Lower surgery date set!!

Last week I heard back from my oral surgeon's office. Not only do I have approval from my insurance company for the surgery (yay!), I also have a scheduled surgery date. My surgery will take place on June 21st -  exactly one year after I had my SARPE. It's amazing how quickly the time has gone. I'm now halfway done with this process and very soon I will have a functioning bite. :)

In prep for my surgery, I have two pre-op appointments - one on June 1st and another on June 8th. For my appointment on June 8th, I'm going to need to have surgical hooks put on my braces in prep for surgery. I won't be wired shut following surgery, but will have a series of rubber bands to keep my jaw in place. The first few weeks the rubber bands will be really tight and then each week or so, I'll get looser bands. I've been assured that I'll be able to talk (how well is still to be determined) and that I should only need two weeks off from work. My ideal plan would be to take some sick days the first week and then work from home the second week. Knowing myself, I won't want to sit idly by plus I have an intern starting on June 13th and I want to be available if she has questions.

Fortunately, my mom is flying out to help through this process. The plan is for her to buy a one way ticket from Florida to San Diego and then buy a one way ticket home as soon as I'm able to manage on my own. I feel very fortunate to have mom coming out to help me! My mom is going to fly out the weekend before and we're going to do some fun stuff like go to Balboa Park, eat out (very important to carbo load!), etc.

This past weekend I was in Florida for my sister's wedding. While there, I spoke with my mom's friend who is a retired oral surgeon. After conversations with my parents about my oral surgery adventures, he was eager to check out my mouth. He noticed that my gums are receding and suggested that I go see a periodontist before I have surgery. My dad suggested I get a recommendation from someone on my oral care dream team.