2 weeks and counting!

Exactly 2 weeks from today I will be lying on an operating table, getting my jaw broken and fixed.... or reset. It has been a long time coming. On Monday I had the surgical wire put in by my orthodontist and he happily said " see you in 6 weeks, for a look at your new smile", I had a moment of fear that I wouldn't be fully recovered and they would start moving my teeth back. Since for the last 2 weeks my teeth have been killing me, and now that I had the new wire in plus hooks between each tooth...... my mouth was on fire ,as I headed for the door. But he reassured me that it would only be a check up and no really work done on that first visit back after my surgery. I would not be going back to see him for a wire change, till mid July. So that was a little load off my mind. Still as we get closer and closer to the actually day.... I'm torn between excitement and fear.... I know it is for the best, but still I have a fear of going totally under for this surgery and also how much pain I will be in afterwards. I'm sure it will be fine....hundreds of people go thru it every year with my surgeon. I just like to know all the unknowns.... which they really can't tell me, till they start cutting into my month... and then it will be too late to prepare. I have written a page or so of questions that I need to ask the surgeon.... I have been complying it for a couple of weeks now, as I think of stuff... or someone asks me a question I can't answer.
Last night as I was watching T.V., I started to think about how much I have gone thru with my mouth..... I mean it all started when I was really little and the dentist would tell my parents that I had to stop sucking my thumb or it would mess up my teeth.... well no matter what they did, I wouldn't quit...and it really didn't do anything to my actually teeth..... so they finally just gave up and figured that I would need braces whether I sucked my thumb or not..... I have a small mouth and never got a few teeth baby teeth and for that matter adult teeth, so I had lots of spaces in my mouth, but for the most part the teeth were straight. So jump up to age 12 when I get my first set of braces on. I have them on till age 16, since during the 4 years I would have baby teeth pulled, wisdom teeth pulled and teeth uncovered, plus have to wait for teeth to move correctly. Finally I have the braces removed and get a retainer... which I wear till age 22, first everyday then just at night after a few years. But by the time I graduated college, the nice overbite and pretty teeth I had left the orthodontist with when the braces were removed, had now gone to an under bite. At first it was no big deal, but after a year or so, my jaw started to hurt. So my dentist suggested that I go see an orthodontist again..... were I got a bite guard for night time. Which lasted about 6 months.... and I got another one.....which again last about another 6 months. Then the orthodontist referred me to a physical therapist and the oral surgeon. I went to the oral surgeon first, he looked at me and said I had T.M.J. and I could have surgery, at that time there was about a 70% change of success. So I told him I would think about it and headed over to the physical therapist. I started by going 2x a week...... then it got down to 1x a week and it was working for about a year... then it did nothing for my pain, so I stopped it, but not before they told me to try a memory pillow at night. Off to the store I went to get that..... which worked for a while. So I talked to my dentist again...who made me a different bite guard for night time.... which work till about a year and 1/2 ago. So after 10 years of suffering and trying different methods... it came time for me to go back to the oral surgeon and maybe have the procedure. This time when I went back, he told me there was a 90 % chance of success. So that was good enough for me..... and the rest is history...
Like I said in the beginning of this post..... I'm just counting down my days...... only 14 days to go.........

Birthday, cars, babies... and Disability

So in the last week a ton of stuff has happened.... first off I had my 33rd birthday.... it was nice I took a few days off work, relaxed... got stuff organized for my up coming surgery. I even had a little mini party at a local restaurant... it was great. I think of my birthday as a national holiday... I think everyone should have the day off.... the federal government doesn't think it is that important.... but I am writing my congressman to check it out. Can't you just see it... a day just for me......like Martin Luther... granted I haven't done anything as big as he did... but still it would be nice. Anyway... moving on....so with all the working on getting a new car....it finally paid off on Saturday morning. Skinny has a friend who has a friend who was looking to get rid of his car... it is a nice car and the guy ( old man) took really good care of it. So now I have a shine New ( alright... new to me) red Toyota Camry. It is a good little car... drives nice and will get me from place to place. Now as long as I keep up the oil changes and maintenance, it should last me 3-4 more years at least. Which is good... since that is about the time I would be looking to get a new car, if I hadn't had the accident. Now I just have to get the title transferred over and also get new plates for it. I'm thinking personal plates.... but we will see.
Saturday was also the day Rands, The Beau, Howie, the mother and I got to go see Rands and The Beau's baby in 3D. It was really cool.... she has chubby little cheeks like her dad, and long eye lashes like Rands.... she is just the right weight for how far along Rands is and even has hair now. I can only imagine what she will look like when she actually gets her. The best part is that she is starting to take after me.... already.... in almost every picture/ ultrasound they have had, she has her hands or fingers in her mouth. Which... was just like me... I even sucked my thumb... way into my childhood. So that is kind of neat too, that she is actually looking and acting like a little person.......and we got to see it. The nurse look a ton of pictures and put them on a CD... so Rands and The Beau can print them out for everyone. I was excited before for her to get here.... now I'm just sitting on the edge of my seat. Only 5 more weeks to go.
Last but certainly not least, I start the final phase of my braces today... in the preparation of my surgery... I get the surgical wire put in this afternoon. This time I will remember to take some Tylenol before I go. It looks like things are really coming together, so to speak. I got the approval from the Leaves and short term disability area, so now I know for sure that I will get paid... and I have everything set with the surgeon... now I just have to get thru the next 2 and 1/2 weeks of work. May 9th will be here before I know it. I'm just glad the surgeon has agreed to keep me off for the full 6 weeks... that way I can recover fully.... plus be able to help out with The mother, since she is having foot surgery next week, not to mention the new babies who will be here, while I'm out healing. With all the excitement.... that week just flew by... now I can relax a little.

And the wait goes on......

I thought I would have a car by now, but the wait is still on. After my car accident, I was quick to file the claim with the insurance company and get the wheels... so to speak moving on getting a new car. I applied for a car loan.... it was small... but enough to get me a little something to drive for a few years. I wanted to get a loan at a low interest rate, instead of going to a dealership and getting screwed with the interested. Well when the loan guy called me after running my credit.... he needed me to "fix" a few things.... meaning that my credit wasn't so great and there were a few things that needed to be resolved before I could get the loan. So I got the list of things and started on getting them resolved. Now it would have been easy if I would have known what the items were... but on the credit report it just showed the amounts owed and some cryptic names... or abbreviations. So I spent a good part of last week trying to figure out the places that needs to get paid....Then finding telephone numbers on "Google"..... once I did that then I started calling the collection agencies.... where I found out even though the amount reported was the actual amount, there were processing fees and other fees. For example a bounced check for $18.00 has turned into a $162.00 amount with fees and everything. So what I thought I could resolve in a few hundred dollars turned into a couple of thousand....which I don't have just laying around. So may hopes for a car were slowly going down the drain. Added to this issue... then insurance company has now sent me my money and are only giving me 30 days to fix my car.... since I decided to keep it and sell it to someone else to fix. But that is a different story. Anyway... on Sunday I have the "talk" with my parents... since I'm driving one of their cars ,which is already promised to my sister....so we talk and try to figure out how to get this car problem.... fixed. The mother suggested I call my uncle.... he does car detailing and goes to the car auctions all the time. What a wonderful idea!!!! So yesterday I call him and he is going to an auction today... so I just might have a car soon.... but I'm still waiting.... for now.

The screws are being tightened

So the screws are being tightened on me... literally. Yesterday i went for my appointment for my braces to be tighten....i was fully expecting to have the surgical wire put on, so my mouth would get used to it. We are exactly 5 weeks away for the surgery date...and that is what the orthodontist told me would happen about 4 weeks before the surgery. So I walk in to the office and sit in the chair ... the assistant asks me if I have made a surgery date.... this happens every time I come in..... usually I say no. But yesterday I gave a different answer.... figuring the Orthodontist just forgot to tell her. Since I had called in about 2-3 weeks ago and asked him when he thought I would be ready, per the request of the surgeon. He said 'any time after the first of May" So as you know I talked to the surgeon office again and made the date. I was told they would call the Orthodonist and tell them. Getting back to yesterday.... I told the assistant..... " 5 weeks from today... May 9th" to which she said" OH" Not " OH" like "great... you are finally getting it done" but " Oh" like " Crap..... are you sure the surgery is so soon?" I kind of blew it off since I had talked to the Dr a couple of weeks before and had followed his instructions,plus i was told the surgeon's office would tell them also. The assistant gets up and goes over the Dr and says something, that I can't hear and then comes back to me. So they take the old wires off and I wait for the Dr to come over and to say," Put on the surgical wires" But he says instead " so when is the surgery again?" I tell him the 9th of may... a look comes over his face...... kind of like fear..... then he smiles.... and says " No problem.... now did you take some Tylenol before you came? " To which I reply " NO". He then goes on to tell me that last time they weren't able to get this certain kind of wire in and then need to be up to a certain gauge before they can put the surgical wire in. So they are going to jump 2 gauges and put bigger springs in, so that they can then move my teeth a little quicker. Then in 2 and 1/2 weeks, I will come back and the surgical wire will be put on. Now here is where the screws come in. The begin by putting the wire on the top.... now when I say "putting"... I mean jamming the wire thru the braces and slowly making my teeth feel like they will start popping out any second.... Finally the Assistant sees me sweating in pain and says" Maybe we should let you rest and work on the bottom for a little bit. To which I nod " yes" since I can't get anything to come out of my mouth. They move to the bottom teeth and a little more carefully put the wire in. ... it goes in much easier but still is very tight..... I think " I can handle this...." then the assistant pulls out a rubber chain.... now I have had many of these in the past 9 months... but never as small as the one she pulled out. she counted the little rings and then said" take a deep breath... this might pull a little". She then begins to "chain" my bottom teeth together. Let me give you a mental picture of how my teeth felt when she got done putting it on. It felt like someone put a vice in my mouth and was slowly pushing all my teeth to a straight line... instead of the semicircle.... they are in. So now... they go back to the top..... They start pulling out small hooks and "pookie' things.... it jam the wire into each bracket. so for the next 5 minutes... the assistant would push the wire into the bracket and then the Dr would quickly close the gate on the brace..... with every click of a gate, I could feel my teeth "scream" for mercy. When they were done....I didn't want to talk.... I didn't want to open my mouth at all. My teeth were throbbing already... I could only imagine how they would feel in a couple of hours once the shock had worn off. The Dr. says... I'm so sorry... hopefully you have the rest of the day off and can rest. I say yes and I go out to the front to check out.... the Dr follows me since I have to make another appointment, for this surgical wire now.... that will be in 2 weeks. At least this time before I left.. the Dr said "take some Tylenol before you come... cause it will be a little heavier wire" As I left the office.. .I'm thinking to myself.... "Heavier wire???" You have got to be kidding me..... so I guess I will be in pain for the next 3 months.... till I'm healed from my surgery. best part of this.... is that I will still have to go back to the orthodontist before I'm totally healed to have my braces adjusted too.
I just keep saying to myself... it will all be worth it in the end.... I just hope so!

A date for pain.....

So I got the call yesterday.... the surgeon has set the date for my jaw surgery. He first decided on April 18th... but I quick nixed that... since it is my birthday and it is a little too soon for the orthodontist. This way I can make sure everything is ready to go. Which mean the date is now May 9th..... on that 2nd Wednesday of May I will be on the operating table getting my jaw broken and reset. I'm looking forward to getting it done, finally. But not the fact that it will be hard to talk for awhile and it will be very painful. I have asked around to people who have had it done, and they told me it is like nothing I have experience before.... but when I talk to the doctor, he is like... it is not a big deal. so I'm not sure who to believe..... all I know is that I will have pain medicine on hand just in case. Once I found out the date, it was relatively easy to make all the other appointments I needed to do, to get ready. My normal doctor was able to get me right in and everything. So I'm now good to go.
On a different front, I'm still working on the whole new car thing... I have met with the banker, but they haven't given me the thumbs up on a loan yet. It is kind of nerve racking, since the insurance company is sending the check for the truck out already and I have someone ready to give me the extra $1000.00 for the truck itself. I took Howie's advice and am waiting for the banker to call me back, before selling the truck.... but still it seems to me that they could make the decision faster. I guess I could always go to a car dealership and get a car with a high interest rate. but I'm waiting, since The Mother is letting me drive her car for now... so there is not too big of a rush.
Last night was the first Seder for Passover... normally The Mother does a big dinner... but since it is the end of tax season, it was just the family. It was strange to only have 8 people around the table.... but the food was great. There was The mother's famous brisket and turkey... Rands made potatoes and horosets. There was kishki and of course matzah. The only bad part of the meal was the veggies..... which the server put the wrong kind of oil on... and were just down right nasty.... no one eat them. But hey it was the only bad part....and we all had a good time. I' m looking forward to this Sunday's dinner too... since it will be the start of the Soprano's again and The mother is making chicken.