Hey all,
So I gave my Ortho a call today and surprisingly I actually got him on the line. We actually talked for a full 20 minutes. So here is what I learned. First off he said hes super picky about getting everything absolutely perfect both before and after surgery. He said he didnt want to rush into making the Suresmile wire without talking with my surgeon first and he said they actually only usually meet once a month and it's just been tough with everything that goes on in the summer. He said my surgeon is actually also the one who teaches all the residents over at the hospital too. So at least I know I got the right guy if hes the one teaching everyone else.
He said there isn't much anyone can do before we get those two guys in a room for an hour and discuss my 3D model together and since they meet so rarely I have to wait the 6-8 weeks since it normally takes about 4 weeks for the actual wire to come in. So I went ahead and cancelled my appointment next Wednesday and scheduled my next one for 8/14th. At least now I have a new date to be pumped for! The other thing he confirmed was that there were two sets of Suresmile wires that he does, one pre surgery and one post surgery. He said the braces typically come off around 6-9 months after the surgery occurs.
I'm trying to remember everything he said cause the guy was talking my head off. At one point he was talking about another surgeon in Texas and how awesome he was, I was like wth is this guy talking about. Anyway he said the main goal at this point is to continue to widen my top jaw. He said that him and my surgeon talked awhile back and they were deciding on if it was going to be just one jaw or both jaws they would be doing the surgery on but he said its probably going to be just the top jaw. Taking a piece of bone out up top and moving the top jaw forward. He didn't have all the exact measurements and stuff yet but that was generally the main goal at this point was to widen that top jaw.
As I was typing this all up I just stopped to call over to my surgeons office to set up the pre-surgery meeting. All set for 9/18th! She said once I come in they will basically make sure everything is in place and ready to go and then I can most likely schedule a date for surgery at that time. She said they send everything over to the insurance company at that point just to confirm that its covered and then we are ready to roll. She said with my particular insurance they generally don't give them too hard of a problem so it should definitely be covered, 80% of it anyway.
So here is a general timeline:
8/14: Get Suresmile wires put in.
9/18: About a month into the Suresmile wires, go and visit with surgeon approximately 4 weeks prior to surgery readiness.
Guessing late October or early November: Surgery
Guessing December: Get my final Suresmile wire put in.
Guessing April: Braces off for a grand total of 17 months!
Feels really good to just have some reassurance about everything. I'm a type of person who loves to be organized and have stepping stones set in place and I feel like today I was able to get a few of them in place. Hopefully this helps anyone who is looking for similar info as far as a timeline on things. I most likely won't be posting again until I get my Suresmile wires in unless something crazy happens. Until then, Cheers!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Bad News!
Hey everyone,
So I just got my first real bad news so far in this entire process. I was scheduled to get my Suresmile wires on a week from now. I was really looking forward to it. I have off all this week and I was actually looking more forward to getting the wires on than having this whole week off! Just goes to show how much my life revolves around this process. So I was at work and I get a call that I didn't recognize and didnt answer and I get a vmail. Listen to the voicemail and its my orthodontist. He basically went on to say that he hasn't met with my surgeon yet to review my 3D scan that I completed last time I was in there (about 5 weeks ago), and that since he wasn't able to meet with him, they were not able to get the wires made yet. His excuse and he literally said this was that he was on vacation for awhile and the surgeon has apparently been busy seeing a lot of college students who are home now for the summer so he has been super busy. Talk about being put on the back burner. I'm still so angry.
So anyway he says basically I was reviewing your model over again and I think you'll be good with your current wires for the next 6-7 weeks! He said I can call him back at the office and I did about a half hour later to ask some questions but of course no answer. He said I can keep my appointment for next Wednesday and still come in but basically hes just going to check and make sure the wire is where it needs to be and that's it. He said otherwise you can call the office on Thursday and schedule a new appointment to have the Suresmile wires put in in 6-7 weeks. Since I felt like I was making such good progress and ahead of schedule I feel like nothing is going to happen with my teeth in the next 6-7 weeks and I think that I just got set back a month and a half in this whole process!
I was reading quite a bit about similar cases and ones exactly like mine, with Suresmile and jaw surgery for an open bite generally averaged a total of 16 months. July 1st marked the 7th month in so I was thinking okay only about 9 more to go but now I feel like its more like 10 and half. I really hope I'm wrong but this was a big step to me in the process was getting these wires on and then the next big step was to get the surgery scheduled and have it done. Sucks to anxiously await the next appointment for 6 weeks only to find out nothing new is gonna happen. Doesn't seem fair to me. I'm going to try to call again tomorrow and see if I can find out more directly from him about it. In fact, if I don't get him on the phone im just going to cancel the appointment next Wednesday and go in tomorrow and get my braces cut (another reason I think these wires served their purpose) since they have been poking me like crazy. I'll hopefully schedule the next appointment for sometime at the end of August I guess. So 6 months for the Suresmile wire to work brings us to the beginning of October. I'm not sure how long they take to work but hopefully at that point I can get a surgery date. That would be a pretty sweet birthday present for 10/7! So now with all this I'm just hoping to have the surgery done before the new year but I'm already beginning to have my doubts. I'll see what happens tomorrow and maybe make another post if I can get some more info.
So I just got my first real bad news so far in this entire process. I was scheduled to get my Suresmile wires on a week from now. I was really looking forward to it. I have off all this week and I was actually looking more forward to getting the wires on than having this whole week off! Just goes to show how much my life revolves around this process. So I was at work and I get a call that I didn't recognize and didnt answer and I get a vmail. Listen to the voicemail and its my orthodontist. He basically went on to say that he hasn't met with my surgeon yet to review my 3D scan that I completed last time I was in there (about 5 weeks ago), and that since he wasn't able to meet with him, they were not able to get the wires made yet. His excuse and he literally said this was that he was on vacation for awhile and the surgeon has apparently been busy seeing a lot of college students who are home now for the summer so he has been super busy. Talk about being put on the back burner. I'm still so angry.
So anyway he says basically I was reviewing your model over again and I think you'll be good with your current wires for the next 6-7 weeks! He said I can call him back at the office and I did about a half hour later to ask some questions but of course no answer. He said I can keep my appointment for next Wednesday and still come in but basically hes just going to check and make sure the wire is where it needs to be and that's it. He said otherwise you can call the office on Thursday and schedule a new appointment to have the Suresmile wires put in in 6-7 weeks. Since I felt like I was making such good progress and ahead of schedule I feel like nothing is going to happen with my teeth in the next 6-7 weeks and I think that I just got set back a month and a half in this whole process!
I was reading quite a bit about similar cases and ones exactly like mine, with Suresmile and jaw surgery for an open bite generally averaged a total of 16 months. July 1st marked the 7th month in so I was thinking okay only about 9 more to go but now I feel like its more like 10 and half. I really hope I'm wrong but this was a big step to me in the process was getting these wires on and then the next big step was to get the surgery scheduled and have it done. Sucks to anxiously await the next appointment for 6 weeks only to find out nothing new is gonna happen. Doesn't seem fair to me. I'm going to try to call again tomorrow and see if I can find out more directly from him about it. In fact, if I don't get him on the phone im just going to cancel the appointment next Wednesday and go in tomorrow and get my braces cut (another reason I think these wires served their purpose) since they have been poking me like crazy. I'll hopefully schedule the next appointment for sometime at the end of August I guess. So 6 months for the Suresmile wire to work brings us to the beginning of October. I'm not sure how long they take to work but hopefully at that point I can get a surgery date. That would be a pretty sweet birthday present for 10/7! So now with all this I'm just hoping to have the surgery done before the new year but I'm already beginning to have my doubts. I'll see what happens tomorrow and maybe make another post if I can get some more info.
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