November Buddies

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#91 Post by **dvdrdiscs** » Sun Nov 14, 2010 12:42 pm

Anyone somewhat let down by the results of their surgery? One of the reasons why I opted for this was to correct the asymmetry in my face but it seems the surgeon didn't do a whole lot. Sure my bite looks lined up now but I'm thinking that was his main goal instead of the overall goal of fixing the bite as well as facial uniformity. I kind of had an inclination that lower jaw only would not entirely fix the problem as I keep reading upper and lower jaw is required to do so. Even my ortho said usually she sees upper and lower jaw done by him. But it seems like he tried to do as little as possible to get my bite to line up.

#92 Post by **Dani73** » Sun Nov 14, 2010 5:10 pm

beowulf - first week I was on liquids and now I'm on soft foods. He wants to me to chew, but it makes it hard because none of my back molars come together. So I basically just do the motion of chewing, if that makes sense - also it's a pain in the bum trying to get the fork around my elastics without it getting caught. My mouth now opens enough that I can poke my tongue out lol

#93 Post by **sauerkraut** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 2:37 am

dvd, if you're basing your concerns about your appearance on how you look right now, then it's much too early to be worried. It takes months before all the swelling goes down completely, and you can't tell the final results until then. I only went into this to fix my bite, but I know I shan't be very happy if my mouth remains the lopsided line it is at the moment!! I'm putting that down to having swelled more one side than the other and will give it a few more weeks before I let it bother me.

beowulf, how's it going? Have you tried a sipper cup for drinking -- those lidded drinking cups that toddlers use, with NO valve, and as long a spout as possible? I could drink from a glass quite early on but the sipper cups were available in the hospital and I used them when I was feeling lazy and just wanted to get some calories inside me more quickly. They're easier to aim between numb lips and a bit less messy.

#94 Post by **Rossy89** » Tue Nov 16, 2010 4:21 pm

Hey guys, I'm ross , so glad i've found this site , really cool to hear what your all going through just like me.

i had surgery on the 3rd of november and they moved my top jaw up and bottom jaw forward , although i forget by how many mm
but all the thing you have said guys, i have been through them,

may i just ask where is everyone from ? i'm from the UK, are we all dotted everywhere ?

hope everyone makes a swift recovery november buddies wooo
ross

#95 Post by **dvdrdiscs** » Tue Nov 16, 2010 6:11 pm

sauerkraut wrote:dvd, if you're basing your concerns about your appearance on how you look right now, then it's much too early to be worried. It takes months before all the swelling goes down completely, and you can't tell the final results until then. I only went into this to fix my bite, but I know I shan't be very happy if my mouth remains the lopsided line it is at the moment!! I'm putting that down to having swelled more one side than the other and will give it a few more weeks before I let it bother me.

beowulf, how's it going? Have you tried a sipper cup for drinking -- those lidded drinking cups that toddlers use, with NO valve, and as long a spout as possible? I could drink from a glass quite early on but the sipper cups were available in the hospital and I used them when I was feeling lazy and just wanted to get some calories inside me more quickly. They're easier to aim between numb lips and a bit less messy.

That's true. I actually came to terms with the outcome mainly because my smile isn't crooked anymore. I never wanted to smile before because my upper lip would be slanted. But since the surgery, it is straight.

I kind of like the swelling though. It gives my jawline a less defined look as I am somewhat below where I want to be in terms of weight. I'm a guy btw so I want some meat on my bones.

#96 Post by **ColoradoGirl** » Tue Nov 16, 2010 11:00 pm

beowulf--yikes, sounds like a hard surgery & recovery. Good thing you're an Anglo-Saxon monster-slayer.

dvdrdiscs--my smile is now crooked, whereas it used to be straight. They're trying to pull the right side of my jaw down further, which meant they took the lovely step of cutting the acrylic on my archwires, which basically left my jaw was flopping around in three seperate pieces for a week. Ew.

Dani--feel you on the Botox. My husband thought I was angry all the time for the first two and a half weeks, because I couldn't make any normal facial expressions. Hehe.

#97 Post by **sauerkraut** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 3:09 am

Ross -- hi and welcome to the club

We had surgery the same day. I only had the lower, though. Hope your recovery's going well. I'm British too by the way but have lived in Germany for yonks.

Dvd & CG -- yeah, I have gained a crooked smile, or rather a mouth that's on a permanent diagonal slope. It's very weird. I THINK it's levelling out as the swelling goes down but it's very gradual. Don't like the sound of the flopping jaw, CG

Hope they've fixed you back together again now! Did it at least do the trick?

Dani & CG --ooh, yes, the frozen face! My 11-year-old son played me a song he'd composed on the guitar and he was really upset when I couldn't display the appropriate enthusiasm. I felt so mean! His dad had to take him to one side and explain that Mum wasn't scowling at him really

I'm getting nervous again now because I go in tomorrow to have the splint removed and presumably the surgical braces as well. I've been told that's rather unpleasant so not looking forward to it. And although it's a pain I've grown quite attached to my splint. It gives me a feeling of security...

#98 Post by **Dani73** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 4:47 am

Hey guys

I had a bit of interesting day today. Had my surgeon's appointment and he's happy with the way things are going, I even walked in and said 'I'm starting to like you again!' LOL I don't know if I mentioned it, but when he come in to see me in hospital after the surgery I pointed at him and called him nasty man

Anyway on the way home, my sister was driving, and pranged into the back of the car in front of us. It was only minor, but my jaw is a bit tender (and yes it was my car). My GP checked it out and I think it was because i clenched my jaw before we hit. My poor sister is so upset - but like I said to her, I'm just glad that the air bags didn't go off! The thought of them hitting me in the face brings tears to my eyes.

I also saw my Orthdontist yesterday and in 2 weeks she is looking at taking off the surgical wire and hooks. So that'll be a relief. The top surgical hook are digging into my lips.

Rossy - I'm from Australia.

ColoradoGirl - I've noticed I'm using my hands alot more now to talk.

sauerkraut - GL for tomorrow.

#99 Post by **sauerkraut** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:22 pm

Oh, Dani, you poor thing. That must have shaken you up. Hope you're OK now (and your sister!) And thanks for the good wishes

#100 Post by **beowulf68** » Thu Nov 18, 2010 5:59 pm

Sauerkraut/ColoradoGirl: 9 days Post-OP and things are going pretty well. A lot of swelling has gone down but still swollen in the cheeks (chipmonk), a little under the eyes and in the neck under the jaw lines. Numbness is still considerable in both of my lips and chin though it seems to be slowing abating. At any rate things are coming along......Just can't stop dreaming of PIZZA and TACOS!!!

How long did most peoples lips remain numb? Are we talking months here or should I start regaining feeling any day now? Also did anyone experience numbness in the middle back part of their tongue? a day or two ago I started feeling like there's something cool on my back part of my tongue. I thought at first maybe it was something draining from my sinuses but it doesn't seem to go away.

#101 Post by **sauerkraut** » Thu Nov 18, 2010 10:45 pm

Hey folks! Hit a bit of a low point today, hence typing this at 6.30am!

Beowulf, glad you're doing OK. You can liquidize pizza, y'know! Best to cut the crusts off, first, and you'll need to add some liquid. No, I haven't tried it myself but I think there are people here who have.

My bottom lip is still numb, tho I do get a sort of a tingly feeling quite often and I can sense warm and cold. Best I can get out of my docs is that it "can take a while" for feeling to come back, and sometimes it never does completely. Not had the tongue thing I'm afraid.

I had my surgical braces taken out yesterday. One word for that: OUCH. Splint came out too, which was a piece of cake in comparison. Then they nipped out the remaining stitches. Nearly flew out of the chair for the last of those. A sweet little doctor offered me her hand to squeeze thru all this and I think she must have gone away with bruised knuckles.

It's now clear that I've ended up with an open bite

, which they hope to cure with elastics. More ouch. Don't like taking painkillers at all, but think I might be feasting on them this weekend.

On the bright side, I've progressed to soft chew, which makes meals much more satisfying.

Oh, and Shona, haven't seen you on this thread for a while, but wish you all the very best for Monday

.

#102 Post by **Broadway Bill** » Thu Nov 18, 2010 10:47 pm

Beowulf, my lips are still mostly numb, although they do not have the totally dead feeling that they had at first (that thing where it is like they do not even exist). My chin is still entirely numb, but my lips feel more like they just have an insane amount of novocaine in them. I canm ove them again, and as the tightness goes away, my smile is coming back.

I am 4 weeks post-op, and my lips only really started to normalize this past week. My tongue has been mostly back to normal for about 2 weeks now, although my palette is still very numb along the gumline. If you are progressing as it sounds like you are, you are right on track.

For the record, though, you will likely start to notice a dramatic slowdown in how much your swelling decreases. Day 9 or 10 was when I felt like I hit the wall in terms of swelling going away, and it really slowed down. But, according to the people I see regularly, it is still decreasing, just not at the same fast pace as days 4-10.

#103 Post by **Dani73** » Fri Nov 19, 2010 5:31 am

Beowulf - I got the feeling back in my bottom lip on Day 10. I also got the feeling on my top lip about an hour later, but only the sides not the centre of my lip, that has only just come back now the swelling is decreasing. Even though I have the feeling back, my lips still aren't moving properly. The right side of my mouth sags, but I'm assuming it's because I still have numbness around my mouth in my cheeks and the bit between my nose and top lip (also chin is still completely numb).

Is anyone else over talking? I'm getting a bit frustrated trying to talk and having to repeat myself half the time - that I just can't be bothered. (well today I can't anyway lol) It's is such an effort trying to say it the first time, without having to say it a second IYKWIM

#104 Post by **Dani73** » Fri Nov 19, 2010 6:29 am

I just put photo's up in the before/after thread *shudder*- even now that I've seen the photo's together like that, it is an extreme difference, one that I'm still not liking atm. The only thing I do like is the profile of my nose - but hopefully I'll start liking it in the next couple of months.

#105 Post by **beowulf68** » Fri Nov 19, 2010 2:07 pm

Well it definitely appears from the responses to my questions that everyone is different when it comes to recovery from numbness. I guess I'll just have to be patient and give it some time. I was just hoping that most of the numbness, especially in the lips would be gone in 4 weeks. I know that's not realistic but that's when I go back to work. I'm going to take a lot of heat from my co-workers when they see me drooling food all over myself because I can't feel my lips and chin.