Today is the day.

This day came fast, but it also has been a long time coming.  My nerves haven't made me want to puke...yet.  I still have to bring Taylor to school, run to my doctor's office and pack for my hospital stay.  I wanted to leave myself with enough to do today so I wasn't sitting, staring at the clock.

I met with one of my surgeons yesterday to go over a few things and make sure my splint fit.  For those who don't know what a splint is (I didn't know either until yesterday), it is similar to a retainer, but sits on top of your teeth when you bite together.  (I think).  We went over the risk and benefits of the surgery, I won't have any feeling in my top gums or the roof of my mouth for about a year.  The feeling in my face, like around my nose and my cheeks will take 2-3 months to come back, same with lower lip and chin.  I do have a 20% chance of permanent numbness in my face somewhere.  That is definitely a risk I am willing to take. 

He also said that it is going to be very odd at first looking into the mirror.  The changes in my looks will be drastic enough that it will take some time to get used to it.  I am excited, I am scared, I am happy and sad.  Such a broad range of emotions.  Thank goodness my jaw will be wired shut for a week, or I might drive my husband nuts.  :)

I look forward to posting pictures post op and sharing my experience with everyone.  I thank all of you for the support and love you have given me and I will post again once I get home on Friday.  :)

6... well almost 5 days until surgery!

This is my daughter and I.  Like I said before, she also has an underbite.  I do plan on getting her braces, head gear, etc to see if we can make sure her underbite isn't as severe as mine, or maybe no underbite at all!

Surgery is around the corner.  I have faxed FMLA papers, (even though I don't qualify for it because I haven't been at my job a year yet), called the hospital to check on parking for my family and looked up a few recipes for me to try for post op (But always interested in more!!). 

Getting more and more nervous!  But I know everything is going to be okay.  I have sooo many great friends and family supporting me through all of this.  I just found out today that my friends at work chipped in and purchased a one hour massage for me to have before surgery!  I have stress reducing C.D's and my cousin is sending me some MP3's to help with pain management.  I'm blessed to have such great friends and family.

I have one more appointment before surgery, and that is my splint appointment.  Does anyone know what that entails??

10 Days Until Surgery

Profile with biting down.










See how far back my upper teeth are?









Profile closed mouth, not biting down.









Smile. :)







This is what I've been wanting to do for years.  But it doesn't help nerves.  10 days from this life changing surgery.  Yikes.  I look forward to hearing any advice anyone might have.  About post op food, surgery, etc.  I have two weeks off of work following surgery.  Hopefully that will be enough time to heal enough to comfortably talk for 8 hours. 

I'll be posting some other pictures of my daughter and I.  As mentioned before, she also has an underbite. 

About me

I am a 29 year old from Minnesota who has been physically and emotionally been dealing with the difficulty of having a class III malocclusion aka underbite.  I have a pretty severe case which requires surgery to fix, the moving of both my upper and lower jaw.  I'll post some pictures soon so you can see.

In middle school is when the teasing started.  Jay Leno, Beavis, moon face.... I've heard it all.  All I can say is kids can be cruel.  Still to this day I find myself trying to cover the profile of my face when I'm around people I don't know. 

As of the last few years, I've also started having pain, crazy popping and cracking of my jaw joints.  Very uncomfortable to say the least.  Also, I'm sick of looking like a crazy person when I go out to eat.  Having to tear mozzarella sticks with my fingers or cut them with a fork, taking a bite out of a deli sandwich and taking all of the meat out of the sandwich with one bite, etc. 

I have a 9 year old daughter who unfortunately is tracking to have the same underbite I do.  I plan on having braces put on and head gear tried in efforts to make sure she doesn't have to go through what I still deal with on a daily basis. 

In the next few months, I will share with you my journey into correcting a problem I've had to deal with my entire life.  In 11 short days, I will be having a procedure done that will ultimately change my life forever.  Double jaw surgery aka orthognathic surgery.