June/July 2015 Surgery Buddies

[snapdresser]

Liz192 - I still get some soreness, tho it's usually pretty slight these days. I think once I started lightening up on the elastics Week 6 is when it got a lot better for me. I wasn't able to close my teeth in the beginning so my surgeon put on 9 elastics. Solved that little problem I agree with Nozzelnut, it's just TMJ inflammation that takes time to go away. That food sounds awesome, btw I'm back to pretty much regular diet but I can't open very wide, so that's pretty limiting.

[vaguy79]

It has been 8 days since my lower jaw surgery and I am already back on soft foods. I went to the doctor this past Tuesday and he removed the elastic bands and said I can eat anything soft. The swelling was the worst on the 3rd day as predicted. There is some bruising on my neck. I am kind of annoyed that I didn't lose weight. If anything, I am gaining weight by eating ice cream and other unhealthy foods. I have no problems eating.

I have pretty much all of my energy back. This is all so weird because I was expecting to be laid up and tired but it hasn't been that way. There hasn't been much pain or discomfort except for the tingling feeling in my chin and dry lips. I've had this sensation pretty much throughout my recovery.

My expectations and what I have been through have been completely different. There was no wiring or tight elastics. I have slept perfectly fine every night. I had no problems breathing. I have gained weight and can brush my teeth. I'm tempted to go back to work on Monday but already have the week off.

[Nozzelnut]

It has been 8 days since my lower jaw surgery and I am already back on soft foods. I went to the doctor this past Tuesday and he removed the elastic bands and said I can eat anything soft. The swelling was the worst on the 3rd day as predicted. There is some bruising on my neck. I am kind of annoyed that I didn't lose weight. If anything, I am gaining weight by eating ice cream and other unhealthy foods. I have no problems eating.

I have pretty much all of my energy back. This is all so weird because I was expecting to be laid up and tired but it hasn't been that way. There hasn't been much pain or discomfort except for the tingling feeling in my chin and dry lips. I've had this sensation pretty much throughout my recovery.

My expectations and what I have been through have been completely different. There was no wiring or tight elastics. I have slept perfectly fine every night. I had no problems breathing. I have gained weight and can brush my teeth. I'm tempted to go back to work on Monday but already have the week off.

Wow! good for you! Glad to hear you're doing so well already.

How far did they move your jaw? Just curious

[vaguy79]

3mm forward and 2mm right.

[vaguy79]

[quote="vaguy79"]3mm forward and 2mm right.[/quote]
Oops, 3mm back and 2mm right

[Liz192]

Vaguy- wow that is awesome you didn't have a hard recovery. I'm almost 4 weeks post op and I still get sick, sore and exhausted.

Well....I've been sick the past couple of days. My food intake has slowed down a little due to my jaw being sore. I already know I haven't gained any weight back. :/ Also, anyone know if it's safe to drink alcohol yet? Cause I didn't even think about it and had a few too many last night. Hope I didn't hurt anything. How's everyone doing?

[Nozzelnut]

Vaguy- wow that is awesome you didn't have a hard recovery. I'm almost 4 weeks post op and I still get sick, sore and exhausted.

Well....I've been sick the past couple of days. My food intake has slowed down a little due to my jaw being sore. I already know I haven't gained any weight back. :/ Also, anyone know if it's safe to drink alcohol yet? Cause I didn't even think about it and had a few too many last night. Hope I didn't hurt anything. How's everyone doing?

Might put a little extra work on your immune system and it might slow recovery just a little bit. Might cause some more swelling depending on how much and what you drank. But in the big scheme of things probably no long lasting effects. I'm not a Dr; but I wouldn't recommend doing it every night...

[snapdresser]

vaguy79 - Wow, sounds like you're back and better than ever at this point! I guess it made a big difference only having 1 jaw done and with such minor movements. I could see returning to work early as being nice. Sitting around for weeks was incredibly boring

Liz192 - My surgeon didn't allow me to drink alcohol yet at Week 4, but my surgeon was very conservative. It sounded like maybe she was concerned I'd get super hammered and fall down or something. At Week 4, I don't think drinking in moderation would affect healing too much, but if you have a question, you should ask your surgeon! I second what Nozzelnut said.

[Nozzelnut]

So I am a bit more adventurous with my food choices lately. Trying to get back to my regular eating patterns. The soft food diet wasn't really helping me move forward; I was kind of in a holding pattern with the amount my jaw would open and that sort of thing. I figured that the softer food diet was wasn't letting me stretch my jaw and put pressure on my teeth; flexing my TMJ's....

It seems to be working a bit; my chewing has definitely loosened up and I'm not nearly as stiff as I was last week. And tonight while stretching my jaw side to side and had a small pop on my right side; not sure if it was scar tissue or what, but it feels better; more relaxed and less tight.

Numbness is very slowly coming around on my chin. My gums are still numb in the front and a little on the left side too. But it is improving...


I know we're not nearly as active in this thread as we were right after surgery but I thought I'd stop in.

I hope everyone's recovery is still moving forward.

[jaime]

Hey Nozzel, glad to hear you're progressing with your chewing! That pop would freak me out but it doesn't sound like it was a bad thing at all.

I just got back from my honeymoon today. My teeth have been hurting a lot as I ate more normally which is still a struggle. Basically I'm just avoiding anything too hard, chewy or crispy, and anything that I have to bite into. I was on the east coast so I had tons of fish and tons of French fries. I am glad we waited 2 months after my surgery to go away, because it's so much easier to eat.

The only thing that really sucked was that my wire on my upper left molar has been poking into me for about a week and it gets worse when I eat. My cheek is all ripped up and it's been really painful and annoying!

[KaylaChristine]

I hope everyone is doing well.

I don't think I posted after my appointment with my surgeon about the loose upper jaw. I've had a lot going on the past couple of weeks. Anyway, my x-ray looked fine. He said the new bone growth is soft/flexible. He's only had it happen to one other patient. He actually didn't believe me at first until he tried to move it lol. It's been almost two weeks since I noticed it and the bone is still soft and shifting up when I bite down (I only bite down every few days to check on it). He told me not to chew or bite down and he put me on muscle relaxers last week. I got the muscle relaxers because I felt like I was clenching my jaws together when I was sleeping. I see him again tomorrow and I think he's expecting the bone to be nice and firm...and it's just not.

[Liz192]

Kayla- I'm so glad you are doing well! I think it's safe to say we were all worried about you. I'm sorry your jaw still is feeling loose though. That can't be a comfortable feeling. I still take my muscle relaxers every once in a while because I feel like I am clenching/grinding at night.

Jamie- I hope you had a wonderful time on your honeymoon. I wish you could have eaten more though. I just got back from my trip home to Washington state and I had a lot of fish and fries as well. I try hard not to eat anything that requires a lot of chewing. My jaw feels super stiff if I do have to chew a lot. I did have a cheeseburger I cut it into little pieces so I could eat it. I was on the road and starving so I ate what I could get. Eating it wasn't easy and I feel like I swallowed most of it whole. Oh, I have been having A LOT of beef enchiladas. lol

I go back to my oral surgeon on Thursday. I still haven't been released to my orthodontist yet but I am hoping he will let me go after Thursday. I can't wait to get my hooks off. They trap food like crazy. Not much progress on the numbness level. I am able to put my teeth together with out pain finally. Hope everyone is doing well!

[snapdresser]

Hey everybody! Sounds like everybody's progressing, even if slowly

Nozzelnut - I had a similar popping sound happen once, and it also felt better/more relaxed for me. I didn't ask my surgeon about it, but it seems like it was fine. I suspect it was probably part of the natural relaxation/settling in the TMJ. The chin numbness is also coming around slowly for me, too.

Jaime - Welcome back from your honeymoon!!! I saw your pics and it looks like you guys had fun! A pretty Canadian honeymoon, if I do say so myself Any way you can put some wax on that wire that's poking you? Any progress with your bite coming together? I need to make a plan to get some poutine! I could probably do Dinosaur BBQ these days.

KaylaChristine - I brought up your movement in your maxilla with my surgeon a couple weeks ago and she said that's fairly common in her experience, but it depends on what type of fixation they used. She said it's normal for if they use wires but not with plates. I couldn't remember what they had used for you. I think I've heard about the new bone growth being soft/flexible tho. That's good news that it's nothing bad!

Liz192 - I still feel like I clench my teeth during the day too. I read on a guy's blog a few months ago that at 6 mos post-op he thought he would probably naturally clench his teeth together permanently. We'll see, I guess. Good luck at your appointment on Thursday! I hope you get your hooks off!


I can now open my mouth about 2.5 fingers wide! So that's a nice improvement! When I open my mouth I still feel the scar tissue or whatever it is that makes it feel like the archbars are still there on the top and bottom of the left side and on the bottom of the right side. It's just taking a while to go away, I guess. Just sitting there with my mouth closed I only barely feel it now, so that's an improvement. Gums and palate are still pretty numb on the top but when brushing last night I seemed to notice some increased feeling maybe. And right now sticking my tongue against my palate I can actually feel it! That's a first! Eating-wise the numbness in my palate concerns me cuz I get concerned I'll burn myself by eating something too hot and I won't feel it. I still have a little swelling in my cheeks and stuff. Not sure how much of it is my puffy cheeks from my dad and how much of it will go away. I figure it's somewhere in the middle. Either way, it looks good! My wife reported my snoring for the first time post-op the other night and my nose still feels stuffy on the left side. My surgeon recommended I see an ENT when things are settled to see what they say. I might end up getting a turbinate reduction after all these years trying to avoid it. I finally saw my mother since she left about 3 days post-op! She said I look good lol. We had to drop off our dog. We fly out for London tomorrow morning!!! Fall Fashion is right around the corner!!!! Super excited to bust out that outfit I've been saving

Oh yeah. When I sniff, my gums feel weird on the top left side of my mouth. Feels like my teeth are moving or something but when I put my tongue on them and sniff, they're not moving. I think it's going something weird to the blood flow in my gums there... Anyone else getting that?

[Nozzelnut]

Snap, the turbinate reduction is nothing compared to the jaw movement. Maybe I couldn't feel it because of the disrupted nerves though... One thing; they do grow back ever so slowly. So it might need to be redone in several years.

I have some odd nerve feelings too; guessing it's the new nerves growing trying to wire themselves into the circuit and they're confusing the current system. If I lightly brush my cheek, I can feel it in the roof of my mouth; but it's getting better. Or if I run my tongue on the gums behind my upper teeth I can also feel it on the outside of my bottom lip....

[vaguy79]

Today I went to the oral surgeon for my 3 post op visit. The visits last usually around 5 mins. This time, he just looked at me and said I was doing well and he will release me to the orthodontist after my next visit (Sept. 1).

Last week he had me start doing jaw exercises. Open jaw for 10 secs for 10 reps 3x daily. I am still on a soft food diet and not allowed to exercise for another 3 weeks (6 weeks after surgery). I just don't feel like eating now days and have lost weight. I started around 145lbs and now weight about 138. That kind of makes me happy. I'm sure as soon as I eat normal foods again, I will blow up. My bottom lips feels cold at times and still quasi numb. My bottom gums sometimes feel like they have been ripped out of my mouth. Fortunately I can brush my teeth without any issues.

I went back to work this past Monday too.