After nearly 3 years of impatient waiting, I'm finally havin' my surgery tomorrow morning (3-piece Lefort, BSSO, genio). Phew -- what a long, tiring journey it's been and I'm only halfway there? Regardless -- goodbye, stupid open/over/crossbite & hello, normal occlusion and CHIN!
Best of Luck suetemi!!!!!!!! see you on the other side!!!!!!
Braced: March 19th 2008
Impacted wisdom teeth extraction surgery: June 20th 2008 1pm (13 hours of fasting)
Jaw surgery (upper and lower)Lefort 1 with Madable Advancement: June 2nd 2009 @8am!!!! 1 surgery down 2 surgeries to go!!
debrace day: jan 18th 2010!!!! *has 2 fixed retainers and an essix retainer for night time now!
Congrats to an end to WAITING! You'll be on your way now, but want to add my best wishes for a successful surgery and smooth recovery. Cheers to your new bite and chin~
OK, it's the 5th day after going under the bonesaw. Not to be a downer but I have to say up until today it was absolute hell in every way. The surgery itself went well and my surgeon says it went as expected -- 4 hours, everything looks nice. For some reason it took me a super long time to wake up from anaesthesia. It was supposed to take about an hour but it took me four! Dunno why but I just didn't want to get up. I remember them yelling my name and trying to wake up but just kept giving in and drifting back to la-la land.
The first 4 days was spent pretty much in a 24-hour state of constant pain, discomfort, fever, nausea, migraines, and vomiting blood. It was like having the flu x50 while simultaneously having been run over by a car multiple times. Yeah.....sounds awful, and it was, but thankfully I had good nurses who kept me up to speed on the painkillers and that vaporizer mask thingy is simply heaven. Anyway, the point is that I've made it not only to the other side but now I feel OK and today was definitely the turning point. I had my first post-op appt with the surgeon who took off the rubberbands and put in a couple of light box elastics which released my jaws and took away all the tension on my jaw muscles which had been the source of the spasms and migraines. Also, he advised me to lay off the liquid painkillers I had been on since they were making me feel sick, and so I've been on Motrin tablets only when needed but usually a good hot towel compress around the lower jaw will do the trick.
Also, had my first meal of lentil soup tonight and some homemade apple sauce puree and a hot shower and all is pretty much looking good. Tons of swelling still and some lingering muscle discomfort in the face, but my surgeon said I looked very good for 4 days out and that he was very happy with the x-rays I took today so.... Never had any regrets, even during the worst of it. My front teeth touch -- what a beautiful sight! And a chin! The little things people take for granted but worth having gone through this for.
Glad to hear you made it, suetemi!! We all know that the first few days are awful, but glad to hear you turned the corner. Here's to a fast and easy road for the rest of your recovery! And most important it sounds like you are in good spirits...
By the way, how long were you in the hospital? Given the vomiting of blood I would assume they kept you there until that stopped. Did they say what caused that? I have heard of people doing that once after surgery, but not more than that. Or perhaps it only happened to you once and I misread your post?
chicago29 wrote:
By the way, how long were you in the hospital? Given the vomiting of blood I would assume they kept you there until that stopped. Did they say what caused that? I have heard of people doing that once after surgery, but not more than that.
Two nights. Actually I probably vomited straight blood only a couple of times that first night, but for a couple of days afterward I was throwing up bloody liquid, not pure blood but liquid with a bit of blood and mucus and stuff in there. (hehe, sorry for the gross description).
congraduations on getting to the other side of your surgery!!! Sounds like you are doing okay and that healing is coming along nicely. That sucks that you weren't feeling well the first few days but then again its kinda to be expected! Here hoping you have a continued speedy recovery!!!! Keep us updated.
Braced: March 19th 2008
Impacted wisdom teeth extraction surgery: June 20th 2008 1pm (13 hours of fasting)
Jaw surgery (upper and lower)Lefort 1 with Madable Advancement: June 2nd 2009 @8am!!!! 1 surgery down 2 surgeries to go!!
debrace day: jan 18th 2010!!!! *has 2 fixed retainers and an essix retainer for night time now!
I wish I could balme it on me healing up but, I pretty much hit the ground running.
You gave such a true thought, isnt it funny how much most people take for granted? It isnt their fault and i guess they could never know unless they were in our shoes but, it does make one think. Oh well, hey we did it huh!!! We had surgery, WOW. I am so happy with my braces and the big SpongeBob gap in my front teeth. I was just out of town so I made it a point to exhibit the biggest smile I could to everyone I saw just to see the reaction. I would start laughing and my smile just would get bigger. It is neat to mess with people. I had the best time amusing myself.
