Surgery on 13 March
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CeramicLisa
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2007 9:26 pm
- Location: New Mexico, USA
Surgery on 13 March -- On the Other Side!
Hey all,
The surgery is behind me and I've been concentrating, the first few days, on just recovering.
I have just posted a bit on my Blog about the time in the hospital (with a few photos) and will be posting more in the next couple of days about life after surgery.
-Bill
http://semper-braces.blogspot.com
The surgery is behind me and I've been concentrating, the first few days, on just recovering.
I have just posted a bit on my Blog about the time in the hospital (with a few photos) and will be posting more in the next couple of days about life after surgery.
-Bill
http://semper-braces.blogspot.com
Meryaten, thanks for the well wishes. I just posted a bit more on my Blog about my post surgery recovery (along with a few more pictures).
When I think about it, the only area during the recovery phase that hasn't gone as smoothly as I'd hoped it would is breathing. My dental issues caused me to be a mouth breather so all of the heavy banding and slight issues with breathing through my nose had me in a mild state of panic Wednesday night (first night home). I simply felt that I wasn't getting enough air through the nasal passageways regardless of how deeply I breathed. I had used the Afrin and Ocean Nasal sprays so the nasal passageways were clear ... for me, it just seemed that I labored entirely too hard to get a decent amount of air.
For sure it was largely psychological and that has pretty much passed now.
Now it seems that my mouth is going into over-drive when creating saliva. This is a problem at night when I have to keep swallowing (what seems like) all of the time. Not sure if you experienced this or not ... it's a very odd sensation to have your jaws heavily banded shut and then feel the sensation that you've got water going into your lungs.
When I think about it, the only area during the recovery phase that hasn't gone as smoothly as I'd hoped it would is breathing. My dental issues caused me to be a mouth breather so all of the heavy banding and slight issues with breathing through my nose had me in a mild state of panic Wednesday night (first night home). I simply felt that I wasn't getting enough air through the nasal passageways regardless of how deeply I breathed. I had used the Afrin and Ocean Nasal sprays so the nasal passageways were clear ... for me, it just seemed that I labored entirely too hard to get a decent amount of air.
For sure it was largely psychological and that has pretty much passed now.
Now it seems that my mouth is going into over-drive when creating saliva. This is a problem at night when I have to keep swallowing (what seems like) all of the time. Not sure if you experienced this or not ... it's a very odd sensation to have your jaws heavily banded shut and then feel the sensation that you've got water going into your lungs.
Bill - congratulations on the successfull surgery and wish u quick recovery...btw, i'm also having surgery in the northern virginia area in about two weeks...hopefully mine will go as well as yours
question about the breathing since I think I have the same problem as you of being a mouth breather...were u able to breath at all through your mouth? and did you find any remedies for the breathing problems?
question about the breathing since I think I have the same problem as you of being a mouth breather...were u able to breath at all through your mouth? and did you find any remedies for the breathing problems?
Agentzero - thanks for the well wishes.
I was "edge-on-edge" with a left-side crossbite that prevented me from unconsciously keeping my mouth closed when I slept.
It's not that there was major congestion after the surgery, there wasn't. I think that all my years of being a mouth-breather have conditioned me to breathe through my mouth when I sleep due to my previous jaw alignment. The tight banding plus the swelling pretty much prevents me from breathing through my mouth ... although I'm able to if I want / need to and it's much easier to breathe through my nose.
I generally have no problems throughout the day. It's at night when the problems sometimes arise. Last night for example ... took forever for me to fall asleep. When I did I had a dream that I was lying on the beach and the sand and water started to turn into cement around my head and face. I was struggling to breathe and just barely able to get air. I woke myself from the dream and it turns out I was again trying to breathe through my mouth rather than my nose.
I have a post-surgery appointment tomorrow and I'm going to bring up this issue with my surgeons. I'm hoping they will decide to loosen the bands. If not, I'm going to ask for something to at least help me sleep.
-Bill
http://semper-braces.blogspot.com
I was "edge-on-edge" with a left-side crossbite that prevented me from unconsciously keeping my mouth closed when I slept.
It's not that there was major congestion after the surgery, there wasn't. I think that all my years of being a mouth-breather have conditioned me to breathe through my mouth when I sleep due to my previous jaw alignment. The tight banding plus the swelling pretty much prevents me from breathing through my mouth ... although I'm able to if I want / need to and it's much easier to breathe through my nose.
I generally have no problems throughout the day. It's at night when the problems sometimes arise. Last night for example ... took forever for me to fall asleep. When I did I had a dream that I was lying on the beach and the sand and water started to turn into cement around my head and face. I was struggling to breathe and just barely able to get air. I woke myself from the dream and it turns out I was again trying to breathe through my mouth rather than my nose.
I have a post-surgery appointment tomorrow and I'm going to bring up this issue with my surgeons. I'm hoping they will decide to loosen the bands. If not, I'm going to ask for something to at least help me sleep.
-Bill
http://semper-braces.blogspot.com
Agentzero,
I wouldn't start stressing over what I've been experiencing. I've basically had a couple of experiences this past week that, in the grand scheme of things, are minor in nature. And like I said, during the day I've experience absolutely no problems with my breathing. The rest of my recovery is going great and, once the bands are loosened a bit, I expect my anxiety over the breathing aspect to resolve itself.
By the way, immediately after the surgery and for the first night I wasn't banded nearly so tightly as I am now. It was the following morning that the Surgeons decided to use the tighter bands due to the lower jaw wanting to try and revert back to its former position. After all is said and done, you may not need to be as tightly banded and your worries for naught.
As to the hospital, I had my orthodontic treatment at the National Naval Medical Center Bethesda, Maryland. Worked out well for me as I'm in the Marine Corps and able to qualify for the Naval Orthodontic Program.
Keep us posted on your surgery date ... might be I can swing by the hospital while you're there.
-Bill
http://semper-braces.blogspot.com
I wouldn't start stressing over what I've been experiencing. I've basically had a couple of experiences this past week that, in the grand scheme of things, are minor in nature. And like I said, during the day I've experience absolutely no problems with my breathing. The rest of my recovery is going great and, once the bands are loosened a bit, I expect my anxiety over the breathing aspect to resolve itself.
By the way, immediately after the surgery and for the first night I wasn't banded nearly so tightly as I am now. It was the following morning that the Surgeons decided to use the tighter bands due to the lower jaw wanting to try and revert back to its former position. After all is said and done, you may not need to be as tightly banded and your worries for naught.
As to the hospital, I had my orthodontic treatment at the National Naval Medical Center Bethesda, Maryland. Worked out well for me as I'm in the Marine Corps and able to qualify for the Naval Orthodontic Program.
Keep us posted on your surgery date ... might be I can swing by the hospital while you're there.
-Bill
http://semper-braces.blogspot.com