Hey everyone, I'm really sorry I haven't been updating this regularly or my youtube channel, but I have been under so much pressure lately. I am working over 100 hours a week and have zero spare time - not even for studying for my course, which I will have to defer (again).
Anyway, I have great news. I saw my ortho today and was gobsmacked when she said that I was ready'ish' for the surgery. She wants to rush me through to the surgery because of my fragile upper teeth. It seems I am a priority case and have been squeezed in! I will see my surgeon on June 13th and the surgery will be shortly after. I'm so happy. Such a long bloody wait.
Must get back to work. I will post as soon as I'm out of the surgeons office in June :)
Take care my blogging friends! X
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
Thursday, 25 April 2013
Family Drama
Hello fellow bloggers :)
I'm dropping by to apologise for my absence. We had a horrible family emergency which has resulted in a chaotic few weeks (and a few more to come yet) so my posts have been and will be minimal for a bit longer yet.
I wish all my fellow jaw surgery buddies well and hope you are all good. I'll try to catch up soon.
Corrinne x
I'm dropping by to apologise for my absence. We had a horrible family emergency which has resulted in a chaotic few weeks (and a few more to come yet) so my posts have been and will be minimal for a bit longer yet.
I wish all my fellow jaw surgery buddies well and hope you are all good. I'll try to catch up soon.
Corrinne x
Thursday, 11 April 2013
Pesky Braces
Hi bloggers. It is two weeks since my last adjustment. I've come down with another pesky sinus infection - back to the oil pulling tomorrow I guess.
Ok. Braces. These darn things just don't get any easier. You'd think that at 19 months into orthodontics that one would become used to the problems of braces. Not so (in my case anyway).
Ulsers and Cuts: These last two weeks I have worn more wax than I've ever needed to. My lips and gums have been rubbed ragged this time. It occurs to me that my gums and lips become more irritated when I'm feeling run-down (sinusitis, PMS, hangover.....) on the days when I'm not quite 100% my gums are much more prone to flaring up. Is that just me or have you guys noticed a correlation?
Wobbly Teeth: for me this is the worst part of braces (even above the pain). It is so disconcerting being able to feel and see your teeth move a little. I know it's to be expected, but it always leaves me with a knotted stomach until the teeth start stabilising again. This is partly due to my fear of losing my four upper incisors through more root damage.
Adjustments: no matter how many I've gone through the next is just as bad as the last - or sometimes even worse. Having a dentist or orthodontist pulling, hacking, drilling, twisting things in your mouth is very stressful. After an hour of my jaw being opened wide and my teeth being put under more tension, I'm usually a sweating, jabbering mess. I walk out of my appointments with a red face and jelly legs, reeling with self-pity and feeling like a martyr. Normally in life when I'm having a self-pity party, I like to turn to food, but with braces, it's not really an option! Woe my life!
Cleaning: I'm just going to come out and say it. I hate that it takes 15 sodding minutes to clean my teeth. Brush, interdental brush, floss, Waterpik, mouthwash.... I don't even spend 15 minutes in the shower and getting dressed in the morning. It is such a drag!
Ok, rant over. I think today is an ice cream day for sure. Stuff the diet. Ice cream for breakfast :)
Happy blogging guys!
Ok. Braces. These darn things just don't get any easier. You'd think that at 19 months into orthodontics that one would become used to the problems of braces. Not so (in my case anyway).
Ulsers and Cuts: These last two weeks I have worn more wax than I've ever needed to. My lips and gums have been rubbed ragged this time. It occurs to me that my gums and lips become more irritated when I'm feeling run-down (sinusitis, PMS, hangover.....) on the days when I'm not quite 100% my gums are much more prone to flaring up. Is that just me or have you guys noticed a correlation?
Wobbly Teeth: for me this is the worst part of braces (even above the pain). It is so disconcerting being able to feel and see your teeth move a little. I know it's to be expected, but it always leaves me with a knotted stomach until the teeth start stabilising again. This is partly due to my fear of losing my four upper incisors through more root damage.
Adjustments: no matter how many I've gone through the next is just as bad as the last - or sometimes even worse. Having a dentist or orthodontist pulling, hacking, drilling, twisting things in your mouth is very stressful. After an hour of my jaw being opened wide and my teeth being put under more tension, I'm usually a sweating, jabbering mess. I walk out of my appointments with a red face and jelly legs, reeling with self-pity and feeling like a martyr. Normally in life when I'm having a self-pity party, I like to turn to food, but with braces, it's not really an option! Woe my life!
Cleaning: I'm just going to come out and say it. I hate that it takes 15 sodding minutes to clean my teeth. Brush, interdental brush, floss, Waterpik, mouthwash.... I don't even spend 15 minutes in the shower and getting dressed in the morning. It is such a drag!
Ok, rant over. I think today is an ice cream day for sure. Stuff the diet. Ice cream for breakfast :)
Happy blogging guys!
Thursday, 4 April 2013
Anxiety Manifesting? Sleep Paralysis.
Something wakes me during the night. I'm in my room alone, it is pitch black except from a couple of red stand-by lights. The room is silent. I wonder what woke me. And then it happens. Something is attacking me in my bed, but I cannot move. I'm paralysed while the entity is dragging me out of my bed and I can't scream or even twitch a muscle. I become aware that I'm sleeping but can't wake up. In my head I am shouting at myself to wake up, that it isn't real. I cannot wake, I cannot move. Terrifying doesn't even begin to cover it.
Then as quickly as it all happened, it stops. I can move. I can open my eyes.
As long as I can remember I have experienced sleep paralysis. During the night something will wake me and I cannot move. Not only can I not move, there is usually something sinister in my bedroom with me. Sleep paralysis is fairly common in naturally anxious people. The cause is interesting.
When we are deep in REM (Rapid-Eye-Movement) Sleep our body produces a hormone which temporarily paralyses us to prevent us acting out our dreams. This is why some people sleep walk - their body hasn't produced any/enough of this hormone. For some people who are woken during this deep sleep some of the hormone lingers as the body hasn't had time to remove it yet. During these few seconds of full-body paralysis the person will usually experience vivid and terrifying dreams (some specialists claim that they are actually hallucinations). Quite often of a supernatural theme. For example, I am not religious, yet last night I hallucinated about being attacked by a demon!
Some experts believe that this is why some people have claimed to have witnessed aliens or the devil. These dreams or hallucinations are incredibly vivid and for those who simply go back to sleep after it rather that waking up properly, it is understandable why they truly think their dream was real!
These episodes I used to experience once or twice a year at most. This last week it has happened twice. It is incredibly disturbing and frightening when it happens and I struggle to get back to sleep - the rest of the next day I will feel disjointed and sad. I can only surmise that since my front four teeth were braced my anxieties have been amplified and are manifesting in my dreams.
On the nights when I do not have sleep paralysis my dreams will typically still be fairly vivid and of a sinister nature. Like being chased or someone dying. As much as I find this subject fascinating. It is something which I truly wish I wasn't experiencing. This jaws surgery journey has a lot to answer for!
Then as quickly as it all happened, it stops. I can move. I can open my eyes.
As long as I can remember I have experienced sleep paralysis. During the night something will wake me and I cannot move. Not only can I not move, there is usually something sinister in my bedroom with me. Sleep paralysis is fairly common in naturally anxious people. The cause is interesting.
When we are deep in REM (Rapid-Eye-Movement) Sleep our body produces a hormone which temporarily paralyses us to prevent us acting out our dreams. This is why some people sleep walk - their body hasn't produced any/enough of this hormone. For some people who are woken during this deep sleep some of the hormone lingers as the body hasn't had time to remove it yet. During these few seconds of full-body paralysis the person will usually experience vivid and terrifying dreams (some specialists claim that they are actually hallucinations). Quite often of a supernatural theme. For example, I am not religious, yet last night I hallucinated about being attacked by a demon!
Some experts believe that this is why some people have claimed to have witnessed aliens or the devil. These dreams or hallucinations are incredibly vivid and for those who simply go back to sleep after it rather that waking up properly, it is understandable why they truly think their dream was real!
These episodes I used to experience once or twice a year at most. This last week it has happened twice. It is incredibly disturbing and frightening when it happens and I struggle to get back to sleep - the rest of the next day I will feel disjointed and sad. I can only surmise that since my front four teeth were braced my anxieties have been amplified and are manifesting in my dreams.
On the nights when I do not have sleep paralysis my dreams will typically still be fairly vivid and of a sinister nature. Like being chased or someone dying. As much as I find this subject fascinating. It is something which I truly wish I wasn't experiencing. This jaws surgery journey has a lot to answer for!
Thursday, 28 March 2013
Aaaaaaarrrrrrrhhhhhh
Holy cow it hurts. Really wishing the BF was here to issue cuddles of sympathy. It really hurts today :(
It makes me curious about what level of pain this is compared to the actual surgery. I bet I'm just being a wimp!
An Epic Adjustment
Ok, the low down. I now have a full set of brackets on my upper arch! I have mixed emotions about this. These teeth are badly root damaged from orthodontics as a teenager and are at risk of becoming loose. So I am feeling terrified of losing them, yet excited about the progress. It's weird.
On my lower arch my orthodontist removed and replaced the bracket on the naughty tooth (it was at a funny angle). She also reduced the strength of the archwire on the lower set to accommodate this poor tooth. No more nasty space-making coils!
I also have TWO archwires on my upper set. Which I didn't even know was possible. The reason for this is that the front four are not straight enough to be tied to the rectangular wire. The second wire is a more flexible wire which will put less pressure on them to move into place. You can see little globs of glue at the side of my canines. This is to prevent the strong rectangular wire from pressing against my front teeth.
I took a strong pain killer an hour before my appointment. I'm so glad I did because it was hard going. I was deep breathing to calm myself down. It is difficult having someone installing scaffolding in your mouth for a hour at a time.
It is about two hours since I left the hospital and I can feel the pressure already. I won't be eating much tonight, that's for sure. It's nearly my alcohol watershed time so perhaps I'll have a nice liquid dinner tonight :D
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
18 months update + Photos
Hi everyone. I have been busy studying. Yes, thats right, studying. Woo hoo, I dont feel like a loser anymore :)
So tomorrow is (queue suspence inducing drumroll) Adjustment Day. I decided that tommow desrves capital letters. Eeeeekk. Excited.
Unfortunately, I'm sure I wont be receving any brilliant news (i.e surgery dates) but ten weeks is such a long time between appointments it was becoming a massive drag, so I'm just glad to be having a little more progress.
I think that the snaggle tooth in the bottom will finally be tied to the wire with ligatures (instead of the annoying Zing String its been attatched with until now).
I am crapping myself a little about having brackets on my upper incisors. As you may or may not know, I am at risk of loosing these when they are finally put under pressure. It is actually a reoccuring nightmare of mine :(
I wonder if tomorrow is the day....
Hare are some progress photos.
Couple of things I want to mention. My underbite is so bad now that my lips dont easily meet, this is causing me to have constant dry and peeling lips. I'm also struggling with keeping the tea stains at bay but this isnt a big deal - I will be treating myself to laser whitening after the braces are removed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)