Metal Mouth Message Board

Our 13 year old son's surgery was scheduled for July, but was cancelled because Dr. O'Ryan injured her arm and cancelled all her summer surgeries.

We switched to a new oral surgeon and have a surgery date of 8/16.

Initially Dr. O'Ryan said he would have upper/lower/genio, but this new surgeon says he thinks he can do it without involving the lower jaw.

We saw a computer simulation this morning and WOW! our son is going to look very different. He is so excited.

Any other August surgeries out there?

Josh's mom

Hello!
I'm 18 and having my jaw surgery on the same day as your son, 8/16. I'm having upper/lower/genio. I will pray for a quick and easy recovery for your son!

Aug 11th here!

Josh's Mom - if you don't mind me asking, who is you son's new surgeon? Thanks!

Thinking about making youtube videos of my journey through the surgery.

I will have a double jaw surgery on August 26th in Montreal to fix an overbite/open bite. Too lazy to make youtube videos... but might take pictures every day to document the whole journey.

Josh'smom wrote:Our 13 year old son's surgery was scheduled for July, but was cancelled because Dr. O'Ryan injured her arm and cancelled all her summer surgeries.

We switched to a new oral surgeon and have a surgery date of 8/16.

Initially Dr. O'Ryan said he would have upper/lower/genio, but this new surgeon says he thinks he can do it without involving the lower jaw.

We saw a computer simulation this morning and WOW! our son is going to look very different. He is so excited.

Any other August surgeries out there?

Josh's mom

Not an August buddy, but just want to wish your son good luck with his surgery! Finally!

New Surgeon is Dr. John Dann

http://www.omslafayette.com/index.html

He is about as opposite Dr. O'Ryan as you can get.

Dr. O'Ryan is this tiny dynamo of a woman with a big personality and fills a room the moment she enters. Oh and always wears great shoes. Tee hee..

Dr. Dann is this old man with a very dry personality, but is well published and has done 1000's of these surgeries. Dr. O'Ryan actually trained under him "back in the day". He sat knee to knee with our son and made him look him in the eye and tell him why HE wanted this surgery. While it made Josh uncomfortable in the moment, he really appreciated being asked and talked TO. Usually doctor's talk mainly to the parents like the kid isn't sitting right there!

He gets the hooks on the 9th and a big physical/pre-op on the 10th.

Thanks for the support Viking Girl! How are you?

braceface23 wrote:Thinking about making youtube videos of my journey through the surgery.

I say go for it! Our family will be a fan!

Josh'smom wrote:New Surgeon is Dr. John Dann

http://www.omslafayette.com/index.html

He is about as opposite Dr. O'Ryan as you can get.

Dr. O'Ryan is this tiny dynamo of a woman with a big personality and fills a room the moment she enters. Oh and always wears great shoes. Tee hee..

Dr. Dann is this old man with a very dry personality, but is well published and has done 1000's of these surgeries. Dr. O'Ryan actually trained under him "back in the day". He sat knee to knee with our son and made him look him in the eye and tell him why HE wanted this surgery. While it made Josh uncomfortable in the moment, he really appreciated being asked and talked TO. Usually doctor's talk mainly to the parents like the kid isn't sitting right there!

He gets the hooks on the 9th and a big physical/pre-op on the 10th.

Thanks for the support Viking Girl! How are you?

I'm fine! Thank you! I just find it interesting, the case of your son. It's such a big surgery for a young boy. Being talked to probably made him feel very mature, a good boost for his self-esteem

It is a big surgery, we know.

It was actually quite affirming to end up needing to switch surgeons which basically gave us a second opinion. He concurs that it is an appropriate surgery to do at this point. He does want to try and not involve the lower chin because he says he will most likely need a second surgery when he is older.

The fact that Kaiser approved the surgery without blinking and when their surgeon had to cancel and then they let us go outside of Kaiser and pick anyone we wanted to at their expense also speaks to the quality of life challenges that our son faces. (sorry for the run on sentence, I'm too tired to edit.)

My niece had upper jaw surgery last year at 19 and was out the door meeting her friends at Big Boys after only 8 days. I just have to think the younger you are the faster you bounce back! We'll see.

So, my surgery was tuesday the 3. I am 3 days post-op. I am home from the hospital today and feeling a little better. I have a lot of swelling. My face under eyes to upper lip is completley numb. When I get up and down, I find it a lil hard to breath. i think because my nose it really congested with blood and such. My dad is going to call them this morning and ask a few questions. I am wired shut with splint, which is awful. I can not talk at all. I have to write everything down, which is annoying. anyways good luck to everyone!

I'm 7 days post op. I had upper/lower/genio. I was pretty miserable for the first three days, but am feeling better.

Jessica, I am also wired shut with a splint. I actually found trying to talk and not being understood was the worst. So frustrating. But I got better at "talking" and my parents got better at understanding after the first few days.

Jessica37769 wrote:So, my surgery was tuesday the 3. I am 3 days post-op. I am home from the hospital today and feeling a little better. I have a lot of swelling. My face under eyes to upper lip is completley numb. When I get up and down, I find it a lil hard to breath. i think because my nose it really congested with blood and such. My dad is going to call them this morning and ask a few questions. I am wired shut with splint, which is awful. I can not talk at all. I have to write everything down, which is annoying. anyways good luck to everyone!

How are you feeling today, Jessica?

We were told the surgeon wouldn't decide about the splint until he got in there, but that Josh would only be banded shut. I guess we'll see.

I wonder if you had a checklist of needs and you could just check it off instead of writing it down, what would you have?

I'm hungry
I hurt
I'm thirsty
I'd like a massage on my shoulders, hands, back, feet
I feel like I'm going to throw up
Can you turn on the TV?
Can you get my book?

What would have been your most pressing needs and what has been the hardest to communicate?

Thanks,
Josh's Mom

Sarah1234 wrote:I'm 7 days post op. I had upper/lower/genio. I was pretty miserable for the first three days, but am feeling better.

Jessica, I am also wired shut with a splint. I actually found trying to talk and not being understood was the worst. So frustrating. But I got better at "talking" and my parents got better at understanding after the first few days.

How are you feeling today, Sarah? Do you know how long you'll be wired shut? How are you eating/getting nutrition?

Sending good thoughts your way! and Jessica's way!

Josh's Mom