Hi all
Sorry I haven’t been keeping my blog up-to-date. It’s hard to believe but there are other things happening in my life outside my whole jaw saga which need my attention lol, so I just haven’t had the time.
Well – quick update time. I went to see my surgeon last Monday (24 Jan) and asked him a whole bunch of questions and he made me feel a lot better about the whole things, which was good. He’s gone back to saying that he will only do a Lefort I and genioplasty, and not do a BSSO, because that carries the greatest risk of relapse. On the one hand I’m glad that he’s concerned about relapse and trying to avoid it (it’s my greatest fear), however on the other had ‘m really worried that these 2 procedures are not going to be enough to fix up my VERY weak chin and overbite. He says the Lefort can definitely fix the over bite and lip incompetence and that the genioplasty will give me a more prominent chine, which I am sure is true, but I really feel like since I am going through this whole huge surgery, I might as well go the whole way and improve all those things that have always bugged me about my profile at the same time – these things were there long before the condylar resorption started.
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| You can see what I mean about my weak chin!! |
So anyway, I then went on to tell him that I have been noticing a rather large gap between my lower wisdom tooth on the right and the molar that sits next to it, and also that my right bottom canine is literally hitting against the top bracket (I have lingual braces on top which sit behind my teeth).
He took a look and instantly said “I can’t operate”… Needless to say I was totally crushed! My orthodontist obviously messed up, and I was so angry at him for days! (I’m a bit calmer now).
Side note: At the end of November 2010 I had my last appointment with the ortho and he put on brackets on the outside of my top teeth (so now I have brackets on the inside AND the outside – meaning I am unable to floss L ) and proclaimed “you’re ready for surgery. Call and book your surgery and I’ll see you six weeks after the surgery”. At this stage I thought it would be quite a quick process, i.e. that I could get my surgery done in like a month – yeah right!! I could only get my surgery on 31 March 2011, that was the earliest date because my surgeon only operates like once a month (he’s stretched in all directions with being a lecturer at the university and practicing at different practices around town, etc, etc). So long story short, I am NOT happy with my orthodontist and the way he just sent me off into the wilderness like that, without even knowing when my surgery date would be.
So now I have another appointment with the OS tomorrow (Monday) to discuss an xray that he had me take last week.
Note: I expressed my concerns to him about the ICR possibly having returned/not having stopped, and I think he is thinking along the same lines – at least that it’s a possibility, so he had me take another xray to see if there have been any changes in my TMJs. I know that if that is the case, we will have to put the whole thing off again until the resorption stops. I’m really really hoping that the resorption has stopped, and that the changes I have been noticing in my bite are just to do with the orthodontics alone. We’ll see what happens tomorrow..
I also managed to get an appointment with the orthodontist this coming Thursday, and I am going to take Phil (partner) with me for support. I have so far never taken anyone along with me to any of my appointments, but in this case I really need to be assertive with the ortho and tell him to get his act together and fix the gap ASAP, and demand more frequent visits and better communication between him and the surgeon (another niggling worry of mine).
SO yes, that is it for now, I will update after the appointments. I am really worried that the surgery may not happen for a long time now – the surgeon mentioned 6 months (eeeeeeeeek). I have waited for this for about 4 years now and I am just so tired – I just want it to be over…and without relapse! I really really hope I can convince him tomorrow to book the surgery to be in say 4 months’ time or something like that, which would mean I’ll have been in braces for 18 months (they told me 1 year at the start…ggrrrrr).
I am also strongly considering getting a third opinion form a surgeon so I think I will book in for that sometime next week.
Ok that’s it for now. Peace out
Keep smiling – that’s all we can do!
