Medical claims

So, last year was quite the year for medical expenses for me. Fortunately, I do live in Canada, where my surgery and hospital stay were completely covered by our health care system.

But that doesn't mean that there weren't major costs associated with this surgery for me. The surgical splint was $500 and wasn't covered under any of my benefit plans. Also, I had my surgery in another city, which meant lots of travelling back and forth to see my surgeon. And then there was a lengthy recovery, which included extra insurance, medications, physiotherapy, massage therapy (including lymph drainage massage), acupuncture, naturopathy, homeopathy, orthodontics and dentistry.

I avoided totalling it all up until now. And the damage: more than $4,700.

Wow. That's a lot. And the above is just the amount my benefits didn't cover. If it were the full amount, it would be another few thousand for sure (not to mention the shortfall in my gross pay because of all the work I missed due to related illnesses over the past year.)

Then again, being able to chew like a normal person and replace frequent migraines with a winning smile?

Priceless.

And hey, at least I get a good tax return this year.

Ask Bella: Supplements and nerve regrowth

Q: I was just reading your post from Mar. 30 where you mentioned the odds of nerve damage following BSSO increasing with one's age. My surgeon brought up B12 as something he might want me to take. He said there's some research going on to see if it will help. Do you have references that support the use of B12?

A: B12 supplement is a very good thing to take before/after the surgery. My naturopath recommended it for me to take as well because it's very good for nerve repair. I found a really cool B12 product that's perfect for when your jaw is wired shut: B12 dissolving strips that are like those Listerine Pocket Packs. They're even minty!

If you have the opportunity to go to a naturopath, I'd recommend it. There are some homeopathic remedies can help with nerve pain/regrowth, such as Hypericum Perforatum. It's worth looking into.

*To ask Bella a question about her jaw surgery, email her at smilingbella at gmail dot com or leave a comment on this post. Go ahead: ask away!!

Anemialiscious

This post-surgery anemia business is far more complicated than it first seemed. You think - okay, my iron levels are low, so I'll just take iron pills and eat some spinach.

Not so much.

The first thing I learned was that you have to take iron supplements with Vitamin C or your body won't absorb them. My doctor never mentioned this when she told me to take the iron; I got this information from a friend. So, one more pill to take.

Then, I decided to look up information on foods with high iron content so I could be sure I was eating right. I was surprised to learn that not only there is a list of foods that enhance iron absorption, but there is also a list of foods that block iron absorption. These include sweet potatoes, red wine, soy and spinach.

What? Spinach inhibits iron absorption? Isn't it supposed to be chock full of irony goodness? Well, it is, but it also contains an acid that blocks iron absorption. In order to absorb the iron in spinach, you have to eat it with iron absorption enhancing foods, such as meat, tomatoes, and Vitamin C-rich fruits.

Note to self: people put strawberries, oranges and bacon in spinach salad for a reason, not just because it makes the salad look pretty. Go figure.

Not surprisingly, the iron that is most easily absorbed by our bodies is found in meat, poultry and fish. Making it extra difficult for vegetarians.

So, I took my iron supplements with Vitamin C like a good girl for a few weeks and...nothing happened. I didn't feel any better. I was still exhausted and sick all the time. What the heck was going on? Was there something else horribly wrong with me?

On Monday, I went to see my naturopath and mentioned it to her. She asked what else I was taking the iron supplements with, and I named off my arsenal of capsules and pills.

"You have to make sure that you don't take calcium and iron supplements together. The calcium competes with the iron for absorption and the calcium always wins. Then, the iron is just this toxin floating around your body."

In other words, all that iron I had been taking these past few weeks was not absorbed, even though I was taking it with Vitamin C, because the calcium blocked the iron.

Grrrr.

On the plus side, I started taking the iron away from the calcium on Tuesday, and by Friday, I had already started feeling better. So, there's hope for me yet.

Homemade mouthwash

I have been making an effort lately to use products that are more natural and don't contain chemicals that could be carcinogenic. A lot of toothpastes and mouthwashes contain chemicals like sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate, which are skin irritants and potential carcinogens. These chemicals give products the foam that makes us feel like they're getting our mouths extra clean. They're there for psychological reasons more than anything and may actually be harming us.

And let's face it, those of us with the train tracks on our teeth are going to be brushing and rinsing more often than the general populace, so we have a greater exposure to these chemicals.

So, I've switched to natural toothpaste with fluoride and I've actually started making my own mouthwash, something I never in a million years thought I would do. But my naturopath gave me a really simple recipe for mouthwash that I could make with ingredients that I just happened to have lying around my house, so I figured, "Eh, why not?"

It was worth a shot, and it would certainly be cheaper than anything I was using now, particularly in the quantities I've been using it.

Here's the recipe:

Homemade Mouthwash

2 ounces of water
¼ tsp of baking soda or sea salt
1 drop of pure peppermint oil
1 drop of tea tree oil

Mix together. (I quadrupled the recipe and mixed it up in an old mouthwash bottle so I'd have some on hand for awhile.)

I used it for the first time a few days ago and, at first, was a bit put off by the taste. The baking soda (or salt) makes it salty and the taste of the natural oils takes a bit of getting used to, as they're not coated in sweeteners like they are in manufactured products.

But after awhile, it's not so bad. It works really well in my Water Pik to help get the crud out of my braces. I think it would have been handy as a variation on a salt rinse when my jaw was wired shut as well, had I known about it.

Also, I discovered that if you let it sit for awhile instead of using it right away, the salty taste goes away as the flavours meld together. So, mix up a batch instead of just making it when you need it, and it will be fine.

If you don't have the essential oils handy, it will cost a bit upfront to start making your own mouthwash, as the oils are usually $10 each for a small bottle. But, as you're only using a small drop (or four), that little bottle of essential oil will last a long, long time.

If you try it, let me know what you think.

Poke me, baby

One of the things that stressed me the most about having jaw surgery was the possibility that there would be nerve damage, leaving my chin and lower lip numb for a year or perhaps forever. My orthodontist told me the likelihood of permanent nerve damage increases with your age. As a 32-year-old undergoing the surgery, I had a 32% chance of permanent numbness.

This prospect was thoroughly unacceptable and made me determined to be in the 68% of people who regain full feeling in their lips and chin.

So, I did what I've done with pretty much everything surrounding this surgery: obsessive-compulsive research, or OCR for short. I found a number of homeopathic and natural remedies to help reduce inflammation and nerve pain, and I investigated acupuncture to help rejuvenate nerves.

I also stalked jaw surgery survivors. A friend had the surgery in her 40s and ended up with permanent nerve damage in her chin. When she finally discovered acupuncture, which helped her get some of the feeling back, the practitioner told her that he could have helped her get all of it back...if she had only come to him one month after the surgery, instead of one year later.

Some sharp needles in my face vs. not being to fully appreciate future make-out sessions = easy decision. I made the appointment for two weeks after the surgery. Stat.

You talkin' to me?
Can you tell I took this shot myself?

I had gone for acupuncture before, with mixed results. One practitioner took on so many patients that she made her storage closet into a treatment room. You'd be lying on the table, immobile (because needles were piercing various body parts, and moving would shoot pain up your limbs), and someone would walk in, reach up to pull something off the shelf above your head, and leave. And then someone else would do the same a few minutes later. She was also so busy that she'd even forget needles in you. I stopped going to her after discovering a large needle in my ankle and having to pull it out myself.

The other practitioner I saw could barely speak English. She had such a heavy Chinese accent that the majority of conversations with her involved the phrases, "What?" "Excuse me?" and "I'm sorry, I don't understand," as well as a fair bit of gesticulating. I don't know about you, but when someone is coming at you with a handful of sharp needles, it kind of helps to know what they're saying.

Regarding the acupuncture itself, both of the practitioners I saw were great at it and their treatments helped me feel a lot better. But when you've got a broken jaw, you just want to go to someone you're comfortable with. Fortunately, my new naturopath also practices acupuncture. I was relieved to discover this, as I really liked her, even though her elimination diet had nearly pushed me over the edge the last time I saw her.

A great up-the-nose shot. But you can see all the homeopathic and natural remedies in the background.
Plus, I have a cute nose, right?

I usually find acupuncture really relaxing. I go into a meditative state, and sometimes, I feel like I am levitating out of my body. Not this time, though, because my naturopath and I were goofing around with my camera, trying to get a shot that showed the needles in my face. The facial acupuncture needles are even thinner than the regular kind, so it was really hard to get them to show up in pictures.

Finally, we got a good one!

When she took the needles out from behind my ears, it was the strangest sensation - it felt like they were still there. I rubbed my skin, concerned that this was acupuncture déjà vu all over again, when she said, "Does it feel like they're still there? That means the chi is working."

I didn't know what that meant. But all I knew was that two weeks after my surgery, I had about 75% of the feeling back in my chin and lower lip. In the days following the acupuncture treatment, my feeling came back rapidly. By the one month post-surgery mark, I had 95% of it back, and today, I would say that I'm at about 98%.

Am I going back to get more needles stuck into me? H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks, yeah!

Homeopathic healing

A lot of people have expressed amazement on how quickly my bruising and swelling went away. While I maintain that a positive attitude does make a difference when you're healing from major surgery, I certainly don't credit alone with my progress.

Before my surgery, I went to see my naturopathic doctor and she prescribed a number of homeopathic remedies and supplements.

Homeopathic remedies operate on the principle that like cures like. So, if something in great amounts causes a headache, then the theory is that a very, very, very small amount of the same thing will cure a headache. Homeopathic remedies dilute those substances to microscopic levels and then use them to treat that ailment.

There is a constant debate going on as to whether or not it really works. In my experience, it has. But everyone is different. The way I see it is there's no harm in trying. If it works, it works. If not, the remedies are relatively inexpensive (I paid $7 per vial, Canadian Dollars, for mine), so you're really not losing anything.

My arsenal of non-drug remedies.

This is what my naturopath recommended for me (please consult your doctor/surgeon/homeopathic practitioner before taking any supplements):

1. Arnica Montana, 200K pellets. One or two pellets at a time, taken away from food, as often as needed to reduce bruising and swelling.
2. Hypericum Perforatum, 200K pellets. One or two pellets at a time, taken away from food, as often as needed to reduce nerve pain.
3. Calendula, 200K pellets. One or two pellets at a time, taken away from food, as often as needed to heal wounds post-surgery.
4. Thiosinaminum, 6CH pellets. One or two pellets at a time, taken away from food, as often as needed to break down scar tissue.
5. Wobenzym N., enteric coated tablets. One tablet three times a day, taken away from food, to break down inflammation. (Note: Wobenzym contains Bromelain, a digestive enzyme made out of pineapple. I know of a lot of jaw surgery patients who just take Bromelain, which would have the same sort of result if you're unable to find Wobenzym.)
6. Traumeel, oral drops. This is a complex homeopathic with a variety of compounds in it. Five drops, three times daily, taken away from food, to reduce swelling, bruising and inflammation.
7. Vitamin B12. She didn't give me an amount on this, but said that it helped encourage nerve regrowth and reduce nerve pain. I found these great dissolving Vitamin B12 strips that I could put in my cheek while my jaw was wired shut and they would dissolve. Awesome!
8. Mediclear, protein and vitamin powder. One scoop in rice milk in the morning with breakfast. Provides protein essential for healing and liver support post-anesthesia.

If I had to do it again, there were some changes I would have made.

Firstly, I would have found as many of the homeopathic remedies in tinctures/oral drops to make them easier to take when I was wired shut. I used a method for taking the pellets called "pulsing" where you put a very tiny amount of water in a glass and dissolve the pellets in it before swallowing. It worked fine, but the usual method is to dissolve the pellets under your tongue. Drops would have been much more convenient.

Secondly, I would have started taking the Arnica and the Traumeel several days before surgery. You get a much better result that way. I took the Arnica just one day before, and I didn't start on the Traumeel until three weeks after the surgery. It turned out well for me, but it would have been even better to start earlier.

Otherwise, it's been going very well. I wasn't able to take the Wobenzym while I was wired shut, but I am taking it now. While I was wired, I focused more on taking the Arnica and Calendula as much as possible. Now that the swelling is mostly gone, I'm concentrating more on the Hypericum and the Thiosinaminum as well as making sure I'm taking my Mediclear every day. I added the Traumeel because I noticed there was just a tiny bit of swelling left that wasn't going down as much as I would have liked and I figured it would help.

The really nice thing about homeopathic medicine is that it is so diluted that it's impossible to take too much of it and it is not going to interact with any drugs, or so I'm told. It's kind of idiot-proof, which serves me quite well.