Second hospital appointment

I finally had my second hospital appointment today! It feels like I've been waiting for so long but it finally seems like everything's starting to get going now! Last time I went I felt like the appointment was a waste of time and like the orthodontist I saw wasn't very helpful, but today was the complete opposite.

I got to meet the surgeon today, who I think said that he was the surgeon that would be performing my operation. He was really nice and talked me through everything and made me feel like I could trust him with my operating on my face! He had a little jaw model so that he could show me exactly what happes to the jaw in the surgery. Until now I've been a bit confused about how they cut the jaw but he showed me on the model and it's all a lot clearer!

He spoke to me about the risk of numbness. He said that 8% of people are left with permanent numbness, and showed me on the model where the nerve goes through the jaw. I asked him whether the people who get permanent numbness regret having the operation done, and he said they didn't.

He also said that there's a risk that when they go to break the jaw bone it won't break in the right way, and that if this happens then you have to have your teeth wired together after the operation, but out of all the operations he's done (which was over 200!), this has only happened once! So I'm not too worried about that!

So, the next step is to take my wisdom teeth out! Apparently this makes it easier for them to break the jaw in the actual operation. The surgeon was really nice and is trying to make sure my operation to take my wisdom teeth out will be in my Christmas holidays from uni, which will be good as I won't have to miss any lectures or anything.

After my wisdom teeth are out I'll have my braces put on. They'll be fixed braces (i.e. train tracks) and I'll have them on my top and bottom teeth for 12 - 18 months! But the orthodontist did say that because I've had braces on before that should mean that I won't need the braces for too long. And then I'll be having the actual operation! It seems such a long way from now but I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end!

Anyway, I've got to ring the hospital on Monday and let them know when my Christmas holidays are so that they can arrange a date for me to have my wisdom teeth out!

I'm just so glad it's finally all underway!