Starting my journey

[urban]

It has been 3 weeks since I've got my braces on! Since the 3 weeks, I've noticed some progress in my bite. I had a cross bite in which I bit down, I first made contact with my back right molars and had to adjust to get the left back molars touching each other.

Now, after some time, this is noticeably less of an issue!!!

[deathorglory]

It has been 3 weeks since I've got my braces on! Since the 3 weeks, I've noticed some progress in my bite. I had a cross bite in which I bit down, I first made contact with my back right molars and had to adjust to get the left back molars touching each other.

Now, after some time, this is noticeably less of an issue!!!

I got my braces put on about 5 months ago (3/7!) and was AMAZED at how quickly my teeth started moving into place! I'm glad your brace journey is going well! You'll be at 6 months and ready for surgery before you know it!!!

PS - I'm totally jealous of your cost for braces. I paid a little over $7k for my braces (had $2k reimbursed by insurance) and am probably on the hook for another $2-3k even after insurance for the surgery... ........totally jealous.

[urban]

I think most of my cost will come surgery time, it was estimated to be 10K out of pocket :-\

I had my FIRST adjustment today! The orthodontist didn't say much except that now he installed power chains on my top front teeth to close a gap that has formed. I really feel it pulling my teeth right now but not the point where it hurts! It's oddly a satisfying feeling for some reason, hehe.

[deathorglory]

Just wait until the second day, when you can no longer bite into things because your teeth are tender...

Congrats on your first adjustment!!!! How often do you go? I've only got to go every 6 weeks but it feel like the time flies between adjustments! Really I'm just eager to have my teeth move and always wonder what THAT weird thing is going to do to my teeth. Morbid curiosity. Terrible...

[jaime]

I will be in braces 13 months before surgery and was told I will wear them for 6-12 months after surgery. I know you asked the question a few months ago, just thought I'd chime in.

Interesting you got power chains so quickly. I had my first adjustment in July and asked when power chains would go on, and they said not for awhile.

[urban]

Hi everyone!

It's already been about 7 months since I've been on braces for double jaw surgery. Time has flown by pretty quickly and I thought I would never hear the words "ready for surgery" from my surgeon... Okay well sort of.

So I had an adjustment on Jan 26th, and my ortho told me to make an appointment with the surgeon to see if I he agrees that I am ready for surgery. I went in on the 27th and they took a look at my bite. The surgeon said that my bite looks to be aligned and that I might be ready for surgery. They took impressions of my mouth again and had me go take x-rays again to see the difference.

The surgeon said he'll take a look at the x-rays and that if he finds that it is time to start the surgery process, he'll give me the call. He says that it will be a couple of weeks.

I'm pretty excited and can't wait to hear what he says about my progress.

Apparently my timeline, if I'm ready for surgery is going to be 2 months from now. Pretty exciting!

[urban]

Just another update, I visited the hospital which I will be having surgery at (UCLA) and they took more impressions, measurements and asked me questions about my health.

Everything is looking good so far and I'm ready for surgery. They will be getting back to me on a date on when exactly, but they are thinking sometime in March will be my surgery date. (I'm hoping for a phone call this coming week so I can schedule time off from work)

I still need to get heavy archwires and hooks placed on my orthodontics too which I will definitely get in touch with my orthodontist about!

I'm feeling real good about all this now.

[Ridingboots]

Good luck with your surgery in March seems like time flew for you. I am also up for surgery but think I am ages away at least 12 months.

These communities are great for preparing us for the unknown. Can't wait to hear how you go.

[urban]

More progress today! I finally got a date to get my heavy archwires, last few CT scans and finally a surgery date!

Surgery is set to be March 31 at 7:30 AM!

Time has flown by pretty quickly and surgery now feels like it is tomorrow now that I know the date!

I guess I should start reading up on how to recover now! :>

[KaylaChristine]

Congratulations on the surgery date!!

[kelse]

Congratulations on your surgery date

[deathorglory]

Good luck with your surgery in March seems like time flew for you. I am also up for surgery but think I am ages away at least 12 months.

These communities are great for preparing us for the unknown. Can't wait to hear how you go.

I'll be having surgery a day before you at the same time! I'm nervous but excited...and I'm so glad to have found another person having surgery around the time I'll be having mine! I'm sure I'll be back on the forums as soon as I'm able after surgery... If I don't get to chat with you before your, I hope it does amazingly!!!!

[urban]

Hi Everyone,

Looks like my surgery got rescheduled to April 7 at the same time. But that's ok! Time's flying by so fast so the surgery date still hasn't hit me yet.

I'm starting to read up more about recovery and just general overall experience. Since mine will be double jaw, I've been reading this site:

http://doublejawsurgery.com. It's been helpful so far and has actually eased me a bit!

[urban]

Phew! I had my surgery on April 7th. I got to the Hospital at around 4:45 AM and they didn't put me to sleep until about 7:30 AM or so. With the help of anesthesia, the surgery felt fast. It just felt like closing my eyes and waking up to feeling like my face got hit by a bus.

I was told the surgery took about 10 hours and that it went well. I felt drowsy so I dosed off the whole day afterwards. I didn't eat much either as I pretty much had no energy to. I was supposed to leave the hospital April 8 around 10:00AM but couldn't because I was unable to urinate after the anesthesia. I had another catheter stuck up me to drain myself and a few hours later I was going to the bathroom again. April 8 and April 9 were the worst days. I felt really weak, could not stand up straight and was constantly dripping blood from my nose and coughing randomly because I had fluid in my lungs.

Sleep hasn't been too great either which explains why I am typing this up at 3:55 AM on a Friday right now, but I can say so far, this morning is hands down the best morning i have had post-surgery. I still have tons of swelling, but it is starting to settle down.

In terms of weight loss, due to me not being able to eat much nor have much appetite, my bodyweight has gone down from around 166 lbs to 157 lbs so far this week. I am about 5'11" so I am a pretty thin guy to begin with. I've started to try and eat ice cream along with my nutritional shakes... hoping that will help.

My first followup appointment is today at 1PM; I can't wait to hear what the Doctor has to tell me. I'm hoping he says everything is recovering nicely!

[urban]

This was Day 4 post-op, April 11, 2015. I feel a bit better now compared to the previous days.

My default answer to "How are you feeling" by friends and family when something along the lines of this:

Apr. 7th - *Wakes up* I'm sleepy..
Apr. 8th - Death.
Apr. 9th - Death beyond death.
Apr 10th - Death with a hint of meaty-irony flavor to my breath.
Apr 11th - A little less of death and a little more of sick.

Apparently, the sick feeling comes from the fact that my sinuses were cut through to accomodate the LeFort I procedure on my upper jaw. My surgeon says it will be a few weeks before I stop leaking out so much mucus and having bloody noses. I had my appointment with my surgeon yesterday and all they did was change my rubber bands to tighter ones since they did not want my jaw moving. They also helped brush my teeth and showed me the difference in X-Rays.

Today, I was able to shower myself, take a walk around the block with my dad for a few minutes and do some reading. I still napped twice today and will likely go to sleep at 8:45 PM tonight, but each day I'm going to make an effort to restore my way of life back to what it was just a bit at a time... I'm eating a little more now too. Weight loss seems to have stalled. I'm eating canned soups along with milk+protein powder+ice cream as my meals. I would estimate each meal is about 600 calories each. Coupled with sugary prune juice and gatorade to stay hydrated throughout the day, I'm probably hitting 2000. 2300 was what I was taking it prior to surgery to maintain my weight.

Face is still very swollen though!

Can't wait to see how I wake up tomorrow... Hopefully less sick!