Yippeee!! I managed to get through the surgery and the rough few days afterwards!
I'll try not to make this post too long, but thought it's worth posting how things went.
I went into hospital on Tuesday 11th in the morning having had the biggest meal I could manage on the monday evening
The surgeon came in at about 3pm to say a quick hello before the op and to check if I had any last minute questions. He was joking about his surgery that morning in that the patients brackets all popped off when he went to put the elastics on.... and that he hoped mine were more firmly glued! I hoped so too!!!I went into theatre at around 3:30 ish, and I think I came round sometime around 6pm. The next few hours were a bit of a blur really, but I remember getting taken back to my room at around 7:30, and snoozed for a long while. I managed to get to sleep probably around midnight, and actually slept much better than I thought!
The following morning my surgeon came in and spoke to me quickly and said he was very happy with how things went, and he encouraged me to go look in the mirror.... I couldn't believe how little swelling there was! This was short lived though as it got a fair bit worse by day 3
The journey home from the hospital was long and pretty painful if i'm honest... I think the painkillers that I had were wearing off, and obviously I hadn't started taking the ones they gave me to take home.... so it was a loooong 1.5hours home!
Skip forward a couple of days..... I've gone from eating only the thinnest soups and milshakes, and am now eating thicker soups and blended foods.... oh and ice cream
The main "problem" i've got now is my muscles still feel pretty "tight" even after a week and a bit, and they definately feel like they're trying to pull back to their old position. I'm a bit concerned that they're putting strain on the bones whilst they're healing... is this what causes relapse?
The good news is that my linguals don't seem to be causing any problems.. which is what I was worried about. I can't get in to clean them 100% but I was worried that my tongue would be swollen and rub on them more than normal but I think my tongue is so tough now it didn't really matter!
The swelling is now a lot better, although I can definately see it more than others can.
I'm not sure how many mm advancement I had, and I can't yet take a good pic of my post-op bite but in the meantime here's a before/after pic of my profile:
Before(actually taken in the hospital!)
After - Taken Yesterday - 10 days post op:
I've decided i'm going to make a proper effort to put on weight as soon as I can eat properly as I actually think I look a lot better with a fuller face. I've always been slim, but I think the "before" photo has made me realise that I must have lost weight since having my braces put on.
I've got an appointment with my ortho in a week or so, so i'll know then how good my new bite is shaping up to be! Fingers crossed!
Dave
