Saturday, October 13, 2012

Speech Pathologist

I met with a speech pathologist who was recommended through my surgeon and has a lot of experiencing with patients undergoing jaw surgery. Basically she just had me come in and talk and then read some sentences out loud to her. She said based on that she could tell I tend to thrust my tongue on certain sounds because of the placement of my jaw and this can cause my speech to be slightly mumbled. Pushing out my jaw will hopefully correct this.

She also gave me some very helpful insight to my surgery and what I'll be feeling like in the weeks after the surgery. She said it was going to be a hard time, I won't be able to do much, I'll probably lose 10-15 pounds, and I'll have to eat everything out of a syringe for awhile. BUT she said it does get better. Like any major surgery, it's a huge process and it takes some time for you to get used to it and for you to realize that it was totally worth it. All in all, it was a helpful meeting I just wish my teeth would move faster so I can get an official surgery date!

Also, I am a big Sex and the City fan and throughout this whole process of TMJ and braces, I always think of that episode where Miranda has to get braces because she's a tongue thruster who might have TMJ! Ha looks like I have the same problems as her...

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Nothing too New

So I have not updated in a while, because honestly there hasn't been much to update on. I'm still going to the orthodontist every two weeks to get my wires all adjusted. Basically, I'm just waiting for two of my teeth to fill the gaps of the two teeth I had taken out and it is a slowww process, but they're moving! And then once that's done, then we start work on my other bottom teeth. From what I understand, my orthodontist's goal is my make my overbite even worse (I know that sounds weird) but then in surgery my lower jaw will be pushed out to make everything the way it should be.

I have an appointment scheduled in December to see my surgeon, which is the first time I've seen him since I decided to go through with this process. So hopefully from there I can get an official surgery date. But as of now, surgery is still tentatively scheduled for March.

My surgeon also recommended that I see a speech pathologist so she can see if there is anything wrong with my speech or swallowing. I swear, from seeing an ENT to a sleep apnea specialist, I feel like I have seen every type of doctor on the planet. But I guess it's a good thing because it will diagnose if I have any other health problems as a result of my jaw, making the surgery even more worth it!

All I keep thinking is that this time next year, I will most likely be done with this whole process. It is so weird to think about in a years time, my braces will be off (fingers crossed), I'll know what it's like the sleep without sleep apnea, and I'll look different too. It's all pretty mind blowing.