Life 7 months later

Hey all,

So it's over 7 months past the big surgery day.
I have to admit that I couldn't be happier with my decision.
I finally have a jaw that I love!
I can look at myself in the mirror now with no makeup from any angle and I look normal!

I don't think this surgery has made me look perfect or beautiful, but I think it's helped me fit in. It's helped me feel like I don't have a deformity and that I no longer have to explain a speech impediment or  any of the other issues I had to live with for so long.

At this point I am waiting for the metal to come off but I just don't get my hopes up as nothing moves fast with this process. Someday it will be nothing but a faint memory.

I just want to send out a thank you to so many of the people out there who have been so kind to share their stories and to keep in touch throughout this process. I think the best way to reach me regarding this surgery is through facebook as I check those messages most often. Please feel free to add me or message me on facebook to talk about jaw surgery or share your experiences.

The reason I have been so open with my blog and staying in contact with everyone is because when I started this process I just wanted someone to talk to about it. Most blog people were very hard to reach and get a response from and I was so grateful for the people who did share and responded.

It's a little hard to stay in contact via blog comments as my phone will not let me respond, ugh!!!

Anyway I want to send out a big thank you to Suzie from metal mouth with mascara. She recently had her surgery but she has seriously been such an amazing person throughout this whole process.
We've been in contact for a long time now and I am so grateful to have made such an amazing friend through this process. I think having so much in common and both dealing with jaw surgery has just made it easier for us to get through something so big.

Update on life, it has continued. I have been back in school since January although I've had issues come and go with my jaw. It was a little overwhelming to go back into school full time and still have issues with my jaw but I'm pretty good right now.

I love a Guinea

Pookie had a bath but he's smelly again. He went to the vet and a lump he developed is just a fat deposit so that is good news after Tommy had that tumour. He also gained 2 lbs and needs to go on a doggy diet. Poor Pooka

My cheeks still don't match

I can chew!!!! Veggie sushi

I took my first train in Canada from Toronto to Montreal

Went to a planetarium with Mia

Got lost in space

Got a car with air conditioning. I don't know how i've been driving for 6 years without AC

Weird cheeks

I have to upload pictures off my Nikon but it just freezes a lot and my inertia will probably keep me from getting it done. 

Terra

Before and After X Rays

Officially over 6 months post op woooooooooo

Hey all
So I suck at updating as usual
I just wanted to share whats going on with my jaws at this point post op.

Numbness
I'm still numb in the same spots, my chin and lip.
Sometimes it bothers me because it feels like rubber, but most of the time I'm okay with it.
I'm thinking of trying acupuncture to bring back the feeling

TMJ
My TMJ has been pretty good unless I'm stressed, then it just hurts.
I still have outbreaks out really bad pain but it's not as frequent as before.

Swelling
I'm pretty sure my swelling is down a great deal.
I think I still have residual around my nose, I feel puffy in that area where most of the plates are.

Chewing
Chewing is 100 times better, my teeth make contact!!

Braces
I go in on the 2nd of May for what might be my last appointment.
I'm hoping the braces come off really soon.
I'm just tired of food in my teeth all the time.
I can't wait to go out and eat without having to hide my mouth until I can check these damn things.

Otherwise I'm generally happy with the outcome. It's nice having a functioning jaw and not having to worry about surgery anymore. Now I'm back to being preoccupied with my life and feeling like school will never be over.
I graduate next year but still I'm just so tired of it.
I miss working :(

On the bright side recovery is going very well. I'll try to take some real pictures and do a good update one of these days.

Keep your fingers crossed that these braces come off soon. I'm sick of looking like i'm 15.

la dee da

Terra

My Tommy

Hey guys, I created a post on my other blog about my Tommy not being well.
If you'd like to read it click on the image below.
Please send him positive vibes for a quick recover.

Terra

My before and after jaw surgery self

Dear friends,

I know many of you going through this jaw surgery process find that it is possibly one of the most challenging things you have ever gone through. It's hard to believe how changing your smile can really change your life but it truly does. In some ways for the better, and in some ways it just gives us clarity.

I was always uncertain of how people would react to such a huge decision and I was more so worried that people were going to judge me. People would assume I did it out of vanity, or that I wasn't content with myself the way I am. The truth of it is simple, I did it because I deserve to have the best quality of life I can provide for myself and having a functioning jaw and a normal bite is a part of it.

The decision itself was huge for me, I found out at 15 that I had a jaw deformity and that unfortunately the only way of correcting it was through surgery. At 15 I was very content with my jaw as it was and I buried that fact away for a years. Over time my jaw issues surfaced, and I'm grateful that they surfaced when they did because I feel I was much more prepared to go through this now than I was back at 15.

The part that really worried me even two years ago as I started to undergo this process was that people would have a misunderstanding of it all. My family took a long time to warm up to it as I don't think they really believed a surgery like this would solve my chronic headaches and they would never agree that physically my jaws were far from perfect and were beginning to strain the overall structure of my face.

The most important thing is that the people who genuinely care about me understood, they listened, they did not judge. Unfortunately not everyone will be like that. I remember my best friend telling me how she saw an old friend of ours at a party and this old friend was telling people that I was destroying my face having plastic surgery. This person who hasn't talked to me in years had no problem looking at my surgery pictures on facebook and telling people that I had too much plastic surgery!? I'm sorry but I hate people who talk behind your back when they never bothered to ask you what was going on.

This is why for so long my blog was private, why I didn't tell anyone in my life about it. It gave me an escape from the people who could most easily judge me, those closest to me.

Regardless of what people may say I have grown so much through this experience and I am so happy to not be suffering from all the pain associated with my TMJ issues. Those people who want to say things behind my back can go ahead and talk. All that matters to me is that I know why I went through this and I am happier than ever that I did.

Instead of trying to get back at two faced people the best thing you can do is kill them with kindness. If you don't show hate then the hate other people show stands out twice as loud and makes them look foolish.

Most people waiting for jaw surgery are in anticipation of what it feels like emotionally to be post op. From my experience I can say that it's like crossing a bridge. You wake up and from that day forward you're forced to adapt to a new you. I found it difficult at times and parts of me are still adapting, but I don't regret this decision at all. I tried to go in with no predetermined expectations, and I think I came out of it with more than I could have expected.

Terra

Costs of Jaw Surgery

This is in reply to a comment regarding the costs associate with jaw surgery.
First off I just want to say that I live in Ontario, Canada and therefore I have provincial health insurance which covers certain costs.  All cost in Canadian dollars.

This is a break down from start to finish:

1. Braces: (first set)                  $3000
2. Premolar removal                $500- 1000 (estimating as this was a long time ago)
3. Braces: (second set)             $7000
4. Wisdom teeth removal:        $1300
5. Surgical Planning                $3500

The surgery itself was covered by OHIP and I have additional health insurance for my prescriptions which I'm sure would have been at least a few hundred on top of everything. 

I'm not sure how other surgeons price out their surgeries but for my surgeon $3500 seems to be a standard rate for a double jaw surgery and genioplasty. Those fees included costs incurred at his private office such as x-rays, follow up visits, moulds, and other related costs. There was also an initial consultation fee of $200. 

Terra

Ortho appointment thursday

http://instagr.am/p/WxNhhJt_la/
Heres a new pic. Happier and happier with the result.  I'll update Thursday after my appointment

Before and After 5 months post op

Hey all,

So I wanted to post before and after profile pictures for the last few months and I just haven't.
I took a couple pictures tonight to share with you guys.
I don't have hair and makeup or any of that going on which could possible alter the overall difference.
So here it is:

It's hard to believe that my profile is normal for the first time since I can remember. Pretty awesome!!
I'm super happy with the way everything looks.
I need to get on top of the whole speech therapy soon.
I've been so overwhelmed with school and the setbacks I had at the beginning of the term didn't help.

Are those cheekbones that I have now?? wow crazy.

btw in the before pictures my lips were closed, that way my face at rest sadly.

Have a great weekend !!!

Terra

4.5 Months Post Double Jaw surgery and Genioplasty VIDEO

I'm sorry I suck at updating

School is literally killing me right now. I took on a course load that is way too heavy. But I want to graduate already!!! ugh

Anyway I suck because I haven't updated.
I guess no news is good news?

Well my TMJ is being not so perfect. But it could be the massive amounts of stress and going to bed at 4 am because I'm up studying. Anyway it's been hurting and giving me a migraine. I took a T3 yesterday and one today and it helps but it wears off too fast. Some days I seriously just want to go into the ER and get a shot of something stronger so I can catch a break.

Anyway it's probably due to my lovely elastics. I'm cycling through 3 elastics. One side is suppose to be 24 hours and the other overnight. But every time I switch my jaw gets pulled in a different direction and it's not so fun.

Good news is I see my surgeon this coming tuesday and I see my ortho in 3 weeks i thinkkkk...
Anyway that means I might get the okay for braces off but I don't really care about that right now.
I know you're wondering how could she not want them off already.
As Rhianna was saying, speech therapy is very important for tongue thrusters and I haven't had time to see mine yet so although I've been improving majorly on my tongue thrusting, I still need help. I think my tongue is too big for my mouth, or maybe it's just a lazy tongue from all the years of not staying in it's proper position. Meh.

I need to get on that ASAP.

Anyway I could go on forever about all the crap going on and how confused I am about what I'm even doing with my life but I'll just leave it at that.

Heres a link again to my new blog which will pertain to my life in general since jaw surgery is sort of in the past now.





Just click the big picture.

I promise next week I'll do a real update and put some new photos up because my face is finally no longer swollen from surgery #2.

Hope everyone is well, and remember this whole surgery is just a temporary part of your life, it gets so much better once it's all over.

Terra