my underbite surgery diary with pics

[saabdel]

well this is my underbite surgery story
i am an 18 year old turning 19 in september. I live in toronto, canada.

this is me the day before the surgery







Day of surgery: May 15th


My surgery started at 8, so I was asked to get to the hospital at 6:30. Sign in with the nurses, who rechecked my vital sign (blood pressure and heart rate). I wasnt nervous at all. So then I had to change into hospital cloth and wait for the nurses to take me to the operating room. When I got the OR I met my surgeon and anestiologist. It wasnt long before I dosed off. The surgery took about 3 and half hours. I remember waking up around 1h30 in another room with the tubes in my nose. Removing them felt really awkward as I could feel blood rushing in my nose. IT was pretty painful at that time until they gave me some morphine. I was then moved to my room. I had my family and friends there. My first day was my least painful and I could actually talk pretty easily. Every one left around 7- 9pm. That is when things started getting pretty bad, more pain (jaw, nose and eyes) and nausea when ever I got up to go the washroom. I told them and they brought me nausea medicine which helped a lot. The first night was pretty horrible though as I could not find a comfortable position and I was awake all night and the max dose of morphine they gave me wasnt enough I found. Also an annoying thing about the nurses at first, would be that I would call them using the nurse button, and I would hear them trough the interphone .how can we help you?; but since I couldnt talk no one would show up, then they realized my condition and came as soon as I rang the bell.




Day 2: may 16th



The next day my dad came to visit around 7. He brought me mirror, at this point I looked like a 400 pound man, because of all the swelling. (I will be attaching pics)
At 7:30 the surgeon came and said that everything went really well and asked us to get an appointment on Thursday to put elastics. Around 9 the dietician came and told us what I should be eating the next 10 days and gave us papers with lots of ideas. I was then discharged from the hospital after I received a shot in my leg with long lasting effect. On our way home my dad picked up the medication which consisted of codeine, antibiotics and a nasal spray. It was nice to be back home but it was really hard with the swelling and the lack of fluids that provided the ivy. I had chicken broth, water, different juices and milkshakes. The second night was a little bit better, I still had problems sleeping but I managed to catch a few hours (3-4) during the night. The pain wasn’t so bad.




after i got home


Day 3: may 17th

It seems like every morning its hard to shallow as the mouth is fairly dry which is pretty annoying. The pain is very present at times. I have to learn to avoid the comedy channel as laughing can be very painful. Also at times you might want to cry because of the pain but really avoid it as it was extremely painful in my case in the area right above my upper lip. It felt like that area was tearing apart, and the pain didnt help me with stopping crying, so I put an ice pack on the area and tried to relax.
Thank god my family is by my side at all times, making me food, getting me things, helping me up. (Because I am still dizzy when I get up to the washroom etc..

Day 4: may 18th
Once again I didnt sleep at all last night so it sucked; That morning I had an appointment with my surgeon at 8 am to have x-rays done and to put rubber bands. This made things really bad, as I could no longer open my mouth, talk and it restricted my diet even more. It also created a new element of fear, as it was harder to breath but the worse was that I was scared of having to throw up and not be able to cut them in time. But it s still better then having my jaws wired shut. The surgeon also told me that day, that it would be my worse day pain wise and that I should bare with him (but I seems to me that he says that every time he sees me lol )So I spent the day adjusting to these elastics trying to deal with the pain.

Day 5:
Things are similar to day 4, things seem to be getting a Little bit better.
I started turning yellow ( cheeks, neck and upper chest)

One of the worst things so far were the nights, i hate them, i usualy want the day to last as long as possible, because at night everyone is sleeping, and i just stare , try to watch tv, it s like i am neva completly sleeping cuz of the discomfort, breathing, stomach and face aches.


Day 6: may 20th
The swelling went down at this point but I am still really swelled. I am not taking as much pain medicine as I used to the past few days, because it causes lots of stomach pain and also because the thing tastes nasty (codeine, the antibiotics tastes really good though).
This is the first night I actually slept a full night.


Day 7: may 21th
Well this was an exiting day as there was daylight in the house when I opened my eyes which meant I slept almost all night. But this day was pain energy wise as I could not seem to get enough food in. I also had some pain crisis moments when it felt that my jaws and the part was killing me. I am really glad that my parents are with me at all times, and this is a long weekend. I am getting tired of juices and shakes. And all I could find are these 10-20cc syringues with long tubes. (Open to suggestions for food ideas and delivery methods to the mouth)
walking around is getting much easier, altough i still get dizzy after a while but thas probably due to the lack of energy



i am sorry about the ugly pics, i wasnt exatly when they were taking, and i didnt take ne between day 3 and 5

Also I didnt talk much about numbness but it seems that I wont have much permanent loss, my chin is little tingly but it seems like I can feel it, the only problem I see at this point is that I cant really feel the left side of my lower lip. I guess we will see how this progresses with time. (my lips are HUGE right now)
Ice really helped me with the the pain , brusiing and swelling

I am still yellow too. As u can see from todays pic.

Ill keep updating day after day with pictures.
I know i have made it seem like a horrible time, which is partilly true, but whenever i think of i am gonna like soon, it makes it all worth it.

[nahky]

saabdel,

Thankyou SO much for telling your story and providing pictures!

Im having surgery in 2 days for my underbite, this experience of your is invaluable to me. Im 18 aswell and turning 19 in November.

Can i ask what you had exactly done to you? Lower retraction? uppers moved forward?

Congrats on crossing over to the other side to become a post-opper!
You seem like you're doing really well...

[saabdel]

thanks,

well, i had my upper jaw moved forward and up and i had my lower jaw pulled back as well.

i am also feeling a little better today, It s now been exatly a week.
my mom drove to the hospital and picked up a big syringe (60 ml) which is a big difference.

GOOD LUCK with your surgery,
looking forward to read your own diary about how well you are doing

[Teigyr]

saabdel,

Congrats for making it to the other side! Thanks for the pictures also, I kind of was a slacker in that regard -- I'm exactly two weeks post-op.

You will notice changes daily now. I know it's difficult at first but every day will be a bit better and the swelling will decrease rapidly. The yellow takes a while to go away, I found that to be the ugliest part of it all.

I found blended meals can be really good. I really liked scrambled eggs & corned beef hash, oddly enough. I can eat soft foods now and I've even been to a few restaurants

As you feel better, I think it is good to not push it. I tend to feel fantastic one day and do too much then I am just dragging the next day. Last night was the first night, by the way, I slept ALL night!!! I can even sleep on my side!! I know what you mean about nights though -- I was sleeping 3-4 hours a night.

Good luck and let us know how you're doing!

Jane

[saabdel]

hey teygir thanks for the encouragments, i wish you the same.

Here is a pic from yesterday after taking a shower to show that the yelow bruising goes down all the way to my lower chest. It s kinda hard to see but it s there


Today i am feeling much better and it seems like i have lots of energy ans there is a lot less yellow.
I am starting to notice differences between my left side and right side which is kinda weird feeling wise. It seems like the feeling has come back to my right lower lip and chin, but not my left lower lip chin. It feels really weird. My left side (cheeks etc) is also more swelled.

i ll keep posting updates as times goes by as well as pics.

[Teigyr]

saabdel,

I hear that can happen with sides. One side was fantastic, the other side was more numb (though I was lucky because I never got really numb, it just tingled), the ear hurt, it felt like a tooth was being yanked out by one of the bands...the list goes on. I also had a dark bruise on that side of my chin and my lip was a lot more scabbed on that side.

When I saw the OS for my follow-up, I asked him about it because I thought maybe one side was more work than the other. He said that it just works out that way...generally one side hurts a lot more than the other for no reason. I'm still not convinced that he didn't kick me when I was under anesthetic

You're looking great! I know it seems like you are so swollen but someone would only know that if they saw you before.

I bet the yellow moves on pretty quickly. You look like you're recovering so fast!

Jane

[nvcarissa]

saabdel,

Thanks for posting all the picks of your progress. It really helps me to get an idea of what to expect. It looks like you are progressing nicely. Have you been for your follow-up with your OS yet?

[saabdel]

DAY 10:

thanks,
yea things seem to be getting better are days go, i never seem hungre anymore as i seem to get in enough calories.

i will post pics tomorow i havent really changed since the last pic. The swelling is still rather high.

I am going for my second post op tonight with my OS so i will lett you guys know what he says. In my first one he just took xrays, said things are going well; He also put rubber bands.'

[Chris87]

Thanks for the pics, I will be having the same thing done in a few months so to see the results is most....erm.....reassuring

Looks sore lol.

[saabdel]

yea its now better day after day,
i am starting to dring from glasses as it is much faster to get in liquids lol. i didnt realise that could before, and it does feel weird since my jaws are shut together with rubber bands right now.
the swelling is still there but i guess a tiny bit less, especally the lips which are almost back to normal size. i will post pics later on in the day.

ciao.

[lemonlyme]

yea its now better day after day,
i am starting to dring from glasses as it is much faster to get in liquids lol. i didnt realise that could before, and it does feel weird since my jaws are shut together with rubber bands right now.
the swelling is still there but i guess a tiny bit less, especally the lips which are almost back to normal size. i will post pics later on in the day.

ciao.

I'm eager to see new pics!! how are things moving along?

[M1k3y]

Oooooooooh my god. Bless your heart for going through all this. In the end it will be all worth it.

[saabdel]

hey guys,

Just letting you guys know that it has been about 25 days now i am doing much better. i can rremove the elastic bands to eat. My diet is still consits of food that i dont need to chew. (soups, mashpapato, cereal that is soft, oatmeal, etc...)
My swelling has gone down A LOT, i ll post a picture tomorow. Before my whole face was swelled but now it s only my upper cheeks. My mom calls me hamster. Also i cannot open my mouth really wide. a tiny bit over a finger and a half.

i ll post pics later on,
ciao

[louloubelle]

I just want to say Welldone
for being so brave throughout the days after the surgery
I'm 14 and have to have surgery for my underbite
im really scared that the pain will be really bad
and that I wont be able to breathe AND..
that i will loose lots of weight after the operation
Im guess i am glad because after the surgery once the bruising
and swelling has gone down I will be able too start getting that
nice smile i've always wanted
I just wondered if you had any tips me
e.g- any ways to help the pain
whats the worst big about the operation ?
do the rubber bands hurt
and like how long do you have to stay at home for
oh AND.. were you ever actually sick when it happend (vomiting)
PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEASE WRITE BACK
ITS REALLY IMPORTANT


xx

[R88]

louloubelle:

Everyone's experience is different, but speaking for myself...

I'm 2.5 weeks into recovering from lower jaw surgery and I've found it to be not a big deal at all. The pain was not nearly as bad as you'd imagine it would be. There is some discomfort and soreness, but for me at least it was very minor. In fact I usually have parts of my body that hurt worse from working out, sports injuries, etc... Most people who have gone through this will tell you that the pain is not that bad. I found that ice helped me a lot initially, but I switched to heat after 3-4 days. My best tip is to get one of those ice bags (just a nylon bag that you put water in and freeze, I picked mine up at the local drug store) then mix up some water and rubbing alcohol and put it in the freezer for a few hours. The alcohol will lower the freezing point of the water so it can get really cold without turning into ice. Then when you apply it to your face it's softer and more pliable and will mold to your sweeling better.

Breathing for me has not been an issue at all (and I'm wired completely shut) if you're having upper jaw surgery I understand that can interfere with breathing more, but there are literally 1000's of people who have this done every year around the world, and they all manage just fine without suffocating.

I felt fantastic physically almost immediately. My swelling was bad from about day 3-7 but by day 10 is was 80% gone. Now that I'm 2 weeks out it's almost completly gone. I needed to stay home for 3-4 days. After that I started going out for errands, taking walks around the track at the gym, etc... by day 6-7 I was back to living life pretty normally. But I seem to have had a much better experience than most people.

I was never sick, they have great medicine to prevent nausea.

The worst part about the operation for me was the anesthesia. That stuff was not fun.

Most people lose some weight, but they seem to put it back on pretty easily. Honestly I'm don't know how they even lose weight. As I mentioned I'm fully wired shut and can't have anything that isn't completely liquid. I have no problem getting enough calories. In fact I was eating too much and actually gaining weight! It definitely takes some adjustment, but if you know a little big about nutrition and commit yourself to making sure your body gets enough food/calories it really isn't a problem.

Typically I mix up any of the following and I have no problem getting 500-600 calories per milkshake:
Milk
Protein Powder
Peanut Butter
Cereal (Cheerios)
Yogurt
Pudding
Ice-Cream
Cottage Cheese
Olive oil
Applesauce
Juice
Pie Filling
Graham Crackers

Pick a few of those, ingredients, blend them up and drink 3 shakes a day, add a few cans of blended up soups and some glasses of juice into your diet and you'll have more than enough nutrition.

And if you're not wired shut like me, you'll have even more options to choose from.