Saturday, June 25, 2011

Choice Made

  Okay so yesterday we went to the Head of the Department of Maxillo-Facial Surgery. My mother and I decided and set it in stone he shall be my surgeon. She says to everyone who she's come into contact "I get to have the head surgeon work on my baby..." Hahahahaa. Mother, it was only yesterday how do you talk to 2358361982 people in 24 hours? Oh well it is very nice and a great feeling. I'm super excited!! However, he said he would contact my orthodontist before any further decisions etc to be made. Problem: my orthodontist was unhappy to hear we needed a new surgeon, letter of recommendation (we snuck around and got it from our dentist instead to get on the waiting list asap), and a snappy timeline to get this done this summer. We are not going to settle for an extra year long wait like last year. Which leads me to think it will take a super long time. So we will bug the orthodontist office to no tomorrow come Monday.

  I've been reading soo many more of these blogs now that mother finally convinced me to start my own. They're all so exciting and very helpful, is it weird when I read the stories from the beginning and get to the surgery part I get all excited and nervous for them? Hahahaa I'm foolish, oh well, you guys all look phenomenal I can't wait! But because I cherish my summers greatly I also can... (but still can't) Sorry I'm so weird.


Life's a party, wear the hats.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Potential to Kinetic

  Alright, let's begin again.

  I had already been through a considerable amount of previous orthodontics: braces phase 1 and 2, a lip bumper, a lengthy headgear wearing process, 3 or 4 expanders, and teethpulling. So I wasn't too keen on going back, but if I was going to it was gonna be fast. My brother and I agreed on a Fast Braces company that claimed braces in about a year (which was true to my brother's case 10 months total, you can imagine my jealousy).

  So we get there and he does a full check on us, he asks me "Where are your 12 year molars?" WHAT!? I'm supposed to have another set of teeth? I had no idea about these teeth, nor did I have room for them. Also my lower wisdom teeth were growing completely horizontally. My jaw measurements, also a problem far too small.

  Unfortunatley, the orthodontist told us my case was far too complicated, he could do just a cosmetic fix but I needed much more than that. He was an angel and gave us this HUGE list of orthodontists, oral and maxillo facial surgeons, periodontal surgeons, dentists, and many others. He highlited the ones we needed to see. Good Lord I've never been to soo many appointments in this amount/capacity/timeline in my life. We saw some bad ones and some really great ones and some that were just mediocre I guess.

  We settled on a oral-maxillo facial surgeon and he made sure we used the orthodontist he works with. I got my bottom wisdom teeth out and my 12 year molars (I had them under the surface) uncovered, they did however keep my top two incase the 12's didnt come in and I could use them later in life. That was done December 2008. He was great for that and we really liked him and stuck with him. He did the full work up and all that jazz, the measurements, molds, you guys know the initial fun stuff.  The teeth started to come in well so next on the list: braces. Problem: too many teeth, not enough space. I got my 4 bicuspids taken out before baces went on, in June 2009. Watch out the next paragraph is a bit angsty (I'm only 16 guys sorry for that).
  He told us 6-12 months, then surgery, then 6-12 months. I believed him. Nope. His plan has changed a good 4-6 times. It's now been two years, and the best part of all of this? Our original surgeon, doesn't acccept insurance. Cool right? We have been on a lovely search and we've gotten lists of surgeons on our insurance plan that our orthodontist has said no to every one. So we went behind his back.

  He finally agreed yesterday to contact this one. Yay! And we saw him today, he's the head of the maxillo-facial team and such a blessing. He told us almost everything we were hoping to hear. Now we've learned our lesson but when we explained our story, almost the first thing he said was insurance wasn't a problem. So we are definatley excited the way its going. I just hope the bumps in the road are small from here on out.

  I promise I will keep up with the posts and everything, like I said I should've started this a long time ago but looking at this summing up 2 and a half years in one post isn't too bad right? whoops...

Life's a party, wear the hats

Doomed from the beginning

  When I was 7, I went through my first batch of braces. They told my parents I would probably need jaw surgery, my sister too. However as my sister got older her jaw got longer so she didn't need jaw surgery come time for her to get it all checked out. Wisdom teeth for her and round 2 of braces, and she's fine. But my story has a different ending.
  2 and a half (maybe even 3) years ago this all started, I didn't like that first orthodontist (we just didn't click well) so when I was done, I was done. I didn't just leave randomly or something I finished treatment, but never went back... Anyways, my brother was 16 and he had never had braces, but was in need of them, nothing like Kylie and I had before but they would do him well. So I was 13/14 and my mom thought it was a good idea to check on things for my situation. Let me tell you, if you have ever taken a science class and learned about potential energy, I was a GIANT ball of it.
  Oh rats. I will finish this story later I have to "get ready for an appointment", my mother calls.

Life's a party, wear the hats.