54 More Days Til Surgery!

Hello everyone as you can see by the title I have 54 more days until surgery (tentatively). So anyway, I saw my orthodontist Dr. B on Wednesday. I got there and the assistant took my pre-op photos. You know the ones they did way at the beginning with the cheek/lip things you hold and they take pictures of the inside of your mouth. I did not get to see the photos unfortunately. After the pics she took my wires and bands off and we did the wonderful (sarcastic) molds of my teeth. She did the bottom arch first which went great. The top was next which wasn't so great...it got stuck. After about 5 mins of pulling and feeling like the joints were going to pop out of the sockets she got the mold out. Dr. B came in about a half an hour later and looked at them and said the bottom one looked great but we need to re-do the top one cause it's missing the back teeth. So, another mold was made and got stuck again but not as bad as the first time. It only took about 4 mins to get it out this time. This was not a good feeling for my tmj and I have been very sore since. After the molds were made she put the same wire back on and new bands. I set up my appointment for the surgical hooks which will be done the day before surgery (yay!) because he said he didn't want me to be too uncomfortable. Because we live so far away from the hospital we have decided to spend the night in Burlington in a hotel the night before surgery. Plus, I can eat at my favorite restaurant the Olive Garden for my last meal (sounds like a death sentence lol). And I'll get much needed time alone with my hubby. Anyway, Dr. B and Dr. D (oral surgeon) will perform a mock surgery on the molds and when I go back to see Dr. B in April he will tell me exactly what they did and what will be done during surgery. I also called the Red Cross about my blood donation and they don't need me to donate until around 10 days before my surgery. So anyone who is considering donating their own blood for their surgery should find out what their doctors' protocol is for that. Here, we go to the Red Cross and they have a clinic in Burlington, VT where you can donate and they'll prep the blood and send it to the hospital. The doctor has to sign and send in a special donation order and let them know how many units of blood is needed. If I need more than one she said I could do it a week apart. I also asked if family members could donate and she said they could but it cost about $90. So, I will just donate my own blood.
In other news, on Tuesday I saw my tmj doc and because the narcotics are no longer working for me I have decided to stop taking them. The nurse asked if I would consider long acting pain medicine (morphine or fentanyl) but I declined because the risks outweigh the benefits. I do not under any circumstances want to take that crap because it's just another set of problems to have to deal with afterwards thank you very much. So, they prescribed a topical ointment called Ketoprofen (sp?) which is used for arthritic joints. Insurance of course doesn't pay for it so it cost me $48 but it does work, not for very long, but it's some relief anyway. All I have to do is rub the ointment over the sore joints and muscles every four hours. The cream works for about two hours for me. I am wondering though why they didn't prescribe this to me a year ago when the joints started acting up more. Oh well, it is what it is, no use crying about it. Well, that's about it for now. The kids are home from school today as we are getting a tremendous amount of snow again. About 12 inches have fallen and it's still snowing like crazy out there; ughh...I am so sick of snow already. The snowbanks are so high they are touching the roof. Come on spring! Oh yeah...Happy Easter everyone!!

Update

I just wanted to update on the name of the recipe book I bought online. Shontell pointed out other victims would probably enjoy this. It is called "dinner through a straw" and you can buy zip n squeeze bags there as well. Their website is www.dinnerthroughastraw.net and the products are not expensive. The jaw bra (the contraption they wrap around your head with ice packs in it) I bought at another website where you can buy zip n squeeze bags and other things...this website is www.zip-n-squeeze.com again it won't be too expensive. Hope this helps everyone who's looking for this stuff for their surgery. Also, both places mail this stuff to you through US postal service so make sure you give them your mailing address and not your physical address. I gave them my physical address thinking it was being sent UPS and it caused a delay. Good luck and again hope this helps.

I had my wire changed a little over two weeks ago and I am noticing big changes. The gap from my open bite is smaller. My upper teeth are now even farther behind my lower teeth. I am just amazed how much of a difference there is. When I was flossing the other day I was able to get the floss in between my molars on the upper right side (I haven't been able to do that since the braces were put on without shredding the floss). My jaw pain is ab0ut the same; some days are better than others. I have started buy things I will need after the surgery. So far I've bought a blender with a travel mug (I can make smaller portions in this so I don't have to use the big one), zip n squeeze bags, ice packs and hot packs and a recipe book that included the syringe kit to eat with. I was a little shocked to see that the tubing was actually a catheter tube; is that what they actually put in your urethra? Ouch...not looking forward to that! I will stock up on books next time we go to the bookstore. I called my OS's office earlier this week to make sure that my surgery is still booked for May 14th and to see what I needed to do for my blood donation. I have to call the red cross to set up a date for the collection. My surgery date is still on; so far so good. I hope I don't have to go through the frustration of having my surgery cancelled at the last minute. Right now I just want it over and done with. I'm curious to see how my mock surgery turns out when my ortho does it at the end of the month. Anyway, that's it for now. Bye til next time.