Next steps
Monday, November 30, 2009 at 6:04AM 
(the other side of her face!)
K3 made significant progress over the long weekend. She is now the restless patient and the patient that wants help but doesn't want too much help. And the patient that wants to see her friends but doesn't want people to see her like this.
Ahh... progress!
She has also moved on to soft foods. Stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy are all good. Baby food and drinkable yogurt continue to be tasty. Anything whirled in the blender rocks!
Finally, we went back to the surgeon the day before Thanksgiving for removal of some stitches and an evaluation. Let me just say that I think Dr. J is awesome and he's exactly the guy I want putting her mouth back together. Here are the next steps...
Off to the reconstructive dentist for an impression of her upper mouth.
1st implant in her upper gums will be in December. We don't know how many implants until he gets the impression done by her dentist.
In that same December appointment, he will pull all four of her wisdom teeth. After extractions, he will harvest bone from the wisdom teeth sockets on one side of her mouth and do another bone graft in the front of her lower jaw. The current bone graft didn't maintain it's height (not unexpected given the break) and needs shored up. If it needs one more graft, he will harvest from her other wisdom sockets in January.
At that, he said it will still be a couple more months before the jaw stabilizes enough for lower implants. During that time, we'll be watching the last tooth that's "iffy" to see if she gets to keep it.
I'm not looking forward to the December appt. Her whole mouth will be impacted and uggg... I can't even imagine.
I do want to thank everyone again for their kind thoughts and emails and cards. K3 totally appreciates it!
More updates to come...
And now... back to work for me. TOG is staying home with K3 this week.
cheese with that whine?, trauma in Modern life 
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Reader Comments (8)
Loved seeing you both on Friday! K3 is a trooper and she seems to have a pretty good attitude, except the part about wanting to go back to school and see her friends. That will be a tough one for a while!
It sounds like the progress is good! I hope the December appointment goes well. It sure sounds like a lot for anyone to go through.
The December appointment does sound yucky, but at least she is healing and heading in the right direction. Thank God for good doctors!
Bless Dr J and K3 is a super trooper .. and its good you get to go back to the office, a break is needed even for a hands-on mama like you ... glad TOG is all better ... how did Ben enjoy his first Thanksgiving? xo
just reading this makes me cringe! stay strong K3!
Glad to hear K3 is on the road to recovery, but sorry it sounds like it will be a long one. My heart goes out to you and your family.
Welcome back to the working world... it sucks haha!
Thinking of you all......
Glad to hear she's mending & getting feisty again. It always helps to like the doctor. Still, I just can't believe you're all having to go through all this. My thoughts are with you!