Roughly a year

Good Morning Jaw people, It's been over a year since I had TMJ replacement surgery and just a few weeks shy of a year since double jaw surgery. To recap, I separated the surgeries by 8 weeks, because insurance would not pay for TMJ. I've received some inquiries about insurance things so I'll touch on that in this post. I had CIGNA through Obamacare. Cigna agreed to cover my jaw surgery at 100%, however they wouldn't cover TMJ. If an uncovered procedure is done at the same time as a covered procedure, it's no longer covered. That's why I did them separately. I paid for TMJ out of pocket and I can't say for sure, but it was around 20K. The business manager at Dr. Franco's office called a few months ago and told me 7K wasn't covered and I owed that money. At the time of surgery, I was approved for 100% so I disputed the charges and won. I don't have to pay anything else. TMJ - 20K, Jaw surgery - 0, Braces - 6K, Bridge - 1200, I'm 35 years old and I can say age was an issue as far as insurance goes. If you're under 18 and considering the surgery. DO IT NOW. There is still numbness in my lower lip especially, my chin and still puffiness around my nose. My gums are slightly numb, but have significantly improved in the past few months. I can sort of feel them when I floss now. The only annoyance really is my bottom lip, half of it's numb so that sometimes irritates me. However, it's not always noticeable. Below are my progress photos.

7 months on the dot

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I posted so I thought I'd do an update. Everything is good with my teeth and jaws. I am still very numb on my lower lip and chin. I have some puffiness around my nose and when I press there it's the sensation of pressing on a bruise but it's barely noticeable. I can eat anything, but bacon is a little rough. My gums are numb so flossing is weird because I can't feel it at all! I did end up getting a bridge replacement where that missing tooth was and I feel good about that choice. It feels perfect. I had a retainer for the lower but it was too tight and when I got my bridge I re-fitted for a new retainer. That was a month ago! I called them and they haven't received it yet because of the holidays she said. I hope it doesn't mess up because I haven't worn a retainer in a month! It's probably fine. As far as my TMJ aftermath, there is pain above my ears on both sides where he made the incisions but it's nothing bothersome, it only hurts when I press on it to massage the tissue. My good ol' friend the finance manager at Dr. Franco's office called me a couple days ago about my 'open account'. She says that Cigna has decided not to pay for some things that they agreed to pay. Seriously! Anyone in the states trying to have jaw surgery... the worst part truly is the financial issues and insurance hassle! I haven't called her back to find out more because I just got back from vacation yesterday and I can't deal with her. But, I know I have Cigna letters saying they'll cover 100% so if they try anything funny, I'm pretty sure that's a lawsuit. We'll see...

So in love with brushing my teeth without braces! Cleaning my teeth all those months was such a pain!

Day 115

I got my retainers yesterday. The bottom retainer is so tight! I think my teeth already shifted a tad bit but Dr. Simon told me to just wear them a few nights and then if it's still hurting I could go back and redo it. But I woke up this morning and it was fine so, I'm not worried about it. I did see Dr. Franco and he said that the bone had deteriorated and they would have to do a bone graph if I wanted to put in an implant. I can't be bothered to do that, so I'd rather just get the bridge put back on since that's what I had for the past 20 years and it felt like a regular tooth. My face has lost a lot of swelling. My chin and bottom lip are still numb and my gums are pretty numb. I used to have sensitive spots when I was brushing and I can't feel them now and I can't feel anything when I floss. There's still some pressure around my nose and under my eyes. I also have some sensitive areas around my ear where they opened the cartilage for the TMJ surgery. I try to massage that everyday to loosen up the scar tissue. I can open my mouth as wide as I could before. This picture was taken last week when I demonstrated how I can open wide and bite through food I couldn't before.

I can bite through everything. It's a really weird feeling and I haven't gotten used to it yet. It's exciting! Here are my retainers.

Day 100

Hayia! Hope all is well in the world of jaw surgery stressers. I got my braces off!

They gave me a bottle of champagne and a cupcake on my way out! Dr. Simon said that I was finished fast! I'm super happy about that! It's good to be out of braces since I'm 34 and it's a little old to be still working on teeth.

I have temporary retainers and I'm waiting on the regular ones. I went to the dentist for a good cleaning. There was all this problem about a bridge or implant. You know what to do with the space where that tooth is missing. My insurance of course doesn't pay for anything and it's expensive to do either. I've had a bridge so long that the bone has deteriorated so they don't think an implant will even work. So I'm going to ask Dr. Franco when I see him on Monday.

Day 83

Hi everyone. My swelling has gone down a ton. I've been massaging my temples where there's scar tissue from the TMJ surgery and it's feeling better everyday. I'm on the books to have my braces removed next Friday! I hope it happens. You know how that stuff is fickle. The Monday after I'm booked for a cleaning and stain removal. I also still have to be fitted for a bridge where that one tooth is missing. Things are winding down and I'm almost finished! Here's before and after(photo taken today)

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Day 68

Hi everyone. It's been a couple weeks since I posted anything. Last week I went to Dr. Simon's office and she said "Good God Girl, You're done!" that was exciting to hear. She said that she wanted to add one wire to close up the gaps in a couple teeth and then I'd be finished. The gap is very close to where Dr. Franco made the incision so she wanted to wait a couple more weeks before she put the wire on because it adds pressure there. She wasn't sure it was stable. She did tell me that I only had to wear my rubber bands at night. HALLELUJAH! But the following day I saw Dr. Franco and he said it all looks fine. My swelling is down a lot. There are tiny patches of thick swelled skin around my nose and upper lip and lower jaw near my jowls. I can rub my lips together which took a while to be able to do. I'm still feeling numb along the upper jaw gum line, chin and around my nose. I can eat most things. I tried tortilla chips the other day. I was able to chew them but the enjoyment wasn't really there because it was hard to clean out of my mouth and there is a weird numb zinger that goes down my chin when I bite together. My hearing was still out last week but I flew to Seattle for a wedding and poof! It was cured after my plane ride. Totally weird. I always forget to take my picture until after I put my hair up and wash off my makeup. But, anyhow here is my small swelling.

Day 48

Hello. I have nothing good to say about the hearing in my left ear. I thought that it might be improving when I could feel some pops but basically it's just popping now and so the level of how much I can't hear varies from Darth Vador sounds to underwater tea party. As a kid, did you ever go underwater and have a tea party with your friend and then come up and try to figure out what they were saying? If you didn't then you may want to try it so you can understand what your friends and co workers are saying after your surgery. Another thing you could do to practice is go somewhere in a plane and when you get to 30K feet, put on ear plugs and then have a tea party with the person in the seat next to you. Actually, they said this hearing loss is highly unusual so it probably won't happen to you. The good news is that I think my swelling went down 1 notch. They told me at work that I looked less swelled Monday morning. As far as discomfort goes, I have a lot of complaints still. I have zingers, pins & needles, my bottom lip and chin are very numb still the gum line on top and right against the bottom teeth are sore and annoyed. The roof of my mouth feels burned but mostly numb and the area around my nose is stiff and thickly swelled. I feel a lot of pressure there when I smile or laugh. My cheeks and around my TMJ are still sore too. My teeth were a little sore from getting my braces changed out but now they're all right. I have some pain when I first take off my rubber bands. I think I'm holding them together too hard when they're banded. It's not really necessary since the bands are quite weak. I'm wearing the rubber bands in my sleep and throughout the day. I take them off a couple hours around my 3 meals. Neither Franco or Simon were specific on how many hours I could leave them off, so I just chose what I want. But, I make sure to wear them most of the time because I don't want to slow the process down. Also, if I leave them off too long, it hurts more when they go back on. FOOD things are good. This entire time I have not had much of an issue with food. It was definitely a problem the first week or two but I haven't really felt that hungry. I'm up to eating some chewy things like sausage but I'm not that good so sometimes I give up. I can workout and run. Overall I lost 10 pounds but it's already coming back on a little. Here are some photos of food I've eaten.

Sausage and bison chili

Mushroom Risotto

chicken cacciatore

Shepherd's Pie