surgery! Wow, I was wrong.

Time has flown and now I'm only 5 weeks away from my surgery. Looks like I should finally make an effort with this blog and start documenting things now the important stuff is picking up.

I meet with my surgeon next week for a full break down of the surgery/ recovery/ hospital stay etc and to be honest I'm a little bit on the scared side. That means its real right? And I'm going to have to face up to it! Argh! No more osteriching around and sticking my head in the sand!