So freaking nervous!

[Tuxkeeper]

So I am supposed to be having orthoganthic surgery to correct an open bite. Date has not been set yet, but my ortho is saying probably later in the summer. In a nutshell, I am scared out of my wits!!!!
I am scared of the surgery itself, I am not looking forward to being in the hospital (oral surgeon said at our consultation that it will be 2-3 days in the hospital for me), I am dreading the recovery, the swelling, the bleeding, the pain, the sleeplessness, the not being able to eat any "real" food, etc etc.
Wow, could I be any more negative? Lol! I keep telling myself to keep my eyes on the prize...perfect bite and perfect teeth, which I've never had. Finally I will be able to smile at people and not feel self-conscious!
Any positive feedback or a pep talk would be appreciated

[moonpie]

Hi!

I'm sorry I am not post-surgery so I can't give you a happy story about how easy my recover was or how wonderful it is on "the other side." I just wanted to tell you that you are not alone. I'm having my surgery in a couple of weeks to correct my open bite, and when I start imagining the surgery and the days immediately after, I also get scared out of my wits! I

When I first got my surgery date, I was ecstatic. I had been waiting years to be ready for surgery, but then that feeling wore off and was promptly replaced by nerves!! I can tell you that, as I get closer and closer to my surgery date, I have gotten increasingly obsessed and reading everything I can get my hands on. This has kind of only exacerbated my nerves, so I am trying really hard to distract myself with things besides reading and thinking about surgery. When I do think about the surgery, I'm trying to focus on all the positive things that will eventually come of it--like biting into pizza and sandwiches and not having a big gaping hole when I try to smile! Oh, it also helps (me, at least) to think about having time spent aside to relax, watch movies, read books, and hopefully enjoy smoothies and milkshakes. I try to look for silver linings, and this is a nice one for me because lately I have not had a lot of lounging time for myself.

Anyway, after reading tons of orthoblogs and asking questions from post-surgery people, it seems that for most people the worst parts of the experience are over in the span of a few days. I am sure post-surgery folks can chime in with more helpful feedback here. Best of luck to you!!!

[geordie999]

You're not alone being anxious - and it's perfectly normal. I have an open bite as well and have a second operation planned for next year - which I'm now far less anxious about. For the first operation I was very anxious as well in the days before my surgery, which was late May. It had been planned for about six months before but I'd been really busy up to about a week before - then the nerves hit. You start reading about the surgery on sites like this and (for me) the incredibly small number of complications that people talk about started to stand out above the large number of success stories. However, the day that I checked in I was surprisingly calm - again for me. I was never alone from the time I checked in. There were always nurses checking up on me or asking me questions. They will ask you a lot of questions.

Post-recovery you'll be in a bit of drug haze but for me it wore off quite quickly and I actually watched TV most of the night and even remembered the Fringe season finale. One piece of advice is to prep your caregiver for what you are going to look like post-surgery - expect to be bruised, nosebleeds, and possibly blood on your teeth. It isn't a lot of blood but I don't think many caregivers expect it. And in my case I didn't feel any pain at all only a little pressure from the bruising - but I regularly took my pain meds, sudafed, and antibiotics - which really work.

And a soft diet ain't so bad. I got quite adept at making smoothies and shakes, and quite quickly started putting little bits of bread into soup to get more carbohydrates. Fusion V8 was a tasty way to add vegetables and about three weeks out I was eating turkey sandwiches on soft bread - so nearly back to a regular diet. In no time at all you'll feel like the surgery never happened and you'll have a great (somewhat gross) story to tell people My operation has already made a huge difference and I'm glad I did it.

[bb]

Some people have an easy time post op so hopefully you will be one of them. You may have pain but who knows- it may not be severe as you think it may be.
Discuss pain medication before your operation.