To Kat

[Guest guest]

Hi susan!

Glad you liked the ensure lol.

Wow you've been to more places in this country than me by the sounds

of it. lol. I must travel more! My sister has just come back home

from being down south for a few days sounds as though she has had

fun shopping, a womens best friend lol.

wow playing at royal albert hall in the youth Orchestra! Brilliant,

well done you! Before my time hehe.

HMMMM i shall get in touch with clarrisa and see what she says lol.

Those side car things make me laugh they are just so odd looking!

hehe.

ahhh the boonies. still none the wiser on the phrase having never

heard it before, but thanks for the explanation! as for the

boondocks ermmm lol. never heard of that either. lol.

yep i copy that driving forever and in the middle of nowhere, scary

stuff sometimes. lol. i think we or rather as my sister just

corrected i (as the rest of the uk dont use my language lol) would

call that 'out in the sticks or the wilderness' like trekking the

wilderness.

Hope those hurricanes aren't near you.

take care

regards

kat_UK

> >

> > Hi ! How did the esure go down? Thanks for the congrats!

> >

> > I shall definatley be looking up the vintage inn in kinsdale,

food

> > wins over anything! The chef sounded very cool cooking for the

> likes

> > of ronald regan and all. There are some great places to eat in

> the

> > lakes too with the price tag of course!

> >

> > Yes i have heard of the " two fat ladies " they make good tv dont

> you

> > think? We've actually met clarissa (im not sure how to describe

> her

> > except BIG, Brown hair hehe) at a country show we went to. And

> yep

> > she is as big if not bigger in real life, though really nice!

> >

> > You made me laugh, i got this image of you in a side car, those

> > things are ace! Travelling across the lakes! Yeah if you ever

hit

> > the lakes or england let me know i shall point some places out

to

> > you. I can certainly spruse england up for you, give it a bit

of

> > spice! LOL. I have noticed alot of tourists (no offence) in

york

> > (where i live) alot are from america. I love york i think its

> brill

> > full of history! You shall have to bring your side car to

england

> > and travel the country! And of course there is london,

though

> I

> > have to admit I went there to the tate gallery and me and a

friend

> > headed for the shops and got lost for a few hours! So I haven't

> > seen london, LONDON as we know it, jsut the scabbier side! I did

> see

> > the millenum wheel (london eye) though very cool lol!

> >

> > yes i agree i would be a fair weather fan. Thats funny that the

> > guys took to watching curling and figure skating, sounds more of

> > a 'girly' sport lol.

> >

> > I shall be aware of those guide books more often now, thanks! I

> > usually make my brother do the directing then if we do get lost

> he's

> > to blame, but he's pretty good phew! That sounded mad being

stuck

> on

> > the round about circuit for an HOUR mental! and waiting raving

> > footie fanS!!!!! Alot of them are confusing so many signs and

the

> > approach road is too short for you to get in the right land!

> > Arghhhh!!!!!! Yes i have been known for lapping a round about

> > several times before!

> >

> > Can i ask what is a BOOnie? or the boonies? lol.

> >

> > Hope you had a good day yesterday!

> >

> > Kind regards

> >

> > KAt

[Guest guest]

Hi Kat,

I was infinitely pleased so see your message awaiting my perusal...

Thanks dear!

Don't apologize... I don't care where you think I'm from, ha ha.... I

just didn't want to mislead you about which side of the ol' pond I'm

hopping about.

So plates are MORE popular in the states, yet I'm the only one I know

of that has a surgeon that uses them. I guess there are a LOT of

traditional surgeons out there! I don't know why they DON'T use them!

I would take the minor discomfort over possibly second surgery to

have them removed and all the other accompanying possible problems

like infection that accompany permanent plates. I guess regardless,

I'd rather use whatever my surgeon is most comfortable with. That's

what it boils down to ultimately. You know who else needs to get on

the bandwagon?? They should also start using resorbables in

veterinary orthopedic surgery.... Some things are SO slow to catch

on, huh? I guess that makes both of us guinea pigs in the grand

scheme of things. Works for me, how about you!?!?!

That's wonderful that your braces were off so quickly post op. Here I

am, hoping for a year! Whatever it takes to make my teeth perfect, I

don't care! I'm sort of scared to get them off.... they are a

security blanket of sorts and this has been such a saga in my life...

it will be officially over then... then, what will I do??? Ha!

Are/Were your retainers fixed? What kind did you have? What do you

have now? I had braces in high school and my retainer afterwards was

the kind with the plastic covering the roof of your mouth and then

the wire across my teeth. I know that this time around (yes, I'll be

wearing a retainer), I will have the clear plastic kind that covers

my teeth entirely, but leaves the roof of my mouth free- they look

sort of like invisilign or bleaching trays. I'm hoping that my

grinding/clenching problem is resolved so I won't also need a night

guard. Just need to work on all my stress!!! Anyway, I know

EXACTLY what you mean about your teeth seeming HUGE once the braces

are off!!!! That is exactly how I felt when mine came off the first

time. I actually didn't like it at first because they were so

freakin' big. Just like Bugs as you put it! That is so funny... I've

never heard anyone else also describe it that way. lol

Yes, thanks... and please do keep those fingers crossed. I don't know

how often you saw your OD, but now mine sees me every 2 weeks to do

all the necessary fine tuning. If I had to wait a month in between

every tiny adjustment (they are tiny) I wouldn't have my braces off

before I was 30! I go back this thursday actually. Yea! I'm always

excited to go to my OD... another appt and adjustment closer to

beautiful, straight, braces-free teeth!!! :)I just can't wait to

floss my teeth every night without it being a huge drooling mess of a

production.

I dont' know how long it is normal for people to have to regularly

wear their retainers. For all that I've been through.. the expense

alone, I will be happy to wear mine nightly for the rest of my life.

I'm not sure what my specific instructions will be. I haven't heard

much about it at all. I will be sure to tell you when I find out!

Fortunately and likewise unfortunately, my teeth seem to move very

readily, so I want to be extra careful. Once the braces are off (this

is another thing I am afraid about) I don't want my teeth to move AT

ALL! It's taken so much to get them into the perfect position. My

thinking is that I will never stop wearing my retainers! LOL but

maybe I'm just a paranoid psycho when it comes to my mouth. What do

you think!?!?

The xrays are so cool. I can't wait to see my next rads, hopefully at

my one year post op anniversary. I wonder how much my bones will have

filled in by then?? The whole process is so interesting and so

cool! I wish I had copies of all my xrays and everything. Just to

look at it is interesting. I'm so weird.

LOL speaking of " weird " .. I too have carried that label for quite

some time now... we're old friends and rather fond of eachother.

Maybe our surgeons use different plate and screw manufacturers???

Mine were supposed to start resorbing and turning to jelly at 6

months post op and they definitely did! At about 7.5 months post op,

I had the xrays taken and they showed the black holes where my screws

were. I think that means that nothing solid remails... only soft

material that continues to resorb. I think it will be that way until

I am about 1 year post op. Then the bones should start to fill in...

maybe by 1 1/2 to 2 years post op they will be completely filled in?

My OS did say that the process is a bit longer for the plates and

screws on the lower jaws than for the upper. The lower in the xray

did show the black holes though... so they must be going too! We'll

have to keep each other posted on how it goes. You're the only person

I have to compare with! I'm sure yours are totally gone by now! I bet

the bone has filled completely in by now too. Wow!

I had 4 plates on the upper and I think only screws on the lower... 3

on each side of the lower. Two screws with each upper plate, I think.

There were two... one on either side of my nose, and then two more

just under my gums, just above my back molars on either side. I could

feel and was very aware of them for most of my recovery. FOr a long

time, brushing my teeth was totally horrible because the sensation

irritated the soft tissue over the plates in my back gums. Besids

those two, I havent been aware of any of the others... (the ones on

lower or by my nose). Well, when the plates started to resorb, it

was the plate on the left side of my nose that caused me to swell

back up a little and have the discomfort. So, I was aware,

indirectly, of that plate for a while.

Yep, we had perfectly opposite problems with our lower jaws. It

was totally strange to feel the dramatic edge of the cuts for the

genio. Strange and interesting. I've been so fascinated by this whole

process. I can feel the edge just a little bit still today... but NOT

like right out of surgery! It is definitely still slowly filling

in....

I LOVE having a chin and jaw/jawline!!! I love having my head defined

and differentiated from my neck! I love not hating to have my picture

taken anymore and having most pics of me turn out looking pretty

good. I used to have to arrange my head and facial expression as best

as I could to hide the assymetry and make me look like I had a jaw.

Most photos were horrible! I can't imagine what it would be like to

have too much of a lower chin and jaw! That must be equally difficult

as not having enough! I guess I finally feel like a complete person

now that I have a chin and jaw. Isn't that crazy? Crazy, but honestly

how I feel.

You had excruciating crunching pain in your mouth after surgery?!? I

think I would have 100% freaked out if I had that kind of pain in my

mouth right afterwards. I'm glad you got it figured out and that it

didn't turn out to be anything serious. That would be terrifying to

experience though. I was able to attempt talking after surgery. I

could talk, I just was muffled and incomprehensible!

I totally have scars in there... I don't think they are huge or

really obvious or noticable... but they are definitely there... just

neat little lines running all along my gums. I don't think there is

much scar tissue in there fortunately- just in front by my chin. I

can't really inspect the lower very well.... they did such major work

with my genio that I think I'm going to need some time before I have

enough flexibility in my whole lower lip ( top all the way down to my

chin) to be able to pull my lip down and look. I do well to get my

toothbrush down there. Does that even make sense?!?! I think it's

going to take a while for my chin to settle in. lol

You've been going to your dentist since you were three and the guy

didn't even know who you were! that's bad! Yes, your mouth is your

identifier, better than a photo id... forget dental records, just

look inside. " Yep, she's minced. We've got Kat here folks. " lol

Do you have any residual numbness this far out post op?? I have weird

numbness in my gums. I am going in for a cleaning (my first post op)

in november. I think it may be pretty gorey too! I'm guessing that

I'll be numb in some spot and they will do too much digging there,

but I won't know it/feel it and won't be able to communicate " Hey,

you've got that d*mned icepick up into my gums! Try sticking with the

white things sticking out! " Then, I will be bleeding all over the

place too. Maybe all your bleeding was due to something like that?

Maybe your gums are just tender? Do you floss all the time? That

could really help too. I don't know! I'll let you know how my

cleaning goes. I'm sort of freaked out about it. I have weird

sensitivity in my lower lip. It doesn't have full feeling yet, but it

isn't numb either. For example, I cannot stand when I'm in bed and my

sheet is pulled up tight to my chin and it happens to brush past my

lower lip. I can't stand the sensation it creates.... so take that,

and then imagine the turning polishing brush at the dentists. I hated

that anyway, now it's going to be 100x worse! I told them to be

prepared to have to numb up everything! Well see.....

Maybe a child's tooth brush would help make it easier to clean in all

the hard to reach places.... Like I said, I have problems getting

down in front on my lower teeth. My lower lip is SO stiff and

inflexible (well it works for kissing, but that's it)! The smaller

head on a child's toothbrush is the only thing I can think of. There

are waterpiks and such, but I don't think they are meant to be used

instead of good plain ol' brushin'.

We are alike... resorbably weird and look at the sheer length of this

post!!! Good grief I'm long winded!

Oh, yea, I had photos up at one point, but I'm just private and

didn't like having them hanging out there for all the world to

see.... so I removed them all. I might repost some pics once I have

my pre/mid/post treatment photos from my OS and OD... Sorry to

disappoint! Check back in 6 months when, hopefully, my braces are

gone! :)

Keep in touch!!!

Take care,

Katja