ten years later

No words. I just pray. Help them. Bless them. Please help those who haven't already to find peace and comfort.

http://lds.org/study/prophets-speak-today/unto-all-the-world/heavenly-father-is-with-us-in-every-season?lang=eng

Oh snap! 5 Appointments to go until surgery

So my Nose surgery for my septum, nasal valve and Sinuses is in.... 11 days 9 hours, 22 minutes. Ya... there's an app for that.

And the biggin in is 13 weeks,5 days, 8 hours...

I have 5 more appointments 3 weeks apart until the big day. December 14th! I am now in stainless steel wires and my orthodontist Brian Graf is making artistic arts bends to get my teeth where they need to be to fit together. Next time i go in and from here on out they'll be making study models of my teeth to observe where my teeth need to go! Here's another photo update!

Side where you can see how far back my jaw is when i chew

Open bite when my jaw is aligned where it is supposed to be. My first orthodontist told me that my bite would eventually close and that chewing gum would help! wack job..

Side profile with my jaw back where I chew

Side profile with my jaw forward...about what i estimate I'll look like after surgery.

Nerves...Freaking out 4 months in advance

In less than a month I will begin my sojourn of the corrective reconstruction of my FACE! I would say i'm being dramatic, but that is quite literally what's happening. And naturally the nerves are starting to sink in. And my poor orthodontist gets the brunt of it. I've already had this unnatural automatic reaction to cry any time someone hits my nose. Not because it hurts but because I have had 3 nasal surgeries! WTF is going to happen when now my whole bottom 3/4ths of my face is eligible for this reaction.

I guess i'm just so terrified that something will screw up and I'll go back to the way I am now. I could care less about the pain or the discomfort. I can take it. I just want it to look good, i want it to be even, and I don't want to get hit in the face a month later and screw the whole thing up! I was climbing into bed the other day and hit MYSELF in the face...oh heaven help me.

It's so hard after the first orthodontist I had to just trust these incredibly qualified specialist with the result of my most complimented feature. oh my gosh i need to calm down. But wouldn't you be worried if your were forking our like 10K and your face?! And it was all in the hands of two men...whom, i don't know! Are they good people?? Do they like me as a person? If I wine too much, will they do the equivalent of spitting in my burger by screwing up my face?!

Dear Dr. Graff, Dear. Dr. Stosich...i love you guys...please do me well.

Update of my face!

I think it's been a year...?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlsBObg-1BQ

I just wanted to take a little moment to celebrate about a year after the fact. Probably the hardest, most relieving and best things I've ever done!

I would have put "Since You've Been Gone" but i thought it was too cliche ;)

Brace for the Plunge

After month and months of stressing i found out that my $30K surgery was...wait for it..APPROVED by the insurance. This means not being in debt for 30 years. This was the biggest stresser about the idea of surgery and braces. But don't worry, the surgical coordinator at Dr. Stosich's office saved the day!

So then after waiting a couple months to hear back from the New Testament project with slowest casting job I've even seen in my life, I go myself some braces!!

The night before the big plunge, I threw a little "Say Goodbye to Alice's ability to eat corn" party. What a hit! People brought all the foods I wouldn't be able to eat for a long time: Apples, candy, caramel, chips and, of course, corn on the cob. A ton of people showed up and there was plenty of corn for everyone.

And then, at 2:45pm I had my appointment. I got in the chair, they sat me back and glued on my cage! It was crazy how quickly i got used to them. I've had braces before so that might account for it. I've said it many times before but if anyone's personality can pull off braces, it's mine. Braces have in NO WAY negatively impacted my life...except that I can't eat drumsticks as easily, but now I just use a spoon. :)

With adjustments every 3 weeks and my amazing orthodontist Brian Graf and I'll be ready for Jaw Surgery in December. Before that, however, it appears that my constricted airways is one of the causes of my screwed up jaw/teeth. I'm guessing that mid August I'll be going in for surgery to make it so I can breathe.

Corn Party!