Skitters 3 days out LEFORT 1 & BSSO

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#31 Post by **chicago29** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:13 am

I am right there too...I am on Day 3 post-op SARPE with MSDO. Can I just say I HATE THIS SWELLING! What makes it so bad in my case is I got an upper and lower hyrax in two days prior to the surgery, and I was salivating terribly anyway.

Now, I am all swollen, and I drool constantly. Frustrating yes, but certainly nothing I won't be having a laugh over soon.

Hope you're feeling better yourself and glad to see you're back at work.

#32 Post by **Skitters** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:21 pm

Day 25

I feel your pain chicago!! Hang in there!!!

I had my second post op appointment with my surgeon yesterday and he seems very pleased. He checked the incisions in my mouth and cut the ends of some of the stitches out for me. Apparently everything looks clean and is healing fine. He commented on how "puffy" my face still is, but explained it's normal since my surgery was about 6 hours long and very complex.

I THINK some of my feeling is coming back. I've been numb from my eyes down and now I notice that I can feel alittle under my eyes when I touch there. Not quite normal sensation, but I can tell something is touching my face. Gotta start somewhere right! I have been having the tingles in my bottom lip and chin for quite some time now, although I don't notice any changes in their condition.

The doctor has given me an excercise to do for my ROM that called the cross finger stretch. Right now I only have one finger ROM. He also said I'm now allowed VERY soft chew, but since my mouth doesn't open very far, I'm still just swallowing the food in small pieces. I am on light duty at work for about another month, ugh. He did give me the go-ahead to start some light carrying though, so I was able to get out and do some deliveries today which was great....I feel like such a bum not doing anything productive.

Here's some new pics from today. Notice my wonky smile due to the increased swelling in my right side. I call that my "chubby girl cheek"

.

#33 Post by **switchblades** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:18 pm

Wow, coming along great! You can hardly tell from the left side that you had anything done!

Good luck with your return to carrying at work!

#34 Post by **Skitters** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 12:07 pm

Day 28

Thanks for the confidence boost switchblades!

Woohoo! It's been 4 weeks since surgery. For being fairly miserable, the time sure did fly

Not really any changes the last few days. Still swollen (I look exhausted in the pics but it's just the swelling giving me "bags" under my eyes ) and numb, but also still making a tiny bit of progress every day, so I'll keep pushing on. Here's my "chubby girl cheeks" at the 4 week mark...one relaxed and one with my best effort at a smile!

#35 Post by **Esoteric** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 1:11 pm

So that's what 4 weeks looks like huh. That's how many weeks off m doctor said that I would take off after my surgery. You've been back to work already though if I read right.

#36 Post by **Skitters** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 6:03 pm

Day 31

I had another appointment with the ortho today. He again let me go with no bands...yay! I feel VERY lucky to have made it through the first month of double jaw surgery recovery with absolutely NO wires or bands. He did however frustrate me a bit. The surgeon told me last week he was very impressed with how well I have been cleaning my teeth. The ortho today kind of scolded me for not cleaning the very back teeth as well as I should. Does he realize I can't get a tooth brush to my very back teeth and that I still have stitches back there that the surgeon told me to be careful of? Ugh Also, he took off two brackets that had come off of my teeth (one on each side...the top ones on my last molars) and it felt like he was breaking my bottom jaw all over again.

Not a pleasant appointment.

Despite these small frustrations, I have to admit and be happy that I've had a pretty easy recovery considering what I went through. Here are a couple pics from today. That wonky smile is still there. Can anyone give me an idea of when to expect the swelling to go down enough that I have full movement of my mouth? I was expecting to be at that point already, but no such luck.

Day 31

#37 Post by **Skitters** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:20 pm

5 Weeks!

I can't believe it's been 5 weeks already. (I think I just said that not too long ago on the 4 week mark) Not much has changed that I can notice. I still have more swelling than I thought I'd have at this point, but oh well. Because of the swelling, I still have a very unnatural smile. My ROM has not increased even with the excercises. My lower lip and chin are still totally numb, but tingling. On the up side, I'm 5 weeks into this recovery and having no major problems. I'll just try to contain my frustration and hopefully things keep progressing smoothly!

Here are my 5 wk pics with a relaxed mouth (my lips still don't touch, I'm HOPING due to the swelling) and my still-wonky smile.

#38 Post by **Figamentation** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 3:59 pm

I'm 3 months out post lefort and bsso and I still have a wonky smile that looks very unnatural to me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it eventually will look better once my swelling has completely subsided.

Have you addressed the lip incompetence with the surgeon? He may recommend that you do upper lip stretching exercises (which I still do every day) and they definitely seem to make a difference in the quality of my resting lips. I think there's a couple of posts on this board with recommended exercises.

#39 Post by **New Yorker** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:34 pm

Patience is key. I had my surgery over a decade ago, but looking back at pictures of myself taken in the year after the surgery, I now see that it really took about a year for my "new" face to emerge. You will grow increasingly happier with the results, I assure you.

My advice is to resist the temptation to look at your face every hour. In the end, it's your interior state that will show on your face. Nothing is more beautiful than a person who radiates compassion, generosity, and kindness. Be grateful for the healthy new jaw that will help you to chew your food more effectively...and to speak your truth.

Good luck!

#40 Post by **Esoteric** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 2:26 pm

^ that's some good advice right there.

#41 Post by **Skitters** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 10:48 am

Just a quick picture update. My computer was down for awhile and I fell behind, but here is a new picture at 8 weeks. The changes are now so subtle that it's hard to notice much. The only numbness I now I have is the left side of my bottom lip and chin and I'm officially allowed to chew again. Yay! I'm going to try to post of pre-op pictures so you can see what dramatic change there is to my smile.

8 Weeks

#42 Post by **Skitters** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 6:25 pm

Thought it's about time I updated my drama for everyone. At my ortho appointment last week I had good and bad news.

Bad news...I have an abcess on my lower molar. He removed the band and I am now waiting to go back to my surgeon's office to have some deep tissue scaling done on Friday. That along with antibiotics will HOPEFULLY take care of everything. Always something....

Good news....On October 8 the braces come off!!! I won't be completely finished with treatment however. I will be using a "finisher" for a while before the retainer stage, but that is something I will be able to remove to eat and clean my teeth so YAY!

I still have a numb chin and lower lip and it feels like both are being stretched all the time, but I remain hopeful that feeling will return. There are tingles so something has got to happen sooner or later.

The muscle relaxers and physical therapy have my ROM at about 35 mm which isn't quite where I was pre op, but is definately at a functional level.

All in all I'm happy I went through everything and though it doesn't seem like it at the time, the recovery really does fly by. It's amazing that I'm going on 8 months since surgery. I was really stressing about it at this time last year and now it's all behind me.

I will get some new photos uploaded soon. Thanks to everyone!

#43 Post by **OzzysMom** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:31 pm

Hi Skitters, I've been thinking about you so I'm glad you posted. My, we both seem to have similar situations as I also had to have a molar band removed and a bit of perio work and scaling done as well. I'm also on antibiotics for perio infection w/Doxycycline hyclate. It doesn't look like all my gum issues will be resolved until the braces come off though. My lower lip feels like it's still being stretched too. I hope that feeling stops soon. Thanks again for posting as I know I'm not the only one going through this.
Congrats on your braces being removed soon......and your braces are scheduled to come off on my 1 yr surgery anniversary.....only I'll still be wearing mine.
Take care and continued healing blessings!