I don’t think it’s a complete match on the very back laft molars, but I did the chompy dance for Court the other night… The chompy dance is where you chomp your teeth together so people can hear but you do it with a big smile and bob your head and pick a catchy beat.
Jaws are still extremely stiff and I know I just sit around and clench 24/7 but…my teeth touch! Celebration!!!!!
Today I go to 2 doctors who will cause me pain…for the greater good. First, due to my extreme unpleasant experience as of late with foods in the tree nut family, I get to lie face down on an allergist’s table and turn into his own personal voodoo doll. Joy! From there I journey a tad further south to the lovely Dr. Quo who will, I’ve been told, put my FINAL wires on my braces. I’m not sure what that means. Maybe they are excited because they never have to replace my wire again. In any case, my back back teeth are still on guarded and unfriendly terms, so if these wires are to be my last, I’m sure to have enjoyed my last meal for a while. And what was that meal? Eggo Waffles. It’s part of my waffle diet.
Speaking of diets. I have lost 5 pounds. Awesome. I fit into a couple things that scoffed at my approach before. I had really only lost about 2, but then I had the great misfortune of encountering a sticky flu bug. That was a pleasant week (NOT). But the end result was my scale reading 155 and has been ever since, so that was the sick diet.
Speaking of allergies, (okay not a good segue, but it was a topic only moments ago) Court and I are going on a little road trip tomorrow down to San Juan Capistrano (aka almost San Diego). After much pensive deliberation, we have decided to adopt a kitten. Did I say pensive deliberation? Well I’m sure some of that happened when we weren’t looking, but really it had a lot to do with Rira…the neediest whiniest cat in the world. We thought she hated Mommy. Well, not hate, but she obviously gave Mommy whatever Mommy wanted (including the bed), and I thought that when Mommy went to kitty heaven (where I’ve been told she has a personal angel devoted to kitty ear massages) that Rira would eventually claim nighttime bed privileges and that would be that. Not so. With the reclaiming of the bed came the constant running narration (in the form of LOUD – remember she’s deaf-MREOWing) of what she is doing at ALL times. Cat’s being nocturnal, those ALL times don’t mesh well with our sleep schedules. So even though Rira hates other cats, and will have a doozy of a time accepting a new one into our home, we are adopting a kitten for her (and us). The little girl kitty is the same breed as Rira (Himalayan) but with flame (orange) points instead of seal (dark brown) like Rira (you know, so we can tell them apart – heh). The allergy part of this story is that Court is actually allergic to cats, except for Rira and Mommy, so we’re gambling a little and hoping that the same breed as Rira (Mommy was a lovely tortie stray) with long hair like Rira and Mommy and being a girl like Rira and Mommy will maybe hopefully be the formula for allergy-free Court. Here’s to hoping!
Re: The oft mentioned Dr. Li, I have an appointment to see him next Thursday and I’ll be sure to let you know what kind of a stern lecture and disappointed looks I will receive, having not even called a physical therapist, let alone visited one to get my jaw working properly. Why the procrastination? Well, it can’t be my busy hectic schedule, since my motto is “the more the merrier” when it comes to errands. So I guess it’s plain old fashioned fear and my inability (read: unwillingness) to look forward to (in the form of scheduling and showing up for appointments) what will surely be long sessions of pain. I know, in the end I’ll be able to yawn without a squeak of pain when my jaw reaches it limits, and maybe I’d be able to eat a piece of fruit without first having to cut it into little pieces. I did eat a banana yesterday, but it was not very attractive, and I couldn’t QUITE get my teeth out of the way during insertion, so there was a lot of banana on my braces. Hooray for portable tooth brushes!
Hasta le pasta.
I’m back. Where was I? Oh yeah. T-30 pounds. So there I was, under 120 pounds (and that looked horrible but all the cake in the world couldn’t bring the weight back) sitting in front of a team of Sleep Doctors in-training who were trying to go with the Narcolepsy diagnosis, when this tiny man with HUGE glasses walked in and dismissed absolutely EVERYTHING.
“Obstructive Sleep Apnea” he pronounced with the most awesome was it French? accent ever. “Sleep study tonight” he said, and quickly made plans for that to happen (NOTE: It usually takes about 6 MONTHS to get into a sleep study). Who WAS this man? He reminded me so much of Edna Mode from The Incredibles. I kept expecting him to say “Milan, Dahling”. The interns obviously worshipped him, and then I found out why. This was Dr. Christian Guilleminault the founder of the Stanford Sleep Clinic. They called him CG, and scampered to make what he said happen. Before leaving the room, CG also glanced up at my nose, pushed a finger upwards against the tip and made me look like a pig. “Breathe” he said. “Deviated Septum as well.” And I’ll be if he wasn’t right. Making the piggy snout and inhaling was like pure heaven…oxygen swelled into my lungs and practically made me cough. Well I’ll be. The man was instantly our (Court was there too) hero, and my savior. And so began this journey.
I was instructed to come back almost immediately to meet with Dr. Kasey Li to be evaluated for the possibility of an MMA. The room was packed with interns trying to be one with the wall to make room for the All-Mighty CG and the Amazing Dr. Li. I expected giants, even though I’d met CG before. And in walk two little men. CG, his glasses bigger than his head, shook our hands and proudly introduced Dr. Kasey Li who also shook our hands and began to dissect me with his eyes. Actually, I think he’s seen so many cases similar to mine that one look was all it took for him to know what his job would be should I choose to accept the challenge.
Here’s where my recovery and my embarrassment come into play. Keep in mind I was 120 pounds when I met Dr. Li. Over the course of a year I was fitted with a CPAP machine. The CPAP machine helped my sleep significantly, and I definitely noticed that taking even a nap without it made the whole effort moot. My life got a little better, I poured on the poundage I’d been burning off whilst trying to breathe at night without the machine, and rounded out at my nice normal 145 (which of course I lamented because now NONE of my new clothes fit me). Court and I decided that looking like Gonzo and sounding like Darth Vader every night wasn’t the way I wanted to live the rest of my life, and we met with Dr. Li again to say “Bring it!” 6 months after my diagnosis I got braces, and 12 months later, I got surged.
Here is a big part of my problem: When you know you won’t be able to eat for a long time, you kind of feel obligated to eat more while you can. At least that was my take on it. So I porked out to a nice 150 before surgery (the day afer Christmas), and felt fine about that because I knew that whole jaws-banded-shut thing would provide some weight loss, which it did. 10 pounds went bye bye in the month after surgery (taking us to 140 in February). Baby food and Ensure was not making me happy, and AS SOON as I got the “Okay try eating soft food” word from Dr. Li, I went absolutely crazy and found out that frosting (straight from the container via my cute baby spoons) and really really soft cake (ie fresh from the oven) was a very tasty and comforting soft food. So I ate that…and gained 20 lbs.
So here I am. 160 and mortified. Had to buy size 14 pants to be able to present myself at work, and to top it all off…I was snoring a little bit (said Court). So back to The Li. And here’s what he said… (To Be Continued…)
Sorry! Gotta run. Don’t hate me. I’ll tell you next time.
Have you ever heard someone make the sound “zzz” when sleeping? And snoring…it’s more of a “haaaaa” said on the inhale and whatever noise happens after the tongue is sucked to the back of your throat. Yummy. Why the musings on snoring? BECAUSE I STILL SNORE. Okay I’m just frustrated and I’ll get over it. Court has been waking me up as of late and when he’s not waking me up saying “you’re breathing funny. You’re sleeping funny. You’re in a weird position” or “You’re snoring,” _I’M_ waking me up with a snort and a jolt and finding that every time this happens I am on my back. My co-worker suggested constructing a strip of tacks and affixing them point down on my spine so if I roll over…well, hopefully I don’t roll over. I think I’ll hold off on that one.
So why am, I snoring? I think it’s my girth. I have some poundage to lose post recovery…my favorite food to stuff into the little opening between my teeth for a long time was cake. Yeah, that’s right. Cake. Just add eggs, oil and milk to the stuff in the box, stir, bake and voila! cake! Nummy nummy. 
me
So there it is, and while we’re on the topic of weirdities…why do I wake up 3-5 hours after I go to bed EVERY night? Doesn’t matter if I take a unisom or a nothing or an ativan… up up up…and not too happy about it. And when it comes to oh, say, 6am, I’m going to be tired and crash and when my alarm rings I am going to feel like crying.
I’ve been super sensitive to noises and smells as of late. So much so that I kind of spazzed out at work a couple times. How would you like to be locked in a small room with 4 other people crunching and munching on their crunchy and munchy food that crunched and munched and smelled like fish? So I kind of bolted from that meeting to commune with the um…porcelain pots in the ladies’ room. Next stop: satellite office located next to the gym. I swear someone was doing havy reps and just dropping the weights down in between: Lift drop lift drop lift drop. It sounded like someone bouncing a 500 lb basket ball. I can usually deal with the occasional dropping of weights (I squeak and feel ill and it goes away) but this just wouldn’t stop! Add on top of that an alarm going off somewhere in the building for 4 hours and I was like a bat with massively screwed up radar. I was bumping into walls and going bananas. I kind of filed a work request to get the alarm and the gym looked into, and promptly got reprimanded. Then I got reprimanded again the next day. And again a little later that day. Hey, as long as the reprimand doesn’t involve me sitting next to an alarm and a weight dropping dork, I’ll take it.
I’m sleep deprived. Or something.
Last night (should be tonight since I am officially not up yet so I refuse to call this today) CJ, Court, Sydney and I went to the Outback for a drink (or few) and appetizers. All was fine (in the way that waiting 30 minutes for said drinks is fine) and we were having a lovely time until…someone turned on the gas fire pit. And that gas fire pit emitted such a high pitched sound that I felt like slamming my hand on my head many times in a row to distract my brain. Court sent me to the bathroom so I could maybe get a change of scenery but there was high pitched stuff coming through the speakers in the ladies’ so I went back outside. Yeah. I’m a nut. My head hurts just thinking about it. So I’m gunna stop thinking about it.
First post in a month and it is evident, Dr. Li did not perform the lobotomy I was hoping for. I’m still neurotic. But tomorrow…er…today…ugh…in a few hours I will see the good Doctor and he will tell me why I am snorting and snoring and tell me to exercise my very painful jaws more…think pleasant happy thoughts. happy place. happy place.
Topic number one: Ulcers. Who knew they’d be so horribly ucky?
I read the info. I followed the directions. Take those NSAIDs with food, dammit. So I did. Only thing is sometimes I didn’t (guilty look) and sometimes I took it with milk because milk coats your stomach, right? RIGHT? But then Court said “Uh, Milk coats your stomach for a moment but is mostly an acid…” so d’oh! I’ve been eating Naproxen and Ibuprofin like candy…blue and brownish orange candy that you swallow whole and hopefully don’t taste. And then…it happened. Horrible horrible chest pains. Oh my gosh! Not spasms, just constant…well, burning in my chest…looked like I was feeling myself up. And so I went to bed. BEEEEEEG mistake! Okay so lying down sucks even more for ulcers but works excellently for figuring out what you’re dealing with. Hurts more when you lie dow? Welcome to peptic ulcer land. Have a TUMS.
I called my GP twice and left messages begging for that medication that lets you keep taking your meds without ulceric intervention, but got no response. Maybe she’s mad I didn’t send her a Christmas card. NOT. So in the meantime, I have stopped everything except aspirin. 2 every 4-6 hours. I tell you, it’s just not the same…and here’s why…
Topic Number Two: Orthodontia!!!!
Had an ortho appointment in the ever friendly uppy smiley office of Dr. Quo where the cheek spreaders were brought out again (issues) and another bracket was SCRAPED off my eye tooth (aaaah!) and then, to add to that, they put a chain across both the top and bottom teeth. A chain is not metal as you would imagine. It is a string of those tiny tiny tiny thick bands they put on your braces all stuck together. They hurt. A lot. A lot a lot. Maria, the tech I LOVE even apologised that it was so tight (she’s the one who is so good she gets in and out of there in a heartbeat) as she struggled to get the chain across my HUGE front teeth. She explained that it was much tighter on the top because my top teeth are so much wider than the bottom ones. Are you calling my teeth fat?
I should have had a party before I went in. I should have eaten EVERYTHING and CHEWED it (as well as you can with non-touching molars), but I didn’t. So I was hungry when I left. Interestingly enough, pain can alter your hunger perception so as the pain increased, I was less and less focused on my grumbly tummy. Let’s just say it’s a good thing I didn’t get rid of all the butternut squash soup from pre-chewing post-op. Court even felt really bad for me and made a thick chocolate milkshake. His chubby little Pookie thanks him…and wishes he would maybe come out from his video game room and make me another. *batting eyelashes*
Alright…off to a wedding where I will try not to embarrass my date with my in-awesome chewing skillz. Late!
I think my face is weird…but that’s maybe because it is finally proportional. Is that right? Well, My face used to end right below my mouth, but now it doesn’t.
Okay, granted self-portraits don’t look great, you can see my chin is very much in plain view. You can also see that I still have some swelling in the jowl area and I look like Droopy Dog. teehee I’m not complaining. It is what it is. I have found that smiling (however weird it may feel with lots of numbness) is a better look for me and my new facial addition.
Um…probably a more normal smile would work better, but you get the picture.
So here’s what my smile looked like before surgery and after:
More chinnage.
Okay it took way longer than it should have for this blog to be written and all…so I am off to do Monday things in a Monday way. Ciao. – smac
http://shelby.idstrom.com
Thankee!
smac
These are for posterity…hence the embarrassing honesty that this is me. In all my toothy chinless glory. BEHOLD!!!!
I had braces in high school, but I am a “tongue thruster” hey now… which I think was due to the whole “Oh my tongue is preventing me from breathing!” phenomenon. So my uppers were a little protruded, and you can see the permanent retainer on my lower which evidently I can look forward to getting back post othodontial. *joy*
CHEEESE!!! Oh boy. Would that these pics did not exist, but since they do, I share with you. You’re welcome (guh!)
YOW! Aw…what’s up Doc? They jacked my teeth up big time! Well, all in the name of a good (and safe) night’s sleep. Sign me up!
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On 1/4/07, J wrote:
Shelby ,
That is great advice – thank you very much. If you don’t mind my asking, I have a couple of follow-up questions:
What is the name of the mouthwash that prevents decay? Is it called Phos-Flur?
How often do you floss? It takes 45 minutes each time, and I don’t know if it is worth doing more than 1-2 times per week.
I have clear braces on top and bottom except for the back teeth. Do I need to worry about staining the clear pads, or will they stay clear?
How much pain is too much? This is pretty bad. I took Tylenol and it didn’t make a lick of difference.
Thanks,
J
Hey J,
Yes it’s Phos Flur.
To be honest, I am a suck flosser. It takes too long and smells bad. So I keep floss in the shower and I think that I should invest in one of those fog free mirrors. I hate threading all that stuff…so that’s where the water pick comes in soooo handy. I got a great one and it was even on sale at Longs. My friend Ed recommended it over the WaterPic brand. It is Interplak.
As far as pain goes, if it’s in your head it will always seem like too much.
If you do not get on top of the pain and manage it, it will manage you. So treat pain like you would thirst. if you hurt, you waited too long. If you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated. Right?
For your first dose of whatever anti-inflammatory and/or analgesic, you may need to take the max and then manage the pain with the min…for example: ibuprofin rule of thumb: 100 mg for every 1 hour. Since they come in 200 mg pills, take 2 and then take 2 every 4 hours from then on. Ask your doctor about this because of course I am not a doctor , but as I have been told and experienced, you must manage the pain and that means not “holding out” until you can’t stand it anymore. Ask any girl who gets cramps what she has to do.
My braces are porcelain on all teeth and metal bands on the back ones because of the whole filling thing from the last bout of braces a la late 1980′s. I met a woman whose porcelain brackets looked stained and she said she drank a lot of tea and she’d had them 2 years. That worried me. I met another woman who had had hers for 2 years and was finally getting them off and they weren’t stained and I said you must not drink tea and she said “I drink tea, I drink coffee, I smoke, I drink red wine…” So really, I think it’s a matter of cleaning them sooner than later. As I said, that little pocket toothbrush should act as a piece of gum when you’re in the bathroom, or in the car…and rinse it every time you wash your hands or walk by a sink and air it out at night or it will mildew. I know, gross, but you really need to have it around.
So your bands will turn color. They are rubber. They do that. I would recommend eating stainy-type food closer to the band change date so you don’t walk around with red wine rubber bands for 10 weeks. But again…I am able to clean my braces pretty darned well and I am not an obsessive brusher. I just don’t like to tear my tongue up on the brackets trying to check for lunch remainders and have found that a mirror and plastic pick or toothbrush are so much nicer on my body and my psyche and my hygiene. Was that an overshare? I do that.
I hope you don’t mind, I will post this to my blog too because these are questions I think a lot of people have and stress makes things hurt more, so what better way to decrease stress than to let you know it’s normal.
Maybe I should start an adults with braces forum…
How long will you have these puppies?
The pain will get better. And then you will get the wires changed and it will get worse. And then it will get better…etc etc. Wax is your friend. If the pain feels like surface pain (gums, lips, cheeks), try wax. You’ll be amazed. If the pain is deep achey jaw oh my gosh my teeth are marching pain, that’s the time to apply an anti- inflammatory and/or analgesic (pain meds like Tylenol or Naproxen or Ibuprofin). I think actually things like motrin advil aleve are both an analgesic and an anti-inflammatory. Just be sure to take with food…or at least a yogurt or something.
Learn that the vehicle you’ve been using to get your food to your mouth may have to change. Hard bread and taco shells don’t work anymore. But getting a taco salad in a bowl with a spoon works like a charm, plus…less carbs! 
No need to tear your mouth up any more than it will be torn up by this ordeal. But remember it’s worth it. There’s a reason you wanted these suckers, and they’re proven to work. You’ll appreciate your pearly whites even more after you get the braces off. I guarantee it. Plus you’ll eat caramel apples like they are going out of style…or maybe that’s just me.
Shelby
Copyright 2007 Shelby Cass. All rights reserved
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