how many appointments?

[I want to smile!]

Hi all,

I just asked this in the bottom of another topic, but thought I'd make a new topic of it too. Basically, can anyone who had surgery tell me if it sounds insane to have it at a hospital 3 hours away? We're moving house and I'm six months into braces with Lefort 1 and BSSO scheduled for some time next summer. A seven hour round trip to get braces adjusted every few weeks is fine - good excuse to see friends I'm leaving behind - but how tricky will it be when I get to surgery? I'm assuming there will be more appointments to get moulds and xrays done, and a pre-op assessment, and another meeting with the surgeon. Is it going to turn into a complete hassle? And after surgery, how often do you need to go back for check ups?

Has anyone transferred mid-way? The hospital told me it can be done, but the best time to do so would be after surgery when a local ortho could handle the final tweaks, but a girl I know who had surgery a few months ago got told the same but then immediately before surgery the hospital changed their mind.

Any advice or personal experience would be great thank you.

[Izzy1979]

my surgeon wanted to see me in the office once a week for 4 weeks post op, then at 6 weeks, then he said he would see me every 8-12 weeks after that

My orthodontist saw me at 4 weeks post op and my next appointment is at 8 weeks - so not much different than pre op. He told me he expected braces 3-9months post op.

Hope that helps!

[sauerkraut]

My surgery was at a hospital 2 1/2 hours away. They admitted me the day before the op so they could do all the checks (x-rays, blood, EKG etc) in one go on that day. Then they kept me in a week for the follow-up. It worked out OK and I was prepared to travel coz my ortho told me that was the only surgeon he trusted to do a good job (there are two other hospitals much nearer).

The most annoying thing was when one of my elastics slipped out of place the Friday night just after I got home. That meant a five-hour round trip on the Saturday morning just for a two-minute tweak I then had a regular appointment with the surgeon about 2 weeks after the operation, with the next appt due 4 weeks after that.

It's been no great problem having the operation so far away, and it's DEFINITELY worth travelling if you know you can rely on that surgeon but aren't so sure about the local one. But I don't think I'd want to be so far from my ortho as well. So many little things can crop up that it's handy having somewhere nearby you can just pop into if you need to.

[mamaneedsanewjaw]

That is exactly what happened to me! I moved six months into braces three hours away from my surgeon/ortho. Had the surgery six weeks ago and everything has been easier than expected. They "drugged" me up very well and gave me some great naseau meds before I was discharged and I slept the entire way home. (I was worried about this because I normall can not sleep in the car.) I just put on my sunglasses because the sun hurt my eyes and my husband drove without us having to stop. (I was worried that we would have to stop to pee and then imagining the stares we would get )

The drives to the ortho are a bit annoying but both the ortho and my surgeon have been very accommodating with my appointments. I was supposed to go one week post op to my surgeon but NO WAY I could have made that drive one week post op. Instead I talked to him on the phone and let him know things were fine other than the fact I couldn't stomach the trip and he agreed for me to come up two weeks instead. Then I went up again two weeks after that. I will see him again next week when I go to the ortho and then every other month. For me it was much easier to do this than to find a new ortho & surgeon!

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!

[I want to smile!]

Thanks for your replies. It hadn't even occurred to me that I could request a new ortho but keep the surgery at my current hospital. I doubt they'll allow it because the ortho is hospital based too, but worth investigating. At the end of the day, all surgeons must be pretty highly qualified and they're all NHS regulated with private practise on the side, so perghaps I should make life easier for myself and transfer rather than just assume the first surgeon I saw is the only one who can operate on me. I just worry they'll have different techniques. For example, the current surgeon is happy to leave my wisdom teeth alone, but the new one might not be. Do you think there's much variation in how surgeons approach these operations? How easy is it for one ortho to pick up where another left off?