No More Turning :-)

I had an ortho appointment today to check my expander, and guess what? I don't have to turn it anymore!! It wasn't even painful in the end, but it's exciting none the less :-D The Dr put a piece of wire through the expander hole to tie it off. He also replaced my top wire because he cut it when we began the expansion. The gap is only wide enough to fit a fifty cent coin in between the teeth, so I am very happy about that, and I didn't find it was too embarrassing. The other good news is that the gap will begin to close any time now, and if it doesn't do that by itself, the Dr will put something on the braces to make it happen fast (at my next visit SIX WEEKS away!!) so I will be prettyish before Christmas and the big family photo I have planned :-D Every time I have had to go back to see him every one or two weeks, so six weeks will be great. Sick of all the travelling already... That's about it xx

SARPE/SARME Surgery

The day of surgery has been and gone. It has now been two and a half weeks and I'm feeling great! But maybe I should start from the beginning...

I was nervous a few days before the surgery, I had myself worked up so much that I even cried... but the day of surgery was different. I had asked my bible study group to keep me in their prayers and a few of my close friends. It's amazing because I actually felt their prayers and I knew that no matter what happened, God was and is in control :-)

I arrived at the hospital and signed in etc, the nurse then took me in to get changed straight away. I was early, so I was suprised that they wanted me so soon! So I changed into my hospital gown with nothing else on except my socks and undies. Naked much!! But anyway, it was fine. Everyone else was dressed the same too. I then had to wait for about four hours. You would think this was painful, right? It wasn't. I actually knew some of the other patients so we shared stories and talked for a while. After they had left I entertained myself with tv and chatting with the staff occasionaly.

...Then the nurse came... it was my turn. They had me climb onto a stretcher bed to take me to the preperation room. This felt silly because I could walk quiet fine! But I guess it was kinda fun. My surgeon actually came to see me before they took me away. That was a nice suprise because he is totally nice to look at ;-) He went through the procedure with me, told me exactly what he was going to do and asked if I had any questions. I was then wheeled away.

We arrived in the prep room and I met the anasthesioligist. She was lovely and kind and talked to me the whole time (I guess that was to keep my nerves at bay). The nurse put sticky things on my chest... it scared me. I don't know why I didn't expect it, but I didn't. It was nothing though, just stickers. I had one needle to put an IV line in. She said she would put the other in after I was sleeping because I'm a bit nervous about needles etc.

After about ten minutes they wheeled me into theatre where I met the rest of the team. They were all so busy doing things and preparing I guess that I didn't feel too worried. The anasthesioligist hooked me up to the IV bag and I felt a very cold liquid going through my veins. I told her she was nasty for not warming it up for me :-P That's the last thing I remember. I didn't even have to count.

I woke up in the recovery area feeling a little groggy and tired, but not really sore at all. They told me later that I had been in there for a couple of hours and that they had trouble waking me up because I liked the drugs so much! Not long after they took me to the ward, still in a bed and I had to slide myself from one bed to the other. My mother came in almost straight away which ended up being very good. They had a clip on my finger to monitor my oxygen intake and at one stage it went down to 60 something %!! So my mummy had to keep telling me to breath when I forgot. Doesn't that sound silly?!!

Eventually that drug was out of my system and then I began to feel the pain. Up until then though, I was talking with my family a little bit and making jokes. I was suprised at the lack of pain. i expected something horriffic! I had an ice pack around my head/face almost constantly to reduce the swelling at give me some releif. In the middle of the night I felt really bad and wanted some nurofen (actually something stronger but I can't remember the name) to take away the pain, but I couldn't have it because my mother being so organised, took the prescription home so I didn't lose it and the nurses didn't have a record of this in my file so I couldn't have it!! I ended up asking them to call her in the early hours of the morning. Then I had my drugs and tried to sleep.

I felt dizzy at times trying to walk or stand up because I had so much medication in my system, but this settled down as we worked out the right balance. I spent one night in hospital (98% of patients with this surgery do stay in hospital at least one night in Aus) and went home at lunch time the next day in my pyjamas. I spent ten days at my mothers house with my kids. She was my own private nurse for the first week as I was so drugged. I took medication every four hours without fail because if I left it even half an hour longer, the pain was quiet intense. I could hardly close my lips because they were so swollen. When I was in pain, I couldn't move them much and I struggled to get anything down my throat. Taking pills was so much harder because they got stuck in my expander. It didn't take long until I worked out a few ways to make it work though, for example, covering my tablets in something like yoghurt and swallowing that instead.

After the first week I began to extend the times I took medication and began to feel more human. I went to bible study on the seventh day and almost feel asleep during that time... but it was so nice to see people again and get out of the house. When the tenth day hit I was officially off all my pain killers. I only had the preventative anti-biotics left. Oh, the other thing I had to do during this time was rinse my mouth with salt water about six times a day. That was exausting as I couldn't swish anything in my mouth, and it hurt so much! I couldn't even brush my teeth for that whole time :-( Let me tell you why in a second...

I had an appointment on the seventh day with my orthodontist. He lifted my top lip up to have a look and I told him to stop, put my hands up infront of my face and cried like a baby. It actually felt like I had fire on my face (mouth and nose)!!! The next time he had a look he was very very gentle, but I was so scared i was still shaking when he had finished. All the staff were looking at me like I must be in a lot of pain. It was so embarrassing!! But I must say, I am now very thankful that situation happened. He discovered that I had Oral Thrush!!! That's why my tongue looks disgusting and the place where i had been cut for the jaw break was so saw and felt like burning.

He prescribed me some more anti-biotics of a different nature and gave me an anti-bacterial mouth wash to use twice a day. It felt so nice to know that this pain was going to dissapear very soon, and it did. After a day or two I could already notice a difference. I slowly began to brush my teeth... very gently, and now I'm here!

I feel great and normal and my upper jaw is getting wider :-) I started turning the key myself (even though he asked my mummy to do it... I didn't want anyone near my mouth) twice a day for three days, and then only once after that. I have another appointment in a couple of days and maybe he will tell me I can stop turning it :-) That part is not painful, it just feels tight for about half an hour.

So, overall the experience has not been too bad. I don't know if I would do it again, but i am happy with the results so far. And guess what?? Since having my braces put on and going through the surgery, I have lost 10kg!!! That's massive :-D Now here is what you've been waiting for; PICS!!!!!!

These pics are obviously from the hospital on Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

So that's it, I can smile again now :-D

These are the many medications I used during that painful time...

 

 

And the one that saved my life... in my opinion ;-)

4 Days Left............

Can't believe there are only four days left 'til the surgery!!! I'm really starting to feel a little worried now...

What will happen before the surgery, will i sit around half the day and wait, getting nervous by the minute?

Will I have needles put in my body while I'm awake?

What happens when I wake up, will I have tubes down my throat or nose??

Am I going to vomit?

Will I bleed lots?

And of course the big one... will I die???

As you can see, I have lots of questions going through my mind; some reasonable, others not so much... I feel it is the waiting that is the worst and the not knowing everything. So please, please pray for me that I'll be fine and my nerves will settle down ASAP?!

Thank you xx

By the way, here are some more pics :-)

Rapid Palatal Expander

Braces Week 1

Braces Week 2

Tongue Issues...

I am feeling so good the last couple of days! I'm getting over my tiredness, I can eat more in one sitting without feeling worn out and I'm not too sore. Yay me!! :-D There is one slight problem though... My mouth is being cleaned all the time, right? So I should have the freshest mouth in the world... but, it seems that when I haven't just eaten and cleaned my teeth, I need to be drinking all the time to keep my mouth fresh! I couldn't understand why... so I looked everywhere in my mouth and the only thing I can see wrong is that the back of my tongue (where I can't brush unless I want to vomit everywhere) has a white/yellowish coating on it. Has anyone ever had this problem? What could be the cause? I have no idea, so if you do, please help me?! I have never had problems with smelly breath and I don't really want to start now. I work in close contact with people all the time and I just don't want that to be a part of who I am!

I'm sure it is just something simple and it will soon be gone... RIGHT???? :-(

By the way, my SARPE/SARME surgery is only eight sleeps away... I don't feel scared yet, just a little excited I guess. I feel like once the surgery is over, it's all going to be moving forward from there. I guess things are going to get worse first; jaw fractured, teeth pulled out, pain, turning the key, and having a huge gap between my front teeth! But I can't imagine what any of that is going to feel like yet, and I know that God wont let me be in a situation where we can't handle it together. So I guess I'm gonna be ok :-D

Oh, oh!!! I went back to work at school a couple of days ago and the students were like "have you got braces? Oh they look cool!" Ha ha, so that was really nice. No nastiness at all. I'm one of them now ;-)

Day 5

I am pleased to say that I am starting to get used to all this gear in my mouth. I even ate some food today that didn't look like soup :-D My teeth are still very tender to chew with, but i am trying to convince them that they aren't... it's a work in progress. I had another first tonight; I flossed my teeth! I flossed the upper teeth first and then tried to do the lower, but that didn't happen. They actually feel like they are more crowded at the moment. I ripped the floss in to shreds just by flossing normally! Now that I know it wasn't very successful, I am going to try and find some wax covered floss with the special ortho hard tip. Any suggestions where I can find this or what brands are best??

The expander has started to feel like it's kinda cutting my tongue... not that extreme but just hurt it I guess. I am trying to be more conscious of where my tongue is sitting in my mouth to prevent this from happening as much. See how it goes.

Other than that, I have been feeling tired all week and not much like eating. It's such an effort to eat and then clean my teeth every time. So I have been eating only two or three meals per day (very small meals) and no snacks = losing weight already YAY!!!!! :-D So the makeover begins... 

Orthodontic WAX!!

I have discovered the wonderfulness of wax! The brackets felt a little scratchy against my mouth but didn't hurt too bad the first day. But last night and this morning were different. Every time I spoke or moved my lips it hurt and I already have at least one ulcer. So I put some of this wax on the brackets that offended me the most. It looks and feels a little bulky, but eventually I wont have to use it at all. i just need time for my mouth to adjust to all this gear.



The wax also came in a pack that i ordered from USA. This kit has been very handy and convenient, right from the very beginning. The kit itself is only 6x4" and maybe 1 1/2" thick. It has everything in it I will ever need and so compact! Love it :-D My daughter actually said she wanted to get braces so that she could have one of these cool bags!

http://www.dentakit.com/debrsuki.html

My favourite and most necessary piece of equipment is this tool called 'Li'l Palates Sweeper'. It has gotten me out of trouble when I thought I couldn't handle having food stuck between the expander and the roof of my mouth. I had a tablet stuck there first and I was so thankful to be able to get it out.

  http://www.dentakit.com/lpapaclto.html

Day 1-3

It is now Day 3 and I can't believe I have survived yet again! Let me take you back to the very beginning of Day 1...

I went to my appointment with the Ortho half an hour early. One of the assistants came to talk with me about how to care for my braces and teeth e.g. cleaning after every meal, how to keep them clean and what products to use etc. But no-one even mentioned the expander or what to expect with that. It was then time to start the one hour long process of having the braces fitted.

They began by cleaning my teeth and polishing them (my teeth are very sensitive, so they didn't enjoy cold air or water on them... luckily it didn't last long). I knew that my mouth was going to be stretched wide open, I was fine with that, but there was a piece of equipment that sat in my mouth (kinda under my tongue) and acted as a suction hose (it also held my tongue in place). I have a very sensitive 'gag reflex' and as soon as this thing was in my mouth, I began gagging and felt like I was going to choke! He told me to relax my tongue and after a little while I was ok... it pinched my tongue too but I didn't want him taking it out and have to go through the whole 'gag' thing again so I didn't let him know. That was the worst part for me.

After that they put the glue on my teeth and attached the brackets. This was ok, I just had my mouth open for a long time. Then he let me relax my mouth for a few minutes (wonderful), the expander was attached to my teeth and the wire put in. DONE!!

...I soon found out that having the expander in my mouth was going to mean I had a lot less space for my tongue....

I felt fine for the first couple of hours after that. My kids and my mother thought I looked good with my new mouth bling and I wasn't too worried about my appearance either. So we took a couple of pics :-)

Not too bad, right? I was surprised at how zig-zaggy they are though! Wont be long and that will look different I guess :-D

Anyway, the first night I had plans to go out (BIG no-no), I thought i would be tired because of the travelling but I'd be ok. I chose all soft food and only served a little bit for myself to see how it was eating with braces... I didn't plan on chewing because i knew from my experience with spacers  that my teeth would be tender for a while. So I sat down to eat, and found that i couldn't even swallow properly!!! i felt like i was going to choke because there was food (mashed potato) stuck in the roof of my mouth and I couldn't get it out! If i can't eat mashed spud, what can i eat?!?! I felt devastated that I was destined to spend the next six months eating/drinking only soup :-(

The whole swallowing process is hindered because of the expander being in the way. I haven't quiet worked out how to get past that yet, but I don't feel so disheartened anymore... I will get through this, i just have to be patient and wait while trying to retrain my mouth. And in the mean-while I will continue to eat soft/soup type food with very few lumps! 

Day 2 was hard too. I had to work and I felt like crap. I had been taking panadol since three hours after the braces were fitted, and this day i got something stronger. But all medications had to be soluble!! I'm pretty sure my teeth started moving straight away because they have been feeling fuzzy (like pins & needles in your leg) and kinda loose like if I pressed on them too hard they might break or come out of my gums! I guess cause I'm older the experience is going to be more exaggerated than if I were a teenager.

But now, Day 3, I have only had drugs this morning and feel like I might be adjusting little by little. 

xx 

Only Two Days Left...

I have had these new spacers in for about five days and have had no problems at all... until this morning. I woke up with my jaw feeling uncomfortable, but i can't understand why it would take this long for my teeth to start moving. Sounds weird doesn't it?

Only two days left til my freedom is completely gone! Not sure how I am going to survive without much chocolate... but i know this: braces are going to be awesome for my figure... or lack there of ;-) It's time for a 'makeover!'

I guess next time i blog, it will be about having my braces & expander put in... and I'll have new photos... SCARY!!!!

xx

Spacers Part II & the Profile Pics...

So I went to the ortho this morning and had my spacers put in again. I have had no pain or discomfort from them for the whole day... I did have panadol though because of the tonsillitis... but guess what; that's almost gone too, yay!!!!

Remember I said I would ask for the photos? Well I did... I'm almost afraid to show them, because for me they are pretty gross (but no way near as bad as some others I have seen). There are also black dots on some of the pics, I'm not sure what that is, just know that it's not a part of my mouth, ok?? :-(

Here they are!

My beautiful smiley profile :-)

 Closed mouth profile... kinda



Right side profile 

 Right side view... the worst view in my opinion :-(

 Front view... mostly hidden when I smile or talk...

 Left side

 Upper jaw

And last but not least: the lower jaw

I hope that wasn't too scary for you... soon they (my teeth and whole mouth in general) will look much better and be easier to look after & keep healthy. After all, that's the point of going through this whole braces thing, right? If and when I lose sight of this, please feel free to remind me why and/or encourage me with your story. The more of us in this together, the better!! Thanks :-) xx