Surgery Tomorrow...

Hi Bloggers! Tomorrow (7/2/09) I will be Be having upper Jaw surgery!
Here is some info:

Orthognathic surgery is performed by Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons to correct a wide range of minor and major skeletal and dental irregularities, including the misalignment of jaws and teeth, which, in turn, can improve chewing, speaking and breathing. While the patient's appearance may change slightly as a result of their surgery, orthognathic surgery is performed to correct functional problems.Some of the conditions that may indicate the need for corrective jaw surgery:difficulty chewing, or biting food difficulty swallowing chronic jaw or jaw joint (TMJ) pain and headache excessive wear of the teeth open bite (space between the upper and lower teeth when the mouth is closed) unbalanced facial appearance from the front, or side facial injury or birth defects receding chin protruding jaw inability to make the lips meet without straining chronic mouth breathing and dry mouth sleep apnea
© 2006-2008 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS). All rights reserved.

My surgery is being done to correct an open bite. The surgery will be performed under general anesthesia in a hospital. Surgery will last right around 4 hours. My Surgeon will section my upper Jaw in to three pieces, reshape, and reposition the jawbones, then surgical plates, screws, wires and rubber bands will be used to hold your jaws in their new positions. All incisions will be made inside the mouth to reduce visible scarring.

After surgery, I will be on a liquid diet for 10 days while I am "wired shut" after that I will start with soft foods and slowly transition to a normal diet. I will be taking three weeks off work(which I am actually really excited about!). The initial healing phase is about six weeks, complete healing of the jaws takes between nine and 12 months.

Here is a little diagram that shows my situation
This first picture shows how my teeth are open in the front

And this second image shows the cuts and the plates the are placed to close my bite.

My Mom will becoming out on Monday to help take care of me, which I am SO grateful for. I am nervous, but ready to get this all over with! I will post some pictures of the recovery process, I am sure it will not be pretty! Wish me luck! I am sure it is going to be the BEST 4th of July weekend ever!

Flash back Friday: My Lasso

Last February I had surgery on my sinuses and deviated septum. It was my first real reality check about living away from home. Brett had a test the morning of my surgery, so he dropped me off at the hospital at like six in the morning. I checked my self in, and they took me to their pre-surgery department, where I waited for almost 3 hours until they were ready to take me In. Different nurses kept asking me if I wanted them to take my jewelry to who ever was waiting for me, or that they could go get whoever was waiting for me to keep me company etc. and every time I had to tell them that I came alone, I started to cry... I was just a Little, home sick, nervous and scared!!! Apparently I was a little loopy coming out after surgery. After I woke up, I had no idea where I was, and I had the nurses running around the waiting room, looking for my mom, who I was sure was there waiting for me, until finally one of the nurses looked at my paper work, and told me that no one came to the hospital with me. Then the poor nurse had to explain to me that I was in fact in Ohio, not in Utah. Luckily my friend Jami showed up shortly after, and helped clear things up and calm me down. She was nice enough to come to the hospital after she got off of work to wait with me until Brett got out of school. She was lucky enough to see me at my worst. And she still likes me, what a good friend!! Most of you know me a s a BLUNT and often tactless person. these special traits are exaggerated with a little general anesthetic in my system. Jami has plenty of funny stories to tell about stupid/rude/nonsensical things i had to say that afternoon. My recovery was a little rough, this picture says it all. The pain pills they gave me also made me a little loopy/out of it, as you can tell by the glazed over eyes. I had to wear this bandage under my nose to catch the "drainage." I called it my Lasso, apparently on pain pills that made perfect sense to me...... My Judgement was clearly compromised seeming I let someone take these pictures of me.....

Thanks to everyone that helped take care of me, especially Brett. He did such a great job taking care of me!! It was nice to find out first hand that when I really need my hubby he is willing to step up to the plate and get the job done!! Boy am I glad that is over with!!!