I was just re-reading my last post, and I feel so bad! There have been a lot of updates that I haven't shared. I haven't been staying away intentionally...I've just been so busy at work and home, and when I am home I am far too exhausted to do much of anything. I've been falling asleep anywhere between 8-10 pm each night, and that's my "me" window of time. I'd say this is definitely because of the pain that I have been dealing with lately, I can't say that I know why it's been getting so much worse, but in any event, it has. The joint pain is intense where it has been intermittent and manageable in the past. The muscle pain and tightness has spread from the top of my head, down into my shoulders and upper back, and the regular treatments I get there are only helping to maintain status quo (or maybe not even) so there's little relief. Anything that I do outside of sleep, work, eat, family time seems to drain me of any extra energy I may have had and I end up in a deficit that I have to work to rebuild with extra sleep and rest and pain meds.
So having said all of that, I am super excited that I have a date for my TMJ replacement surgery!! I was originally given November 1, but there was a cancellation and I was offered Sept 6 instead. The company manufacturing my joints (Biomet) has confirmed that they are able to make and ship the joints to meet that date. I had my CT scan to send to the company in early May, which was so easy y'all!! I didn't have to change into any hospital gown - just walk in, lay down on the machine bed and 5 mins later I was walking back out. Dr P's office took impressions (covering my braces with wax beforehand so they slid right off) and I've been X-rayed to the moon and back, but now I'm ready to show up on Surgery Day and give'r.
In the end, I didn't end up doing the plan that I was given and outlined in my last post. My surgeon didn't feel comfortable putting any final restorations on my teeth before surgery, so I went full steam ahead with the scanning and I'm so glad I did, or I would not have been offered the cancellation when I was. Those pretty teeth with have to wait.
In fact, I just had my final appointment with my surgeon, Dr. P, yesterday. He took final x-rays and pictures of my bite and face, and answered all my questions. I got a pretty intense surgical package that I have to complete with my family doctor and send to the hospital. Then the hospital will schedule a date for me to go in for an anesthesia consult and fit me for compression stockings for the surgery (to prevent blood clots in my legs since I'll be out for so long). I have to order the Therabite for use after surgery in rehab, and visit my orthodontist to get surgical hooks attached to my braces so that the surgeon can wire me shut while he works on me. I will also need arrange for after-care with my family. I will need help from my mom, and possibly others, to help my husband look after my son and I. My son will be starting SK the day after my surgery, so someone will need to be with him that week, as well as taking me to the hospital and checking in on me as I am recovering there for a few days.
The surgery is set to start at 8am on Sept 6, so I've been told to arrive at the hospital at 6am. The hospital is downtown Toronto, and we live in a suburb so it will be a smooth ride down there. They estimate that the surgery will be over around 3:30 pm. Then it's recovery! I'm told that right away I'll be eating things like scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes - I'll be sure to stock up!! At least I won't be wired shut or eating through a syringe! I am told I might have elastics on my braces, but I'll be able to fit in a spoon. Fingers crossed.
I plan to make videos as I go along, starting soon so that you can see the before, during, and after. I really want to share this experience. Watching videos like Shea's (sheasmith.org) have been so incredibly helpful to me.
