Just had surgery

Message

#1 Post by **Kimberley** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:25 pm

Hi everyone,

I thought for all of you that are considering jaw surgery that you might be interested in hearing about my experience.

I got my braces on in December of 2004 and was told to expect that I should be ready for surgery (upper and lower) in about 12 - 15 months. So, On January 23rd, 2006 I found my self in the hospital, waiting in a room for them to take me away and do the dirty deed. I must say I held up well for the entire time I was expecting to have my jaw "broken" - I might have been in denial.

Anyway, I freaked out a bit just before they wheeled me into the surgery room. I wasexpecting that my husband could wait with me until they brought me into the surgery room, but there I was all alone. I admit, it was intimidating.

The next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room, and being told that everything went well. During the surgery my blood pressure went up pretty high but I was just fine after that. Being in the hospital sucked afterwards though, they had these coffs on my legs that were just to keep circulation going but I found them really uncomfortable and they made me feel very warm. The other thing was the tube in my nose, not so much that but with it in they wouldn't give me any water. I was so thirsty. I must have drank about 4 litres of water the next day after they took it out. All in all, I have to say if those were my worst problems, I did alright.

So, the next day they said they would take out the tube & they did in the late morning. They also took off those leg cuffs once I was able to go to the washroom, that felt much better. They also brought food in the late afternoon. Word to wise, stay away from anything too acidic the first few days... ouch! I got to go home that night which was great because I wasn't resting well in the hospital.

I was wired shut for 14 days. I found it to be difficult but not too bad. I felt it was hard to breathe enough air but that could have been been my sinuses were pretty congested. My teeth inside felt pretty gross too, so i was thankful to get those wires off and brush in there. I must admit to freaking out on my husband once or twice due to anxiety of being wired shut, plus it was hard to get enough calories in - that certainly could have attributed to my crankiness.

I got my wires off almost two weeks ago now. I'm trying to strech my mouth to open as much as I can - so far about an inch if I really try. Enough to get actual food in anyway - soft food but at least not liquid. I'm so sick of protein shakes (no matter how many variations we tried to make ; liquid food is liquid food).

I think my biggest challenge after getting the wires off is just the nasal congestion. It makes it hard to sleep when combined with the extra swelling that happens when I sleep. But I take an antihistamine at night and that helps a lot. I think in general things have gone really well for me & though I don't know if the doctor said "We have to go back in and do it all over again" if I would, I'm glad that I did it and am recovering well.

If I can answer any questions that people might have about my experience, I'd be happy to. And for anyone who is going in soon - it's really not as bad as it sounds. I was in no pain at all - mostly just discomfort. Good Luck!

Kimberley

#2 Post by **nvcarissa** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:39 pm

Thanks for letting us know how you are doing. Congratulations on getting this huge part of your treatment behind you. Are you in much discomfort?

#3 Post by **Kimberley** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:18 am

Hi Lucy & Carissa,

No, I have not tried the nose strips. I guess I thought they were mostly for snoring. I have been having luck with antihistamines, especially the drowsy ones that knock me out for a good 4 hours so I can sleep better at night. I might give the strips a shot though. What could it hurt?

I wouldn't say that I'm in a great deal of discomfort. Just an annoyance more than anything. I think if I could just get rid of the congestion then I'd be totally on easy street. It does still feel a bit swollen around my mouth and still a bit in my lower jaw area. I think that's mostly due to the stiches but my family has noticed a big difference every time they see me with the swelling going down.

In the last few days I've even been able to chew soft foods, like Sheperd's Pie and Chili. Everyday I notice a difference in how much stronger my bite is and how far I can open my mouth. The Doc gave me some exercises to do to help with opening wider - which I should be doing right now.

The first 14 days were the worst for discomfort though. I felt very closed in due to being wired shut. And, with all the protein shakes and liquid T3 my teeth felt so sugary - so that was pretty gross but nothing major. My husband was home with me for the first week, so I had him to take care of meal prepping and medicine control. He was a great help.

It's hard to get all the calories you need in. I knew that I should be eating more but I just didn't feel it. Now that I can eat more I'm finding that I'm healing faster, so I'd suggest making yourself eat at least 1800 calories a day. It'll be hard but worth it if you can get those wires off in 10 days rather than 14.

So, are either of you going in for surgery soon? Or already had it?

Hope everyone is having a great day!
Kimberley

#4 Post by **Teigyr** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 1:53 pm

Kimberley,

I will have surgery at some point in the (hopefully) near future. I go in for molds tomorrow to check status. My surgeon is retiring! He will accept no surgeries after 9/30 so I hope I don't have to find another surgeon.

Do you think your congestion was due to the work on your upper jaw? I won't be wired shut but I think I'd feel clausterphobic if I was. My surgery will be lower jaw only.

Do you feel that you needed your husband there for a whole week? Could you have made it on your own? How are you feeling now?

Jane

#5 Post by **nahky** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 1:59 pm

Hi Kimberly, A quick reply from me, just to say i really appreciate the information you're giving us all. I find it very beneficial to others and takes away the anxiety of the whole process and even adds excitement about the whole thing!

Almost 3 months and i will be reducing my lower and advancing my uppers and genio.

Im doing neck, china nd jaw exercises at the moment and just building up the muscles.... i'm not sure why im doing it lol. Im under the impression it will help for surgery afters to have strong muscles, plus the definer jawline doesnt hurt.

thanks again! Keep us updated.

1 quick question, did they use a catheter? i find the idea of that so icky.

#6 Post by **Kimberley** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 2:50 pm

Hi again,

I'm not sure if I mentioned, but I did have upper and lower jaw surgery. My upper jaw was very narrow so they expanded it and I had an over bite on top, so it got moved back a bit. My lower jaw needed to be moved ahead a bit, and I'm not sure but I think it was too wide. Anyway, I think it was apretty extensive amount of work to be done. But, yes, the congestion was due to the upper jaw surgery - it was especially bad on my left side and my ear feels plugged up a bit. I had some difficulty hearing for the first bit but that seems to be clearing up as my sinuses are feeling better.

I don't think I needed Marc home for the whole week. I would have been fine on my own, energy wise, it would have been hard but managable. If you have to do it on your own, I recommend writing down what medicine you took when and keeping track of what you eat. I also came home from the hospital the day after, when I think the doctor was fully willing to have me stay another night. I just knew I would rest better at home. Besides, the girl next to me had her appendix out that day & she was in bad shape - or at least she sounded like she was. I think she was a bit of a whiner to be honest. So, if you are going be home on your own afterwards, I'd stay in the hospital the extra day. Also, stock up on hot/cold pads & ensure/boost (test them out in advance to make sure you like them). Once you're feeling better, you'll feel more up to making protein drinks from powders. I put lots of frozen fruit in them & ice cream to boost calories. They also have these great flavoured tofus (coconut is awesome & I'm not a tofu lover at all). Blending those up in your protein drink is great. Another thing that my Dr told me is to soak bran flakes in the milk you use to blend your drinks - this adds extra fibre. Trust me you'll need it, especially after taking Tylenol 3's, it can bind you up, excuse my frankness.

I don't think with just lower surgery that you'll have to be wired shut. A plus, I'm sure. Hopefully your dr won't retire before you need to get yours done but if he does you can always hop aboard a puddle jumper and come to Victoria to see Dr. Draper. He's great & came highly recommended to me. Even strangers who found out I was getting the surgery done would tell me of theirs sons or people they knew who had had him to do their surgery.

I agree, Nahky, that part of reducing the anxiety is knowing all the information you can. That's why I decided to post my experience. It wasn't perfect, but overall it went very well & I have only a few minor complaints. Mostly though it was just I didn't know certain things to expect. So, yes, they did use a catheter. It wasn't that bad at all actually. I didn't even feel it & taking it out was no big deal either. Really I found the tube in my nose much more bothersome & that was mostly because I couldn't drink anything.

I think I forgot to mention before that I had a bit of bone taken from my hip to use in expanding my upper jaw. I had no problems with that either. It was a little sore to lay on that side but it's healing up nicely.

Oh, and Jane, if you are going to be on your own... another piece of advice you might find helpful is that you might want to take baths for a few days afterwards instead of showering. I found that standing in the shower was really draining of energy. Even almost four weeks later, I'm tired after having having a shower. So, indulge a bit on some nice bubble bath and treat yourself.

Nahky, did your dr tell you to do jaw exercises before your surgery? It seems like a logical thing to do. I wish I had thought of it because I'm having trouble opening wider now. My Dr was trying to force me to open a bit the other day & he was saying if I just relaxed I would open wider. Howcan you relax when someone is pushing your mouth open?

So, now I'm trying to give the joints some heat (about 4 min on both sides) then I massage them a bit and then try to strech. I think that's working okay. I have to see Dr. draper on wednesday to get the acyrlic stuff off my top brackets - it just makes it so they don't rub on the inside of your mouth while you're swollen. I hope he doesn't try to get in there and open my jaw up more again. I'd rather be the one applying the pressure.

What a great site this is. I'm so hapy to be able to share my story and learn what other adults with braces are going through.

Talk to you all soon,
Kimberley

#7 Post by **Teigyr** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:33 pm

Kimberley,

It sounds like yours is FAR more extensive than mine will be! I will have a "caretaker" and I think they won't keep me overnight. My fiance will look after me. I only am concerned because I don't want him to take too much time from work. I will probably stay at his house, would be easier. I worry about stuff like going home to get mail (we live 25 miles apart), etc. I think you are right though, people make far more of a big deal of it than what it should be.

It sounds like you got back to eating fairly quickly. That gives me hope! I tend to recover from surgery very quickly and it seems like so much of what I hear is so grim.

I meant to head up there for Butchart Gardens this past holiday season. Now if I had a surgeon up there that would give me an excuse! I think it would be impractical, unfortunately.

How many drugs were you on? Was it hard to swallow pills? Was the difficulty in keeping track of food/drugs a matter of just being tired and "out of it" or is it like when you don't go to work and the time all runs together? Were you able to swish mouthwash in your mouth at least or was that not allowed due to stitches?

Jane

#8 Post by **Kimberley** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 3:00 pm

Hi Jane,

I'm glad to hear that your surgery isn't going to be that extensive & I'm sure you will heal even faster than I did in that case. As for your fiancee taking time off work: Marc took 4 days, I had the surgery on a Tuesday & he took Tues - Fri off. He didn't really need to take Tuesday or Wednesday because I was in the hospital most of that time but I think he was too worried to work anyway. We met when we like 15 and 16 & I've never had any kind of major surgery done. I think when you come to rely on someone for over 15 years you have the right to be worried about them. I think he had a harder time with the whole thing than I did. Poor guy. Anyway, he was allowed through his work to take sick leave or spousal sick leave. Maybe your fiancee has thesame thing at his workplace because Marc actually works remotely for a company if California.

I did get back to eating about 2 or 3 days after they took the wires off. Just soft things that weren't hard to chew. I get tired of brushing and rinsing 6 times aday, as i eat about 5 or 6 small meal a day. But I find my energy and stamina are increasing everyday, mostly I think due to thefact that I can eat more now.

The Gardens are fabulous here in Victoria. Especially in winter when they have it all done in white lights and the skating rink is set up. It's very nice considering that we don't really get much of wintery/ Christmas feeling here in Victoria - as I'm sure you can relate being in Seattle. I want to get down there and do some shopping. I love all the outlet malls & Seattle is just a cool place.

As for drugs, I was just on Tylenol 3 with codeine in liquid form, as I was not able to swallow pills. Then, I had an opening in my lower left jaw by the back tooth that I needed to take some antibiotics for so it would close up and not get infected. But that turned out fine. I expected to be on much heavier medication for pain but realy I was fine with the T3's. I did have a prescription for a muscle relaxer called Ativan but it did nothing for me, so I didn't use it. Even after two weeks I found I didn't even need the T3's anymore. Now I'm just taking that damn antihistamine to clear my sinsuses. I don't like taking medication so I'll be happy to be drug-free soon.

But yeah, the difficulty in taking the medicine was just that I was so tired & I was afraid I wouldn't remember when I took it last. And as for mouthwash, I'd recommend getting one that doesn't have alcohol in it cause that might sting. Oral B makes a nice one that I've been using. I usually brush (in the beginning only the outer side of my teeth), then rinsed with lots of salt water & then rinsed with a bit of mouthwash. You don't need to use it but I think you'll want to. It tastes kind of gross in there after a couple of days.

Hope that helpful,
Kimberley

#9 Post by **Kimberley** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:12 pm

Hi Meryaten,

I'm glad that you've found my posts helpful. Honestly, any questions that you have, I'd be happy to help if I know anything. I think the more information you can have to prepare for something like this the better. The other day I read about someone who had exrecised their jaw muscles prior to surgery. I don't know if that helps afterwards but it made sense to me that it might & I wished I had done it before mine because my jaw feels fairly stiff still.

I'm sure everyone will have a bit of a different experience & I'm looking forward to reading all about how everyone else makes out with their surgeries.

I also wish I had taken some pictures of before and after the surgery. I had a pretty good deal of swelling afterwards but it went down quite quickly & with very little to no bruising. Astonishing considering the amount of work that was done.

Anyway, knowing is half the battle.
Keep sharing everyone!

Kimberley

#10 Post by **nahky** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:56 pm

Kimberley wrote: Nahky, did your dr tell you to do jaw exercises before your surgery? It seems like a logical thing to do. I wish I had thought of it because I'm having trouble opening wider now. My Dr was trying to force me to open a bit the other day & he was saying if I just relaxed I would open wider. Howcan you relax when someone is pushing your mouth open? So, now I'm trying to give the joints some heat (about 4 min on both sides) then I massage them a bit and then try to strech. I think that's working okay. I have to see Dr. draper on wednesday to get the acyrlic stuff off my top brackets - it just makes it so they don't rub on the inside of your mouth while you're swollen. I hope he doesn't try to get in there and open my jaw up more again. I'd rather be the one applying the pressure.
Kimberley

Kimberley, My doctor did not tell me to do these exercises im doing. He told me very little actually the last time i saw him. I just took my own initiative and decided it upon myself to be prepared for the surgery.

I know i will lose a lot of weight before the surgery, (Im an 18 yo guy) so i joined the gym to get bigger and fitter. I've read the fitter the person, the quick and easier the recovery. Have also read alot of experiences from people saying they must start to use different muscles in their faces that did use much prior to the surgery. So i figured i'll work all my muscles in my face, give it a work out to get strong jaw muscles so that after surgery, it wont be so weak. Reading your posts has encouraged me to do so more now.

#11 Post by **Kimberley** » Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:15 pm

Hi all!

Nahky, I think you're very wise to keep at the exercising, bothat the gym and the ones your doing for your jaw. I started going to the gym a year before my surgery & have gained a lot of strength & lost about 40 lbs. I have more to lose but it was a good start (I don't think the 13 lbs I lost after surgery will stay off in the short term, your body kind of goes into sarvation mode). But the healthier and stronger you are, the faster you'll recover. Even being younger than I am will likely ensure that you recover more quickly. I was talking to one lady whose son had the surgery done and in two weeks was playing hockey again!

Anyway, I can't wait until I feel I have enough energy to return to the gym. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss it. I might even start going as soon as Monday. Even if I can't do what I was before the surgery, it'll be a good effort to get my strength back up.

I went to see the Doc today and he took the acrylic off my top brackets. I go to see the Ortho tomorrow morning to get a new top wire. I hope it's not too tight, I'm kind of enjoying this whole eating thing again.

The surgeon said he might want to take the screws out of my bottom jaw in a month. I didn't realize that he might have to do this. I guess it's just two small incisions but I'm not looking forward to that. In any case, not all people need them to come out, so here's hoping I don't. And, if I do, I'm sure it's far from what I've done already. No big deal, right?

Kimberley

#12 Post by **kimmielou** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:16 pm

I had surgery on my upper and lower jaws 15 years ago. I was told that I would have to wear braces for 18 months. 12 months before jaw surgery and 6 months after surgery. At the age of 17 one before going away to college my bother told me I had and appointment with the orthodontist to get a retainer. I had been evaluated by an othodontist at age 15. Well to make a long story short I showed up for my appointment to get retainers. I found out once I was in the chair that I was getting a full mouth of metal not a retainer. I allowed the othodontist to start my treatment that day. I was fitted with brackets and spacers. Two weeks later the arch wires and powers chains were put on. I had a pain for a few days and never had pain after any of my adjustments.

I wore braces 3 years before my surgery and for an additional 2 years after my jaw surgery.

After my jaw surgery I woke up with my mouth wired shut and a tube down my nose. My face was swollen for several weeks. It was strange because I didn't have any pain. I didn't ask for any pain medication because I didn't have any pain. My mouth was wired shut for 8 weeks. I was told that I would be wired shut for six weeks and I would be set free. I returned to college that fall with my mouth wired shut. When the wires were finally removed after 8 weeks I was glad.

I return for a 2 week follow up appointment with my oral surgeon and he wired my mouth shut again for another two weeks. I had somehow knocked my jaw out of wack again. To make things worst I played the violin and this was what knocked my jaw out of wack.

After he set me free again my jaw was locked and he had to forced it open slowly every two weeks. At night I had to wire my mouth shut with rubber bands at night.

My upper and lower jaw surgey was due to an open bite. I never had to were a headgear just rubber bands occassionaly.

I' m glad that I had my jaw surgery because I can eat corn on the cob and eat sandwiches with meat normally. Which was a problem for me before the surgery because of the open bite.

I'm glad that you didn't have an experance like I had. My oral surgeon said that he had never had a case like mind.

#13 Post by **Kimberley** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:37 pm

Hi Kimmielou,

Sounds like you had quite an ordeal all those years ago. I'm glad to hear though that after all that you're still happy with the results. I think a lot has changed over the last 15 years. I remember a fellow student in junior high going through jaw surgery & it was very difficult for her. Even braces have changed a lot since I was a teenager. I was expecting a lot more discomfort from both having braces and the surgery.

I must admit that I'll be happy when it's all said and done, the braces are off & I'm in a retainer. But so far, so good. I think it worked out well that I got this all done as an adult, I don't know if I would have handled it as well as a teenager. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for you to be college with all that going on, college is enough of an adjustment in one's life. You must be one tough cookie. My hat's off to you!

Kimberley

#14 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 4:20 pm

Yup! This is exactly what my OS does. He told me I would be very lightly banded when I have my jaw surgery. No splits etc, and that I will be able to eat soft foods as soon as I'm awake. He said no liquid diet is required.

Brandy

#15 Post by **Kimberley** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 4:22 pm

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted in awhile and thought an update was in order. It's been almost three months since my surgery and things are coming along nicely. I had to get my screws & plates from my lower jaw out on Friday. I hadthe choice of putting put under for it or just getting freezing. I was brave and opted for the freezing. It was fine actually, though I had my doubts just before he started... There was some pressure but not really any pain. It was over with in about 30 minutes and I was on my way home. There was some swelling but it's pretty much gone now and healing nicely. I didn't even need the T3's he prescribed.

I am going to need a gum graft on one tooth, on the right top side - next to where he made the cut and put the bone from my hip in. Not looking forward to that but it should be fine.

Anyway, good luck to those who are heading in for surgery soon!
Keep in touch,
Kim