One day I am all for it and the next plagued by doubt. I’m still waiting to her back from my insurance company. Many hours spent on the phone this week. The oral surgeon’s office has been extremely helpful (as you’d expect) and has resubmitted my pre-certification request as an inpatient operation after insurance denied the outpatient procedure. The fees are truly mind boggling.
I am frustrated by the well-intentioned people who tell me I am fine just the way I am. If I felt fine about my teeth, I wouldn’t be spending so much money and volunteering for daily pain. About 99% of them wore braces as children. Their bite is healthy, their teeth are straight, and they don’t get headaches and such. Their lips touch when they close their mouth. I’m struggling to find a good analogy when this topic arises. Orthognathic surgery is different than having my tummy tucked. I asked someone recently to imagine if they were still “wearing” the teeth they were born with. That kind of helped them see my point!
This question woke me up today: if I correct my jaw alignment and our daughters inherit the very same recessed chin and gummy smile, will they grow to think I don’t accept them as they are? They are lovely girls. I hope they won't need to go through all this. As I type, it's 5:30 am and my two year old daughter, who rises early, sings hymns next to me and reads her little children’s Bible. It reminds me what’s really important. I’ll continue to pray about the decision.
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2 comments:
Hello Katherine!
First off, I must say how very much I LOVE your name :) Welcome to the land of Ortho-blogging~ It is amazing how helpful reading others' experiences, struggles and accomplishments is.
I must say, your pondering the potential response of your children to this journey struck a chord as I've also spent some time worrying about this. Perhaps it's because my kids are a bit older (6,7&8) they've seen me in pain with headaches and locked jaw and know that there are times "mommy's teeth are making her eye's hurt"; I've never put any emphasis on the aesthetic outcome so they've only asked about the technichal process-it may come up after the surgery. I guess my worry is more that they might have to go through all of this discomfort and struggle because of the genetics I've passed on to them...then remind myself I bear no ill will on the ancestors who passed it on to me!
I won't tell you not to worry though I do hope the doubts get fewer and farther between :)
For me, while I know my face and jaw and profile will change (hopefully for the better), this surgery and braces isn't about that. It's about my migraine headaches, about my lack of ability to chew my food well (which is giving me acid reflux), the pain in my jaw, and the wear patterns on my teeth.
So, no. If my mother had this surgery, I would know she did it for medical reasons, not because her chin was recessed like mine, because of my open bite, and because of my gummy smile.
After all of that rambling, welcome! You are in my prayers as you make this difficult decision.
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