Okay, not quite. But guess what?! I have a surgery date! Rather than just call me back to let me know, I received a letter from the hospital telling me my surgery date and my pre-op date. THANKS. At least it’s sooner than I had anticipated.

So here’s the dealio. I’m not really getting a NEW face, but my profile might change a bit because the jaw surgery affects both my lower and upper jaw. I will mostly look the same… I’ve had a severe underbite for my entire life, and basically what they’re doing is saving me a lifetime of trouble. In the long run, I’d have problems with eating if I left everything as is. They’re going to knock me out with anesthesia, take apart my upper and lower jaws, reproportion the bones [cut some out and put some back in], and then they’ll put me back together. They’ve done it for many years, so it’s not uncommon.

Recovery time is between a week and a month. I won’t be able to eat really. I’ll have to relearn to speak with my new mouth. Liquids will be my friend. Side effects may include loss of feeling in the face. If I’m drooling away while talking to you and not noticing, you will know why. For the first few days, I’ll look completely swollen and gross. I am NOT looking forward to that. That’s alright though. I’ll probably just lock myself up in the house with my pain meds. ;-)

So YES, a surgery date’s been set. Hooray! Rejoice! Another one off the list.

021 – Schedule jaw surgery date.

An update on the 101 in 1001:

020 – Document jaw surgery. Before and after.
My orthodontist is pretty high tech. “Before” photos are accessible upon logging into their system. Why I didn’t bother to look before is beyond me. They’re not pretty. These are definitely unflattering photos of me. Class III Severe Malocclusion – Woo!

The underbite is rather severe. I haven’t taken updated photos at the orthodontist, but basically all the teeth are straightened out now. A few teeth were removed. And now, there’s no more overlapping of the teeth in the front. The braces don’t fix the fact that my lower jaw is a lot larger than my upper jaw, so I still have a horrible underbite. Jaw surgery will fix that. Can’t wait.

An update on the 101 in 1001 list:

020 – Document jaw surgery. Before and after.
About a week and a half ago, I went in to see the oral surgeon to update him on my progress. The deteriorating bone structure caused by all the movement of the teeth has been cause for concern, and he advised that I check out a periodontist as soon as I can. I don’t know WHEN I can, but I’ll make better efforts in doing so.

It looks like the plan is to schedule surgery for August 2009. I’ve taken the month off just in case. If I’m not using the time to recover, I’ll use the time for some much needed vacation. I had to shift around some time to make the month long PTO work out.

The orthodontist recently put in a spring next to one of the smaller teeth, so that space can be created. They’ll later have the dentist put a cap on it to make it look proportional to the other teeth. But man, that latest wire and spring was such a pain in the mouth. Seriously! The appointment which normally lasts 20 minutes took an hour. Ugh. I was in much pain, and the assistant putting everything in was having the hardest time.

Turns out that RV’s mother has had jaw surgery done before. Instead of an underbite, her correction was for an overbite. I keep telling myself that this whole ordeal is worth the end result. I think everyone around me has said the same thing. Fingers crossed for good results.

I am currently in a lot of pain. I visited the orthodontist this morning, and they put in additional bands on my four molars, the ones in the way back. For the 9 months or so [I've not been particularly good at keeping track, but I caught a glimpse of my chart this morning], I’ve only had bands on the second set of molars. So now those other molars are covered, and a new wire’s been placed. I’m just a whole lot of soreness…

After getting my teeth cleaned some time next month, I’ll get some more x-rays taken to see how the bone underneath it all is doing. Once all the gaps are closed, I’ll have to make an appointment to see the oral surgeon. I’m, of course, noticing all the changes. The front teeth are no longer overlapping, and the gaps that were teeth pulled out are definitely closing. After the consultation, they’re going to work on widening the upper jaw. That does not sound fun at all.

We’re aiming for a surgery date some time in later spring or early summer. Upon healing up from surgery, another six months of braces and retainers for the rest of my life. It’s really all coming together. What a weird feeling. I remember always “looking into” this, doing my research. I joined mailing lists, read blogs. Still, nothing really prepares you for this.

I can’t wait. I feel like I should be taking more photos to document the teeth and jaw, but I think it’d also be very gross… I look the same on the surface for right now. I was flipping through old images of myself pre-braces, and it was hard to find a good one showing the bottom teeth. I noticed that I tend not to smile as much, or my bottom teeth aren’t really showing when I smile. So anyway, here’s SORT of a before and after shot.

If one looks closely enough, you’ll see the front bottom teeth overlapping each other in all sorts of directions. And with the braces, they all now stand alone. They hurt like crazy though since they’re the ones being pulled loose and moved around.

The Darjeeling Limited – a film about the mucked up relationship between siblings that eventually works out. Of course there are other pieces – their relationship with the parents, being abandoned, dealing with death and letting go. I’m a bit slow, so drawing the lines in the film came much later. Dysfunctional in a typical Wes Anderson fashion. I liked it, especially as the storyline picked up. A Sunday evening well spent.

Last Friday [same day as the opera], my braces were adjusted. They took out the previous bands and wires, and replaced them with just a new wire. No rubber bands! I think that the previous set was for moving teeth, and this set is for keeping them planted and straight. It actually didn’t hurt as badly as I thought it would, so I ended up going out for dim sum. The original plan was to grab jook [rice porridge]. Luckily, I could have something a bit more filling.

Currently at a client I’d been working on before. They hired someone new, so things are slowly turning around and taking shape. It’s definitely a more pleasant environment to be in. The staff I brought in is from Indonesia. I have to admit – we sorta look like we could be related. She’s got that whole tall Asian with Class III malocclusion [an underbite] thing going. We discussed orthodontics and oral surgery over lunch today – woohoo! She is looking into getting it done too, so it’s good to be able to make additional use of my experience.

Spread the joy, right?