I had my pre-op appointment on Thursday, and all is well.  Surgery is still happening on Wednesday, June 3.  There are still some things that are up in the air.  If the doctor cannot get my bite close enough, he will need to do a procedure on my left side, where he takes a chunk out of my jaw and puts a metal plate in.  If the left side is operated on, recovery will be much longer.  The jaw will be banded shut no matter what, but how long and to what extent is still to be determined.

Here are some pictures of my left jaw (which does not have degenerative arthritis) and my right jaw joint.

Here is my healthy left joint. It is rounded at the top.

Now, here is my right side. Was you can see, it is disintegrated. 

This is a side by side of my left and right jaw, but opposite. 

(left picture is right jaw--right picture is left jaw)

Anxiety Running High!

This is the first time I have ever experienced anxiety like this.  Everything is tipping me over the edge, and my emotions are running high.  I think the fear of recovery is the worst-- or the fear of something tragically going wrong.

Having my jaw wired shut for 6 weeks sounds miserable, but the pain, the swelling, the hunger, and the overall boredom is causing much fear and anxiety.  The surgery is in a week, and it is all I can think about.  It keeps my up at night, and everything I think about revolves around this surgery.  Today, I am headed to Denver for my pre-op appointment, so it is becoming more and more real.  I cannot believe in one week, I will have a titanium jaw!

2 weeks till surgery

Back in 2010, I realized my jaw had been clicking and causing me pain, but I put it aside for a while. When I finally told my dentist about it, he suggested I see an ENT who specialized in TMJ. Sure enough, I had been suffering from TMJ at the age of 16, and in 2011 I went in for my first TMJ surgery to pull back my disc.  Unfortunately, it was not successful because we discovered I have degenerative arthritis in my jaw (which causes your joint to disintegrate).  After years of physical therapy, injections, and pain, the doctor, my family, and I decided that getting a right jaw joint replacement was the best idea.

Now, I am two weeks out of surgery, which will require my jaw to be rubber banded shut for 2 months.  The surgeon, Dr. Steven Aragon out of Denver is highly rated.  He helped rebuild the jaw of a victim of the Columbine shooting, and has performed many jaw replacements.  I am confident he will do the surgery perfectly. Of course, it is nerve-wracking to go into this serious surgery (I will be under for at least 8 hours), but I am hoping that in the long run, it helps my jaw pain, and reduces my everyday migraines. 

We are not sure why I have arthritis in my jaw, but we believe it is connected to my other autoimmune diseases.  In 2010, after having mono, I was diagnosed with Dysautonomia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and Sleep Apnea... along with the TMJ and arthritis in my jaw.  

Throughout the summer, both my mother and I will be updating this blog about my progress.  My hope is for anyone suffering with what I am going through will get some insight on this complicated problem.  It is a big deal, and no one has the answer.  I hope to shed some light on my experience with the recovery, the doctors, and the overall process, and eventually lead someone in the right direction--whatever that may be!