Just about at the 3 week mark.  Been having more and more anxiety issues, but oddly enough after my last pre op appointment with my surgeon and a class on what to expect after surgery, I feel oddly calm.  It's pretty weird!

So, I had my last appointment with Dr. O'Ryan and a class I had to take with other jaw surgery patients, but lets back up to yesterdays appointment with the orthodontist.  I thought I was just going to be in and out quickly for surgical molds, but it turned into a 2 hour ordeal.  I got my pre op xrays done this past Friday and brought them in with me just in case my ortho wanted a copy, and I'm glad I brought them in!  He caught a few blunted roots on my front top teeth.  Root resorption is something I knew was a risk of adult orthodontia, but it usually happens if you're in braces for a really long time or your genetically susceptible to it.  Maybe I'm the latter since I've only been in braces ten months.  Regardless, doesn't matter how it happened, but it did, and I may need to cut my treatment short and get the braces off soon after surgery.  Leaving me in braces would risk the root getting further damage and might cause me to loose a few of my front teeth.  That would suck a little bit!!  So, that was pretty crappy news.  But my surgeon lifted my spirits back up a little today when she took a look at the xrays and said the roots are just showing the beginning signs of shortening, so I might end up being OK and get the treatment finished up 3-4 months post op.  Phew... good news. 

And over all today the appointment was good news all around!  Surgeon said my ortho has done a really great job of widening my arch with braces alone, so she might not have to do that much work there.  That is huge in terms of having to have a splint in for longer and take a little longer to get through some of the recovery.  If all goes well with this, sounds like I'm going to be wired shut for 10-14 days with the splint in, and then it all comes out and I switch to the tight bands to hold everything together.  AND... I don't have to have just broth during those first few days post op.  I can have what I want that is liquid consistency enough to get it in.  So, most of my soups and stuff that I have been busy prepping should work great as soon as I'm home.  I may also only need 1 night in the hospital instead of 2.  After the wires get cut after the 10-14 days, I can get some soft foods in-- mash potatoes, eggs, etc.  But, even with the new time frame they said expect to loose 8-10lbs.  Guess it was good I packed on that much extra weight leading up to this!

I picked up my post op meds at the pharmacy-- a HUGE bottle of liquid hydrocodone, and I got some xanax to help with the anxiety I've been having.  I'm going to do my best to hold off on taking that until I absolutely need it the few days or the day before surgery.  Just a blood panel at my local doc and a pre op phone appointment stand between me and jaw surgery.  Can't wait to be on the other side of this!  And who knows.... maybe I'll be brace free and done with everything by mid/late summer.  A million dollar smile in time for my birthday.  I'll take it! :)

One thing you hear about a lot with jaw surgery is the weight loss.  One thing I didn't really hear about was the weight gain before surgery.  Maybe other people didn't really do what I've done, but man oh man, I have been eating like a little heifer!  I'm the little heifer that could the last 4 months!  The issue with the weight gain is more that I don't work out vs. being so much about purely what I'm eating.  Regardless, I'm the heaviest I've ever been right now.  I kind of feel disgusting, but at the same time I am OK with it since I know it'll come off in a month.  Last time I was on a limited diet for dental stuff I dropped to 115lbs.  I'm a curvy (or big butt'ed. lol) 5'6" and that isn't the healthiest, but I know I'll drop weight if I'm not stuffing my face all the time after surgery...... which I obviously won't be!  So, a little more than 4 weeks!  I know I am doing fillet and lobster tail in there a time or two, a few good sushi outings, lots of Indian, and in general anything dense that I won't get to chew for a while (chicken, steak, etc).

Had an ortho appointment this morn.  I got the dreaded TPA back in on top.  He left the lingual arch bar for the bottom off though.  Said he just wanted to work on the top and at this point so close to surgery he is going to leave it be until after it's done.  They booked me for another set of molds.  I was a little disappointed since I thought the set I took a few weeks ago would be the last, but he wants another to have the most up to date picture of my mouth.  It's a good thing, but I absolutely HATE taking those molds.  I feel like I'm choking when that goo is in the back of my mouth, and then it feels like my teeth are being ripped out when they yank the trays back off.  It's definitely not the worst thing you can go through during this whole process, but it's definitely not pleasant.  Otherwise I'm scheduled for my last teeth cleaning, the wires swapped for that, the surgical hooks being put on the day before surgery, and the removal of the TPA.  My xrays and CT scans are next week, pre op appointment next week, and blood work done at the end of the month with my last pre op phone appointment.  I think that is everything that needs to be booked before surgery.  Kinda scary.  Time really is flying by!

A few pics since I haven't had some for a while.