Navigating jaw surgery: top topics

Thank you everyone who has written me to say that my site has helped you through your own jaw surgery decisions and experiences. Even though it's been almost two years since my surgery, I still get a fair number of emails and questions from people doing research. I thought I would give you some links that will make it easier to find what you're looking for on my blog:

• Acupuncture
  
  
• Anemia
  
  
• Ask Bella
  
  
• Blogging
  
  
• Bruising
  
  
• Complementary Medicine
  
  
• Depression
  
  
• Homeopathic
  
  
• Jaw Surgery
  
  
• Lymph Drainage Massage
  
  
• Numbness
  
  
• Orthodontics
  
  
• Physiotherapy
  
  
• Pictures
  
  
• Preparations
  
  
• Range of Motion
  
  
• Recipes
  
  
• Screws
  
  
• Singing
  
  
• Supplements
  
  
• Swelling
  
  
• TMJ
  
  
• Wired Jaw

Don't forget about all the links in my sidebar, including links to other jaw surgery bloggers. If you don't see what you're looking for in my posts or links, feel free to email me at smilingbella at gmail dot com.

Linkages

If you look at my sidebar, you'll see that I've gone through my links to other orthognathic surgery personal blogs and rearranged them (again).

What can I say? It's a long list of people and I want this site to be as user-friendly as possible, so I've organized the links into five categories:

Braces buddies - People who have the arch wires and brackets and are at the beginning of their journeys. No surgery date yet.

Pre-surgery - People who have been given a surgery date and will be going under the bone saw within the next few months.

In recovery - Those of us who have made it through the surgery and are continuing to struggle with the braces as well as the other aspects of recovery.

Debraced and beyond - The lucky ones who have put the surgery and braces behind them but are still blogging about their recoveries.

Back to real life - People who have been through it all and are no longer posting because they're back in the real world. A great source of information.

What I love most about these blogs is that there is something for everyone. There are orthodontic/orthognathic bloggers of all ages and situations, so you're bound to find someone you can relate with and whose experience is relevant for what you're going through or will go through.

Happy reading.

Smiling Bella featured on Willow's Web Astrology

My friend Willow, an astrologer, has used my post-jaw surgery recovery as an example of "Saturn in Virgo" behaviour in the May issue of her monthly Astro Perspective. She says:

Saturn has been going retrograde for the past three months or so, allowing us to come to terms with a lot of issues related to health, diet, personal habits and trimming the fat in all areas of life/self - whatever we need to deal with before moving forward in life. Saturn has forced us to take responsibility for being our best selves and for making the adjustments and refinements we know we need to make in order for our lives (and ourselves) to function long-term in a sustainable, healthy way....

Virgo relates to service, self-mastery and holistic health, so we’re being challenged to make the changes we know we need to make in the pursuit of holistic health - body, mind, emotions, spirit....

I've noticed people doing a lot of home renovation projects lately (definite Virgo territory - related to improving what already exists) and dealing with long-standing health issues.

A textbook Saturn in Virgo experience is the one my journalism school friend, Bella, is going through (major jaw surgery). Check her story out at: http://www.smilingbella.com/. Bella’s taking responsibility for having a pain-free life - doing what she needs to do and dealing with (relatively) short-term pain for long-term gain. Virgo is co-ruled by Chiron (healing) and Mercury (communication), so jaw surgery affecting her speech and the healing process afterward are very much Saturn in Virgo territory.

It was helpful to see my situation through her lens and to be reminded that all of the discomfort and difficulty I've been facing lately is necessary for me to have a better quality of life in the long run.

If you're interested in astrology, I'd highly recommend Willow's sites. I am always amazed at how her insights speak directly to my life (even when I'm not mentioned.)

Surgery support link action

For those who have stumbled across this blog looking for more information about jaw surgery, I have a number of links posted in my sidebar that I'd like to draw your attention to.

When I was faced with making the decision to have this surgery, I was terrified and didn't know where to turn to answer the multitude of questions whirring through my head.

Then, I came across a blog by someone who had the surgery who took the time to write about it and post pictures. She also linked to the Yahoo orthognathic surgery support group, which was a wealth of information with helpful people who had been through it themselves and were willing to answer questions and share their experiences.

Because of the answers I found through these links, I was able to make an informed and confident decision to have the surgery. I went into it with my eyes open and I knew exactly what to expect. I credit my positive experience with the fact that I did my research and I was prepared.

That's why I started this blog - to help other people find the information they need to make the right decision for them. Being told you need surgery is a scary, scary thing and research is the key that changes that fear into power.

If you look at my sidebar, you'll see a heading called Online Support Group Links. These are message boards where people can ask questions and talk about their experiences.

Below those, I have two groupings of blogs listed. The first is Pre-Surgery Blogs: people who are preparing for the surgery. The second is Post-Surgery Blogs: those on the other side of the surgery and are either still in recovery or have completed the process entirely. Your surgeon or orthodontist is a great source of information, but there are certain things that you'll learn from people who have been through it that you won't learn anywhere else.

Beneath the blog links are some information links as well as links to homeopathic remedies, recipes and products that I found useful when recovering from surgery.

I would like to link to many jaw surgery blogs as I can so that there is a wide variety of experiences represented here. If you have a blog about your surgery, whether you are still waiting for it to happen or you're well beyond the bone saw, please email me or leave a link to your blog in my comments so I can add it to my list.

I hope you are able to find the information you're looking for. Good luck!

Animated illustrations of jaw surgery

I was searching for diagrams illustrating the surgery I underwent and I came across this really cool page from the Mayo Clinic that has animated illustrations of each of the surgeries.

Check it out.