Day 440 - Changes

So, I realized I needed to post before things got super busy. I am officially moved into college and am loving it here. Classes start Monday so I'm about to be very busy!

I ended up getting my MRI and CT scan done. They showed arthritic changes in the joints and that both of my discs in the joint are likely out of place and enlarged from the stress etc. I saw a more specialized joint doctor. He suggested me as a possible candidate for a joint surgery to put my discs back in place. I don't want any surgery at this moment, so I decided not to have it now. But the surgeon was very helpful in explaining more about my jaw to us which was great. He suggested me to apply heat to my jaw joints and slowly open and close my jaw as well as to continue eating soft foods.

The pain has been more manageable in the last few weeks though which is great. I will just hope that the stress of being at a university doesn't make things worse. I'm trying for positive thoughts though! 

Take care all!

- Katie :)

Day 401 - Trying to fix the pictures..! and updates..

So I just checked my blog only to find that all of the pictures i had up are missing... uh oh. I am going to try my best to fix things! I am very upset about this :(
(update: I am replacing all of the missing pictures manually. yes this is taking a ton of time. but i can't just leave it... definitely not fun)

But anyway.. I had an appt with my jaw surgeon a week-ish ago. Because of my joint pain, he believes I should get an MRI to see if my disks are in the correct places. Also, since my condyle is degenerative, I am getting another CT scan to see if it has changed in the last 2 years. I should be getting those tests done in the next couple of weeks.. so I'll post an update after I hear what my surgeon has to say about them. Although I am sad about how much pain I have right now, hopefully these tests can give us more information and hopefully move to try to fix my issues. I have been really down lately about my jaw. The combined joint and muscle pain has forced me to eat soft foods (and even chewing soft food hurts..) But I'm doing my best to stay chipper and distracted. All is well on other accounts in my life. I'm just busy preparing for my first year of college. Hope all is well out there!

- Katie:)

Day 261 - BRACES OFF

GUYS! I had NO clue i'd be able to post this soon :) i had the best day ever which probably is obvious given the title.

So we all know I had an appt scheduled for March 31st for braces removal, but I was sitting in class this morning when all of a sudden my phone starts buzzing. My mom called saying the orthodontist had someone cancel and I was free to go in! the surprise of it all was awesome. needless to say I was in shock.

So after staring at the clock in my AP Biology class for almost an hour, I was finally able to leave. I walked in to the ortho and they just starting breaking brackets off. (ouch!) yes it hurt when they were yanking, but sooo worth it. as I'm sure you all know. but hmm, they left 4 brackets on my bottom 4 front teeth because my permanent retainer that sits behind my bottom front teeth won't be made until next week. but hey, almost all of my braces are off so close enough :)

anyway, like i mentioned, I go in next wednesday to get my retainers and last couple of brackets off.

last picture taken with braces. woohoo.

ill also have an appointment with my dentist/jaw doctor for him to do some shaping/cosmetics on my front top tooth because one of them is chipped and just has a temporary addition on it to make it look normal. plus he will fit me with my special retainer to help protect my teeth from grinding them at night. 

it was a long 3 years with those things… but i survived. and I'm so glad to be one step closer to normalcy. hoping braces and jaw surgery are completely in my past soon enough.

so yeah! off to fill out more scholarship applications. (trying not to let it put a damper on my day) take care all!

-Katie:)

Day 240 - Disappointment.

So today I had my appointment to get my braces off, but my orthodontist decided that my bite had reopened a bit in the front and that he wouldn't take them off today :( needless to say I began crying in his office. embarrassing right? but i couldn't help it. I've had these things on for 3 years and I just want to keep moving forward in my treatment. I have had so much pain lately in my jaw and so I just wanted my braces off so I can begin treatment to stabilize the pain.

I guess I just got so excited for today to finally get them off and just was devastated that it didn't happen :( I head back to my orthodontist in a week and they'll check on how my mouth is and we'll go from there.

After I got the devastating news they adjusted my braces. I only have a wire on my top 4 front teeth and my bottom 4 front teeth. then i wear my finishing elastics as i showed in a previous post that lace my whole mouth together to try to close the front of my bite. then they took a panoramic X-ray of my mouth and he said he is going to look at my bones and see if more degeneration occurred and yeah.

those were taken before i got the bad news…..

on the plus side we had a snow day today and so i didn't have to go to school… more time to myself to be sad? :(

at least the snow is pretty!

sigh. I just want it to end :( I guess i'll update when i know more…. until then I'm going to go sulk about my braces still being on. next time i won't get my hopes up. disappointment sucks. take care all

-Katie :(

Day 214 - Seven Months! (Braces Update!!)

So I made it to 7 months! June 10th - January 10th. pretty awesome. (happy belated new year!)

So hmm, a few days ago I had an orthodontist appt to check my finishing rubber bands (the really tight ones) that were the last step to me getting them off. They said my teeth look great and that I can get my braces off February 5th!! YAY!!! I am so excited. Literally can't even wait. A month is gonna feel like forever even though I've had my braces on for 3ish years. Since my freshman year. and now I'm a senior. that is way too long! but anyway.. i guess i gotta talk about the issue.

Although all my teeth touch and I'm thrilled to get my braces off, my jaw has been killing me the last 3-4 weeks. I grind my teeth a ton at night, and i think a combination of all the stress I've had lately combined with the finishing wires has made my jaw pain flare up. also, it has been clicking much more often and i have been getting awful headaches again. The part that scares me though is that it has been going on for so long… just makes me question if ill ever get past this all :(

So, i talked to my jaw doctor the other day. He is the one that fitted me for a special retainer before i even had braces and before i even knew i had to have surgery (in 8th grade). This helps get my jaw in a relaxed position while protecting my teeth and jaw from grinding. The thing is.. I can't wear it with my braces. So, i need my braces off before i can get treatment for grinding my teeth at night sadly. So… i guess ill just wait a month and hope for the best.

I just can't even sleep it hurts so badly :( I've been taking lots of medicine too. sigh. hoping things get better, but I have hope that they will. I think the thing causing everything is my grinding teeth issue. but anyway, ill be done ranting for now! hope all is well with anyone out there. thanks for listening.

-Katie:)