Pho good!

Our town now hosts its very own Pho restaurant. My family and I ate at Pho Viet the other night, and boy it was yummy. Beef broth full of nutrients, easy on the braces noodles, fresh veggies, clean highchairs, hip techno dance music (well, I liked it!), and mango fruit shake for dessert. They offer bubble and jelly pearl drinks, too.

My husband smiled at me over our bowls of steaming broth. He said this was my kind of spot. So right!

You know, you can take the girl out of the city but you can't take the city out of the girl.

new brackets

Yesterday I went to the ortho for a checkup. Overall, a good appointment. A lot of little adjustments were made.

1. Two brackets were moved. One on my front right tooth, and the other on my right back molar, #7.
2. New power chain on the lower.
3. New metal ties on the upper.
4. Upper wire changed from square steel wires to flexible nickel-titanium.



5. The front tooth was polished, and you can notice the slightly brighter shade of enamel under the new bracket. Yeah, my teeth are still normal under all that metal.

Phew, not eating much since. My latest way to decide if it's been a good visit to the ortho? If I am limited to protein shakes and instant mashed potatoes. I'm becoming quite the connoisseur; today's flavor was "Four Cheeses.

A postponement

All parties have decided to postpone my surgery until mid October. I have mixed feelings on this. A later date provides the persistent gaps time to be resolved, gives me additional time to arrange childcare & to plan out my liquid diet using the fabulous new blog, Jaw Dropping Blends. The delay also postpones my plans for another baby several more months. I so wanted to be pregnant by November/December. :(

There’s always a silver lining…and mine is that I can extend my time nursing sweet little Buttercup. She’s nursing about once per day, and now that we can nurse for another two months, I’m glad I didn’t rush her to wean in July as I had originally planned. Saturday, I chatted with a friend whose baby is due in October. She talked about her plans for the next 10 weeks, and I realized, jaw surgery was kind of like having a baby. You wait, and read, and wait some more, and dream, and wait, then ka-boom, you find yourself at 3:18 am wondering when life will “feel normal” again. Too bad those handy zip-n-squeeze bags can’t making infant cooing sounds.

The whole postponement situation got me thinking. Think of all the fun projects that can be completed in 10 weeks! I maxed out my library card with books on sewing pillows, slipcovers (why not try something really useful?), no-chew cookbooks, children’s crafts, and decorating ideas. I filled up two notebook pages with “to do” ideas!

$100 molds

Here is a quick update while I feed the children breakfast. Yesterday's appointment went very well and I feel good about the surgeons. The chief resident and the attending surgeon spent 3 HOURS with me. The two Drs. answered all my questions. Their plan:

• impact my upper jaw, reducing my gummy smile by about 4mm.
• based on how much this swings my lower forward, move my lower jaw forward with BSSO, for a total movement of 4-6 mm.
• no decison yet on chin, waiting for final calculations from mold manipulations

Sadly, there was a mix up with the front desk and the big History & Physical + blood work appointment was postponed for another day.

It cost me about $100 in babysitting, plus gas and food, plus a day of my husband's sick leave to take the molds. Of course, finally feeling comfortable with the surgical team was "priceless"! :)

I smiled big when my husband looked at the chief resident, and said, "Well, Dr.C, I'm putting my wife in your hands."

The bigger surprise is the apparent confusion over who is determining that my teeth are ready. Ortho thinks the surgeon is pushing for late August, surgeon thinks the ortho is pushing for late August. It all started when I asked if we cold move forward in late summer and everyone said yes. Hmm. So hopefully, the two parties will sort this out soon. My teeth feel like they're still moving slightly, and while I was really, really looking forward to getting this all over with, I completely understand a little patience now will result in a much better result.

My little beauties are both running fevers today and are now wholly covered in yogurt and smooshed blueberries :) ...off to take care of them!

an Afrin high and other news

My, my. I feel very content right now. My 2.5 year old and I met with a great ENT this afternoon. It was very good news all around. The best news is that my precious daughter received a clean bill of health. I am soooo grateful! I was concerned she is becoming a mouth breather, and while he didn't argue with my observations, he confirmed that there is no medical reason for her to do so. Yeah! We're encouraged to monitor her eating/drinking, to see if she can chew with her lips closed, and to keep an eye on any halitosis developing.

He said my mouth breathing is probably due to my inflamed turbinates, large tonsils, and a deviated septum....but that at this time he does rec'd surgery to fix any of these. I am going to try some a steroid nasal spray and see what it does. Boy, the Afrin he sprayed to see up my nose r-e-a-l-l-y opened things up. I am still taking deep nasal breaths several hours later! This is the "breathing high" that my yoga/weights instructor has been talking about. :)

Guess what else I observed in the waiting room? (Since we waited for over an hour, I had plenty of time to people watch while I distracted my toddler.) More than half the people had underdeveloped lower jaws. Is that not crazy?!

The ENT is a close family friend, in fact his daughter is babysitting for me tomorrow while my husband and I drive to Charleston for the big pre -op work up, which meant that I felt completely comfortable today. So, when he offered that he thought jaw surgery would improve my breathing, and that in his medical opinion it was the right thing to do, I was ELATED. He thinks moving my lower jaw forward will help move my tongue forward as well. Hmm. Is my ortho going to like that I wonder?

Oooo, I am almost giddy with thoughts of tomorrow. In my mind, it's a make it or break it appt. If I still feel uncomfortable with the surgeons, then I am sooo finding another doctor! I'll try to make a rational decision, of course, but that's is my 100% emotional conclusion. :)

Sings of slow healing?

I am growing concerned that my body is a "slow healer". The morning after my molds were taken, so two days ago, these ugly blisters popped up and almost glued my lips shut. For two mornings now I have cautiously worked my lips apart, the blistering skins fall off, and they burn. Disgusting, no? Does anyone else suffer with these? I have NEVER had a fever blister. My theory is that my lips overstretched during the game of tug-o-war unsticking molds. The ortho tech said my lips have an unusually small opening/stretching ability...and I can't help but think this and my OB experiences are related. No stretch = big tear. Hmmm. I healed well after both of my deliveries but s-l-o-w-l-y, and only really got my energy back when I followed my midwife's advice for two weeks of bedrest.


When I saw these little blisters on my lips, I shuddered knowing that I will likely be a slow healer. Ahhh, I don't feel discouraged so much as I feel frustrated that my body won't do as I say. For now, I am checking my vitamins for proper dosages of C, B12, iron, and folate, eating as well as I can, and trying to stay rested.

back home

I had a grand time with my family. The children adore the water, my husband repaired a lovely old sailboat in time for our local regatta, and my brothers joked around just like the summers of our childhood. Marvelous memories all around. Here is a pic of some local sea island heirloom tomoatoes. Surprisingly, few others liked 'em, so I gobbled as many of them as I could. Another surprise was the evening my dear father listened intently as I explained why I was having jaw surgery. My family doesn't quite "get it", but I love that they're trying so hard. :)

As soon as I returned home, I began catching up on what everyone is doing. Hopefully, this weekend I can post some comments. This week is full of doctor's appointments, and a million calls to find childcare for each of the appts. Phew! Which reminds me of how much I need to begin planning for childcare help for the extended post-surgery recovery. My DH will take off 2 weeks, a real luxury, I know, but I sense I'll need help for a few weeks after that.


Wendesday, I had another excellent ortho appointment. I finally understand how to best work with the office staff. We took molds, which wasn't that bad, except when the lower mold refused to budge. ooooh, for a few minutes I swore my teeth were going to opo out! The tech was super sweet. Her goal was to have the molds come out so well that my oral sureon will not try to take molds next week during my pre-op visit. Next, my lower wires were changed from 62s to 60s, I think, and new power chains placed.

The ortho also crimped my wires in several places to work on those slow moving areas. One front tooth remains pulled in and the lower gaps are persitent. Ouch! It was uncomfortable at first, and within about 2 hours pretty painful. This morning, my mouth still aches intensely. I am actually kinda exicted, though, my teeth are finally moving again. :)

We discussed his concerns about surgery and my switch to a teaching hospital. This time he was positive. Good, I needed some encouragement. His additional advice struck me as Very Important.

1. Ask for the smallest splint possible, this will protect my bite and reduce an open bite problem after surgery.
   
2. When I asked about possible changes to my nose, he said be sure to ask for a VY closure or something, this helps keeps the tip of the nose from tipping up.

Gotta research these and work on my list of questions before next week's appt.

On a personal note, my emotions regarding surgey have been all over the place recently. One day I am fine, the next consumed with worry - about the surgeon, the swelling, you name it. Reading the great ortho blogs since we returned from vacation has really helped. And Archwired's forums are good, too. My dream? To be as carefree about surgery as my daughters were when this photo was taken .