attempted, but failed again

me and my smile

WARNING: this post may contain TMI.

This morning at 6 am we were heading out the door on our way to Morgantown. Today I was having my implants put in (steel rods/screws in my mouth, not other types). As we drove we each prayed that today everything would go smoothly, the procedure would happen, and I wouldn't be in too much pain. You see, this is the second trip that we've made to Morgantown expecting to have this done. This past July we went down and after starting surgery (cutting me open and all) they discovered that the bone had some defects and they couldn't continue. So we were really praying that today would be the day. Not to mention the fact that we both wanted it to all be over and done with.

For those of you who may not know why I have to have implants I'll explain. When I was 6 years old, I was hit by a bike. Actually I was riding my bike with friends, we had stopped and were talking when another friend came flying down the hill on her bike and hit me head on. This threw me off my bike and I hit my handle bars and hers as I somersaulted into the air and onto the ground. I had just gotten in my permanent teeth after having grey baby teeth that resulted from an accident in which I hit a porcelain bathtub with my front teeth. Anyway, the wreck knocked out one of my front teeth, and damaged the other severely... although we didn't know about the second one until a few years ago. So you see, I need this procedure, and its been 19 years in the making.

(back to today's story..) I checked in at the clinic and shortly a tech came and got me to have x-rays. Dr. Reed (my surgeon) was concerned about the bone too and wanted to make sure everything was okay before he opened me up again. Turned out, everything wasn't okay. The bone still hadn't grown enough. I was then shipped off to speak with another surgeon about a block graft. Here enters the TMI. The Dr. that I spoke with explained what would happen. I don't have enough bone, so they are going to go in and take (saw out) a chunk of bone from my lower jaw... OUCH! Then they are going to break the bone that they took and place it in the front of my mouth where I need it. They will have to cut open my upper gum (where my front teeth are) and fold the flap all the way back... so far so that they will be working under my nose. They'll place the broken bone in the correct places, screw it into place with miniature screws, cover it with mesh and other fun things, and then stretch the skin back over and stitch me back up. Sounds fun doesn't it? After I heal for 6 months they will attempt again to put in the implants.

The risks are significant, but like I told Nathan, its like any surgery, there are always risks. If when they are cutting out bone from my lower jaw they happen to hit a nerve, it could cause me temporary or permanent numbness on the right lower side of my face. If the bone graft doesn't take, I could lose the bone and they'd have to do it again later. There is also the possibility that they could hurt my other teeth as they are putting the screws into place. The only good thing I could take away was that if something were to happen while I am under sedation, I am already in a hospital! I'm really glad that I opted for full sedation and not to be awake though. The Dr. described it like when I had my wisdom teeth out, I probably won't remember a thing. I don't want to be like Nathan who remembers the nurses hold his head down while the dentist hammered away at his teeth. I'll definitely be praying that none of the risks occur.

So as you see our attempt at the implants again failed today. Looks like I won't get them until at least next May or June... but hopefully then it will all be done and I'll have a beautiful smile. Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you that this crazy surgery is happening in 2 weeks. November 27th at 9:30am. At least I'll get to eat Thanksgiving dinner right?

I hope I didn't share too many yucky details. Just wanted to let you know what was happening and ask for prayer that it all goes well and I'm not out of commission for too long. Talk to you again soon.