The Braces Adventure

I bet you thought this was done, or forgotten about, right? Oh no, apparently it just takes THIS long. Medical people, whether it's the doctor, dentist, oral surgeon, orthodontist, nurse, or assistant, are in absolutely no hurry whatsoever to move this process along. Unless I call and remind them to do their job. I'm always happy to do that. {insert sarcasm}

 

So this week is the big week. Surgery is Friday. Tomorrow, I have to go get an EKG done, just to make sure my heart is healthy and strong enough for surgery. I do not expect any sort of complication. Wednesday, the expander will be placed and the braces will go on. And Friday is the big day. To say that I'm anxious would be a gross understatement. I woke up this morning and my heart was racing. I am most nervous about being put under. I have never been put under before, so the thought of not having control is freaking me out. If you know me, you know that me+control is the same as peanut butter+jelly. I need that control to have a harmonious calm in my life.

 

I spoke with my good friend, Abby, who is the surgical coordinator at the hospital. She let me know that she has assigned me the best nurse and nurse anesthetist. I told her this really made me feel a lot better about the entire process, but that I was still nervous as hell. She walked me through the intubation process (which will be through my nose since all the work is being done in my mouth) and also told me that I will have some happy, calm-you-down pills beforehand. I flat out asked her if I could have some NOW. Last week would have been even better.

 

And to throw a curve into this whole ordeal, the oral surgeon and my orthodontist added removal of my wisdom teeth to the treatment plan. We never discussed this in any of the meetings. One day, the treatment plan arrived at my house, and there was the wisdom teeth extraction. Wonderful. Because this wasn't going to be the best time ever when it was just breaking my top jaw. Go ahead and yank out four teeth. Awesome. Thanks guys. Also, still haven't heard from insurance in the pre-authorization. I plan to call them tomorrow afternoon (and if you know me, you know that means today) to see where they are with the process, can we expedite, etc.

 

My patience is not cut out for this shit.