I found these pictures today from when I was in Australia. Ugh, my friend Geoff caught a pretty solid side profile. The top photo doesn't look too bad, because I am smiling in the other direction and therefore am jutting out my jaw a bit. The second photo I was just not paying attention to him taking pictures, so that's what my face looks like when I am not worried about jutting out my jaw. Don't pay attention to my friends in the photo, hah, doesn't look like they were aware he was taking photos either!

You can click on the pictures to make them larger

Although I hate these pictures, seeing them makes me want to back to when they were taken so badly! Pictures have a way of really bringing out emotions.

I can't believe I am officially one month away from surgery! I remember reading blogs nonstop before I even had braces on, and thinking 'in one year, this will be me!' I was antsy then, but I can't even begin to describe how antsy I am now. Sometimes I think 1 month sounds so close, almost too close, and other times, it just can't seem to come soon enough!

I had a sorority formal last weekend, so I thought I would share a picture of my lovely boyfriend and I :)

Last night, two of my close friends (and coworkers) had a very small, private wedding ceremony. After the wedding, they held an unofficial wedding reception, as the actual reception is taking place in August, at a nice bar/restaurant in Wisconsin. We were incredibly lucky that the groom's mom decided to take care of the tab :) I work at two sister car dealerships in Wisconsin, and have since high school. I am so lucky that I have grown so close to so many of my coworkers, a majority of the party last night was made up of people I work with! It's kind of like one big family; my sister and her fiancé both work there, as does my boyfriend, and Mackenzie (the bride) and her husband both work here as well! We tend to hang out a lot as a group, but this time, a lot more of the dealership staff was out. SO much fun!

Me, my friend Bree and the beautiful bride Mackenzie :)

That's all for now! xx

I had a consultation with my surgeon, Dr. M today. I have two future appointments scheduled with the surgery center, but I didn't feel comfortable waiting until just a few days before surgery to get everything answered.

My biggest question was pertaining to the genioplasty. I have read so many blogs where people have gotten a genioplasty in addition to their upper and lower jaw surgery, but I just haven't found an answer as to what exactly the POINT of it was. I knew it moved your chin, but there was no answer that I could find that told me the difference between how things would look with the genio, and how they would look without. I printed out a few pictures of myself (the same ones I previously posted) to show Dr. M so that I could better explain what it was that I didn't like about my jaw shape/chin. I think that up until now (or a few weeks ago) I blamed all of my personal cosmetic issues that I had on the fact that my jaw was recessed. Recently, I have realized that it is not only that, but that I don't have any chin definition. My chin just sits flush with my jaw, it all just kind of flows into each other. Dr. M agreed with everything I was saying, and thought a genioplasty would be good for me, so I have decided to go with it. He is having one of the office women check on cost, but do any of my followers have an idea as to what the additional charge is for the genioplasty?

Another thing I discussed was donating blood in case I needed a blood transfusion during surgery. Dr. M said they used to require people donate their own blood, but after years and years of never having any need for it, they didn't see a need to require it any longer. He said it would be an option if I wanted to, but that it was very costly, as the blood can not be put into the pool to be donated to anyone, and therefore if you don't use it, you'll need to pay for it's disposal. I think I am okay with not donating.

Dr. M told me I needed to gain some weight, but I don't really agree with him. My normal weight is about 125, and I am sitting at 132 right now, so there is already room to lose a bit. He told me I needed to start eating healthy, and that chicken nuggets (after I told him I ate them last night) are not the best form of protein. I don't think he fully realizes I am a college student, I don't have time for home cooked meals every night! I am thinking I will stress eat a LOT in the next few weeks due to finals coming up. I am going to try to eat a bit healthier, but I don't really have the time to be thinking about food, all my energy is going into getting through this semester. I also have every intention of pigging out the week prior to surgery, so maybe that'll help a bit, but probably none of it will be considered healthy.

I get official measurements taken at the surgery center a few days prior to my surgery date, but I wanted to talk to Dr. M about how much movement he was thinking I would need. He said about 6mm foward on bottom jaw, and 2mm up on the top jaw. They will also be rotating my top jaw upward a little, as my jaw plane is at a downward slope right now.

I asked about exercising as well. Dr. M said moderate exercise starting at 2 weeks post-op, but no high intensity work outs until at least 3-4 weeks post-op.

I left the clinic in a hurry to get online and register for classes. I am now officially registered for my LAST semester of my undergrad degree. WHOA!

Oh, and if anyone has any interest in connecting on Facebook, please feel free to add me. My link is www.facebook.com/DaniAnderson :)

Apparently my info from the hospital came last week, but my mom didn't mention it! I thought it would be a little more interesting than it turned out to be. It was just a brochure that gives general information about surgery, and nothing really specific to the procedure I am having. It just says to make sure I get a physical a week before, which I have already scheduled, and it says that someone from the hospital should be calling me to give me specific instructions regarding my surgery at some point.

I have started picking things up from the store one by one to prepare for surgery. For some reason, it lets me think I am spending less money when I space it out a little bit :)

Waterpik - I bought one off Craigslist New in Box for $30!

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Water bottle: I am one of those people who ALWAYS has to have a water bottle with me, so much that my water bottle literally lays in my bed at night. I honestly think I have such a dependence on it because of the mouth breathing. There are so many times where my mouth gets SO dry, especially in the middle of the night, that I need water immediately. Anyway, my trusty water bottle is a Camelback, which, for those of you who don't know, has a mouth piece that you have to bite down on (like a straw) and then suck up the water. I am thinking this really is not going to be an option come the time when I won't even be able to open my mouth properly, so I picked up a NEW one. This water bottle has a smaller round mouth piece, which I thought might make drinking easier (and less messy) post-surgery.

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My mom works for 3M, and she some how came across these bottles at work, which will be perfect to use for eating/drinking! So nice to save a little money and get at least one thing for surgery for free!

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I nearly forgot about one of my FAVORITE items! My little nephew is so graciously allowing me to borrow his penguin humidifier! Actually, he is only 10 months so he has no say in it, but my sister is letting me borrow it! I think just having this guy around will make the recovery a little bit less painful :-P
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Baby toothbrush - My boyfriend, whom was previously referred to as 'Valentine's Day Date' but has since been upgraded ;) really wanted to help me out in some way for my surgery, so he decided that buying me a JESSIE from TOY STORY toothbrush was the best way to begin. I completely agree, Jessie is my absolute favorite and I am so excited for this little toothbrush!

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I had an ortho appointment today, but there isn't a whole lot to report. I had the bottom chain band replaced, but that's about all the news I have. Dr. S said he is hoping the two gaps open up more, but I am kind of doubting it. The OA said the springs were still 'active' which she explained as them being still really springy, they haven't relaxed enough so that means they're still working. I don't feel any pressure on those teeth anymore so I feel like they've made all the progress they're going to. Dr. S said everything looked 'really good', and I rescheduled an appointment I had made for May 4 to May 5, as I have an exam on May 4 and will most likely need that morning to cram. When I left the ortho, I think every OA and my OD said 'Bye Dani!' . It's fun to have them all know my name and my story, and have an interest in me. It's nice to not just be another patient, and I think I give them some relief from working on the mouths of 12 year olds all day.

For my 21st birthday (and my sister's 25th) my mom planned a trip for us to Chicago, but because my nephew was still so young, we delayed it a few months. A close family friend, whom my sister has grown up with, works for Harpo Productions in the audience department, so we were so lucky to be able to get tickets through her to go to a taping of Oprah!

We drove down on Thursday (a 6 hour drive) and spent Thursday afternoon wandering around the city. On Friday we left bright and early to head to the show! The topic was 'Rock Goddessess' and we were SO lucky to see some really incredible performances! Oprah opened the show about 2 feet from where I was sitting, it was so crazy to see her in person! We saw Stevie Nicks perform with Sheryl Crow, Joan Jett perform with Miley Cyrus, Pat Benatar perform with Avril Lavigne, Salt n Peppa, and Sister Sledge (who sings 'We Are Family'). IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! There was a gap in the audience at one point, so Nicole moved me up to the 6th row during the Stevie Nicks performance! After the show was over, we hit up the Oprah Store and spent WAY too much money. There are only 27 shows left, and the store will become obsolete after the show finishes up, so we wanted to make sure to load up!

The chair from the first ever taping of Oprah

My sister and me.

Picture reflected in the Bean in Millennium Park

Saturday we spent the day walking around the city and doing all of the touristy things, and Sunday we had breakfast and then got back on the road to Minneapolis. It was such a great break from school!

The show airs TONIGHT (Wednesday). So if you're around, tune in, see if you can spot me in the audience!

17 days of classes left. 28 days until the end of the semester. 39 days until surgery.

I had my first dream revolving around jaw surgery. I woke up from surgery and my chin was SUPER long. My jaw was set correctly, and the jaw line was fine, but my chin looked like the mask from the movie 'SCREAM' because of the genioplasty! During my dream, my mom and I had decided we were going to pay for me to go back into surgery and reverse the genioplasty because it came out all wrong! Haha, clearly these last few decisions regarding surgery are taking over my brain!

At this point, I am really hoping this was the first and last dream about it. I think about it enough as it is when I am awake!