Matt's orthognathic blog

14 months post-op

2010-09-26T10:45:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone,

I wanted to post one (more) last update. My bite on the sides has pretty much come into place finally. It only took 14 months post-op, and 7 months after my braces came off :) I did need the wire on my retainer adjusted once to let a couple of my front teeth move out a little, and wearing my retainer less also helped.

My bite finally feels totally comfortable with no hitting in the front. I seem to have remastered speech as well. I think the tiny changes in my bite while the sides were coming into place were making it hard for me to accurately get my tongue and jaw in the correct position for good pronunciation. I also had some issues with my jaw randomly snapping shut in the middle of a word. This may have been related to a med that I'm on that can make my jaw muscles clench.

I thought this might be encouraging info for anyone still experiencing similar problems.

Good luck to all!

OK, one more post

2010-06-10T16:13:00.002-04:00

I had a problem with my upper and lower front teeth hitting after my braces came off. I went to the ortho twice (my new ortho because my original graduated) whom I do not feel comfortable with. The attending doc bent the wire on my Hawley retainer to let my front teeth move a little forward. He also told me to quit wearing it so much since my bite actually felt better without it. Everything seems to be coming together nicely now. I just wanted to let people know that they should be persistent if things don't feel right, it's your mouth and your money.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Final Post

2010-04-21T07:45:00.002-04:00

In my last post I stated that my molars were not touching on the side and that I was still hitting on a front tooth. After 2 months in the Hawley retainers, my bite is near perfect. Everything is coming together perfectly on the sides. I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to comfortably chew my food and bite through things compeletly without dragging half the food out. I am so happy with the outcome and would do it again in a minute.

I wish everyone going through this the best of luck!!!

Take care all!!

Final Retainers In - It finally feels over

2010-03-19T08:50:00.004-04:00

I got my Hawley retainers put in yesterday and got rid of the nasty Essex retainers. Everything fit perfectly. I still have to go back for retention checks because my molars aren't touching again. They think it's just because I had the Essex in too long. There was a mix-up with the date that my Hawley's were supposed to be made so I wore the Essex for over a month. The Essex was holding my teeth in place and not letting them settle in. Hopefully that corrects itself now.

It feels like it's over now, it was totally worth it, and I am so glad I did it.

My resident orthodontist, Dr. Dan Walton, just graduated so I'll never see him again, kinda sad after 2 years. He did a great job and I wish him well.

Good luck to everyone embarking on this journey. I wish you the best of luck!!

P.S. - If anyone is interested in a good book to read, I just read 2 great books. The Shack by William P. Young, and Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom.

Ben's Big Mouth Blog

2010-03-08T07:33:00.001-05:00

Did anyone else notice that this blog disappeared and his last post was right before surgery. I hope he made it through ok.

Final Pics - no glamour shots, kinda rough

2010-02-07T11:43:00.010-05:00

You can see my screws here. You can also see how short my middle -upper roots have become after having braces for so long.

This is early in the morning with bedhead and squinty eyes. I still have a little paralyzed muscle on the right.

You have to look at previous profile to compare.

I had to crop this so it's blurry.

My teeth do close , I just opened them so you can see how they line up.

I still have the molded Essex retainers and they seem to be shifting my teeth a little. I guess when I get the Hawley's put in they settle in more.

AND THEY"RE OFF!!!

2010-02-04T18:15:00.002-05:00

My braces are off!. It took two and a half hours. I got my upper and lower permanent retainers, and upper and lower Essex retainers (the invisalign clear molded things). I go back for the Hawley retainers in 3 weeks.

It feels really weird. My teeth look like dentures to me. I'll post some pics later.

Does anyone know what happened to George?

2010-02-01T20:45:00.000-05:00

Last Adjustment

2010-01-28T20:02:00.004-05:00

Not much to say. The only change was using wire ties across my upper front teeth to make sure no gaps form. He was going to sand down one of my teeth to close a "black triangle" (a gap between two teeth at the gum line where the gum has receded, but the teeth are touching at the bottom). The problem is that the gum receded on a tooth that I had a bone graft on, it receded after the surgery. I hate having that tooth touched because very little of the root is still in the bone and it's always loose. He assured me it wouldn't fall out while he was tugging on it to sand it down so I said OK. Two seconds later he said "Maybe we shouldn't do this because the tooth was moving a little too much." I've told him before that I know my teeth very well. He laughed and said that I've been in braces longer than he has been in college so I'm pretty much an orthodontist now.

My bite feels better than it ever has and my debanding date is still Feb 4th.

DEBANDING DATE - FEBRUARY 4th!!!

2010-01-07T15:33:00.002-05:00

Minor adjustment today with a few elastics to wear at night just to sock in my molars. One more appointment in 2 weeks and then they come off on Feb 4th.

Braces off in a month!!

2009-12-18T13:09:00.002-05:00

I went to the ortho yesterday and he said that the molds that he took last time were ranked as a 16 (out of 20 I think) on some scale they use to see how well your teeth fit together. He said that's a lot better than most people rank when their braces come off and that he will definitely be using me as a case to get his board certification. I was a little surprised of the ranking because my back molar on the right side hits before any others do, and then my teeth slide a little and then go into place. But he did some subtle tweaking and used the diamond studded sand paper to sand down one of my teeth and then did a few wire bends and it feels better already. I have to go back in 2 weeks to have some elastics put on the left molars to pull them closed and then hopefully after 2 more weeks (I'm guessing 4) they come off.

This may seem to ramble a bit but I thought you all might like to know that there are different options for retainers out there. I requested a permanent retainer on top where they contour a wire to the shape of your teeth from canine to canine and cement it to the back of your teeth so it's not visible. The only problem with this type is that it's hard to clean around, but I get my teeth cleaned every 3 months so that's not really an issue for me. The main reason I like this type is because I have a front tooth that is always a little loose and tends to move the minute the wire comes off so having it cemented to a wire 24/7 resolves that problem. I have had 4 different kinds of retainers and I found this to be the best for me. The first time I had braces I lost five removable retainers in a year and my teeth started to move while they were making the new ones, plus they were $150 each. I also had the clear plastic invisalign type but my gums were bleeding once in a meeting and I smiled and the whole thing was full of blood, very embarrassing. The last lower retainer I had was very cool. They left the bands on my lower back molars and then ran a wire all along the inside of my lower teeth that held every tooth in place. The downside was that the bands were visible if I smiled really wide.

I can't believe this is coming to an end!!

Happy Holidays!!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-11T16:35:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and to share something that I heard on the radio today.

There is an organization called smiletrain.org and they perform cleft palate surgeries in third world countries at no cost to the patient. This is a very reputable charity and they can perform these surgeries at around $250 per patient so even a small donation can go a long way. The surgeons also provide training to local surgeons so that they can learn how to do the surgeries themselves. I read that in Uganda they name all children with cleft lip/palate the same name and the word means "cursed by God".

I think it is a worthwhile charity and after what we've been through with this surgery, I feel like it's something we can all relate to in a way. I thought it was bad that my insurance wouldn't cover my surgery just to improve my bite so I can't imagine needing cleft surgery and having no possible way to pay for it.

I just wanted to put that out there and I hope everyone is doing well.

I haven't posted pics of my dogs!

2009-12-03T05:59:00.006-05:00

I always show off my dogs, well at least the black pug, the other one not so much. Let's just say we agree to disagree. The totally spoiled, needy, 13 year old black pug is Banky (his name is from the movie Chasing Amy if you've seen it, the actor went on to become Earl on "My name is Earl") and the other one is Hadji. Hadji is half pug and half Tasmanian Devil I do believe. I got Banky right before my first set of braces went on and he's 13 years old. That's crazy!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T13:28:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone on the other side can eat comfortably enough to enjoy the food. I can pretty much bite through wood now so I'm sure I'll gain 5 pounds.

Travel safely and have a good one!!

98 Days Post-Op - I'm Special!!

2009-11-05T15:49:00.003-05:00

Not really. I went to the Resident Orthodontist today and he is using my case as one of the 6 cases he has to submit to get his board certification. He said my results are pretty amazing, at least the difference in my bite. They have to show the progression of a "severe" case and a very good outcome.

I wish I still had my original molds from before I got braces the first time, he w0uld really be amazed. My upper teeth were horribly crowded and crooked, and my under bite was much worse than he ever saw. He is my fourth orthodontist if you haven't read the beginning of my blog.

This is good and bad news. The good news is that my bite is going to be close to perfect. The bad news is that I had to agree to some extra "tweaking" so that he can make it as perfect as he possibly can. He said it shouldn't add more than two appointments. After having braces on and off for 13 years, surgery, and paying all of this out-of-pocket, I think I can handle 2 more months for near perfection. I never expected this to end as well as it has after so many problems along the way. I wish everyone the same luck I have had.

I'm gonna puke!!

2009-11-03T20:14:00.004-05:00

I found this and realized that I never posted it. This was about 30 minutes after surgery and I was about to throw up at the end and was trying to get Juan, my partner, to put the camera down and get me the trash can. I find it funny. Oh, I didn't throw up, just a huge bloody tasting burp. EEEEW!!

First teeth cleaning, and a little reassurance

2009-10-10T20:25:00.004-04:00

I had my teeth cleaned for the first time since surgery yesterday and it wasn't bad at all. I have my teeth cleaned every three months ever since I had to have a major bone graft about 4 years ago (another $3500 out of pocket). I go to my dentist every 6 months and then to my periodontist every 6 months, so every 3 months. Anyway, the hygienist got done and the doc came in to take a look. He always checks for cavities and measures the depth of the pockets where I had the grafts. All that was good so he told me to bite down so he could see how the surgery went. He said "WOW, unbelievable." It sounded positive but you never know. So I was like "WHAT?". He said that he's been around a long time, back when orthognathic surgery first started. He's seen a lot of disasters and he said he is still a little apprehensive when people tell him they are having the procedure done. He said that mine was about as good as it gets and that my bite was right on. That was nice to hear. Just so I don't scare anyone too bad, keep in mind that dentists are all about tooth/gum/bone health. I'm sure when he says he has seen a lot of disasters he doesn't mean cosmetic disasters. What you truly should get out of braces and surgery is a rock solid bite, the cosmetic part is just a perk if it works out that way. I actually think that my profile could have been a lot better, but they did what they could do and I'm extremely happy with that. I just want my teeth to fit together the way they should.

He also told me that I should really watch when my braces come off and pay attention to any movement happening with my back teeth because a lot of orthos are so obsessed with the smile that they don't pay enough attention to the rest. Pressure from the back will make the rest start moving again. I thought that would be a good tip for all of us so I threw it in the blog

This may be my last blog for a while so Happy Halloween!!

Day 71 - Feeling Normal Again

2009-10-08T20:03:00.003-04:00

The last few days have been odd, but in a good way. Many of the things that made me constantly aware that I had surgery have all but disappeared. My face is no longer numb unless I tap it really hard and then it tingles a little. The side of my mouth that didn't want to go up when I smile is finally working. I can feel my upper gums almost all the way down to my teeth. All of these are great, but something happened today that really gave me hope.

I decided to go out to lunch by myself. I was dying for a Buffalo Chicken Salad from Chile's. I went in and sat at the bar by myself. Normally I would already be obsessing about the server looking at my mouth and noticing my under bite. Then they would come and I would look them directly in the eyes to see if they were looking at my mouth. I would try to hide my mouth while I was eating and I would always feel like I had a deformity. Some of you may not have been bothered by this as much as I have been, but I'm sure some of you can relate.

I was just about done with lunch when I realized that I had not even thought about my appearance while I was eating, and I was having a little conversation with the waitress . On top of that, I was chewing normally without feeling the pressure where the bone was cut. Well, I did still have food stuck in my braces, so the check paying part still bothered me a little :)

I know some of you are going through some tough times right now so I just wanted to share this with you to maybe give you some hope. It does get better.

In other news, I just finished booking a trip to Rome and Venice for the end of May 2010. My partner and I are taking his parents for their 40th wedding anniversary. He travels a lot for work and has saved up enough miles to fly for free. I think this will be the trip of a lifetime for his parents. His father is a prostate cancer survivor so things like this mean a lot to him.

Good luck everyone!!

Pics - 60 days in

2009-09-26T18:31:00.019-04:00

Well, here they are. About 60 days in. First let me say that this is the first time I've shaved my mustache EVER! It's weird to see it. I always had a mustache because it added some to my lip. You can still tell that my upper lip is a little far back, but I'm happy with it. Going through lower jaw surgery didn't seem worth it. Especially since I paid for this out-of-pocket. I posted a before and an after plus a few bonus photos with me in complete misery after surgery. Enjoy!

Most of these were taken with a Blackberry so the quality is all that great.

Before:

Two weeks after Surgery:

Today:

Right after surgery - OUCH!!

56 Days Post-op

2009-09-24T14:22:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it has been 56 days! I went to the ortho today and everything is going well. They told me that I should be out of braces in less than 6 months. Yay!!! I go to OSU Dental College so my ortho is a resident. I saw the faculty ortho for the first time since surgery and he was very happy with the reult and said everything looked "superb" . I was in class 3 elastics on both sides but they said I can stop those. They sanded down a few spots on my front teeth where I was hitting. I now only have to wear one elastic on my very back molars. It's a cross elastic to pull the upper outward and the lower inward. They also did some contouring thing with the wire because I was hitting pretty hard on my canines and that already feels better,

My face is still a little numb under my right eye down to my lip, but less than when I did my last post. My upper gums are still numb but that seems a little better too. The worst spot is right behind my upper teeth and it kind of burns. I'm not sure if it's directly from surgey or if I'm burning it on hot food and just can't feel it. I still sound very nasally to myself when I talk. This is probably the most annoying thing right now. Eating hard things is still very uncomfortable and I think it feels worse than right after surgery. Maybe it's because I have more feeling than I had before. The muscles around my nose hurt a little when I smile but it's bearable.

I'll post some pics later. I know I promised to last time but never got around to it.

Good luck to everyone!!

39 Days post op- just because

2009-09-09T21:13:00.004-04:00

Nothing has really happened lately but I thought I would update anyway.

The only evidence of my surgery now is that my face under my right eye down to my lip is still numb. I only notice it when I touch it though. My scar under my lip is still a little sore but only when I laugh or smile really big. The biggest issue is chewing. Have you ever done that thing where you hold your hand up to someone's hand and then rub both index fingers between your index finger and thumb? I think it's called dead man's finger. This is how my entire upper gums feel. Like they aren't really mine. Even when I brush my teeth, the sound does not carry through the bone normally and it sounds muffled. I also sound really nasally to myself. I assume that it's the sound carrying through the bone thing as well. Everyone says that I sound normal, but I sound like I have a bad cold to myself.

I also wanted to say that if anyone is exclusively reading my blog, please read others as well. I seem to have had an amazingly easy recovery. I am so surprised because I'm 41 and I thought I would have a worse recovery than most of you youngsters. I think it's because I only had my upper jaw advanced. Others have upper and lower, genioplasty, and possibly a tilt in some direction requiring a bone graft (spelling?),

I'll post some pics soon since all of the swelling seems to be gone.

Good luck to you all!!

28 Days Post Op Checkup

2009-08-25T07:09:00.004-04:00

I went to the doc and the ortho yesterday. The doc says everything looks good and I don't need to see him again until after my braces come off. This upsets me a little for two reasons; I am the type that likes to hear that my symptoms are normal as I recover or I get nervous, and he is so adorable it made the two hour drive worth it. My upper lip is still numb, especially on the right side. It feels like it's asleep when I touch it, tingles to the point of pain. I have a muscle that pulls really hard when I smile or laugh to the point of hurting. My teeth are still hitting on the front and not on the sides. He is sure the ortho can take care of that.

I saw the ortho later. He said the TPA that I ripped out can stay out, he cemented a band back in that came loose, put a chain from 6 to 6 on the bottom to tip my lower teeth in a little, and I have class III elastics again to pull the lowers back and uppers forward. It is now the next morning and my teeth are almost not hitting in the front and they are starting to hit on the sides. It hurts though, probably the most pain I've had from braces in a long time. I go back Sep 24th. I also found out that I should still be eating somewhat soft food still, oops. I have been cutting everything up and only eating a few hard things so I think I'm ok.

On the personal side, school started yesterday but I missed my first class because I had to drive to Columbus for the docs. I'll do another update as my bite changes.

Summer's over :(

Greetings from Wine Country

2009-08-19T12:24:00.004-04:00

Well, I'm in Sonoma County in California aka Wine Country. Sounds great, but I hate wine so that part of the trip is wasted on me. I'm staying with a friend that lives in Guerneville. We've been to the beach, Botanical Gardens, bars, and a few restaurants and shops. Here are some pics from CA if you are interested.

All of my stitches are now out after much pulling and tearing. I still have a little swelling and the bone cut is still pretty sore. The worst is the numbness. My upper gums are still completely numb, but I can now brush pretty hard since the stitches are gone. I've been eating whatever I want, just a little slower than normal. I also had to rip out my TPA (trans palletal arch) because a securing wire came off and was sliding along the TPA and ripping my gums to shreds. Hopefully it's not an issue. I don't think it will be because they almost took it out before I left. I'm still wearing elastics on the sides but my teeth are still only touching in the front.

I leave on Friday and then have my next surgical checkup and ortho appointment on Monday. School starts on Monday as well so I have to drive to Columbus and back and then be in class until 10:00PM. Busy day. I'm also taking the PCAT (Pharmacy College Admissions Test) on Saturday.

Doc Checkup - 12 Days Post-op

2009-08-10T16:58:00.003-04:00

Just got back from the doc. Everything is going well. I also went to see the orthodontist because something was poking me and he was impressed with the results as well. They did say that I'm still a little swollen so we have to wait and see if the profile changes any. I think they'll be able to move my uppers out a little more with elastics if needed to improve the profile. I'm happy with the results either way.

I went to a birthday party last night and ate a real meal- crab, steak, fries, cake, and ice cream. That was great. I leave for San Francisco on Friday so I'll probably post from there. I thing my new confidence about my bite will make for an enjoyable vacation.

Joy!

2009-08-08T12:36:00.010-04:00

I am so happy with my result thus far. There's still some bruising and lip incision still hurts, but all else is well. It's weird not being self conscience when looking someone in the face. I can tell this is going to make a big difference in my life. Thank God for the doctors that take the risk of doing this for a living. I can't thank them enough.

The pics in the white shirt are after. Hopefully it's not all due to swelling. Here's before and after. I actually feel like I could cry.

My rant on healthcare reform

2009-08-07T19:59:00.004-04:00

My insurance company, United Healthcare, refused to pay for my surgery, They only pay for it if it's related to cleft pallet or sleep-apnea. We all know that this is a medically necessary procedure. I am unemployed and paying $449/month for health insurance. I urge you all to write letters if your coverage is denied. A government plan should be an option for people like me. If we keep letting them deny coverage for people like me, the exclusion list will only get longer. A government option would force the insurance companies to be competitive. They need to offer coverage for everyone rather than just the healthiest, most profitable people. They even told me that if I had a complication, such as a heart attack, on the table, they would not pay the bill. This is all ridiculous. Write your congressman, senate, president, company benefits admin, newspaper or any one you can. Now is the time

Otherwise I'm doing great.

Day 6 - Home Stretch

2009-08-04T10:19:00.003-04:00

Ok, I lied, I'm posting again. Today is better still. Bruising is getting worse on lower cheeks and under eyes but not too bad at all. I woke this morning with no rubber bands on and I can't figure that out. I'm on Klonopin (anxiety meds) which can be a memory eraser so I'm guessing I just forgot taking them off. The only pain again is the lip incision.

I have to admit the I had real doubts about this surgery in general the first couple of days. I kinda saw my surgical team as masochists but now I really respect what they do. They've really been great and supportive. You can tell that they really enjoy what they do and for the right reasons. I almost feel an emotional connection to them now for dedicating their time and striving for perfection during the procedure.

I'll post some bruising picks later. Good luck to all.

Day 4

2009-08-02T10:32:00.005-04:00

I slept 12 hours yesterday finally. I feel much better. I have a few new pains and tingles from getting the feeling back in my face. The only real pain is the incision line in my lip so the worst is definitely over. I have 2 new pics for today and then I probably won't blog again until my next appt on the 10th. My bite seems to be slipping back to an underbite, but I think the ortho with bands will correct this. I'll call the doc tomorrow just to make sure I shouldn't come in sooner because of this. I need a break from even thinking about this since I'm starting to enjoy my days again. Good luck to any one in the process right now.

72 Hours Post - What a difference a day makes

2009-08-01T16:05:00.003-04:00

Last night and today have been very comforting. I was able to eat much more since they switched out my rubber bands for fewer, looser ones. I took a benadryl to knock myself out so I could sleep. The bad pain has stopped but I have lots of new pain where I can feel my face again. Swelling is starting to go down and everything tingles. The most pain now comes from the stitch line inside my mouth. It's bearable but hurts when I talk too much or try to smile or laugh. My upper lip is still numb but I can see the difference in my profile. We'll see how much it changes as the swelling goes down. I decided long ago that whatever the outcome of this surgery is fine with me. As long as my bite is correct, the cosmetic part is all fluff.

Everything feels better by the hour and I feel about 50% normal.

I can see my bite has moved back just a little since they took off the strong bands. My front teeth are touching again instead of the uppers being in front of the lowers. I'm going to call the doc on Monday and ask if I should be concerned. I think they will correct the rest with my braces. I know you can have a relapse with this procedure so I'll call just in case.

First Doctor appointment - Hope Returns!!

2009-08-01T09:43:00.005-04:00

It's almost been 48 hrs and it's still pretty rough. The pain stops for a little while and then my jaw muscle tightens up again and the pain comes back. I finally fell asleep overnight, I really haven't slept since surgery and I'm mentally exhausted. I feel like I can't breathe because my sinuses are swollen and clogged and my teeth are clamped shut. I have to try to separate my swollen lips and pull my tongue back to breathe. This makes it near impossible to fall asleep. As soon as I start to doze off, my body jerks like a part of me is afraid to go to sleep.

When I went to sleep my jaw was clenched shut so tight it felt like my teeth were going to break off. I woke up and my jaw was completely relaxed. The numbness made it feel like my upper teeth were no longer connected and I completely freaked. When I sat up blood ran out of my nose, so I was convinced that something was broken. This led to a panic attack, which made my jaw tighten up again. So the pain is back, but nothing is broken :)

I had to ride 2 hours again to get to the doctor, rough. The sweating, chills, weakness, and lack of sleep are catching up with me. I get to the doctor and they do 3 X-Rays and say that everything looks great, surgery went extremely well, and all of my symptoms are pretty normal. Other than lack of sleep and not eating enough, I'm just fine. I almost immediately stopped sweating and shivering. I realized that many of my issues were driven by anxiety and paranoia that things just weren't going well. My condition improved immensely.

I speak to the doc and the residents about my surgery. They say it was a textbook case and went as well as it possibly could have. I lost very little blood compared to most, my blood pressure stayed low and steady, and my teeth fit together perfectly, they didn't even leave the splint in to keep them in place. The only thing was that I woke up during surgery a couple of times so they had to give a little gas in addition to the propofol to keep me out. They said the gas may have been what was messing with my head and making me feel a little worse than I would have without it. I remember waking up on the way out of the operating room and pointing to my face a saying "HURTS!". I hadn't had anything for pain yet so it was bad. They wheeled me into recovery and gave me the dilaudid right away and then some more in 30 minutes. I was up walking around and went to the bathroom within about an hour.

First 24 hours after Surgery - Brutal

2009-07-30T21:57:00.008-04:00

Keep in mind while reading this that I'm 41 years old, rather old for this type of surgery. This was probably a lot rougher on me than it would be for a younger person.

I had a bad reaction to my pain med Roxicet (liquid Percocet). I went a little wacko, but stopped taking it and better now.

I completely misunderstood how this upper jaw move thing worked. Over the last 24 hours I thought I might die from the pain, and the side effects were so bad. I had cold sweats, shivering, painful jaw chattering while muscle completely stretched (ouch!!), extreme nausea, diarrhea, and the list goes on. I had this procedure done outpatient. It's really scary feeling this much pain with no one there to say it's normal. I wouldn't recommend outpatient for anyone unless you are in the same boat, insurance won't cover it so no hospital stay greatly reduced the cost.

So I thought that they simply cut the entire bone that the teeth are in and moved it forward, as the "simple" animation shows. From what I went through, it doesn't work like that at all. I was stupid. As I said, I had terrible pulling pain. It seems as though they moved the bone with all of the muscle and such attached to it. The tugging was everything catching up with the bone.

I was very misinformed on what was actually happening to me. This is my own fault because I thought I knew how it worked and didn't ask the right questions or listen as hard as I should have when they were presenting the information to me

BOOYA! Windows 7 RTM announced! Oh, and surgery is over.

2009-07-29T16:59:00.005-04:00

Had to get the priorities right there. I'm a computer geek, so the Windows 7 RTM(Release to manufacturing) came first.

WHEW!!! SURGERY IS DONE and already back at my hotel blogging. I woke up 3 1/2 hrs ago in surgical suite and I'm home (hotel) already. Surgery went way long though, like 5 hrs.

Doc (Erik Evans) said things went well, and they were even able to move my teeth down a little (as well as forward) to expose more tooth when I smile. Smiles are long off though I'm afraid. They gave me dilaudid immediately and then again in 30 minutes to ease pain. I just took my first liquid percocet because it's starting to hurt more. Mostly at the back of my palette though. Not sure why, probably less novocaine injection there.

I'm still bleeding out my nose and down my throat slightly, they said that would go on for a while. The swelling is definitely getting worse, especially on the inside so it's kind of freaky breathing. Juan took some pics of me with his Blackberry. I'll post them soon.

Out for now.

Hooks are on - Surgery in the morning

2009-07-28T18:02:00.003-04:00

I got my hooks on today and my orthodontist took pictures but I have to wait until he e-mails them to me to post them. As others have said, they aren't bad at all. Same size as all the others but more of them.

So yes I'm a little scared. This will probably be my last update until after surgery. We are about to drive down to Columbus and get a hotel for the night. Surgery is at 7:00AM. They said it would probably take 4 hrs and then I'll be in recovery for about 3hrs. Did I mention this is outpatient? I'll explain all of that later if I didn't all ready. So I leave the hospital tomorrow afternoon and then go back to the hotel for the night and then back home Thursday morning.

P.S. I had Chinese food at China Dynasty as my last real food. I opened my fortune cookie and it said "The smart thing is to prepare for the unexpected". Isn't that special?

See you on the other side!!

Day before suregery

2009-07-28T08:22:00.005-04:00

Today is not starting off very well. Almost no sleep and I will be in a car for about six hours today. But I need to keep a positive attitude.

I skipped watching the news this morning and watched "Hammer Heads" on HGTV instead. Steve Hanneman can start any day off well. I also listened to a "Talk of the Nation" podcast on NPR last night about a book called "Empire of Illusion". It talked about how Corporate America has created this illusion that we all have money and can afford whatever we want, such as the $500K mortgages that are being foreclosed on right now. Advertisers create fears and then sell us the solutions to our problems. I'm rambling, probably from anxiety. What I'm trying to say here is that I skipped the news to avoid the "Illusion." Sorry, I digress. I just learned how to add links to my posts as you can tell. Here's a link to a youtube video my Orthodontist, Dr. Dan Walton, made called "The Bourne Residency." Pretty funny. Bourne is my doc.

I'll post some pics later when I get my surgical hooks on later today. I've read on the other blogs that they really aren't that bad. Later!!

DOH!

2009-07-28T01:20:00.000-04:00

I can't sleep. It's 1:30AM and I have to drive 2 hours to the ortho in the morning. I probably didn't mention that I live 2 hours away from the dental clinic/hospital.

I really didn't think I would lose sleep over this, but it's really starting to hit me that my jaw is about to be sawed off and reattached. I guess doing this blog has made me think more about it. Which is actually probably a good thing.

Sarah Palin's speech today didn't help either, she annoys me so bad that I hate the world for putting her face on TV. One of the reporters on MSNBC accidentally said "whore" instead of "her" when she was talking about Palin today. SWEET!! God bless us all if she succeeds.

I'm signing off to try and sleep again.

Really stupid video pre-surgery.

2009-07-27T13:10:00.000-04:00

Pics

2009-07-27T13:04:00.000-04:00

Here are the pre-surgery pics. I feel fat and facially deformed after looking at these. Hopefully the surgery is a success and the liquid diet will take some pounds off. I haven't shaven for a while because I know I have to before surgery. I also shaved my head since I know I won't feel like getting a hair cut for a while.

2 days pre-surgery

2009-07-27T09:22:00.000-04:00

So how bad can this be, right? I mean, women have children via natural childbirth, and people break bones all of the time. Problem is, I've never had anything worse than a sprained wrist, or a 2nd degree burn when a chicken pot pie fell on my wrist when I was a kid. Still, I think I can do this, and let's face it, they screw your bite up so bad pre-surgery that you really don't have a choice.

Truthfully, I have 2 fears: Not waking up, and not being happy with the final outcome. Surprisingly the latter is the biggest, but when you think about it, it pretty much covers the former as well. Today I plan to lay around a little, fertilize and mow the lawn since I'll be bed ridden soon, go to the grocery store to find some liquid nutrition for the coming weeks, and enjoy some quality time with my dogs and my partner Juan.

I'll post some pre-surgery bite pictures soon. I'm camera shy as most of us with bad bites are, so my pics always look like angry mug shots. I get my surgical hooks on tomorrow so I'll post a pic of those as well.

Background info leading up to surgery

2009-07-26T22:11:00.001-04:00

This has been a LOOOONG 12 year journey for me. I'm 41 now and got my first set of braces when I was 28. I had extremely crooked front upper teeth and a pretty bad under-bite. My orthodontist said that she thought that she could fix my bite without surgery by angling my upper teeth out towards my lip and angling my lower teeth in towards my tongue. About a year into treatment, I was very unhappy with the way my bite was coming together. I went to a maxillofacial surgeon to get an opinion and he said that I was so far into it that I might as well finish it out with the braces. He also happened to be a friend of my ortho so he told her I wasn't happy with the progress, awkward. My ortho was on vacation and her partner did my adjustment that month. She said "What's she doing to you, you need a bite." At this point my teeth were hitting only on the front when I would bite down and one tooth in particular was tender and loose. I then told the ortho assistant that I was beginning to think that I should have had the surgery from the start, and she wholeheartedly agreed. So now I know I'm in trouble. Finally my ortho decided to remove my braces. Mostly due to bone loss around the tooth that was tender and loose, rather than a successful outcome. The loose tooth slowly moved back to where it came from and I was hitting on it really bad. I went to a different ortho and had braces put on for a year to move that tooth out of the way. But again, bone loss resulted in early removal of the braces. My braces were off for 5 years and my bite was still bad. Hitting only on the front and not on the sides with the same tooth always sore and loose. My permanent retainer fell out and I went to yet another ortho in a different state to have the retainer put back in again. I was then told that if I left my teeth the way they were, they would eventually fall out from the pressure of only hitting in the front. I had to have a bone graft on the sore tooth before braces could go on again. Bone graft goes well and braces go on. When they are preparing you for surgery, they make your bite even worse because they are getting your teeth in place for after the surgery. My under-bite is back and worse than ever. I then find out that my insurance will not cover the surgery so my braces have to come off and I'm in a holding pattern for a year. My smartass ortho says "You gave us just enough time to make you ugly", NICE! I shopped around and chose OSU Dental College to have the surgery for a few reasons.

1. A team of faculty and students review your case at several stages and they must be in agreement on how to proceed. This was comforting to me.
2. I only need my upper jaw advanced and no lower jaw adjustment. This means they can do it outpatient so I don't have to pay for a hospital room. This means about $20K less.
3. This is shallow I know, but the original student that looked at me, the ortho, and the surgeon were all terribly sexy and that somehow made it seem better. Oh, did I mention that I'm gay?

To date I have paid about $17K out of my pocket with $5500 to go for the surgery. So I'll have a $23K smile when this is over with.

There you have it.