What to prepare for surgery?

I am now 4 DAYS away from my surgery.. I'll be admitted into the hospital one day before so that makes it 3 days to hospitalization. Time really flies. I want to indulge in all the good foods I can before the surgery. I've been eating whatever I want, whenever I want. Got to admit, I've put on some weight already but I'm not afraid since I'll be losing them off after the surgery. The average jaw surgery patient will lose between 3kg to 15kg. *smirks*

I have been doing a little research on what I should prepare for my surgery.. Here's my list:

• Canned Soups
• Juices
• Frozen fruits (to blend)
• Baby Spoons
• Sippy Cup
• Baby Toothbrushes
• Breathe Right Nasal Stripes
• Ice/Heat Pack (for when I'm swollen)
• Neck Pillow
• Oil Blotter
• Cotton Buds/Q-tip (my anesthetist said my nose may bleed when they insert/remove the windpipe T_T) 
• Paper & Pens (need to communicate since I wouldn't be able to move my jaw much; I'll prolly go ahead and get a whiteboard instead)
• Vaseline (Mouth area will be dry and flaky from stretching)
• Wet Napkins/Tissue

I'm not too sure if I've missed out anything, hope I didn't.

I'm thinking of getting a water dental flosser. Something like the famous waterpik but that is definitely out of my budget. After the surgery I'm sure I am unable to open my mouth big enough for the baby toothbrush. I'm still contemplating though.. Hmm.

Bag #2 Down!

Officially cleared my autologous blood donation.. So all I have to do now is.... wait.

I'm now a week's time away from my surgery. I don't feel very nervous or anything YET because I know I'll sleep through everything. So when I'm awake everything will be over. The only thing that is bothering me is that I have to put a windpipe down my nose so it'll aid my breathing when I'm under general anesthesia. I'm just afraid of the removal part since I'll be awake then. Hmm.. 

There's nothing much for me to update for this donation as it is exactly the same as the previous week. The only difference is that the nurse accidentally broke the needle because she was busy chatting with other nurses. So I guess that's the reason why I bled a lil' more as compared to last week.

Not related to my orthognathic journey in anyway;
but I feel extra emotional lately.. So emotional that after the blood donation I walked all the way from outram (SGH) to Bugis. Tearing. I don't know why but I tend to cry a lot easier but most of the time I try to not do it in public. Even the simplest thing is capable of making me tear.. Don't know what has gotten into me. Hope it's the surgery that is making me this way. 

First Bag of Blood..... Cleared.

Hello my fellow jaw patients/earthlings.

I just spent my whole morning in Singapore General Hospital. To summarize, needles, needles and more needles. T_T

On my right arm: I've drawn 2 small tubes of blood for some testing which I am unsure of what they wna test. After which, I went for a Chest Xray. I couldn't figure the link between chest and jaw surgery though, oh well. Just do it.
On my Left arm: Local Anastasia, 4 tubes of blood for some testing as well and a bag of blood.

Xray Gown: Makes me look like a maternity lady

 I then went to donate blood for myself in case anything bad crops up during surgery. *touch wood* I had a local anesthesia before the nurses went on with a huge ass needle. Yes, I am afraid of needles, can you imagine I am actually going under a knife in about 2 weeks. Oh my god.

*Ouch* 'em needles..... T_T

My blood was pretty thick due to the fact that I haven't been drinking enough water. So the nurses had to move the needles around to find the perfect "position" so the blood could flow out at a much faster pace. Not much pain, but just a little discomfort as I could feel the needle in me when she was pushing it up/down/left/right to find the perfect spot.

Opposite my bed was another jaw patient. I was so happy to see her, her surgery is next Wednesday. Exactly a week before mine. I wanted to exchange contact details so we could be recovery buddies but I couldn't move much. Oh well. If anyone of you out there is having your surgery soon, do contact me ok! I'd love to know you.

The nurses there were really nice and funny. They gave me several mini-heart attacks. Omgee. So the Nurse who was attending to me, let's call her Nurse A was shouting, ok not shouting but talking loudly across the room to Nurse B and said something like "Where is the vein that you examined, I couldn't find it". Ok mini heart attack here. The needle is huge, if anything goes wrong, I'll be in great pain. I told Nurse A "Are you sure you can't find it? Should you tightened the strap so you can find it?" "haha I'm just joking around with Nurse B, don't worry" said Nurse A. Hahahah, I heaved a sigh of relieve. I wouldn't want her to "trail and error" her way as I've tried it which a much smaller needle and I can say it's no fun. At all.

After she managed to find my vein, she then said to Nurse C, the one attending to the jaw patient opposite my bed, "I can finish everything faster than you". My eyes literally went from o.o to O.O and I immediately told her there's no hurry in this and she could take her time. "I was just joking around, talking rubbish. Don't panic" says Nurse A.  hahahaha. I'm really timid I know but I don't want unnecessary pain y'know?

My bag of blood: sorry I had to blur most of the information. Nurse B said it's all confidential. I don't wna risk. 

After Nurse A removed the needles and cleaned me up she asked when I would I like to come back for the other bag of blood. My jaw literally dropped. All along I thought I was going to do this only once but it seems like I'm going back next week to repeat the whole process. Minus the Xray. *frowns*

How I feel after everything is over. Left & Right arm poked.

On a side note, my left arm feels swollen and I can feel a slight pain/numb. It almost feels like a muscle ache after you've exercised. However, it's 100% bearable. Just hope it'll heal in time for round 2 on next Thursday.

Why the Surgery?

This is the  number 1 question that people would ask me. I doubt people would even understand unless they are facing this problem themselves.

I've been called "plastic" by one of my close friends already and the thing is, I haven't even gone for my surgery. "I'll call you plastic from now on" wow. that hurts man. I was really mad at first, then sad. I tried to explain but I am not sure if she gets it. Which I highly doubt because she has been blessed with a perfect bite all her life and it's hard for her to understand. 

It's funny how most of the jaw surgery blogs that I visit always have this post/section which states "reasons/why surgery". I FEEL ALL OF YOU. The need to explain, the need for people to understand us. Which they never would. 

Biting

Biting has always been a chore to me. The fact that my teeth don't meet when my mouth is closed means that I can never bite/tear/separate foods with my teeth alone. Not sure whether to blame my upper or lower jaw. Maybe both. 

Imagine: If I can fit a part of my tongue out of my mouth when it's closed, how can I ever possibly bite food off like most of you out there do. T_T

Thankfully, after 20 years of experience in eating I found a way to do it, with the aid of my tongue. I would push my tongue towards my upper teeth in order to bite/tear foods. This method only works on softer foods like noodles, fish, etc. You get what I mean right? This means that I have a higher risk of biting into my tongue which I always do. So what happens after you accidentally bite your tongue? Bleeding occurs, then ulcers. yay.

I tend to avoid tougher foods such as chicken cutlets, steaks, vegetables with stems, etc UNLESS restaurants provide knife for me to cut them into smaller pieces and by knife, I mean good knife unlike what long john silver provides; a plastic knife which I can never cut through its chicken. This leads on to my next point.

Premature Wear

I have always relied on the first pair of molars that meet in my mouth. Speaking of this, I am really sad because after getting my braces on, my teeth started to shift and this pair of molars don't meet anymore. Which means I can no longer rely on them.

The constant pressure & friction causes my tooth to chip

Right now, I am running the risk of chipping my 3rd molar from the back of my upper jaw. I only have 5 pairs of teeth that meet. Picture above was taken when my mouth is closed.

Speech

Like other jaw patients, I'm unable to pronounce sibilants; words that have a hissing sound to it. It's frustrating how people would jokingly correct/correct my mistakes. I guess too much air escapes when I talk. In addition, because of the gap in my mouth, I tend to accidentally spit/drool saliva whenever I'm talking.

Breathing

Not sure whether my small nasal airway is actually linked to this, but I guess it is since the surgery will increase the size of the nasal airway. I've had sinus since I was a young girl, sleeping through the night would be counted as a blessing for me. Most of the nights, I'll wake up wheezing. On average I will use around 10-20 tissues per night just to blow out the mucus in my nasal passage. Thankfully, it's either I have a really bad night or a good night, nothing in between. So on some days, I get to enjoy really good sleep like most of you out there. ^^

Because of my congested nose, I've been using my mouth to breathe which causes me to wake up with a really dry/painful throat. I guess some of you would experience this when you're down with a bad flu. Just that this flu of mine will never recover. 

Bonus: Appearance

Just like people with braces, I just want a nicer smile. For me, it just requires another step for me to have this perfect smile, which is surgery. I've never smiled with teeth in my whole life, and I don't know how to. I have a rather low self-esteem, I tend to not talk to people (a lot) when I've just met them. I'm just afraid people would judge me. If this surgery can fix the problems stated above, and it also comes with aesthetic benefits, why not? It's my life and I live it the way I want to. I'm not here to please anyone of you even if it affects me, somehow. 
It's easier said than done though, of not giving a shit about what others think of me.

Surgical Hooks On!

Last visit to my dentist before my surgery. Read so much about surgical hooks and I finally got them on today.

Surgical Hooks

I'm not too sure whether it is visible in the photo I provide above, but they are basically like the hooks that one would already have on their braces' brackets. I'm not very good in words so I've attached a video down below for better understanding.

My O-rings/elastic tie/elastic ligatures (whatever you call it) are now replaced with a steel ligatures. The whole process was painless but there was a slight discomfort when my dentist tried to tug the ligatures behind my archwire. According to my dentist, by replacing these steel ligatures, the surgeon could shut my jaws together during the operation. 

Before I left the clinic, nurses and doctors were wishing me good luck for the surgery and it kinda sank into me a little that my surgery is only 19 days away. holy. shit. 

Miserable

So after my visit to NDC last Friday, my surgeon prescribed me with Ferrous Fumarate 200mg. I have to take these iron pills 2 times a day and I have to say, the side effects are slowly killing me.

Personally, I do not really experience much side effects from other medications but this... has caused me much discomfort. Yesterday, after popping the pill, I felt an immense sharp pain around my tummy area. It felt like a menstrual cramp but worst. Probably because I seldom experience those cramps. *smirks* I have also noticed that my stool became a really dark greenish-black colour. Lastly, diarrhea. Enough said, no further explanation needed. Thank goodness that is all, I read up online, some people has nausea/vomiting symptoms.

I would not be able to imagine if I really followed instructions to eat the pill twice a day. I only had it once a day and it was that bad. Hopefully, I'll still be able to produce enough blood for the blood donation next Wednesday (for my surgery).

Random Tooth Aches

Been getting random tooth aches at the lower right side of my jaw.

Oh well, it's a sign that they are moving although I can hardly see a difference in my bottom sets of molars. All I can see are a little widened gaps between then. :c

Brief History

After much procrastination, I have finally created a space for myself to document my orthognathic journey. By making this public, I believe I will be able to help the others who are going through the same thing as me.

A little background of my bite/teeth:
I have a Class III Malocclusion bite, more widely known as underbite. My lower jaw is protruding outwards, where my lower set of teeth are in front of my upper. I consider myself to have a pretty straight teeth except that there are gaps between my two upper molars.

So my orthognathic journey begins back in November 2013, when I came across "Aloha Dental Clinic" on the internet. I was amazed when I came across a case report where Dr Loh managed to fix an underbite without surgery. Looking at it now, I realised I had mistaken the patient's bite, she had a Class I bite instead of a Class III bite. Silly me.

I have been to several dental clinics before Aloha Dental and all of them said that surgery is the only way to fix my bite. I was a little skeptical about undergoing the surgery because I have a really low threshold of pain. Who knows, I am now 24 days away from my surgery.

Ok back on track, so I first had my braces on on 25 March2013. This is how my bite looks:

First day of braces

I still vividly remember how sore my entire jaw/teeth was when I first gotten them on. Even Mee Sua (rice vermicelli) was too hard for me. *insert a million sad faces*

So far, I have:
- met my surgeon thrice. He is Dr Raymond Peck from National Dental Centre (NDC)
- had all 4 of my wisdom tooth extracted *ouch*
- changed my arch-wire twice already, I'm going to change it again this Friday. 3 times in just 7 weeks or you can say 8 weeks. Wow. I had to rush the tightening process because of the surgery. Thank goodness I was blessed with a pretty straight teeth to begin with.

To end this of, I'll show you my bite today.

Bite on 11 May 2014