February 2011 Buddies!!!

[suzanna]

So I'm 3 weeks and 1 day post op now! I've noticed sensation in my upper left lip area. I can feel when I scratch it and at times my upper lip area and upper lip are tingly after being touched. I never lost sensation on the right side of my upper lip area. Lower lip and chin are still completely numb. Feeling is coming back to both my cheeks, I'd say it's about 50% back (which I just realized right now, woohoo!!!) and also to both nostrils.

My inner cheek areas are both still pretty swollen, as well as my chin, and lower jaw line.

I can open my mouth only about 1 finger width. I've been trying to work it open more but it hasn't changed in the last few days. It's so much harder to open when I have my elastics on though.

Today I ate at PF Changs with a friend and her daughter. I was able to try and eat everything that they did, obviously the egg drop soup was the easiest but I also had honey shrimp, rice, beef, broccoli (couldn't manage the stems though), wonton soup, noodles, rice, and of course dessert! Obviously I ate very slowly and cut everything up really small. The shrimp and beef were pretty easy to chew but I still have to work at it. Food keeps going the opposite way into my cheek lol.

Pain wise I've been good. I haven't felt that nerve pain near my ear in a week or so. I have jaw muscle pain when I chew sometimes and when I'm practicing opening up wide (especially when the elastics are on and at the end of the day).

Hope everyone else is doing well!

[DRG]

Suzanna - That's great news about returning sensation in your upper jaw, cheeks and nose! I have no idea what the typical timeline is for that, but three weeks seems to be excellent progress. I imagine that the lower jaw might take many months, true?

[Nathaniel]

Congratulations Suzanna! Glad to hear your progress

Suzanna - That's great news about returning sensation in your upper jaw, cheeks and nose! I have no idea what the typical timeline is for that, but three weeks seems to be excellent progress. I imagine that the lower jaw might take many months, true?

I could imagine so, I think that's the worse jaw of the two for nerves if I'm not mistaken!

Little update from me: My infection was gone within 72 hours of antibiotics, and I'm at 10mm now, a full centimeter of expansion!

[mkwhite03]

I had surgery 2/9/11. Lefort 1 and bisagittal split osteotomy. How is everyone recovering? I am getting some feeling back but my lower lip and chin is still completely numb. I have a weird lopsided smile for now lol. I didn't have much pain at all. I am only now starting to feel aches in my lower jaw on the left side where it was advanced by 7mm. The right side was moved but not much.

[suzanna]

I had surgery 2/9/11. Lefort 1 and bisagittal split osteotomy. How is everyone recovering? I am getting some feeling back but my lower lip and chin is still completely numb. I have a weird lopsided smile for now lol. I didn't have much pain at all. I am only now starting to feel aches in my lower jaw on the left side where it was advanced by 7mm. The right side was moved but not much.

Hey welcome! I had the same surgery as you 2 days later! My lower lip and chin are still completely numb too. How much are you able to open your jaw? I can still only fit one finger with a little bit of extra room. How's your swelling?

[DRG]

I've been experiencing a strange thing in recent days. Occassionally, I will make a movement that causes me to think my upper jaw is flexing. That is, perhaps I swallow strangely after a yawn or attempt to say a difficult word and I feel some slight, but very awkward movement at the peak of the roof of my mouth. It's as if my lower jaw muscles are pulling very hard on the upper, to the point where I can feel the bone plates in my upper being pulled on all sides, and the only room for any "give" is for my upper jaw to bow just a bit. It's really discomforting. I wouldn't call it painful, I guess. It's happened maybe two or three times per day for the past few days. I try like crazy to avoid it, of course. I feel like being wired is primarily the problem here as any strain from the lower is being translated to the upper directly. I am concerned that I might be undoing the healing process in that area each time this happens.

Naturally, I will ask my OS about it when I see him next (in two days). Maybe it's backlash against the extra tightening he gave my wires last time I saw him?

All else is going well. I'm back to work this week, and my weight loss has slowed to a crawl, which is good. I don't have a date to get unwired just yet, but I am expecting it to be about two weeks from today (give or take a day or two).

DRG

[Nathaniel]

I had surgery 2/9/11. Lefort 1 and bisagittal split osteotomy. How is everyone recovering? I am getting some feeling back but my lower lip and chin is still completely numb. I have a weird lopsided smile for now lol. I didn't have much pain at all. I am only now starting to feel aches in my lower jaw on the left side where it was advanced by 7mm. The right side was moved but not much.

Hey welcome! I had the same surgery as you 2 days later! My lower lip and chin are still completely numb too. How much are you able to open your jaw? I can still only fit one finger with a little bit of extra room. How's your swelling?

Hi Suzanna, I hope all is well and your numbness is getting better
I'm just wondering, have you experienced any changes in your nose or is it too early to tell?

[Nathaniel]

I've been experiencing a strange thing in recent days. Occassionally, I will make a movement that causes me to think my upper jaw is flexing. That is, perhaps I swallow strangely after a yawn or attempt to say a difficult word and I feel some slight, but very awkward movement at the peak of the roof of my mouth. It's as if my lower jaw muscles are pulling very hard on the upper, to the point where I can feel the bone plates in my upper being pulled on all sides, and the only room for any "give" is for my upper jaw to bow just a bit. It's really discomforting. I wouldn't call it painful, I guess. It's happened maybe two or three times per day for the past few days. I try like crazy to avoid it, of course. I feel like being wired is primarily the problem here as any strain from the lower is being translated to the upper directly. I am concerned that I might be undoing the healing process in that area each time this happens.

Naturally, I will ask my OS about it when I see him next (in two days). Maybe it's backlash against the extra tightening he gave my wires last time I saw him?

All else is going well. I'm back to work this week, and my weight loss has slowed to a crawl, which is good. I don't have a date to get unwired just yet, but I am expecting it to be about two weeks from today (give or take a day or two).

DRG

That would make me squirm! The brackets screwed in place should prevent this from happening right? I couldn't see too much movement happening if you're wired shut as well as having the brackets being in place. Please let us know what the OS says! Overall though, I wouldn't say you're doing damage, it's probably very minor movements if any and don't think such small movements could prevent healing. I remember walking around after my SARPE which is essentially a LeForte I without the down fracture (Thank's Chicago29!) and I remember feeling the top jaw sort of "bounce" (or at least that's what the sensation was like).

[suzanna]

I had surgery 2/9/11. Lefort 1 and bisagittal split osteotomy. How is everyone recovering? I am getting some feeling back but my lower lip and chin is still completely numb. I have a weird lopsided smile for now lol. I didn't have much pain at all. I am only now starting to feel aches in my lower jaw on the left side where it was advanced by 7mm. The right side was moved but not much.

Hey welcome! I had the same surgery as you 2 days later! My lower lip and chin are still completely numb too. How much are you able to open your jaw? I can still only fit one finger with a little bit of extra room. How's your swelling?

Hi Suzanna, I hope all is well and your numbness is getting better
I'm just wondering, have you experienced any changes in your nose or is it too early to tell?

Thanks, no change in numbness over the last couple of days. I get occasional nerve pains in my lower lip and chin but they aren't too bad.

And yes, I have definitely noticed a change in my nose. I feel like it's easier to breath through my nose. Also, my nostrils is more visible and my nose is maybe a tiny bit wider at the base but I don't think it's very noticeable. I had a bump on the bridge of my nose but I feel like that's a little smaller too.

[Nathaniel]

Thanks, no change in numbness over the last couple of days. I get occasional nerve pains in my lower lip and chin but they aren't too bad.

And yes, I have definitely noticed a change in my nose. I feel like it's easier to breath through my nose. Also, my nostrils is more visible and my nose is maybe a tiny bit wider at the base but I don't think it's very noticeable. I had a bump on the bridge of my nose but I feel like that's a little smaller too.

Sorry to hear the numbness isn't improving yet! I met someone who had double jaw surgery at my otho's appointment yesterday, he had his surgery done by Dr. Tocchio (Dr. Tocchio and Dr. Caminiti used to work together/study together!). He had his done in October, and the only nerve issue is a tiny little sliver on the top left part of his lip, it tingles here and there). I think that's pretty good considering the time frame! I wish you the best in the regeneration of the nerves

I noticed after my SARPE that I can breathe through my nose so much easier! My nostrils are a bit more wider too, at least thats what people say. I don't know if the angle has changed though, but I don't want it to! I hope that he can control it to have it not be more visible/pointed up when it comes time for be to do the double jaw. Is it really pointed up now?

[DRG]

Back from my weekly check-up with my OS. He expressed concern about that upper jaw "flexibility" (my word), and gave me a thorough look over to see if I had any unexpected movement, but didn't find any. The infection I had last week is all cleared up, which is also good news. I told him that in the past few days I've had a toothache, as if one of my right side lower molars was being pulled out. I suspect that it was likely due to talking too much when I was at work on Weds, and made a point to take it easy yesterday. He thought this sounded reasonable, but didn't offer much more insight.

The best news I got all day was that I can count on getting unwired in exactly two weeks! I will be a few days short of five weeks at that point. He implied that was what he meant when he told me "four or five weeks". From then on I'll have rubber bands for ~14 hours per day for a while (I suspect a week or so).

I also got my picture taken, was my first time seeing my new hardware. If you look carefully you can see the incisions in my lower, it took me a while to piece that portion together, I expected it to be more noticeable.


DRG

[suzanna]

DRG, how is your jaw movement doing now? Does it still feel squishy? I was kind of having a similar feeling last week for a few days. For some reason, I was having a hard time swallowing normally, instead I would do a big gulp and my tongue would go and push up against my upper jaw. It felt like my upper jaw was slightly moving too with the movement of gulping. That went away on its own and I haven't had any problems since. How all is going well.

I ate a cheeseburger today!! Just a regular one from McDonald's and I had to cut it up into thin strips because even when I squished it down, it still wouldn't go through my small 16-17mm opening lol. It was yummy though!

No big changes to my numbness. Nose is 100% normal, cheeks still have a slight different feeling to them, upper lip area still very tingly, and no feeling in lower lip/chin. I really hope that starts coming back soon... I had an embarrassing moment this week because of it. I went to the movies with my sister and a couple friends and bought a small cup of chocolate frozen yogurt. I most of it in the theater, obviously in the dark. When we walked out of the theater and my sister saw me, she was like "You look like a chocolate vampire!" Apparently I had ice cream all over my chin LMAO And I thought I did so well eating without my mirror! Oh well, seems like I'll be carrying my little mirror with me for a few more weeks until I start getting sensation back.

I've been doing stretching exercises 3x a day with my jaw. I went from 14-15mm last week to about 16-17mm today. Hopefully that keeps improving. I was told it's a slow process to get your range of motion back. As long as I can eat semi-normally when I go back to work in 2.5 weeks I'll be happy.

[suzanna]

No big changes to my numbness. Nose is 100% normal, cheeks still have a slight different feeling to them, upper lip area still very tingly, and no feeling in lower lip/chin.

I just realized that the numbness and tingling in my right upper lip has subsided a lot, it almost feels normal, much more like how my cheeks feel.

[DRG]

I feel like it's easier to breath through my nose. Also, my nostrils is more visible and my nose is maybe a tiny bit wider at the base but I don't think it's very noticeable.

I noticed after my SARPE that I can breathe through my nose so much easier!

Suzanna & Nathaniel - I have experienced the same thing. I feel that my nose is perhaps wider, or more open. I can move more air than I could before the surgery. It is a very pleasant side effect of the surgery. I feel nearly no need to breathe through my mouth lately, unless my sinuses act up (usually when I am laying down / trying to sleep). Before surgery I couldn't always feel like I was getting enough air. I also think my nose is still swollen, and I know I have swelling remaining just below my nose and into my cheeks.

DRG, how is your jaw movement doing now? Does it still feel squishy? I was kind of having a similar feeling last week for a few days. For some reason, I was having a hard time swallowing normally, instead I would do a big gulp and my tongue would go and push up against my upper jaw. It felt like my upper jaw was slightly moving too with the movement of gulping. That went away on its own and I haven't had any problems since.

Again, this is very similar to my experience. It made me feel very uneasy that my upper would behave that way. Now I am happy to report that I have not experienced that issue in well over a week. In my decidely un-expert opinion, I'd say that my upper jaw has mended enough to solve that unexpected movement in my upper.

In fact, I feel like both of my jaws have mended significantly recently. I am a side-sleeper and since returning to my bed at night (about 10 days post-surgery I was able to stop sleeping in a recliner), I have had to be very gentle when setting my jaw on my pillow. I had to find a place where I didn't feel much pressure on the mandible but was somehow still comfortable (that wasn't easy). However, recently I have noticed there is not as much play in my jaw when I do that, and I've begun to sleep better as a result.

I haven't noticed any difference in my numbness recently. It's all centered around my upper jaw, naturally. The tip of my nose is very numb, whereas this initially spread all the way up to include my lower eyelids. Early on, that area decreased in size to include just my cheek bones now, but overall I wouldn't call that solid progress. And, again, there's been no noticeable change recently. My ortho indicated that this could take 3-6 months to be resolved. That is a much longer timeline than I anticipated.

Speaking of my ortho, this week I had checkups with both him and my OS. The entire ortho office was happy to see me, providing a great pick-me-up as I've been rather blue about being wired shut. My ortho even mentioned that when I see him next we could begin to talk about finishing my treatment. Granted, that could mean a lot of different things, but it comes down to the fact that there's little left to work on besides finishing off my bite (pre-surgery I knew that only my left side molars had not landed in the right place yet, and my old bite was preventing that actually). So that was a good feeling. I keep telling myself to expect another six months in braces, and anything less than that will be gravy.

This morning my OS again tightened my wires as they had stretched enough to allow me too much movement. He then told me to come back on my five-week post-op date to be unwired. I reminded him (ie. negotiated with him) that I would much rather come in next Friday (three days short of the five week mark) as he and I had discussed previously. He considered it for a moment, and then said that would be fine,*but* would require me to wear the thick rubber bands all but 2-3 hours per day until that five week mark. I don't expect to have any problems with that, other than the fact that I'll have to be careful I don't just sit and brush and brush and brush the inside of my teeth for more than 2-3 hours per day. (It's been a long time to go without that clean teeth feeling).

Part of me says that I shouldn't care about those three days, and if keeping the wire in is less risky, then I should tough it out (which is exactly the train of thought that landed me in this wire to begin with!). The other part of me says (very loudly) that I need to get free of this thing as soon as possible. At this point I cannot get too excited about eating solid food because I don't know what to expect my chewing ability to be. But, at least I should be able to yawn properly.

So my appointment is set, and the countdown is on. (That's a lie, the countdown has been on for quite some time already).

Hope the rest of the FEB crew is healing quickly, did anyone get "turned over" to their ortho yet?
DRG

[suzanna]

In fact, I feel like both of my jaws have mended significantly recently.

That's good to hear!

But, at least I should be able to yawn properly.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you won't! When I had my heavy duty elastics taken off at 2 1/2 weeks, I could only open my mouth enough to stick in one finger, so yawning was still really awkward. I can open slightly more now but yawning is still really painful on the muscles at times.

Hope the rest of the FEB crew is healing quickly, did anyone get "turned over" to their ortho yet?

My next OS appointment is on the 30th and then I scheduled an ortho appointment for the next day. I'm hoping he says I'm good to go back to them since there are a few things I'm concerned about (mainly my upper mid-line) that I wanted to find out if they can correct at all. They had originally made me an appointment for 6 weeks post op because my orthodontist said that's when most patients come back in after having surgery but my OS told me I'm not ready yet since my range of motion was only like 10mm and he wanted that to improve before I go back.