Met with the OS today for surgical molds...

[Guest guest]

I know I can't be as funny as Ray was in his note to me, but I

thought it was interesting the difference in his OS pre-surgical

appointment and mine. While Ray had multiple molds, lots of detailed

measurements, and some pain, mine was so different!

First, I had a simple x-ray with the standard ear knives poking into

my skull. They had already taken the panoramic x-ray, so this one

was just a side view. I then had only one set of molds taken, and I

was out of there! You see, my doc is very much into technology and

the 21st Century. The x-ray is digital. He combines that with

digital photos taken of me at our initial consultation, and is able

to make all his measurements digitally rather than requiring me to

sit in a chair and have pen marks put on my face! What a relief!

The molds were still yucky though. The one thing I wasn't prepared

for was the mold material getting stuck between my brackets and

wires. That was pretty disgusting to try and dislodge, but hey, I'll

take that vs. the pen marks on the face.

One final note. As I was leaving, I started to admire a car in the

parking lot that I assumed was my OS's. Turns out, after looking at

the plate, I'm sure it is his. It's a really nice Porche with custom

license plates. Why am I sure it was his? The plates are JAWBRKR.

Dammit

[Guest guest]

My pre-surgery appointment was also much simpler. My ortho had made

the molds my surgeon used. (They've worked together forever. I swear,

they share the same thoughts, when it comes to this stuff.)

Oddly, I don't remember anyone doing x-rays, although surely my ortho

did. I know he did them before and after the braces, but I don't

remember any before the surgery.

My surgeon and ortho had met together to just saw one set of molds

apart, move them the appropriate amount, and wax them back together,

to check out the occlusion in the amended jaws. He also checked out

my midlines repeatedly that night, using the dental floss trick. Then

my surgeon used another set of molds to do the " practice cuts " and

prepare the splint, later, back at his office. At least I guess he

prepared it. Could have been my ortho, or a dental lab.

He tried the splint for a fit. I told him it felt tight, but that I

supposed that perhaps it was meant to be so. He saw an offending edge

that he said he was going to reshape a bit, wrote out my

prescriptions and told me to get them filled before surgery.

I reminded him that I have a living will, and did not wish to emerge

as a vegetable, should something go wrong -- I would rather have

simply gone into whatever realm comes next. (Silly, I know, but one

thinks that way the night before surgery, or at least I did.) His

parting shot to me was, " Cammie, don't die on me. " (Only he could say

that without being in the least offensive or scary.)

Then I left, and told him I'd see him in the morning. A friend took

me to dinner, we went to a funny movie ( " My Big Fat Greek Wedding " )

and she delivered me to the hospital at 12:01, per instructions.

No pen marks, no x-rays, no molds, no nothing.

My guy doesn't drive a Porsche (he has six kids) but he does drive

the biggest, blackest Suburban I've seen in a long time, plastered

with stickers from the kids' school.

C.

When I saw him the night before surgery, he examined me

> I know I can't be as funny as Ray was in his note to me, but I

> thought it was interesting the difference in his OS pre-surgical

> appointment and mine. While Ray had multiple molds, lots of

detailed

> measurements, and some pain, mine was so different!

>

> First, I had a simple x-ray with the standard ear knives poking

into

> my skull. They had already taken the panoramic x-ray, so this one

> was just a side view. I then had only one set of molds taken, and

I

> was out of there! You see, my doc is very much into technology and

> the 21st Century. The x-ray is digital. He combines that with

> digital photos taken of me at our initial consultation, and is able

> to make all his measurements digitally rather than requiring me to

> sit in a chair and have pen marks put on my face! What a relief!

>

> The molds were still yucky though. The one thing I wasn't prepared

> for was the mold material getting stuck between my brackets and

> wires. That was pretty disgusting to try and dislodge, but hey,

I'll

> take that vs. the pen marks on the face.

>

> One final note. As I was leaving, I started to admire a car in the

> parking lot that I assumed was my OS's. Turns out, after looking

at

> the plate, I'm sure it is his. It's a really nice Porche with

custom

> license plates. Why am I sure it was his? The plates are JAWBRKR.

>

> Dammit