As you can tell I don't blog anymore about my experience. I do however encourage anyone who has been diagnosed with Ameloblastoma to head over to Facebook. There are some great support groups that can be found there with members from all over the world. Each journey is unique but we all have stories to tell. We are a community who supports one another. It may be hard at first but please know that you are not alone.
-Stay safe.
Saturday, July 11, 2020
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Creating new teeth
Today I just wanted to post a few photos of the implant process that I went through. You will see various photos from the impression that they took of my jaw, up to the actually new teeth, or bridge themselves.
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| What you see above is an X-ray with 4 implants. One, however could not be used. |
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| In this impression of my mouth, you can see the top part of the implants or abutment. |
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| Here is the rawest form of the bridge itself. |
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| The bridge will be placed on top of the abutment. |
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I
have had the new teeth for about 2 1/2 years. It is different eating
on that side of my jaw but I have gotten used to it. I am just glad to
have a full set of teeth.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Follow up at Hopkins
Recently I had my follow up with my doctor at Johns Hopkins. He reviewed my Cat Scan and he stated that everything seems to be normal. It was a little hard to tell due to the fact of the metal reflection from my implants in the surrounding area. He also asked if there was any issues with my jaw and thankfully I responded no.
He asked about my leg, in which I informed him my foot was giving me issues and two of my toes curled in and my flexibility was shortened on that foot. He asked if I felt that was related to the surgery they did back in 2007. I told him yes I did due to the fact I developed a mallet toe soon after the surgery. I also had a nerve test done about three to four months after my original surgery that showed some form of muscle trauma. He said it was amazing how well things work. They have to go thru and between the muscle to get the bone and they do take out some of the muscle. He has had people go back after surgery perfectly fine, playing soccer and such but what he does not know is the results 10 to 20 years down the line, especially in young people active people. That is why he always ask patients about their leg who had the fibular free flap reconstruction. I told him there is a change from before the surgery and then after but on the big scale of things it is tolerable.
I did show him I still had this bump on the side, (see prior post on Thursday, February 25, 2010). He thought it might be soft tissue or part of my bone, but he did not seem too worried about it, though this was different from what he told me back in 2010. He was stating the most important thing is that the ameloblastoma does not come back.
Case in point, he had two cases in South Africa where the amelo came back due to insufficient surgeries. And unfortunately it spread to the upper mandible and up to the jaw joint in front of the ear and into the month. They had to take the whole rest of the bone away . And they do not try to do too many reconstruction as its not really possible there. So people do OK with basically no jaw bone. They have to eat soft food only. I am thankful I live in a country where reconstruction is possible.
He did say my scar is a little red then he liked but that is my fault for not following up on my mederma or vitamin E. But to me the scar is a war wound and besides scars are sexy.
He stated that at this point the question is how long do we keep watching the area and how long do we continue with the scans? There is no book or paper to tell that. But based on the time that has past it makes one hopeful that my ameloblastoma will not come back. Perhaps they could just do a panoramic x-ray instead of a Cat Scans? That is the question at hand. They don't know why people develop ameloblastoma and so there is no preventive measurement one can take.
So we left it with maybe an x-ray rather than a Cat Scan in about 2-3 years.
He asked about my leg, in which I informed him my foot was giving me issues and two of my toes curled in and my flexibility was shortened on that foot. He asked if I felt that was related to the surgery they did back in 2007. I told him yes I did due to the fact I developed a mallet toe soon after the surgery. I also had a nerve test done about three to four months after my original surgery that showed some form of muscle trauma. He said it was amazing how well things work. They have to go thru and between the muscle to get the bone and they do take out some of the muscle. He has had people go back after surgery perfectly fine, playing soccer and such but what he does not know is the results 10 to 20 years down the line, especially in young people active people. That is why he always ask patients about their leg who had the fibular free flap reconstruction. I told him there is a change from before the surgery and then after but on the big scale of things it is tolerable.
I did show him I still had this bump on the side, (see prior post on Thursday, February 25, 2010). He thought it might be soft tissue or part of my bone, but he did not seem too worried about it, though this was different from what he told me back in 2010. He was stating the most important thing is that the ameloblastoma does not come back.
Case in point, he had two cases in South Africa where the amelo came back due to insufficient surgeries. And unfortunately it spread to the upper mandible and up to the jaw joint in front of the ear and into the month. They had to take the whole rest of the bone away . And they do not try to do too many reconstruction as its not really possible there. So people do OK with basically no jaw bone. They have to eat soft food only. I am thankful I live in a country where reconstruction is possible.
He did say my scar is a little red then he liked but that is my fault for not following up on my mederma or vitamin E. But to me the scar is a war wound and besides scars are sexy.
He stated that at this point the question is how long do we keep watching the area and how long do we continue with the scans? There is no book or paper to tell that. But based on the time that has past it makes one hopeful that my ameloblastoma will not come back. Perhaps they could just do a panoramic x-ray instead of a Cat Scans? That is the question at hand. They don't know why people develop ameloblastoma and so there is no preventive measurement one can take.
So we left it with maybe an x-ray rather than a Cat Scan in about 2-3 years.
Monday, March 12, 2012
My first half marathon.
Well I did it! I ran my first half marathon. Overall I had a wonderful time. The knee braces helped, even on leg that had the fibula removed. Wish I could say the same for my foot.
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