SARPE and braces and jaw surgery oh my!

[Sadoozie]

Got the expander put on today..what a horrible device! How did you ever get used to this thing for 6 months!?

Do you have any advice for the SARPE surgery, anything in particular to be aware of that you had wished to know in advance? My surgery is in a week :/

[jaime]

Got the expander put on today..what a horrible device! How did you ever get used to this thing for 6 months!?

Do you have any advice for the SARPE surgery, anything in particular to be aware of that you had wished to know in advance? My surgery is in a week :/

I won't lie, it took me weeks to get used to the RPE. It feels impossibly intrusive at first, but you will get used to it. A big part of that for me was being focused on my recovery. I had my surgery right before Christmas so I was pretty distracted overall from the RPE.

As for advice, this is what I would say:
1. It's probably going to be less painful than you're expecting. It's just uncomfortable.
2. Your talking will be coherent enough but I would make sure someone else can talk on the phone for you.
3. Dark towels will be your friend. I always had a dark, wet washcloth and a larger dark bath towel with me at all times.
4. Whatever you do, sleep sitting up AT LEAST for the first 3 days.
5. Get a turkey baster to squirt water into the back of your mouth. This is on my blog but by far, that is the one thing (besides painkillers) that I could not have done without. That and the dark towels.
6. Buy everything you need in advance (soft food, laxatives, weaker painkillers, dark towels) beforehand. Don't wait until after.
7. Reusable ice packs! It might be too late to order a jaw bra but get something so you're not relying on the crap they give you at the hospital.

That's about all. You mentioned you had kids, right? I slept all the time for about 2 weeks after surgery, I could NOT stay awake. So if there are special arrangements you need to make for your kids during that time, I would get that ready now.

Overall it's not THAT bad, I was certainly expecting worse. The only thing that has taken me by surprise is how slowwwwwww the bone heals. I'm 15+ months out of surgery and my palate is still not fully healed, and my surgeon says that's normal.

[jaime]

Oh, I just realized it was someone else who mentioned they had kids and are getting SARPE soon. My mistake!

[Sadoozie]

Lol, you were thinking of lalcharlie, she has two kids. Im not that (un)lucky. All i got to take care of is myself, which is more complicated than it sounds - according to my wife.

The RPE is horrible; they told me 3-4 months of it in my mouth. Just googled "jawbra", i bet i could make one of those myself although it would ofcourse be easier to buy it. But by the time i arrives here in Denmark, it will have been too late.

Thanks for the advice and i love your blog! It feels comforting knowing that others are going through the exact same procedures, im not a freak afterall When i signed up for this, i only thought id need 1 surgery and braces for up to 2 years...then i was told that it would be 2 surgeries and braces for 2-3 years..ugh!

I've pretty much fractured both my arms and my foot once too, i know all about how slow bone heels. Especially in the sun deprived northern hemisphere where we all are low on d-vitamin.

I love how you are looking forward to your next surgery, it makes the whole thing sound less daunting when i hear that you haven't lost hope. Keep it up

[jaime]

Lol, you were thinking of lalcharlie, she has two kids. Im not that (un)lucky. All i got to take care of is myself, which is more complicated than it sounds - according to my wife.

The RPE is horrible; they told me 3-4 months of it in my mouth. Just googled "jawbra", i bet i could make one of those myself although it would ofcourse be easier to buy it. But by the time i arrives here in Denmark, it will have been too late.

Thanks for the advice and i love your blog! It feels comforting knowing that others are going through the exact same procedures, im not a freak afterall When i signed up for this, i only thought id need 1 surgery and braces for up to 2 years...then i was told that it would be 2 surgeries and braces for 2-3 years..ugh!

I've pretty much fractured both my arms and my foot once too, i know all about how slow bone heels. Especially in the sun deprived northern hemisphere where we all are low on d-vitamin.

I love how you are looking forward to your next surgery, it makes the whole thing sound less daunting when i hear that you haven't lost hope. Keep it up

I'm pretty much just excited to be off work for 6 weeks and look aesthetically better...I'm a person of trivial desires

At least get yourself some of those reusable ice packs. Preferable one that is a bit longer so you only need one at a time. Buy two so you can keep one in the freezer.

It's fortunate you don't have kids to take care of. The people who take this stuff on with small kids at home are no less than heroes in my books. I could barely take care of myself!! Funny story but I was pretty out of it while taking the Percocet I was prescribed. I didn't realize how out of it I was until I accidentally threw out the bottle of Percocet and my fiancé and I spent AN HOUR ripping apart my apartment and his car, trying to find them. He wasn't super impressed with me. I can't imagine trying to take care of kids...you'd have to take a weaker pill, I think.

[Sadoozie]

I get 6 weeks off sick too..appreciating the simple things in life

Glad to hear that its not going to be as painful as you imagine. But its usually like that, my wrist didn't really throb in pain when i broke it as a teenager until i saw the xray of it being broke

So i was at the last appointment at the hospital before the surgery and they said something i wasn't expecting - that i should not touch my nose at all or as little as possible cause it might attach itself crooked again. That sounded so weird to me.. And then there is all this about how to sleep, no sleeping on your side or resting your hand against your face or basically touching your cheeks against anything for 6 whole weeks.

[jaime]

I get 6 weeks off sick too..appreciating the simple things in life

Glad to hear that its not going to be as painful as you imagine. But its usually like that, my wrist didn't really throb in pain when i broke it as a teenager until i saw the xray of it being broke

So i was at the last appointment at the hospital before the surgery and they said something i wasn't expecting - that i should not touch my nose at all or as little as possible cause it might attach itself crooked again. That sounded so weird to me.. And then there is all this about how to sleep, no sleeping on your side or resting your hand against your face or basically touching your cheeks against anything for 6 whole weeks.

Wow that seems really extreme. I was told not to blow my nose for 6 weeks or so, but nothing about not touching it or sleeping on my side. My nose is already sort of crooked and angles to one side, and it's no worse post-SARPE. I only sleep on my side. In all my blog reading about SARPE, I only ever read about not blowing your nose. So while it's always good to listen to your doctor, I don't know if their recommendations are super realistic.

[jaime]

Been in braces for 11 months now!

Yesterday I had my second-last adjustment before my surgery. I was surprised to learn that I will not be getting surgical hooks put on my braces prior to surgery. They said if my surgeon even decides to band me shut, it'll just be from the hooks on my canine teeth brackets. I can't complain about that!

I have started to buy stuff to get ready for surgery. I bought a foam bed wedge to keep my head elevated after surgery. I slept sitting up after SARPE and it was a little uncomfortable. I still need to buy some squeeze bottles and maybe a syringe.

In more fun news, I got married 2 weeks ago. Yup, I was a braced bride. Our photographer has sent back some previews and I'm happy to say you can barely even see my braces (I have ceramic on the "social six"). Of course, in the ideal world I wouldn't have had braces on for the wedding but I'm so happy I at least have straight teeth in my wedding photos.

Also, just for my own memory sake, here are all the coloured ligs I've had on my bottom metal brackets:
-pink
-alternating light purple and light blue (for summertime)
-alternating yellow and blue (for U of M)
-alternating orange and black (Halloween)
-alternating red and green (Christmas)
-dark green powerchain (had to get a powerchain, it seemed the most Christmasy)
-grey (my orthodontist didn't ask first )
-alternating red and pink (Valentine's Day)
-alternating dark and light green (St. Patrick's Day)
-yellow (for the wedding, yellow was our wedding colour)
-alternating teal and purple (just because I like it)

Well, 7 more weeks with my wonky jaw!

[purplestar]

Hello Jamie
Congratulations!!! I am looking forward to your update of wedding and new life after married in 'expectedly jaime' blog

[jaime]

Hello Jamie
Congratulations!!! I am looking forward to your update of wedding and new life after married in 'expectedly jaime' blog

Aww thanks! I do need to update my blog as it's been awhile!

[Sadoozie]

You must be super excited about the upcoming surgery!

Good luck and let us know how it went.

[jaime]

Howdy!

I'm 8 weeks post-op today and haven't yet updated my thread about my surgery.

So I had Lefort I, BSSO, and sliding genioplasty on June 11, 2015. The surgery went well with no issues. It was about 3.5 hours long. I spent 1 night in the hospital. The first couple of days after surgery weren't bad at all. I was able to get up and move around, as well as use a regular spoon to eat soup. I ate a lot of soup!

Days 3 and 4, I was dehydrated and nauseated. Everybody says to drink lots of fluids and get in calories and I carelessly ignored that advice because I didn't feel hungry or thirsty. Eating and drinking is a chore after surgery and it's easy to say, "Nah, I feel fine," and continue on. But trust me, you will pay the price. I vomited only once, fortunately, but I felt awful.

Overall, I think I've been fairly lucky. I already have feeling back in several places that were numb after surgery. I didn't have ANY nosebleeds, no facial bruising, and my swelling had already started to go down within 24 hours of surgery!

I was not given surgical hooks or a splint after surgery, but I did have 3 elastics on for the first 5 days, and then 4 for the next 6 weeks. About 2 weeks after surgery I was given surgical hooks but only ever used 2 or 3 of them, and they were removed at 6 weeks. I now wear 2 elastics: a heavy one pulling my left first molars together and one from my right upper canine to my lower left canine to keep my mandible straight.

I took 6 weeks off work which was definitely more than necessary, but really nice. If you're getting the surgery, I recommend taking 3-4 weeks off. Obviously the more the merrier.

Overall it's been what I expected. It's not that painful, just inconvenient and a very slow healing process. I've been very happy with my facial changes.

My orthodontist tells me I'll have braces for 6-12 months after surgery, meaning I would get them off between December 2015 and June 2016. I am hoping it's on the earlier end as I turn 30 in May and would REALLY like to have my braces off by then!

[jaime]

Might as well update!!

Still in braces and I have no idea for how much longer. Despite having surgery, my bite isn't completely closed on the left side. I've had other bite issues as well such as an off-centre midline and regression of my class II bite.

I wore a midline elastic for a few months, then class II triangle elastics for about 5 weeks. Since about August, I've had an elastic trying to pull my left molars together. Until recently, it hadn't done much good. It wasn't until I started doubling that elastic 24/7 that my bite started to close. It's very close to closing now and I would imagine there will be tooth contact within a month.

I have been pretty frustrated overall once the initial recovery of surgery was done. I am happy I went through the surgery and my facial changes, but I didn't think it would take SO LONG for my bite to get fixed completely. My orthodontist doesn't have the best bedside manner nor does he ever explain anything, so my appointments can be largely frustrating.

Most of my swelling is gone now as far as I can tell. I can feel everything inside my mouth. The front part of my chin is about 50% numb and it feels tight. Neither of those things bother me too much, though.

Chewing is still getting easier. I still can't do anything too crispy or hard (like raw carrots or crispy bacon) but I was able to eat coleslaw last week which is an improvement. I think my chewing progress has been slower than other people but I'm not sure why. Having a unilateral open bite definitely doesn't help.

In December my TPA wire was removed as it had become imbedded in my palate tissue and was causing me pain. It was great to get it removed! I had been looking forward to that as much as I was looking forward to getting the braces off.

Anyway, that's the state of the onion for now...

[jaime]

Time for an update!

In mid-February, I ended up going to see my surgeon because my orthodontist was puzzled why I was having problems with my bite and limited jaw mobility. Specifically, my left side was still open and my class II bite kept relapsing without elastics.

I had new x-rays done at the surgeon's office and he concluded that everything looked great. He said my bite is very close to perfect and that the open bite on the left side will likely improve once the braces are off. As far as my ROM issues, he suggested physiotherapy which I start this week.

Since then, it's been pretty boring with the braces. I'm in nighttime class II triangle elastics which is a nice change.

I have powerchains on both the upper and lower brackets now.

My ortho seems to think that by summer I will be ready to get the braces off. I will be glad for that as I moved cities and driving back to my old town is inconvenient (it's 1.5h-2hrs depending on the route and traffic).

Next month will be 24 months of braces. Hard to believe it's been that long but I am so ready to be done with all this. If the braces come off in the summer, this whole thing will have taken 2.5 years. Not long compared to some, but I would like to move on from this crap!

[Yvonned]

Hi,
Am new to the forum. Am 55 yr old woman - had Sarpe 3 weeks ago. Fairly uneventful surgery with exception of post op migraine headache . All has gone well until two nights ago. Have experienced severe 10/10 pain in area of expander when waking through night . It happens when I go from lying to sitting up in bed. Only lasts half a minute or so but very uncomfortable. Any thoughts ?