For Those That Have Had Surgery

[sparkles]

Debated with myself about posting this but figured it might be good for the days when I'm wobbling (even though I can't turn round and back out now )

1. Was surgery worth it?

2. If you could do it all again, would you? Would you make any changes?

3. Anything you didn't know about surgery/post-op that you wish you knew beforehand?

4. Anything you knew about, but it didn't actually happen?

5. Any funny moments? (I know that might seem insensitive but sometimes funny moments happen in the not-so-funny of situations)

6. What was the easiest thing to go through?

7. What was the hardest bit of it all?

8. What have been other people's reactions been pre and post op?

[Emaciated]

1. Was surgery worth it?

Yes. I think an overwhelming majority of people agree.

2. If you could do it all again, would you?

In a second, although I wouldn't look forward to it.

Would you make any changes?

Now that I know how to handle insurance, it would be much easier to do the second time around. I also would not bother purchasing any Bromelain or Zip & Squeeze because in my case they were a waste of money. Most importantly, I wouldn't worry nearly as much about the whole thing. (Although I suppose if I was doing this a second time it would be a result of the first time not providing the results I wanted, so maybe I would worry.) But that's not the case.

3. Anything you didn't know about surgery/post-op that you wish you knew beforehand?

There are probably a million things. The one that stands out most for me was how aggravating the numbness would be and how long it would linger for.

4. Anything you knew about, but it didn't actually happen?

Pretty much 90% of the risks they mention. Some examples: your face might be paralyzed, you might develop a hole between the roof of your mouth and your sinus cavity, we may shatter some of your teeth in the process, etc.

5. Any funny moments? (I know that might seem insensitive but sometimes funny moments happen in the not-so-funny of situations)

The entire recovery process can be looked at as humorous through some eyes. I mean, cmon, check out this smile.

6. What was the easiest thing to go through?

The front door of my ortho's office the day my braces were removed. (jk) The surgery itself is pretty easy in my opinion. After all the hustle and bustle and pain with braces and heart-ache with insurance, once the surgery arrives you don't really have to do more than just show up. This doesn't include the point that you wake up from it which is a different story.

7. What was the hardest bit of it all?

The worry and anxiety.

8. What have been other people's reactions been pre and post op?

Remarkably less than what you expect. No one cared about my braces or even noticed them. You expect everything to change when you get braces on but its all in your head. If they did noticed them people always said they look cute.

Post op, reactions have been nothing but positive. I can't imagine anyone having this surgery and looking worse than they looked before. I'm sure it happens but it must be rare.

Hope that's helpful.

[~danielle~]

I will be 2 weeks post-op tomorrow from a BSSO and genio to fix my MAJOR overjet - SO obviously i am not able to completely see the end result after only 2 weeks. BUT i feel that i can answer most of these even this early on.

1. Was surgery worth it?
Even now, i can tell that my bite is near perfect, which is something completely new and exciting to me- so YES it was worth it

2. If you could do it all again, would you? Would you make any changes?
Nope- other than maybe trying out the post-op "food" beforehand to find more that I like.

3. Anything you didn't know about surgery/post-op that you wish you knew beforehand?
Swelling and bruising- sure I knew I would get it- but mine was pretty extreme for the first week- it was pretty overwhelming

4. Anything you knew about, but it didn't actually happen?
Beforehand, one of my biggest fears was the nausea that seems to be very common after sugery- just the idea of throwing up with your mouth banded shut scared me to death.. luckily i didnt get sick the entire time:)

5. Any funny moments?
When I got home, the one of the first things i noticed was that on our fridge, we have these magnets that we got in the mail years ago with a big picture of a delilcious looking pizza, then in big, bold letters it says, "HUNGRY?" - i started crying and threw them in the garbage

6. What was the easiest thing to go through?
The hospital for some people is a horrible experience- for me it was almost fun- the nurses were soooo nice and did my hair and everything

7. What was the hardest bit of it all?
Dealing with the swelling and bruising was by far the hardest thing for me. Being 17 years old, I just want to be with my friends and enjoy my summer- and it was/is hard that they dont really understand the extent of what im going through and why i dont want to go out all the time.

8. What have been other people's reactions been pre and post op?
pre-op - it was hard for most people to understand why I chose to do the surgery- they just didnt really get it. The people at my job- almost all adults- were extremely supportive, even more so than my close friends
post-op-Once again, my friends and people I go to school with don't really understand and were pretty shocked when they saw me. I'm sure that this will change once all the swelling and bruising goes away and i look human again. The adults I work with were a lot better and keep on saying that i look totally great and all seem to be EXTREMELY surprised that I can talk so well this early on... so VERY POSITIVE so far

[Arvensis]

1. Was surgery worth it?

Definitely. Most. Definitely.

2. If you could do it all again, would you? Would you make any changes?

No changes. I would do it again. Everything worked out perfectly and smoothly, could not have gone better schedule wise either.

3. Anything you didn't know about surgery/post-op that you wish you knew beforehand?

I guess I would have liked to know about the drool phase. or the non-sleeping phase. LOL. Or the fact that I had a morphine button.

I also think I would have liked to know how much nastyness gets stuck in the upper splint post-op; I might have avoided some of the crab bisque soups that I did.. then again, considering, that I lived on those for the first few weeks, perhaps not. But dayum I think those contributed to the upper smell of the split. Like, whoa.

I also had one of the rare side effects (the hole between the pallate and the sinuses post upper surgery) but no other major side effects - but the hole thing was resolved relatively easy with a makeshift plastic shield that the dr. pasted on to the roof of my mouth.. So no big deal I suppose

4. Anything you knew about, but it didn't actually happen?

Tons. Like numbness, tooth damage, etc.

5. Any funny moments? (I know that might seem insensitive but sometimes funny moments happen in the not-so-funny of situations)

Speaking of the Morphine button, funny story. You see, I didn't KNOW it was morphine And my husband kept saying, "just hit the button, just hit the button" every time I made any sort of sound after surgery, so... I did! Turns out it was morphine and 2nd day my surgeon's and my conversation was a bit like this:

Surgeon: Hmmm you're using this morphine button quite a bit.. need to start weening you off.
Me: OH? It's Morphine!?
Surgeon: Uh. Yes. It's a morphine button.
Me: Oh, okay, I'll stop.



Only major change that annoys me is that I now get carded for alcohol EVERYWHERE I go. I was out with my entire family this weekend, and I got carded. Again. At a Mexican food restaurant's. Mind, I'm 26, and the number of times I've been carded in the 6 months from surgery is officially higher than the cumulative total of the last 5 years that I've been legally able to drink. Literally, before surgery I think I was carded a grand total of 10 times, and now I'm carded every single time, everywhere I go. I was even carded trying to go to an R-rated movie, which has NEVER happened to me before. That was an unexpected side effect, for sure!!

6. What was the easiest thing to go through?

The preparation.

7. What was the hardest bit of it all?

The recovery drool phase and the non sleeping phase.

8. What have been other people's reactions been pre and post op?

Lots of people didn't recognize me; several people thought it was the haircut not my surgery lol. Oh well. Pre op reactions, never really considered their reactions. My motivations were breathing and chewing and that topped everything else.

[Thathrill]

thank you guys for posting your stories and thank you sparkles for starting this. I feel so unprepared no matter how many times I read all the info. I have to start buying stuff and preparing this week so every little bit helps. Im so nervous its not even funny but I will be extremely busy up to surgery that at least it will be off my mind

[Lovely Rita]

1. Was surgery worth it?

Absolutely. Man, waking up after the surgery and feeling my teeth touch together properly (I had an open bite) was simply magical. I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world.

2. If you could do it all again, would you? Would you make any changes?

I would definitely do it again. For me the positives outnumbered the negatives 1000000 to 1. I might have tried to learn a little bit about the surgery before I went into it. As it was, I did my absolute best to completely ignore the fact that the surgery was coming (which is weird for me... I usually do mountains of research before I do anything of any consequence).

And I DEFINITELY would have gotten one of those zip 'n' squeeze bags. And maybe gel packs instead of ice packs.

3. Anything you didn't know about surgery/post-op that you wish you knew beforehand?

I wish I knew what the heck was going on in my mouth! When I woke I had no idea what had happened. I thought that they had operated on the BACK of my mouth (near my throat)!

I also wish I had been prepared for the horrible layer of grime that builds up on your tongue/gums. I'd have started brushing my teeth right away if I'd known about that.

I also wish I'd known that I wouldn't be able to touch my nose with my tongue anymore! That had always been my special trick, I'd always been proud of it . I didn't figure out that I couldn't do it anymore until I met a friend of a friend for the first time about three weeks post op. Somehow we got on the topic of tongues, I tried to do it and I FAILED MISERABLY. I was so upset .

4. Anything you knew about, but it didn't actually happen?

I didn't get any bruising at all, although I'd been expecting it. I THOUGHT I was going to get a morphine button but I didn't . I also thought I'd have to share my hospital room with a bunch of other people, but as I'm 18 I was only considered to be on the "cusp" of adulthood so I got a nice little kids room with a cute dolphin mural on the wall .

5. Any funny moments? (I know that might seem insensitive but sometimes funny moments happen in the not-so-funny of situations)

Not insensitive at all . The funniest bit for me was how ridiculous I sounded when I tried to talk. I got better at talking very slowly, but I sounded really, REALLY hilarious. I didn't think it was at all funny at the time, but when I imitated it to my friends afterwards we all just fell down laughing.

6. What was the easiest thing to go through?

Ummm... nothing. Sorry. None of it was easy, it was all hard. But certainly not TOO hard, I was perfectly capable of handling everything that came my way. What's life without a little challenge??

7. What was the hardest bit of it all?

Eating soup DAY after DAY after DAY, while watching (and smelling) my family eat delicious, wonderful things ALL the TIME. I actually would fantasize about homemade chicken pot pie (I dunno why I was craving this particular thing) while I was trying to fall asleep at night. For some really screwed up reason, it soothed me and helped me calm down.

8. What have been other people's reactions been pre and post op?

My family and friends were all super-duper excited and supportive of me. If any of them thought the surgery was an unnecessary waste of time, none of them were rude/cruel enough to tell me . They sent me flowers and stuffed animals, chatted with me all the time on MSN, got me books, movies, magazines, made me laugh, my poor mother worked all day coming up with exciting new soup recipes for me to try... the list goes on.

The changes in my face are fairly subtle, so there hasn't been much of a reaction in terms of my appearance. I do love telling people the gory details about what happened , people's reactions are ENDLESSLY entertaining.

[loulou123]

1. Was surgery worth it?

Yep definately, tho i had a few wobbles along the way

2. If you could do it all again, would you? Would you make any changes?

Yes id do it again, tho wouldnt exactly be excited too! Id be more prepared as to eating afterwards.

3. Anything you didn't know about surgery/post-op that you wish you knew beforehand?

Didnt appreciate how bad the swelling could be, or how much id hate being in hospital. How anoying the numbness could be too.

4. Anything you knew about, but it didn't actually happen?

Most things they warn you about dont happpen.

5. Any funny moments? (I know that might seem insensitive but sometimes funny moments happen in the not-so-funny of situations)

I had a few, when i 1st woke up i thought i was dead, then i realised that if i was i wouldnt know it! App i also started whinging within minutes of coming round that it hurt and theyd promised it wouldnt hurt! Then the morphine made me imagine things, but i wasnt scared just fasinated by them, tho im sure the nurses must have been laughing at me, watching things that werent there!

6. What was the easiest thing to go through?

The doors when i left the hospital, i was so glad to be in my own bed.

[/quote]6. What was the hardest thing to go through?

Being told i needed a 2nd operation, and wisdom tooth removed. Also not being able to eat. The waiting beforehand was also pretty bad too.

8. What have been other people's reactions been pre and post op?

Everyones been fine.

[Arvensis]

OMG the morphine totally had me seeing things too!!! I had the WEIRDEST dreams and memories, but mostly I remember coming home and thinking my mother had decorated the entire ceiling with gold and red streamers for Christmas (Gryffindor colors!!)

[sparkles]

LOL I've had morphine twice before for migraine. First shot the doc gave me, I was in bed, TV was on in my room and my mum was sitting watching it beside me (keeping an eye on me) and I don't know if it was the TV or my mum but remember thinking that someone was talking about it raining sandwiches. And any conversation at all was just all jumbled up.
It was well weird!
It was so weird then that when I had both my children I refused any kind of morphine during labour/childbirth

[jmrut22]

1. Was surgery worth it? Absolutely 100%

2. If you could do it all again, would you? Would you make any changes? I dont know if I *COULD* do it again. The mental and physical aspect of that surgey makes me not want to do it again. I guess if I had too I would consider it.

3. Anything you didn't know about surgery/post-op that you wish you knew beforehand? Not really. This board has been so informative.

4. Anything you knew about, but it didn't actually happen? Yeah complications, had none of them.

5. Any funny moments? (I know that might seem insensitive but sometimes funny moments happen in the not-so-funny of situations) Not really.. If I had to think what might be funny now that I look back is getting frustrated that my hubby could not understand me while wired shut but my 4 year old could

6. What was the easiest thing to go through? The surgery itself- You are asleep and dont remember it- I'm trying to be funny here but that was true for me.

7. What was the hardest bit of it all? The mental part- and being wired shut for me were the hardest. I had no idea how frustrating it was going to be to try to eat while wired, I threw up and that agitated me more. I had sinus drainage that couldnt go anywhere but in my throat, all the swelling, couldnt cough it up and out etc... I walked around feeling like I was going to choke and just cried after about day 5 of being wired.

8. What have been other people's reactions been pre and post op? Mostly good and cant belive how much it changed my face for the better. Some of the bad ones (get prepared) Oh gosh was all this really worth it? Well yeah stupid it was (thats what I feel like saying) Or Why on earth are you doing this, you look fine? It was 95 % about function and 5% looks -this one really irriated me. As if my looks were the only thing that mattered. But for the most part the people who were the closest to me really understood and supported me.

[Heather]

I love this thread!

It has all the questions that are in my mind for the people who have already had surgery.

Thanks all, it has been VERY helpful to me.

[Andantae]

1. Was surgery worth it?

Absolutely worth it.

2. If you could do it all again, would you?

In a heartbeat.

Would you make any changes?

No, given what I have learned here, my recovery was on the 'easier' side.

3. Anything you didn't know about surgery/post-op that you wish you knew beforehand?

I didn't know that the midline can shift a little during healing because the swelling can receed unevenly from one side to the other. Also, I wish my ortho would have mentioned that he intended for my OS to advance my jaw the maximum amount (for me) so that just my centrals are now touching. My ortho will then orthodontically bring my lower teeth back 'in' after my molars have room to straighten themselves out a little more. It was fine, but a little disconcerting when my bite started to drift off about 4 days post op. Would have been good to know ahead of time.

4. Anything you knew about, but it didn't actually happen?

I bought so many things for recovery most of which I never used!

5. Any funny moments? (I know that might seem insensitive but sometimes funny moments happen in the not-so-funny of situations)

I agree! I end up laughing every time I talk to either of my OS's. They are both very sharp, witty and more than accommodating if levity is your thing. I have one good pre-op story if you really want to hear it.....

6. What was the easiest thing to go through?

Seriously--the recovery! I was out on the tractor 7 or 8 days post op. Clearing brush at 2 weeks. I'm also in the minortiy here, but I like the hospital! I has a very soothing and secure feeling for me which probably stems from positive childhood experiences there. AND! I like the idea of pushing a button and having a trained individual address my needs. I should have pushed it waaayyy more!

7. What was the hardest bit of it all?

Not being able to ride (horses) when I felt fine!

8. What have been other people's reactions been pre and post op?

I have had nothing but postive, supportive comments before or after whether friends or strangers!

[doughboy]

im new to this forum although i've browsed through before. i have a long long way to go till surgery but i thought i'd register here anyway. thanks to all for the extremely helpful info

[Munkys Girl]

I have one good pre-op story if you really want to hear it.....

Of course I love everyone's funny moments.

[Lirpa]

1. Was surgery worth it?
No, not in my case. My overbite wasn't that pronounced, and I was over-corrected, and have some crookedness now that I am really disappointed with.

2. If you could do it all again, would you? Would you make any changes?
No. If I did it again, I would make sure to do some more research and question the surgeon's decisions.

3. Anything you didn't know about surgery/post-op that you wish you knew beforehand?
That I could potentially be numb forever. That my face could have negative cosmetic changes.

4. Anything you knew about, but it didn't actually happen?
No

5. Any funny moments? (I know that might seem insensitive but sometimes funny moments happen in the not-so-funny of situations)
Not really. The past 5 weeks have been hellish for me.

6. What was the easiest thing to go through?
I liked losing weight from the liquid diet. That's been a plus.

7. What was the hardest bit of it all?
Not being able to talk at all for a week, and not normally at all for many more.

8. What have been other people's reactions been pre and post op?
They agree that there are some negative changes but brush them off, or they don't notice at all. They don't think I needed the surgery in the first place.