Freedom!! .... sorta

Whewt! I had a great OS appointment today. As soon as I saw Dr. Leibold I told him that I had a list of questions, and we went through them together. It was awesome.

First, I asked him about post-surgery x-rays. I haven't had any yet and was curious as to how things looked under all the skin and muscle of my face. He said it would no problem to take some. The x-ray lab had just closed, so I'll have to wait until I go in next, but that's fine with me!

I asked him about the bands- and great news! No more bands for me! Well, at least during the day. He said he'd like me to wear them at night, but, again, that's no problem for me. I'm SO relieved to not have to wear the bands anymore, the pressure they were putting on my braces were really irritating the teeth near the hooks.

I asked him about my tooth discoloration due to the peridex mouthwash. He expressed his hatred toward the stuff, but assured me that it can be removed when I go in for a dental cleaning. The only thing is, because of the braces, the teeth are harder to clean, so I might not be able to get all of the stain off until I'm free of braces. For now, I'm pretty embarrassed of my new grey smile. I told my mom I'd smile in a photo once my upper lip is no longer stiff and swollen and once my teeth have been cleaned.

On that note, I asked him when would be a good time to schedule orthodontist and dentist appointments. He said I could see my orthodontist at anytime now, but it's up to me & my ortho when a good time to see the dentist is. I think I will wait until my incision area is completely healed up and back to normal before I go in for a cleaning, since I don't want to irritate it, but I'm excited to see my orthodontist! I want to know when these things are a' comin' off!

I asked him about facial exercises or anything that I should be doing. He didn't seem concerned at all and said those things don't make much difference or something. I don't know, I might make funny faces anyway.

I also asked him about my diet- when I could move on to soft foods (hey, might as well double check) and when my jaw would be completely healed that I could be a nut-cracker. He said at the six-weeks mark I could chew soft foods. And in a year I'll be all set for everything else. So, in just a week and a half I can start getting frustrated trying to chew all the things I want to eat and fail horribly! Then resign back to my life of oatmeal and soup. I want to bite into a subway sandwich soo bad. And pizza! And fried mozzarella sticks! Ohhh I'm so hungry now.

Then I asked him when we should schedule the neck lipo. He said anytime is fine, he's leaving for a few weeks, so after Septmenber 24th we can get the ball moving. He then took another look at me and said "hmm.. I think you'd benefit a lot from a small chin implant."

oh noo! Not that darn chin thing again!

He said the chin implant would be small and combined with the neck lipo it would give me a lot of facial balance and that it would be something to think about. Uuuhh.. I don't know. I think my chin looks fine, but then again, I don't really know what it would look like "better". The lipo is something I really want, and the anesthesia is a flat fee of $260. So, if I'm getting it done and it would be wise to get them done together. Since I don't want to shell out more money for a second procedure anesth. fee & have to go back for another procedure.

Also. Lipo costs $600, the Chin Implant would cost $1070 (then the $260 anesth. fee). So $860 vs. $1930. The HUGE COST difference doesn't help the fact that I'm not sold on the more chin thing. Plus, we're completely broke. I'm not sure where I'd even get the money the lipo, let alone for both. So, I'm torn, because I really want to listen and agree and do everything the doctor thinks is best, because I respect his judgments. He's only been doing this kinda thing for like.. 35 years.. I'm pretty sure he knows what he's talking about. I have a lot to think about. And some money to start raising. *sigh*

Here's today's recovery pic: