1st day of blogging about my jaw surgery countdown!

Today is my very first day in documenting my jaw surgery journey, so excited! I've seen many other progress blogs and was very inspired to start one of my own so that when I look back, I can see exactly how I've changed. I started my braces journey 18 months ago but had always wanted to start it earlier, either because I was scared of the pain with braces or just didn't have the time and money to do it. I realized that I needed to do it for myself, both functionally and aesthetically. I've always had a problem with how my teeth looked, I had one incisor that was protruding and never smiled comfortably, I've always covered up it up with my lips when pictures are taken or put my hand in front of it when laughing in front of people. Before I went with braces, I went to several consultations with different orthodontists. Many said that jaw surgery was definitely in my cards and I couldn't accept the fact that braces alone wouldn't take care of my teeth situation which didn't seem very bad to me but I guess there were many underlying issues that one can't see. Finally, I found an orthodontist that was a bit far but saw rave reviews about her that I decided to make her my orthodontist, in addition to her pricing being more affordable compared to other quotes I've received, one quoted me as much as $6K! I didn't expect it to be that high, I figure I'd pay around $2-$3K but $6K was just outrageous considering what I've known others have paid. She said that she would be able to fix my teeth w/o going through operation which I was happy about because I couldn't fathom going under the knife, breaking the jaw sounded like something you go through if you were tortured and tormented! Ekkkk!!! I opted for braces w/o surgery and avoiding extractions, about a year into my braces, I was told that my bite will not be perfect since the problems were with my jaw and not my teeth and decided to change to the surgical route despite the fact that I was horrified by even the thought of it. So here I am, a little over 1.5 years into my braces journey, I am set to have a Lefort I/BSSO/Genio procedure on August 12, 2011. I am both excited and nervous of the operation since this will be a grueling journey.