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 365: 1 Year Updates:)

June 10th 2013 - June 10th 2014.
Exactly 1 year.

I waited until I got my braces off to take my senior pictures. 

I don't know how to start this post off. 1 year ago today I was in surgery. I remember waking up to nausea and pain. All I wished last summer was that the surgery would help my pain. I just want to cry right now though, because I am in pain almost every day. And I think the pain is now worse than it was before surgery.

I got really lucky with numbness and can feel everything besides my upper gums. My teeth are straight. But they don't fit together :( My orthodontist even mentioned more braces down the line. I just wish that my pain would go away.

I've been contemplating for days what I should say in this post. I hate hate hate to be a downer, but I just can't sugarcoat this topic.

I had an appointment with my jaw doctor this morning. (Not my surgeon, but the doctor that is working on my special retainer that I wear at night). He asked me if getting surgery was worth it. The dreaded question of the year… I decided that ultimately yes, the surgery was worth it. But that assumes that my pain will go away eventually..

I promise things aren't all bad, I can deal with my bite not being perfect. I mean who can expect that anyway. I just am starting to lose hope that my pain will go away.

I am currently still getting my special retainer to wear at night adjusted weekly because my bite is not settled. Once my bite settles, my doctor plans on adding composite to different surfaces of my teeth to help adjust the bite. I just feel like my bite is too off to fix that way :( and we are getting less optimistic.

But hey, I must try to be optimistic. I survived recovery. and that is pretty great all on its own :)

Here is a year in pictures.

I got glasses a few days ago. They aren't as bad as I thought!

I graduated from high school last month. Onto bigger and better things at college next year :)

I guess a lot can happen this year. I am so blessed overall. The days when my jaw pain subsides make the surgery seem worth it. I see my surgeon in a couple weeks, and I'll be posting more. Until things are perfect, I won't be leaving. haha. I hope things are great out there. I cannot put into words how much other blogs have helped me throughout the past few years. Thank you more than anything. Much love.

-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 260 - Somewhat Closer!

So I have had 2 orthodontist appointments since the original sad day. They have tried getting my front-ish teeth to have contact after my bite unexpectedly opening up. My orthodontist is please with how all of my teeth finally touch EXCEPT for my top 2 and bottom 2 in the center. but he commented that is as good as it is gonna get with the shaping of my teeth. anyway! he said i am ready to get my braces off!!!

*gets excited*
ready for the excitement to die?

so i walk up to schedule my appointment and the receptionist said they don't have any appointments until MARCH 31st. WHAT??? how is that :( 5 weeks is terrible. so that crushed my happiness.

but… the receptionist said if anyone cancels i'll be first on the list to get in. (so people please cancel your appointments!!!)

so i guess I'm a step closer to getting them off. just don't know what to think… trying to keep my patience!

yay for my front part of my bite for mostly touching now!!

so… the wait for a call from the orthodontist commences… sigh. hope all is well out there! i guess we all have our own issues to deal with and mine aren't too bad, just involve time… which sucks. but oh well. fingers crossed that next time i post i have good news:)

-Katie:)