In this first‑person video testimonial, a woman recounts a decade‑long struggle with severe breathing problems, chronic allergies, asthma, arrhythmia, and an elevated resting heart rate that she attributes to prolonged orthodontic treatment and an improperly aligned jaw. She describes how a series of life events—including prolonged braces, open‑mouth breathing, and exposure to wild‑fire smoke—exacerbated her symptoms, leading to extreme fatigue, avoidance of stairs, and a diminished quality of life. After finally undergoing corrective jaw surgery performed by Dr. Hang, she experienced immediate and lasting improvements: normal breathing, restored sleep, reduced heart rate, elimination of neck and shoulder tension, and the ability to engage in normal physical activities. She passionately recommends early orthognathic intervention for children and teenagers, praises Dr. Hang’s expertise and the supportive staff (Sandy, Mrs. Hang, Deb, Elizabeth), and emphasizes that the surgery was life‑saving and worth any financial cost. The testimonial serves both as a personal health narrative and an endorsement of Dr. Hang’s practice.
Chapters
We were trying to set a date for the surgery, and, you know, with Christmas and my family and the doctor's schedule, and I had told them, I said, I think literally I'll be dead by March 1st if I can't have the surgery. Soon. You know, I just felt like I was dying a little bit each day. So I'm just like so grateful that I had this. I feel so lucky that I only had to do it once and I had it done right the first time. And so I was always having disturbed sleep and 2 and a half years in braces there, and it just continued to escalate. And they— I find out now that they say if you have problems with allergies That was a big symptom, and I always had my mouth open to breathe, and my mom would say, close your mouth to breathe. I'm like, I can't breathe through my nose. You know, and I found out later why I couldn't breathe through my nose. But 2 and a half years there, and then just an average life of growing up and just with occasional allergies and things. And so then when I was 25— What allergies? I thought, I'll just do the surgery now. And 5 years in braces. That was fantastic. But 5 years in braces, and then the surgery didn't happen, like I said. And then I didn't really have so many problems except with the allergies and the mouth open and always perfect lipstick because my mouth never touched the other lip. But That I finally, right before I met Dr. Hang, or shortly after I met Dr. Hang for the first initial consultation, I had— there were bad fires in Moorpark, and it really severely affected my breathing. And then I just kind of went downhill after that. I developed asthma, and, you know, I wasn't— I also had arrhythmia and my resting heart rate was like 110. I felt completely out of breath. If I could avoid going up any stairs at all, we'd be out shopping and I said to my husband, okay, I'm only walking to here because I'm totally out of breath, and if there's stairs involved, I'm not going upstairs. So that was August of '05 that that started. And I was really going downhill and having a really bad time breathing. And if I didn't have to do anything during the day that would involve me going upstairs to— we have a 2-story house— if I didn't have to go upstairs at all, that would be even better. And I kind of stopped with exercise. I didn't exercise as much because I would be in the middle of a class and have to leave the class after like 20 minutes because I'd be completely out of breath. Oh, he's totally happy that I'm happy and healthy and I'm actually rested because I can sleep now. And I would wake up every morning like, I'm so tired. I might as well not have gone to bed because I'm just exhausted. So he's just so thrilled that I'm healthy and I'm back to his old, like, girlfriend, wife, you know. And he really enjoys that because I don't have to say, wait, let me stop and sit on this bench. You know, because it was ridiculous. I felt like I was a 97-year-old grandma with bad health problems. And I said after the surgery to the doctor, I said, hey, I'm not a grandma anymore. I'm completely a normal person who's energetic and happy. And that's another thing that I'm not— I was losing patience, and I've always been a very patient person, but I was losing patience because I was so tired. And I have my patience back and, you know, my excitement for life. You just kind of give up and think you're like so tired and everything is such an exertion just to do a normal task of laundry or walking up your own set of stairs. You know, walking— I'd park in the parking lot at the kids' school, which is only, you know, 30 steps away from their classroom, and I would just like— I'd take them through the drive-through because it was just too much bother to do just walking. You know, so if I could avoid that, it would be much better. Always holding my neck out to breathe, and the older I got, and especially after the fires, I'd have to hold it out even further. And my mom started to notice that this would indentate all the time like someone with severe asthma, and I just couldn't breathe. It just— I always felt like I needed to get adjusted, and I'd go to the chiropractor and I'd feel great for the day, and then It'd go back to right away by probably that evening or the next day or 2. And it was just like a constant lump in my neck and my shoulder. And my husband goes, now when I give you a massage, it's so nice because you're not all lumpy there. You don't have any tension there. Yes. And I didn't really realize how bad my neck ache was until I didn't have one. And at my 3-week checkup after surgery, I said to Dr. Hang, I'm like, oh my gosh, I don't have a neck ache. It didn't really dawn on me, you know. It did that my neck didn't hurt when I was able to get about and around, but I think it finally hit me when I got back to California. Then I'm like, my neck is great, you know. Oh, it's totally great. I love— breathing is like so important. I love Love breathing. And I love that I can exercise and my heart rate when I'm completely exerted is like 130, you know, instead of like 110 resting, doing nothing. So I feel good and I feel normal and I feel like I used to feel growing up before the breathing issues became really bad. And I wouldn't recommend anyone to wait until they're, you know, in their 40s to have jaw surgery because if you can find Dr. Hang now and you're in your teens or whatever, I say do it, and your parents should be 100% behind you because it's only going to make you healthier. If we want to play ball or go bike ride or swim or whatever, I can join in instead of just sit there and watch. So that is fun because I felt like, you know, if anything happened to me, who would take care of them and how would they enjoy their life without me, you know? So to me, it was a life-saving surgery. I would absolutely do it because because even if you don't have health issues, eventually they'll catch up to you and you will have health issues, unfortunately. And if my— I have 2 little boys. One boy has my same situation, and they'll be able to fix it, you know, through orthodontics before he reaches the age of 12. But if they were after 12 and they needed it, or however old you are when you start needing it— I would definitely do it in a second for them. You know, I would do it. It's that important to me that I would do it again if I had to, which I never would have to do it. But I'm just saying it's that important to me that I would do it, and I would recommend both doctors. You know, and I do recommend Dr. Hang all the time for people because I think it's important to get the right orthodontic treatment. Well, I figured, you know, if anything's going to save my life and Take care of me. I've got to do it. And, you know, I'll make payments, I'll do anything. Maybe insurance will cover part of it. You know, I had insurance that covered a, you know, a lot of it, you know, because of the hospital and stuff like that. And you just have to do it. I mean, you pay to have a baby, you pay, you know, if your baby's sick, you would take care of your baby in neonatal, and you have to do the same thing for you when you're sick. So, and you've got to take care of yourself. He knew what he was talking about. He was excited about his job. He loved what he did. He completely— any question you had, completely explained everything. There was no like, I've got to go look it up, I'll be right back. You know, it was never an issue of, gosh, how do I deal with this? And the other doctor, you know, he just knew what he did was right and the right way and that you're not gonna have to be bothered with it ever again. And I'm sure he sees people that have had surgery when they were younger and like, please fix me, I'm just a mess, you know. And I feel glad that I don't have to do that ever again. Sandy is all excited when she talks to you on the phone. She's really helpful. If she doesn't know, then she'll ask. You know, Mrs. Hang or Deb or Elizabeth, and they all love kids, teenagers. They're, they're, they've got a really good bedside manner. They're really helpful.
