Knee Surgery

Waking up the morning of June 28th, 2016 I had no idea how this one simple day was going to change my life, and alter my personality for the better. I was born with arthritis in both of my jaw bones, affecting how my facial structure formed and the curve of my smile. It was never something myself or my family had noticed, until one visit in 2010 to a new nurse practitioner at my pediatrician. She innocently pointed out that my face was asymmetrical and one of my jaw bones was significantly smaller than the other, causing my smile to be at a great slant. This one comment caused a snowballing effect and next thing I knew I was visiting one of the best Oral and Maxillofacial surgeons in the country in Boston, Massachusetts, five hours from my hometown.
Before my surgery I had visited Boston several dozens of times for visits, MRI’s, x-rays, and small surgical procedures. However, I had never gone through something this extensive. The surgery itself was not what I was worried about, it was in fact the recovery afterwards. I expected it to be difficult, but I was not prepared for the challenges it was going to bring. The surgery lasted just about 12 hours and then the long recovery had begun. I awoke to two reconstructed jaws, a new chin, four new scars on my body, and …show more content…
She fought harder for me than I was for myself. When a doctor would not listen to what I needed or tried to make me do things I very clearly was not ready for, she stepped right in and spoke for me. She was my voice when I couldn’t speak. It was from her that I learned one of my most valuable lessons that I believe will help immensely in my prospective future in the medical field: to fight for your patients. She opened me up to a whole new side of the medical field that I had never seen before, which is one of the reasons why I believe medicine is in my