Post-op day 6.
This liquid diet..is wack. These bands are wack. This whole being numb thing is wack. The swelling? Also wack.
Other than that everything's going smoothly :D
I've actually had minimal swelling. Actually, minimal's not the word because my face is still huge but the swelling is not as bad as what I've seen in pictures of others with the same surgery.
I had my first checkup with my OS today, he looked pretty proud of the job he did. He said I'm recovering very well and I'm doing a very good job of keeping my teeth clean despite all the chaos in my mouth. I have however developed a few cold and canker sores (never had a cold sore in my life) as a result of everything so he gave me some medication for that.
I'm only gonna be on the powerbands for another week and then he's putting me on light elastics. Here's hoping I get some real food soon..
I'll post my whole surgery and hospital experience later.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Hi.
What's up?
My name's Juan. Nice to meet you :)
I have what's called a Class III malocclusion in my jaw. Basically..I have an insane underbite and it needs to gtfo.
I'm 21 years old and I've had braces since I was 8 in third grade. 13 years. That's like..more than half of my life (I know, I'm still young).
I actually have what my orthodontist calls a "midface deficiency", meaning somewhere along the way in high school puberty decided to play a longterm prank on my ass and my lower jaw started growing without the rest of my face. I don't know what happened. It's like it took steroids and started working out behind the rest of my face's back.
Anyway..I was 'diagnosed' with this when I was 17.
Let me just touch on the subject of what it's like to have this facial condition. Personally..I think it sucks. I've been the shy quiet kid all my life. Not a huge amount of self esteem but enough to get me by. So you can imagine when I looked in the mirror one day and found I had enough lower jaw to be Jay Leno's successor, it was a small blow to the ego. It's tough. I have a hard time smiling in public, even around friends because I don't want it to be noticed. My friends tell me that it's not noticeable. Um. Newsflash! Yes. It is. You just see it everyday. It pushes my lower lip out a bit. My profile is wack, for lack of better terms. It sucks to look at people I know with great smiles and..here I am. Braceface with a big jaw. When I smile, my teeth don't meet (I have a bit of an open bite as well) and it looks scary from the side.
And that's just from the physical appearance of it. Can I tell you how much I want to throw that entire pizza across the kitchen onto the wall when I can't bite into one slice and i end up just getting the cheese in my mouth. Or that sandwich when I get the bread and lettuce but none of the meat.
The plan was to have correctional surgery when I turned 18. I was under my dad's insurance, and everything was all ready to go.
Then BAM. My dad's job changes insurance companies and I'm basically screwed. The surgeon we were working with didn't take our new insurance policy. I actually stopped going to my ortho appointments out of a deep hidden depression about my situation.
Cut to about 3 years later. I took initiative and decided to stop by and pay my orthodontist a visit (this was because the little rings they put on the brackets started disintegrating off. that's how long it was.) and started working with him again on finding a new surgeon that accepted my dad's insurance policy. He gave me the name of a new surgeon and I went about my way to meet with this man.
They put through the insurance claim and it came back saying they needed more information (the usual argument..how is this surgery necessary and not cosmetic?)
Basically..something happened along the way and the surgeon and his office team decided they didn't want to bother trying to fight the insurance company and wanted to leave it all up to me.
Cool. Except I didn't know what I was doing and they weren't helping.
So I went back to my ortho, defeated. Luckily, he had a rolodex full of surgeon names. He recommended me to a second surgeon. Who also happened to be located 283947234 hours away.
So I set my appointment and made my roadtrip there. This guy..is very genuine and nice. And I'm glad it's him. Unfortunately..
In the time between this guy and the previous surgeon, I decided to take a semester off of school, forgetting that in order to remain under my dad's insurance I had to be a fulltime student. Oops.
I had a part time job in an apparel store in the mall (I'm not gonna disclose the name..maybe later). It's my first retail job and lucky for me, I like retail and they like me. I worked my ass off and moved up into a fulltime position with benefits (and later management but that's for another day)
I'm going to leave a lot out now because I honestly can't remember details off the top of my head. But we'll fast forward to March '08. I made another appointment, now insured, and began the steps towards getting insurance to cover the surgery.
July of '08, I get a letter in the mail from Blue Cross of California. I'm certified for the surgery and hospital stay.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Of course, it's not a guarantee they'll cover any of it if at all.
It's now September of '08. My surgery is scheduled for September 23rd. 5 days from today. I have SO many thoughts and questions running through my head. I'm SO nervous. Is this right for me? Am I doing the right thing? Will I be happy when it's all over? (uh..duh.)
$12,000. I always wanted an exact number before I even knew if I could get insurance to cover it or not. I could never find one. But for me..it's about 12 grand. Plus another $4000 if he needs to reconstruct my chin afterwards (for aesthetic purposes..but my insurance certified that too)
My surgeon told me about a girl he operated on not too long ago. She had the very same surgery and my very same insurance company. They covered her fees 100%. Cross your fingers..I am.
My name's Juan. Nice to meet you :)
I have what's called a Class III malocclusion in my jaw. Basically..I have an insane underbite and it needs to gtfo.
I'm 21 years old and I've had braces since I was 8 in third grade. 13 years. That's like..more than half of my life (I know, I'm still young).
I actually have what my orthodontist calls a "midface deficiency", meaning somewhere along the way in high school puberty decided to play a longterm prank on my ass and my lower jaw started growing without the rest of my face. I don't know what happened. It's like it took steroids and started working out behind the rest of my face's back.
Anyway..I was 'diagnosed' with this when I was 17.
Let me just touch on the subject of what it's like to have this facial condition. Personally..I think it sucks. I've been the shy quiet kid all my life. Not a huge amount of self esteem but enough to get me by. So you can imagine when I looked in the mirror one day and found I had enough lower jaw to be Jay Leno's successor, it was a small blow to the ego. It's tough. I have a hard time smiling in public, even around friends because I don't want it to be noticed. My friends tell me that it's not noticeable. Um. Newsflash! Yes. It is. You just see it everyday. It pushes my lower lip out a bit. My profile is wack, for lack of better terms. It sucks to look at people I know with great smiles and..here I am. Braceface with a big jaw. When I smile, my teeth don't meet (I have a bit of an open bite as well) and it looks scary from the side.
And that's just from the physical appearance of it. Can I tell you how much I want to throw that entire pizza across the kitchen onto the wall when I can't bite into one slice and i end up just getting the cheese in my mouth. Or that sandwich when I get the bread and lettuce but none of the meat.
The plan was to have correctional surgery when I turned 18. I was under my dad's insurance, and everything was all ready to go.
Then BAM. My dad's job changes insurance companies and I'm basically screwed. The surgeon we were working with didn't take our new insurance policy. I actually stopped going to my ortho appointments out of a deep hidden depression about my situation.
Cut to about 3 years later. I took initiative and decided to stop by and pay my orthodontist a visit (this was because the little rings they put on the brackets started disintegrating off. that's how long it was.) and started working with him again on finding a new surgeon that accepted my dad's insurance policy. He gave me the name of a new surgeon and I went about my way to meet with this man.
They put through the insurance claim and it came back saying they needed more information (the usual argument..how is this surgery necessary and not cosmetic?)
Basically..something happened along the way and the surgeon and his office team decided they didn't want to bother trying to fight the insurance company and wanted to leave it all up to me.
Cool. Except I didn't know what I was doing and they weren't helping.
So I went back to my ortho, defeated. Luckily, he had a rolodex full of surgeon names. He recommended me to a second surgeon. Who also happened to be located 283947234 hours away.
So I set my appointment and made my roadtrip there. This guy..is very genuine and nice. And I'm glad it's him. Unfortunately..
In the time between this guy and the previous surgeon, I decided to take a semester off of school, forgetting that in order to remain under my dad's insurance I had to be a fulltime student. Oops.
I had a part time job in an apparel store in the mall (I'm not gonna disclose the name..maybe later). It's my first retail job and lucky for me, I like retail and they like me. I worked my ass off and moved up into a fulltime position with benefits (and later management but that's for another day)
I'm going to leave a lot out now because I honestly can't remember details off the top of my head. But we'll fast forward to March '08. I made another appointment, now insured, and began the steps towards getting insurance to cover the surgery.
July of '08, I get a letter in the mail from Blue Cross of California. I'm certified for the surgery and hospital stay.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Of course, it's not a guarantee they'll cover any of it if at all.
It's now September of '08. My surgery is scheduled for September 23rd. 5 days from today. I have SO many thoughts and questions running through my head. I'm SO nervous. Is this right for me? Am I doing the right thing? Will I be happy when it's all over? (uh..duh.)
$12,000. I always wanted an exact number before I even knew if I could get insurance to cover it or not. I could never find one. But for me..it's about 12 grand. Plus another $4000 if he needs to reconstruct my chin afterwards (for aesthetic purposes..but my insurance certified that too)
My surgeon told me about a girl he operated on not too long ago. She had the very same surgery and my very same insurance company. They covered her fees 100%. Cross your fingers..I am.
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