General 'Timeline' for Surgery

Message

#31 Post by **sauerkraut** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 12:42 pm

Congrats, sammi & esoteric on your surgery dates. You (your surgeons) have picked a good day. 21st Sept is my wedding anniversary

#32 Post by **Sammi** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 3:44 am

Thank you Sauerkraut and congratulations

Esoteric - I am hopefully going on hols in December, so I tried to plan it so that I would be ready for hols after rather than before.

Time line wise for me is top and bottom braces May 08, BSSO Sept 09, braces off around December 09 I think its not confirmed really as yet. I really want to be able to eat Xmas dinner though without braces!!

#33 Post by **crazybeautiful** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 6:33 am

bump. What are everyone's progress reports?

#34 Post by **Sammi** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 4:44 am

Not much to report - got all the wire ligs and funny little lopps things on my teeth last week - must admit, teeth were KILLING me after moulds this time and the wire ligs meant that teeth were a bit shocked for a couple of days. All good now though apart from the odd wire in cheek moment!

Finishing work next week, then its off for pre op appointments etc and splint fittings - getting pretty nervous, but very excited at the same time.

Hows things with you CB? xx

#35 Post by **crazybeautiful** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:49 am

Not much to report from me either. My gaps that needed creating have been created, but they haven't moved for a while so I'm assuming it's because I need my next set of archwires etc to carry on with it. So I'm just waiting until my next appointment which is the 16th Sept (should have been the 9th but it had to get rescheduled...grrr)

I'm supposedly getting molds taken at my appt too, and last appt my ortho said something about bruxism (and I do seem to be grinding my teeth more recently)- so who knows what's going on with that.

I've been ok with poky wires, etc in this stage of my treatment, however my bottom brackets on my middle 4 teeth are imprinted on my lip (seriously, you can see every little detail of the bracket on my lip!), and in the morning they are usually stuck to my lip. Sometimes it hurts!

#36 Post by **Esoteric** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 9:18 am

Everything for me is moving along on time. In two weeks I get the upper wire with hooks and then see my surgeon to go over all of the molds he took and to show me how he is going to do the surgery. Every time I get those molds done I though that they would pull my braces right off

, but they stuck right on there.

I'm getting pretty anxious to see what the mold studies look like after they have been cut up though. I can't believe that this whole treatment is going so fast and I'm just hoping everything goes as smooth as possible for me and everyone else with up coming surgeries.

#37 Post by **sauerkraut** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:59 pm

crazybeautiful wrote:Hey sauerkraut- any news on your progress? I'm still waiting to see my surgeon (next Thursday), so hopefully I will have something to report back with. Most likely to moan about!
My mum told me off yesterday for moaning, actually, because she was talking about a holiday in May or June time, and I said you'd better wait because it's not like I'm going be having the surgery in December now, so it will be around that time. She told me not to be so defeatist, and that I always think of the worst. So I said, erm hello, my ortho said I was '6 months away' in January so I don't hang onto her every word, my surgery date is 80% likely to be cancelled anyway, and it's already November. All in all, I said I was being a realist!

I still wish I could have a December surgery though

PS- wow, writing this has [embarrassingly] made me become on the verge of tears. I'm not pessimistic because I want to be, but because I don't want to be disappointed, and pin my hopes on a 2009 surgery that won't happen. I don't think my mum realised my jaw is literally the bane of my life.....but anyway. Postitive, CB, postitive!

Hi CB I hope you don't mind but I've tried to be clever and transported this here from the SARPE thread so I can give a longer reply. Will be interested to see if it works as I am not remotely computer savvy.

Anyway, I really felt for you when I read your post. I sooo understand how you feel â€“ longing for a surgery date to get it over with, but not daring to let yourself get too optimistic, and trying to pretend to yourself that youâ€™re not really expecting the earlier date but hoping you might get it anyway, and then telling yourself to get real, and then some poor unsuspecting family member weighs in with their opinions and theyâ€™re only trying to help but you get mad at them because they canâ€™t properly understand coz itâ€™s not them thatâ€™s going through it, and then you think youâ€™re being mean for thinking that way ... and so on!!

I really hope you get some positive news on Thursday! I darenâ€™t tell you to keep your hopes up, because it does sound like quite a tight schedule for them to fit you in by December. At least if the op is not until next year you can enjoy your Christmas dinner. Which might or might not be some sort of consolation

I spose all you can do is expect the worst and hope for the best. Or something like that

The little (and stupid) hope I canâ€™t help nurturing in a hidden corner of my mind is that I wonâ€™t need a second surgery after all. I was at the orthoâ€™s again this week â€“ spent two whole mornings there, actually, wot with one daughter being braced and the other one de-braced, along with my own regular check-up. Iâ€™ve started sharing life histories with the technician, we see her so often... Anyway, the ortho measured my overjet at 4.5mm, which I thought really doesnâ€™t sound that bad, (not that Iâ€™d know whatâ€™s bad and what isnâ€™t). OK, it will get a bit worse, because my lower teeth are still moving back to close gaps. And OK, I canâ€™t really bite or chew properly. But the surgeon who did my SARPE did say once say he thought I wouldnâ€™t need another op...

Other than that thereâ€™s no change on the position that theyâ€™ll do records in the New Year some time, and then send me off to see the surgeon again. Itâ€™s a bit more straightforward than the NHS in that I phone his secretary direct and make my own appointment, but heâ€™s very popular and very busy, so a wait of three months just for the initial consultation is not uncommon. Like you, Iâ€™m not sure what holiday plans I can commit to for next year yet, but I donâ€™t want to put everything on hold either.

We soldier on.

#38 Post by **crazybeautiful** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 7:48 am

Good plan- I shouldn't really keep posting on the SARPE thread since I had it done in 2007

You've summed up how I feel right there- I always feel silly when I get upset or angry because of it all, but it's good to vent; I feel better now

It must be like FriendsReunited whenever you go for your apps, if you're there for your kids as well lol- I always feel like a pub regular or something whenever I'm there! I've even had consulations with both orthodontists and both surgeons through the whole process, and I know all the assistants who work with my ortho (I get the impression from here that in America at least, it is the assistant who does most of the work. Is that how it is where you are? Here the assistants merely hand things to my ortho, write down my appointments, and occasionally hold my mouth open when I have molds taken!).
I like nosying at the other patients too. All the new ones (sans braces) who possibly need surgery come in looking spritely and happy, and I just think poor you, you're going to end up like me soon enough; Ebenezer Scrooge-like, or something like the Picture of Dorian Gray as the treatment goes on

4.5mm doesn't sound too bad, but then only a few mm make a big difference. Last appointment my ortho took my measurements and I heard 6mm, but again, who knows what it means.

We soldier on, indeed

And speaking of that, it's Remembrance Day here, so:

#39 Post by **sauerkraut** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:08 am

Glad you're feeling better today, CB

And Remembrance Day certainly helps keep our worries in perspective, doesn't it.

#40 Post by **sauerkraut** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:26 am

P.S. Sorry, forgot to answer the ortho assistant question. The technicians here do a lot, but I don't think as much as in the US. They'll do things like impressions, x-rays, cleaning and so on, and the senior assistant (who always assigns herself to me!) does a bit more, e.g. putting on power chains or wire ties, and sometimes removing and replacing archwires. The ortho always looks first, though, and tells them exactly what to do, and checks afterwards that it's done properly.

The system seems to make for quite an efficient use of his time, because the ortho can give the technician something to be getting on with, and while she's doing it he can get started on the next patient. He has four separate treatment rooms (one patient in each) which are usually all in use at once. On occasion my family has occupied all of them, as all 3 of my kids are being treated there along with me

#41 Post by **crazybeautiful** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 2:41 pm

Ok, my news-

12th Janurary = preliminary date. It's not December, but it's as near as damn it. I'm more than happy to take it!

I was soooo relieved when those words came out of his mouth. I did think if it wasn't December it would be Easter (which would then eventually need to be changed to June time to fit with my exam schedule), so when he said January I was pleasantly surprised (perhaps my mum was right that I'm too pesimistic, after all

)

Of course this is just a preliminary date, however if it's cancelled the new date will still be around the same time, so it doesn't matter about that.

Also, on a second look at my molds, my ortho reckons I don't need more expansion after all.

I will be having around a 9mm movement all in all, with my upper jaw being rotated to fix the cant I have (or perhaps it's my lower jaw...I forget).

My ortho showed me a prediction of how I will look, but those things are never too accurate, and in the photo I ended up looking lip-less because the computer doesn't account for lip structure, etc

So my ortho was quick to reassure me it is just a rough look as to how I might look. It was only a profile picture too, so not too much was gleaned from it. She also said it may take quite a while to come to terms with my facial changes, and I might feel like I'm not the same person anymore, but I dislike how my jaw makes me look now, so it's not like I'm going to be depressed once I no longer have an underbite. I'm rather looking forward to looking different!

The surgeon pointed out that my nose may also be slightly different and upturned, but not to a great degree. So long as I don't end up like Tubbs and Edward from The League of Gentlemen (great British comedy!):

He said I may possibly need a splint, but it depends on how the surgery goes. I'm prepared to feel like crap for a while afterwards, and from my SARME experience I already know the anaesthetic doesn't bode too well with me. But it's not something I'm dreading, more something I know will happen, and in the end it's totally worth it.

My other dates are:
16th December- hour long appointment to do some more molds and stuff
6th January- quick appointment to make sure the splint fits
12th Januray- possible surgery

I will also have an appointment made at the hospital to do the pre-op tests a week or so before the operation (ugh, I dread these things...I don't need to give them a urine sample or anything, do I?

)

Hmmm, think that's it. Yay

#42 Post by **sauerkraut** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 3:57 pm

Thatâ€™s great news, CB

. You get to enjoy Christmas and New Year and still have a reasonably early date for the operation afterwards. You must be pleased. Does the January date fit in OK with Uni? Have they said anything about whether youâ€™ll be wired or banded shut, how long youâ€™re likely to be in hosp, and how long before you can eat normally afterwards?

Itâ€™s good that they do the pre-op tests a week before. When I had SARPE I was admitted the day before the op so they could do their tests then, and I remember thinking I was going to be well stranded if something odd came up and they wanted to put off operating. The hospital is a long way from my home, and I knew if they carried out certain blood tests they would come up with some very weird results, of a kind that seem to send lab technicians into a panic and make them smother their report in highlighter pen and exclamation marks. Fortunately the hospital only did general blood tests so my obscure autoimmune disease remained my little secret

[donâ€™t worry, I did actually get the all-clear for the op from the relevant specialist beforehand]. Iâ€™m afraid I canâ€™t remember if providing a urine sample was part of the procedure. I donâ€™t think so, though: it was just bloods, the usual blood pressure, temperature, weight etc stuff, plus a questionnaire about medical history; and then all the pre-op xrays and pictures and stuff (on top of what my ortho had already supplied). Oh and I needed an ECG because Iâ€™m over 40

.

Anyway, it sounds like youâ€™re well on your way now, so congrats and I shall try not to get too jealous

.

#43 Post by **crazybeautiful** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 12:44 pm

Thanks. I have 5 weeks off uni at Christmas which is why I wanted the December date, but the 12th of Janurary is actually the start of the 4th week, so that's quite good look (but I have an exam the day before! Luckily it's not one that is too worrying or difficult- well, hopefully not- and the uni I chose isn't too far away from home...which is one of the reasons I chose it; for the time when my surgery would finally come around

). But, if that date is cancelled and moved to Februrary time, I will end up missing a few weeks of uni. Still, the main exams are not until May, so I can catch up relatively easily because I can work online and get my lecture notes, etc.

I don't know if the high percentile for cancellations is just a local thing (because my surgeon treats patient's with oral cancer, if surgary a case comes up, they need the priority dates) or more broadly to do with the NHS, but my surgeon was saying that the rule is if my surgery is cancelled when I'm actually in the hospital on the day, they have to do my surgery within the next 21 days. So really, it would be better for me to have my surgery cancelled the day of the surgery, so my new date will be sooner!

Not so good for my state of mind though, I suppose!

Sorry I forgot the details- I was too excited yesterday:
I will be banded with elastics, and I may possibly have to wear a splint for the first week if they think I need it. The surgeon said hopefully this won't be the case, but I'll just have to wait and see. My ortho said my first week will just be liquids, and of course if I do have to have the splint I've got no choice! Not looking forward to this, because I don't even like soup, and I'm sure while milkshakes may be quite nice for a while, I will get sick of them quite quickly.

I will be in hospital for at most 3 days, but if I'm fit to go sooner, I can. My surgeon joked some people recovery quite well, but some go through a bit of a dying swan phase. I know anaesthetic and me don't go too well though, so I predict I will be there for the 3 days, swooning and crying

When I had SARME I had to go in the day before too, but the surgeon said they've only just started this new way where you go in a week or so before your surgery. I suppose the tests they do will just be the same again- but I think all I had done was blood pressure and temperature, and got weighed (They weighed be in kilos too which mean nothing to me, so when I got home I converted it to stones....and I think I would have been happier not knowing!). Hope I don't have some obscure autoimmune disease!

The hospital is about 1 hour away, give or take, so as long as my appointment isn't 9:00 in the morning, I don't mind. Plus, it's in a big city with lots of good shopping opportunities, so I might take a detour on the way home!

Well that's me down, so hopefully you'll be next. Did you say your teeth still need a bit more movement?

#44 Post by **sauerkraut** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 2:17 pm

Am I right in thinking your op will be in Sheffield? I was at Uni there (rather a long time ago now, in the days of the Hole In The Road and 2p bus fares, just to show my age!) and I absolutely love the place. I'm still forever carting my family back for holidays in the Peak District. I was very pleased with myself that within a month of SARPE I managed a hike up Bunster Hill. So anyway here's hoping you'll be up to your shopping detour after your op. You never know, maybe the previous surgery has acclimatised you to the anaesthetic so you'll cope with it better next time round

. I can understand how you're not looking forward to the liquid diet, though. Still, it's not for too long and we have to keep reminding ourselves it will all be worth it in the end

.

And yes, my teeth still need to move a bit more. Gaps aren't quite closed, and then there'll be whatever fine-tuning the OS might want, when I finally get to see him. The most optimistic I dare get is to hope for a 2010 date...

#45 Post by **crazybeautiful** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 2:40 pm

Yep, Sheffield. How odd you studied there- small world indeed!

And I'm always glad when people come and enjoy the north of England, and not just London. We have the best scenery up here! The heather moorland in North Yorkshire is just gorgeous, as well as our other national parks

I'm not looking forward to my first few weeks recovery, but I cannot wait for the surgery! I think I'd put up with being wired shut for a month if that was the only way I could have it done. The day when my profile is normal, and I can actually bite into things properly will be a good day; I'm prepared to deal with the bad bits, because I can't wait for the good

Once my ortho started work on closing my gaps, they started to move quite quickly. I still have a gap, but it can only be sorted after surgery now. The gap was created to move my canine into the correct place to line up with my lowers for surgery, and so after surgery I'll need my other teeth moved round to close the gap again. So at least you still have improvements to see. I was worried I might have to wait until summer, even though my teeth were already ready for surgery, and that was the main thing that would have bothered me. At least with more progress to be had, it's still an active involvement, and not just a case of waiting around without anything changing.