February 2010 Buddies

Message

#76 Post by bb » Sun Feb 28, 2010 5:19 pm

Thanks for the warning! Not sleeping for 36 hours would not make for a happy camper!

#77 Post by **maloccluser** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 6:56 pm

hey bb.

how has your appetite been since the surgery? i've found i'm just not that hungry... i know i have to eat, but thoughts of food just don't enter my head.

how are you doing with numbness also? has that been bothering you?

thanks.

#78 Post by bb » Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:05 pm

I don't feel like eating but I know it's important in order to get better. I don't have a sweet tooth so all that sweetness is getting to me- meds and meal replacement.

The numbness is there for sure and just when I wish it were gone, I think perhaps it's there for a reason- like to block out any pain. My lips are twitching and I think that's a good thing- my nerves remembering...

I hadn't envisioned recuperating being this hard/depressing. I have things to do but no energy to do them! Look at that- I'm down to one measly exclamation mark in a whole response- desperate times my friends, desperate times.

#79 Post by **maloccluser** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:17 pm

i need to force myself to eat. i think an ensure plus is on the menu for dinner tonight.

my chin is all tingly as well... what a weird feeling. i hope i'm not in the low percentage of people who have permanent nerve damage, but i've accepted that as a possibility.

i also hadn't envisioned recovery being quite this difficult. i had four impacted wisdom teeth out when i was younger and swelled up just a little for one day. this is entirely different... and i should have prepared myself mentally for it a bit better. i really feel like i haven't been making much progress over the past couple of days.

i have a follow-up doc appt tomorrow... hopefully he doesn't find anything out of the ordinary.

one last thing... i pretty much stopped taking my pain medication. just didn't seem like it was doing much and i'm not all that fond of medicine in the first place. i don't have much 'pain' per se... just the weird chin and nose tingles/burning.

#80 Post by **Jac** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:53 am

hi all, sorry ive not been on for a while, computer issues.

congrats to those that are now on the other side of surgery, the first couple of weeks are the toughest, but it does get better, try to stay positive & look to the end result, it'll be worth it !!

AFM, i'm day 27, feeling pretty good, swelling has gone down considerably, i'm eating & drinking much better, although still only liquids !

i have a blog & photos of story so far if anyone wants to take a look

Jac xxx

http://jacsjawsurgerystory.blogspot.com

http://s893.photobucket.com/albums/ac13 ... ry%202010/

#81 Post by bb » Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:54 am

Yesterday was a hard day for pain - neck and upper back pain O.M.G.
I wanted a back massage but I wasn't sure if it would make it worse. I went for hot packs instead (microwaved raw rice in a sock)
But the painkillers helped the most.
I haven't had any painkillers yet today. A bit of pain coming back in my neck and I am going to have a massage later today..\
To try to bring some joy to my day yesterday, I tried a fries and gravy with a pepsi and it did hit the spot- made me feel like I'm not depriving myself. If I want something, I can just blend it!

#82 Post by bb » Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:58 am

jac, your pics are similar to mine!
What do you think caused the bruising around our chest and neck?

#83 Post by **Jac** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 10:12 am

my surgeon told me that it is just where the bruising travels along the muscle, it had completely gone after a couple of weeks

Jac xxx

#84 Post by bb » Tue Mar 02, 2010 2:58 pm

I wanted to put out there that calcium supplements might be a good idea for older patients having jaw surgery.
Part of my complication was that my 43 yr old bones were somewhat brittle with not much marrow, making them hard to work with.
I wish I had gone on a regimen of calcium in the months beforehand to perhaps build my bones up a bit. It did cross my mind last year and I tried it but resulted in stomach cramps and since I really didn't know if it was required, I didn't pursue it.

I'm not sure how long you'd need to be on calcium to make a difference or what dosage- but I'd recommend finding out.

Anyone hear of this?

#85 Post by **maloccluser** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 12:07 am

i don't know any of the details, bb, but yeah... the calcium supplements make sense. the only dietary change i made pre-surgery was to eat more. i packed on about 8 lbs in the month prior to surgery, and i've already lost that weight in the eight days since.

my swelling has been going down... today was the first day i felt kind of 'normal', if you could put it that way. the pain comes and goes in cycles and i'm still waking up in the middle of the night to take another dose of pain meds, but i guess i'm healing as well as can be expected. the numbness is still weird, but i know it's going to take months or a year for that to subside, if it ever does.

hope my other february buddies are faring as well. good luck. it's downhill from here.

#86 Post by bb » Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:24 pm

Saw my OS today. He said mine was the most difficult surgery he's had to perform in 10 years but he said I had a good attitude and that counts for a lot when it comes to healing.

My jaw is shoved back into the muscles and is being held there with elastics. In the middle of the night I move my jaw in my sleep and the weird squishy-grindy sound it makes, wakes me. I'm worried that I'm doing damage. My OS put an extra band on to stablize.

I felt like I was doing better so I had a friend over for a coffee today but all the talking made me very tired and my upper inside lip stitches started bleeding and stinging. I was zapped afterwards.
I have to give myself time to recup.

How's everyone else doing?

#87 Post by **traintraxx** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 6:55 pm

Tomorrow is Day 14! Whoo hoo!

Victories: I finished my antibiotics... so happy because they tasted disgusting all crushed up and I started drinking from a cup on Saturday!!

Swelling has gone down a lot but still a bit in my cheeks, chin and lips. Still numb but getting some tingles once in awhile. Sleeping through the night now with a little help from my buddy Sudafed PM who also keeps the snot away. Lost five pounds but gained three back (put on an extra 15 before the surgery). My OS was stunned... said no one gains weight on the liquid diet... never say never Doc!

OS is pleased with my recovery and will take out whatever is left of the stitches next week. He banded me so tight that my teeth hurt and I get a headache sometimes... is it necessary to have elastics that tight? I heard they tend to loosen up after a few days... I really hope that is true!

I get a case of the "crankies" at least once a day... I just don't feel right, restless, uncomfortable, just BLECK!

Hope all the other Feb buddies are coming along!

#88 Post by bb » Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:53 pm

I overdid it yesterday and had a friend over who I chatted with for about 2 hours. After she left and I looked in the mirror, I noticed my upper lip stitches were bleeding. And I was also exhausted.
My stitches tend to bleed anytime I move my upper lip around too much.

I'd reeeeeally like to be able to drink from a cup in public. I could do it with a mirror but wouldn't that look weird!! as if I don't look weird enough with my Cabbage Patch Doll Face!!!
I just can't feel my lips at all so I don't know if their touching the cup properly or not.
Patience, patience!!

#89 Post by **Audra** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:55 pm

You're still so early in your recovery. It will all come together!

And so what if you have to eat while using a mirror. People do way weirder things in public.

#90 Post by bb » Fri Mar 05, 2010 7:56 am

Neurosis of the day:
On one side the swelling is subsiding but on the other side it's still super swollen (the side the OS had the most diffculty pushing back)
Now my nose is pushed over to one side like I've lost a few brawls!

Doing the whole lipstick on a pig thing and going out in public today!