GOOD NEWS

My ortho called me back and I'm going in for moulds on monday!!!
tuesday I go pick them up and bring them to the surgeons office. I've tres excited as this means something is happening, and if things aren't going right at least we can fix it at this point!!
:D
I'll update next week after the appointments

Finally some progress

Hey guys,

I'm really not the kind of person to bug and bug, but after having my surgery date set all the way in october and not having surgery in the spring this year like I was promised so many times I realized that if I don't stay on top of things my October date might not even happen.

I've been in braces for about 13 months or so, and I've had braces in the past so there was very little work needed with the braces.

Anyway, I called my surgeons office on Monday, and I spoke with someone who said she would talked to Dr C on tuesday and contact me about what we could do to make sure that I'm actually ready in October.

I called asking if there was any way I could be sure that Dr C is happy with my progress and that he actually believes that from his experience I will be ready for October. My orthodontist doesn't really treat my case as being special at all, he comes over, takes a look, tells me that we can't do anything yet, bends some wires and says see you next time. I've already felt like a nag for all my year long bugging of what I'd get a surgery date. I know the process is slow and that it's unpredictable, but I'm missing half my school year now because of this, and I'm not getting any younger, I want to graduate and start my life!

Because my surgery date is so unknown I only took one course this summer in the case that I get a date in the summer and get to have the surgery earlier as they said could very well happen. As time passes this probably won't happen. But right now I just want to know that October will happen.

Also, tell me if this is normal, but my orthodontist has never done moulds, ever on me.
My surgeons office has now requested moulds and when I called my orthos office the woman was like well we need to contact Dr C, and I'm like "Well he's sending you a letter too" and she's like "well we're going to call him"

My family has been like well maybe now that they have your money they don't really care anymore.
My ortho was paid in full before the braces were even put on, while my surgeon has been paid a deposit which is half the total cost of surgery fees.

In Ontario OHIP covers in hospital, but the planning is not covered, or the braces. So far over $10 000 has gone into my jaw, not including all the money spent years ago for compensating my bite and having pre molars removed.

Oh I also forgot to mention that I need gum grafting. For some reason after having the braces on my lower gums have ceased to exist, I have no gum left on one of my teeth and it's really painful to brush and floss, although I do still do it to try to prevent bacteria. I don't really have a problem with the gum grafting, as long as they can fix it I'm pretty happy, and I know my surgeon does good work so that makes me feel safe.

Sorry this post is sooooo long.
Point is that I bugged my surgeon and now he wants moulds and he is sending a letter to my ortho with what he needs. YAY!!!!

Thank you to all the bloggers and to my boyfriend who pushed me to get on their case about this stuff.
It just feels good to know that something is being done and that I don't have to wait nervously and then not be surgery ready.
Thanks guys !!!

Terra

My bite in pictures

Bite just isn't opening like it should

I took a picture today to see how my bite has changed and it for sure isn't near where my surgeon wants it for surgery.

This is my bite a few months ago.....

If anything my bite looks more open in Feb. My surgeon wants 4mm anterior open bite in order to do double jaw surgery. If you guys remember, I started out with about a 4mm open bite. Why my orthodontist closed it? I have no clue. Now we're going back and opened the bite again and its taking forever!

This was my anterior open bite right after having the braces put on, pretty much none of my teeth touched except the back molars.

It's all just weird to me, and as much as it's stressing me out, I'm trying not to feel so stressed. I remember last summer when my bite started closing with the braces I was getting worried, everyone sort of reassured me that it was normal, but when I saw my surgeon a couple months ago he wasn't happy at all with it, he wanted everything opened more than it had originally been, and he had wanted my orthodontist to send me in much earlier to make sure we were progressing in the right direction.
I'm not super happy about this, and a part of me feels sort of mislead by my specialists. I don'y have any type of coverage with my braces and they were paid for in full, so they pretty much had me at their disposal from day one. With my full treatment paid for up front I didn't really have any options to look around once things started to change.

Jaws

It's weird to me how having my bite decompensated has given me a strong lower jaw.
I think i'm starting to see why my surgeon wouldnt do just upper jaw, since my face literally will be sticking out from the nose down.

Orthodontist Appointment

Hey everyone!

So I saw my orthodontist yesterday. I'm trying to upload a video but it isn't working just yet.
Anyway heres the update...

My bite isn't open enough to have my placed on a waiting list. My bite was at about 1mm and it needs to be 4mm open in order to be surgery ready.

My orthodontist put bends in the top and bottom wire and I'm still using elastics. My teeth are very sore but I do see my bite getting worse, looks like I gained about another mm so far so I'm hoping I get the 4mm by the time I go back.

My next appointment is June 28th.

For the first time I'm really noticing that I look different. My face has changed a lot since having the braces on and although it looks crappy right now, I'm looking forward to the changes after surgery.

The TMJ pain is still really bad, I sort of just want to sleep all day.

I really hope all of you are doing well

Waking up skinny and vegan protein powder

Okay so I've been pretty good with my diet for a while now but I had seen no difference in my body.
Weird thing is I woke up this morning and I'm like wtf, my stomach looks flat! YAY
Anyway I haven't been working out like I should due to knee issues. My doctor advised me to take 2 weeks off from running any time my knees start getting bad again, they sort of lock up and get really painful. It sucks big time because I love running. I'm not a gym lover, I hate being indoors and working out, so its been challenging.

Anyway I will make a separate post down the road and include this, but I started using a different product from the protein line that I've been using for a couple years. I swear this stuff keeps me alive. They changed the formula so it's super fine now and very easy to mix into shakes or anything else. It's vegan too so anyone can take it.

This is the website for more information
VEGA SPORT

I thought the recover one would be best to try out for a while since most of my issues are post workout, with muscle fatigue and joint pain. So far so good. This will for sure be my staple during jaw surgery and I strongly recommend it to anyone. My boyfriend used to take protein all the time since he works out a lot, but I read through the ingredients in his and it's a lot of artificial sweeteners and other things that aren't so good for you. For this particular protein I pay about $49 Canadian for over 800g, which isn't a whole lot of protein compared to the non vegan brands, but it's quality, and you only need one scoop as opposed to two scoops. 

Seeing the orthodontist in 3 hours!!! Wish me luck!

Summer Days

Hey everyone,

I feel so much better this past week than I've been feeling in a long time.
It's finally getting warmer in Toronto, and I feel like everything in my life is starting to go the way I wanted it to.
I find a good spring cleaning is a big help. When my space is a mess I can't get anything done.
I'm trying to figure my expenses all out since I want to make sure I can cancel all my un-needed payments  when I go to Australia.


Ohhh I almost forgot, I got a syringe from the medical supply store. The man working there said I could buy pretty much any width of tubing for it but he suggested one that would let the most liquid through and would probably work best for when I am wired. I'll have to do a post closer to my surgery date with a list of the things I have gathered so far and where I got them from. Considering I live in Canada, my international friends may have trouble locating some of these places but I'm sure you have similar (if not better) substitutes.

I've been slowly getting my hair to lighten. I also trimmed it last night. I've added in a lot of blonde in the ends but I'm going to lighten the whole thing by a couple shades in a month or two. The ends took a beating so I gave my hair a trim. I'll probably upload a video on youtube next time I trim my hair because I know all my friends hate the idea of going to get their hair cut, in the fear of having way too much cut off. I've been trimming my hair every 6-8 weeks and it's growing in longer than thicker than it has the past couple years.

Oh, I also almost forgot that I am seeing my orthodontist tomorrow.

I've been wearing my elastics all the time now, I had lost one pack and way running low, I didn't want to drive all the way out to my ortho who is outside the city, and I live downtown, so I searched and found the pack I had thought I lost.
I think these elastics are making my sleep apnea worse because I did  have an episode the other night that woke me up, that hasn't happened in a long time. One night I forgot the put my elastic in and I slept really well and woke up on 7 hours of sleep feeling well rested. With the sleep apnea, I can sleep for 11 hours and still be tired. I'll have to talk to him about this when I go in. I feel like I'm starting to look like my betta fish who clearly suffers from an underbite lol.

Other than that, not too much excitement.
I'm seeing Armin Van Buuren next weekend which will be pretty awesome.
It's Victoria day long weekend, or May 2-4, as most of us know it.
Maybe we'll get a beach day in too, otherwise it'll still be awesome to do something fun for once.

Getting better

Thank you so much everyone for being so wonderful!
Honestly your supportive comments mean so much to me, I know you all understand this process to a different level than people in my life do because they aren't going through it.
I do feel a lot better and I have realized how critical I have been on myself.
It's frustrating to have so much uncertainty with when the surgery will happen and when the braces will come off.
Really though thank you all so much. I feel like I've met some wonderful people.
I've already been in contact with a lot of you through facebook or email.
Please if any of you want to chat about our jaw situations feel free to email me or add me on facebook.
I dont think I would have done it if it wasn't for the amazing support group I've found on the forums, on blogger, on youtube, and on facebook.
Thank you all so much for reading, sharing your stories, and caring :)

150 awful days left

I thought I would greet you all with a horrible side profile shot. I feel like my chin has gotten weaker, it has no definition at all. You can see how my upper jaw is retrognathic, and well the convex in my profile.
Pretty much my face looks stupid. I don't remember it looking this stupid, I guess the braces are doing their job to make me as horrible as possible before the big day.

It's 150 days away from my booked surgery, but I'm still hoping I get an earlier date because I don't think I can handle waiting any longer.

This year has been HORRIBLE!!!!
I feel so not like myself, I hate that I have to spend my university years in braces, and I hate that I look 15!

This year has sucked in so many ways, but in the end I managed to get through another year of university and somehow my boyfriend hasn't ran off to another country to get away from the crazy jaw surgery woman. Neither of us expected  life to change so much throughout our relationship. I feel like every aspect of my life has changed. I stopped working, went to university full time, change my hair, stopped going out, became a huge nerd, GOT BRACES!!! (worst part by far!), my family may have gotten more crazy and the past two years I have been dreaming of moving out, but my education would suffer, and I really want to finish school as soon as possible.

I'm sorry, this is the only place I can come to complain about how shitty life is right now.
What it comes down to is that I am just not happy with myself right now.

Sometimes I hate myself for deciding to do this, but my jaw is so off, so I know it's for the best.

Days need to go by faster!!!!
.......
I'm going to guess its been over 375 days in braces, surgery is 150 days away at the worst case.
It still feels like a lifetime.

Lets all mourn the loss of the old Terra. Feels like a lifetime ago...

Health, fitness, jaws, and accounting

Story of my life.

Anyway I just wanted to update, the website I have been using to get my workouts is having a 30 day challenge. They post videos for the month including fitness tests to help you get in better shape in 30 days. It's FREE!!! Okay no excuses!!! Anyway here is the link so check it out if you want to get in shape.

MAY 30 DAY CHALLENGE - BODYROCK.TV

My eating has been pretty good, still staying on the healthy side. I feel thinner in the sense that pants are fitting better and I don't look bloated.
My thighs have gotten thicker over the years from running but I notice that I do have more muscle mass and at a higher weight I look thinner than I used to because of this.

I start summer school in a week. Taking one of my tougher financial accounting courses. This course is really important for when I get my accounting designation so I wanted to make it the focus when I had time.

Jaws are being a pain as usual. TMJ is super swollen. Do any of you notice that when you feel the TMJ you can feel the disk on the outside, like a little bump that moves when you put pressure on it? I guess its still inflamed.

I see my orthodontist in 2 weeks and we're going to talk about where my bite is, the possibility of moving my surgery up, and also finding an orthodontist in Australia to complete my treatment.

Well thats about it, the weather is horrible in Canada. My short lived summer before summer term is pretty much over and it hasn't even been warm enough to run outside.