My jaw surgery is May 8th!!!

[jmrut22]

OMG!! I cant believe my surgery is next Thursday. I go back to the OS on Monday, May 5th for exact measurements and to see his plan. He was originally going to do upper and lower but at the last minute decieded a lower jaw advancement only. He thought the upper jaw would have to be moved maybe 2mm and that it really wasnt worth all the pain etc. when the ortho convinced him he could widen my upper arch by 2mm. So we'll see.

I am so excited, nervous, thrilled, and scared all at the same time. This was denied over and over by my insurance so I finally gave up and got a cash discount from the hospital and OS.

This june is the 2 year mark for my braces. I was ready 6 months ago but have been fighting the insurance companies.

AAAHHHAH< Can someone convince me waiting is the worst part???

[IamHustla]

yo mang i wont be dat bad they will put you to sleep you wont know whats goin on good luck bro

[JennX]

Can someone convince me waiting is the worst part???

Um, sorry, but no. Don't let anyone sugar coat this for you... the recovery is hard and frustrating! (I also was in braces over two years pre-op and am now almost 6 weeks post-op.)

[Arvensis]

Waiting is DEFINITELY the worst part, don't listen to JennX.

Once it's done, it's done. You are dealing with actualities instead of possibilities, with the moment vs. what might happen, etc. It sucks for a few days, but it's OVER and you feel like you're on top of the world, can do anything if you survived X, blah blah. I was a mental wreck the entire four months before surgery practically, and the last 4 months have been cakewalk in comparison.

Good luck!!!

[JennX]

Gee thanks.

I was not a wreck leading up to surgery. Worried? Yes. Stressed about getting everything sorted out? Definitely.

Did it compare at all to 5 weeks of being banded shut, feeling like your mouth was full of marbles from the splint, the swelling, being unable to communicate properly, difficulty breathing (first week), CONSTANT fatigue, occasional pain and other discomfort, and, worst of all--the dreaded liquid diet? Then this is followed by (so far) a week barely able to fit a tiny bite of pasta into my mouth and sharp shooting pain in my right jaw joint?

I know everyone has different experiences, and obviously your recovery will depend a lot on what all you have done... but unless you are just totally debilitated by the psychological aspects pre-op, I don't see how the waiting is the worst part. Not *my* experience at all. I have had no complications of any sort, and my surgeon said every aspect of my recovery so far has been "normal."

Sorry if I misread the question as wanting honest feedback and not just more people blowing sunshine up your... well, you know. I'm not trying to scare you, but I just hope it well help you be better prepared on the other side.

Best,

Jenn

[IamHustla]

i am havin upper jaw surgery next summer too i am not worry bout it now but i am definatly worry bout gettin ma wisdom teeth out soon and waitin is very hard for me an i keep thinkin bout it

[sauerkraut]

Aww, jmrut22, try not to worry too much, I'm sure you'll cope with each bit as it comes along.

Have you looked on here for people who've had the same procedure as you? I know everyone will have their own experiences and perceptions, but it's probably more helpful to compare like with like. I think I'm correct in saying the responses so far have been from folks who've had wider-ranging operations (upper and lower plus other bits besides??). And I can't help much because so far I've "only" had SARPE.

Wishing you all the best

[Cheffy]

Surgeon and ortho both say I'm ready but i'm stuck in limbo waiting for them to work out the schedule of events and book a date. The anticipation is killing me! One minute i can't wait and the next i'm scared to death. I have been reading alot on this site and i don't think i'm going into this unrealistically. i know what is coming ..i have a high pain tolerance..but i get real _itchy when i don't feel well. I feel sorry for my family already!

[Arvensis]

JMrut - Channel Meryaten in your recovery. She had lower jaw surgery only, and was at a beer tasting within a week! She was my recovery IDOL:) Of course, I wasn't at a beer tasting a week after or anything, but two weeks after I was sipping champagne and illegally popping caviar on my tongue on New Years;)

JennX- You're entitled to your view, but unnecessarily scaring someone just because you had a bad experience or didn't fully understand what recovery would entail is not fair - JM's not even having the same procedures as you did! Sure, there will be discomfort, breathing issues, talking issues, liquid diet fun, etc, but what precisely were you expecting?

Personally what I imagined before surgery was FAR WORSE than my post-op recovery. I still believe the recovery is easier than imagining every detail of what could go wrong; perhaps the difference here is a difference in imagination. Thinking about the procedure was by far worse than dealing with the actualities of the procedure; recovery is step by step, not overnight, Rome wasn't built in a day blah blah.

So... to summarize. If you have a strong imagination, yes, the recovery is easier than the waiting. If you have no imagination, then no, the recovery is harder than waiting. Let's try to remember here that this board isn't just about advice or gritty details about how horrid everything is, but about supporting each other in our life-changing decisions. Key word, supporting. I think we all could read the online info on our surgeries but end up discussing it here for the emotional purposes, not the scientific analysis of other laypeople like ourselves.

/end rant.

[Arvensis]

Arvensis, wasn't it you who had to go to court and work a case whilst wired shut?

Totally Zou, who had a second op 5 days after her first b/c lower jaw wasn't where it was supposed to be. She is my legal hero.

[JennX]

Wow, I am *definitely* feeling the support you claim is available here, Arvenis. Thanks.

I don't think giving MY OPINION to the question of which side of the operation is worse is fear-mongering any more than you saying the waiting is hardest is illegitimate. I'm sort of shocked by the ferocity of your response, given that I've read so many responses by you and others here and gained advice and insight about the experience from your posts in the past. I guess I was feeling comfortable jumping into the advice-giving fray. My bad.

To repeat, my surgeon said everything in my recovery was completely normal. So I don't think I had a bad or lousy experience. I'm just saying it was hard. That's ALL I said in my first post and I got jumped all over. And yes, I did my research in advance... knew what to expect. But knowing and actually experiencing are very different. Maybe I'm just not blessed with your active imagination. And, to respond to your point about not wanting the gritty details... perhaps it was my reading of all the "non-gritty, let's all be supportive and sing kumbaya"-type comments here--as opposed to honest assessments--which led me to underestimate what was in store. Whether you want honesty or sugar-coating is probably as variable as the recovery process itself. Not something where one person should claim to speak for everyone.

I also acknowledged that everyone recovers differently, and was not purporting to speak for everyone. OBVIOUSLY, you should look most feedback from people who had a similar procedure as you... As did I when I was preparing.

jmrut22... Sorry if this has turned into a highjacking of your original thread. My apologies and this is the last I'll respond here. If anyone wants to continue this debate elsewhere I welcome it but, out of respect for the original post, suggest we start a new thread.

[Arvensis]

:::pulls out the guitar and sings:::

Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya! C'mon, everybody!!!





....In all seriousness, there is a big difference between jumping in with advice and telling someone it's going to be worse than they're already imagining.

[jmrut22]

ARVENSIS "Personally what I imagined before surgery was FAR WORSE than my post-op recovery. I still believe the recovery is easier than imagining every detail of what could go wrong; perhaps the difference here is a difference in imagination. Thinking about the procedure was by far worse than dealing with the actualities of the procedure; recovery is step by step, not overnight, Rome wasn't built in a day blah blah. "

This is me exactly. I have thought, worried, stressed, cried, went to the indoor shooting range over the frustration... When he shceduled my surgery I was so stoked, and still am...I have pictured myself in pure pain, torture, bleeding, fatigue, swelling, beating my head against the wall till I am sick of it. I really want to be on the other side and begin the recovery....

Thanks to all for all the kind words. This time next week I will be in surgery.