Today as I was getting my surgical hooks crimped onto my brace wires, I started to really feel the weight of this upcoming surgery (Next week!) . So hey, might as well start the blog now!
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| I am Sam - Before Surgery |
In the weeks running up to my surgery I read several blogs that have comforted me, terrified me, and maybe given me an idea of what's about to come. I'm going to try and do the same, and hopefully it'll help at least one person out there.
I had my my pre-op phone call yesterday with the anesthesiology department. It was a short and sweet 15 minute call. They basically made sure I wouldn't die on their operating table. They were happy to hear I exercise semi-regularly, don't drink excessively or smoke, and that my medical history is reasonably safe. And luckily, I've had my tonsils out in the past, so the good news there is I don't seem to have issues being put under. Hopefully nothing has changed, since that happened a
loooong time ago in England.
The two main things I need to do before the surgery are
- Get my blood drawn, which I did that today. Luckily I don't mind needles much at all.
- Call them 3 days before to schedule my intake; ie. arrival time, room, forms and stuff.
Things are definitely starting to feel real now. Every so often I remind myself why I'm doing this. I have a big underbite (like 8mm). Before braces my teeth joined crooked, after braces, my front teeth don't connect at all, so I literally can't bite.
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| High quality rendition of teeth and jaw positions before braces, with braces, and after surgery. |
If I had continued down the path of no braces or surgery there's a pretty good chance I'd have similar teeth and gum issues like my dad, which from what I've heard from him is that it's no walk in the park. Instead, I could get braces to straighten the teeth, but then the whole lower jaw underbite starts to become very noticeable as the straight teeth don't join at all.
My teeth are at the braces stage:
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| Surgical Hooks - Grillz edition |
This is infinitely better that where I was 2 years ago. Actually, I'll probably talk about the braces and getting wisdom teeth out and other stuff that has led up to this surgery over the next few days. The hooks are surprisingly comfortable. We'll see if that changes after I sleep tonight, but so far I can barely feel a difference. No poking feelings on my cheeks, which is nice.
With straight teeth now my lower lip juts out a huge amount. It's actually bad enough I catch myself spitting a lot more now. On the plus side jaw surgery will allow me to drool constantly for a while, which will be different at least.
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| My ~8mm underbite, mind the scruff |
I'm having a pre-surgery food orgy with friends, the theme being foods people with jaws like to eat, which unfortunately doesn't narrow the scope very much.
Next day is
T minus 5 days
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