Facing Up To It - 22

So it’s January? Gosh. I swear the years get faster as you get older. And I should know. Yesterday in anticipation of being 6 weeks post op, I made a comparison pic using a nifty little app. I was shocked. I tried to line up the nose tips and eyebrows ....

Then today I had my 6-week follow-up with L my orthodontist and prepared to feel uncomfortable as she removed tones of old rubbers large and small including three pieces of powerchain! I couldn’t open very wide but she and I did well. 

I got new powerchain, new, light arch wires, some rather groovy handmade hooks and aqua ligatures on my Corsodyl stained teeth. 

There are only 2 ‘boxes’ of light elastics keeping my jaws in relationship, and of course I took pictures so that when they fly across the room I can replicate the arrangement! 

I went home to cook lunch and sing songs (badly), then chew lunch (equally badly) but enjoyably so. I feel like being creative again. Watch this space!

Facing Up To It - 21

So double Jaw surgery went ahead on the 8th December as planned. I spent most of the day in theatre and the evening back on the ward where Michael was waiting for me. 

And the day after, Saturday, all the children came in to see me which was rather sweet. I spent that night in hospital too and arrived home on Sunday night still completely worn out! 

I took the above photo when I began to really feel human again, just before I lost the chin strap. 

Mary aged 9 had been making notes on her phone and I thought I would share them with you here. She did a good job of blogging I think ....

Mummy's jaw surgery at christmas!

13th of December 2017. Mummy has had jaw surgery. On fifth day now. She is better than she was in hospital. Finding it quite hard to breathe through her nose. She feels hot, tired and painful. She can go  to the toilet and drink and get dressed! Mummy is doing well. She can walk around a bit. She is wearing pyjamas at the moment. Mike is feeding her with a syringe. The dog has to be gentle to mummy. Mike is being very protective over mummy. The Christmas tree is up and ash is itching himself all over. Ash respects mummy. It is 6:39 and mummy is having some pain killers. Mummy just coughed a little and she burped. She doing ok now.  We are going to spend some family time with her before we go back to dad's house. I am changed so I can spend some time with mum. 

14th of December 2017.It is now day six and mummy is better at talking than she was. I came over earlier and she took her painkillers. She managed to eat Christmas cake blended with cream cheese and soya milk! She is having soft carrots for dinner tonight. She's slowly getting better. We are going to see the surgeon who did the surgery on Monday next week. We hope the surgeon will think that mummy is recovering well.

 Day 7. 15 December 2017 and mummy  can very very very slightly smile! She looks so so so so so so so good now. Mum is gradually getting better every day. One step at a time. Her nose is still clogged up with old, dry blood. Mummy has taken the plaster from her Chin and she looks so so good. She's normal but a bit swollen. 

It is the tenth day of jaw surgery (18th December 2017) and mummy's nose is clear! Mummy managed to syringe in some soup. Mummy put cheese in he container and melted the cheese then mummy put milk in it and stirred it in. Then mummy blended the soup. It is 1:10pm and mummy is feeling exhausted and she doesn't feel like talking. 

Day 12 of jaw surgery. Wednesday 20th of December and mummy is feeling sad that she can't have all the Christmas chocolates. She is making soup for dinner. It is a vegetable soup. With goats cheese in it. We have more crackers from Michael and Joy. We now have twelve crackers! It's getting exciting! 

The 13th day of jaw surgery! The 21 of December! 4 days to go until Christmas Day! Mummy is able to drink out of a cup! The orthodontics tightened mummy's elastics. 

14th Day of jaw surgery! 22nd of December.  Nearly Christmas. 

And then Christmas just sort of happened and I recover, one day at a time! 

Facing Up To It - 20

Well it’s been some time since I blogged about the jaw and teeth, since I went from April to November in limbo, being surgery ready and waiting for THE DATE along with jaw buddies of mine in a certain Facebook group. 

Then it all began to happen. I got the surgery date, and I went to several appointments in preparation. There’s one on Monday with the surgeon too. That should be proper interesting. 

And these bad-boys were fitted, surgical hooks to create more mouth ulcers and facilitate wiring during the actual op. They are on the bottom teeth as well, pointing downwards! 

So today, with one week to go, I’ve taken a selfie for you. I normally compensate for my bite, but here I’m hiding nothing and have bitten together to show you my actual pre surgery face. I don’t look like a fun, inventive creative person from this picture. That’s why I mostly show you my stuff, or my cute kids. 

But here I am, for the record. Next Friday will see me under the knife. Hammer. Well, however they separate jaw bones, I do not really want to know. Eeeep! 

Facing Up To It - 19

I went to orthodontics again yesterday, when I had been in braces 777 days! The black bands were removed and I got .... Well I will show you at the end, but first a flash back to sometime in March when I had a sort of deja vu experience of cameras, mould making and a new X-ray of my profile for working out what a surgeon should do while I'm fast asleep in Poole Hospital shortly ...

Orthodontist and nurse set about me with mirrors and odd spoons ....

 

Usually we see the close up results of these photos but Michael stepped in to show just how those gob-shots are taken. I have such a tiny mouth that when they pop these things in and ask me to bite together I laugh, and they have to release more of my lip. I can appreciate just how much they get stretched for surgery, but I still don't really want to think bout it much!

 

Left, right, front all my teeth are captured. I can wait to see them at the joint clinic at the end of May! 

 

And back to yesterday, Mary and I have our birthdays in May, so I got some very cheerful and celebratory coloured bands, as well as a new left hand bed spring and power chains top and bottom. But L declared me surgery ready, there are just a few issues that could easily be fixed post surgery. 

 

On Monday 24 April I met my surgeon, or actually one of my surgeons and we had a talk about expectations versus reality, and she said she would make 2 plans, and let me consider them both. I always thought I was up for double jaw surgery, but this might not be the best option for me now. We shall see. On Monday 8 May I meet the other surgeon and see what he has to say. Yikes! 

Facing Up To It - 13 ...

I've compressed two visits into one here, as I've been to DCH today and the photograph below shows me with L on the 28th June. C introduced me to L as she was handing over ready to go on maternity leave. My giant trainers and my controversial nose dominate the picture of L getting to know my mouth before a discussion with C!

I took this picture before I went into the appointment. Claire had given me a leaflet about INTERPROXIMAL REDUCTION to scare myself with, and so I wanted the BEFORE pic for this blog. It does show a rather uneven row of insicors, and indeed Libby decided that the teeth ought to be straighter before this procedure actually be carried out. 

In another gaping mouth shot, you can see that Libby changed one of the bands on my molars for a bracket, and a new fine wire to get the molar into a better position. Then she gave me a longer gap till my next appointment, which was today.

Although I prefer the pop-up tent that P E first used on me, I had my face stretched wide by this evil device today, so that Libby could add new brackets to all my lower front teeth, and also a molar on my lower right this time. My lower lip ended up very numb. 

I chose silver bands this time, and here are my new brackets and another very fine wire. This is definitely a time for much tweeking in order to be surgery ready. 

And finally, although you cannot see it very well, I have my first power chain, as a gap appeared between my crown and the tooth to the left of it. It's clear so if you want to see it, look very closely around the upper wire!

So that's me after 518 days in braces! 

Facing Up To It - 11

So this is me. I've fitted my teeth together for you in this photo, and my neutral face looks pretty sad! 340 days ago when my braces were first fitted only sections of the back brackets would touch. We have come a long way! Prior to the braces being fitted, my lower teeth at the front had actually carved a dent for themselves in my palet. I spent most of the days of my life, since I was a teenager, holding my teeth apart to look less severe ...

On Thursday I had another adjustment, and my lower jaw was ready finally to receive an upgrade of wire, matching my upper arch wire at last! I chose navy blue bands, a new one for me, and here's my metal-filled smile. My bottom lip still falls back, unsupported by lower teeth. They might be a nice curve now, but they are still a long way back!

And this silly face is my attempt to show you all the gubbins! Seriously cannot wait for a decent set of gnashers and one day, taking the first proper bite out of an apple I will have ever taken in my life!