davide, great update. sounds like you're doing well... better than i was at 10 days. i really didn't emerge from the recovery fog until day 15 or so. keep it up.
revolutionary/alison, you too sound great, and only two days post-op?! wow. don't even worry about looking in a mirror right now... it's going to take at least two weeks before that swelling starts goes down and you get a glimpse of what you're going to look like... but more likely 3-4 weeks or more. stay upbeat and remember to eat, even if you have to force yourself, and stay hydrated. you're on the other side... it only gets better from here. keep us updated.
March 2010 surgery buddies
Moderator: bbsadmin
-
I want to smile!
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:01 am
Well done to all of you! It must be SO great to be post-op and know you've achieved something so positive for yourselves and a real weight off your minds to know it's all finally over.
I'm waiting for braces to be fixed next month and surgery on both jaws next year and can't wait to be where you are now. I just want all the anxiety about whether I'm doing the right thing and what exactly I'm letting myself in for to be over. The waiting and not knowing is giving me way too much time to obsess about all the pros and cons. At least when I was pregnant I had a due date (even if the kids didn't stick to it!!)!
Anyway, your stories are really inspiring so a big thank you to you all for sharing them.
I'm waiting for braces to be fixed next month and surgery on both jaws next year and can't wait to be where you are now. I just want all the anxiety about whether I'm doing the right thing and what exactly I'm letting myself in for to be over. The waiting and not knowing is giving me way too much time to obsess about all the pros and cons. At least when I was pregnant I had a due date (even if the kids didn't stick to it!!)!
Anyway, your stories are really inspiring so a big thank you to you all for sharing them.
-
bitewonder
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2010 8:38 pm
- Location: alberta
Im just over a week post op. Stil have small swelling on my lower jaw, still numb but the feeling is coming back. I stop taking the damn antibiotics. but I still take the muscle relaxant that was prescribed by the surgeon. Last visit with the surgeon he was impressed and he mentioned the healing is coming around fast. Even the incision on my cheeks have disappeared unless you look closely. I am still using elastics but they are lighter ones now, so I can open my mouth a bit more. I use a baby spoon to eat. So far I have lost about 4-6lbs.
wonder bite
wonder bite
Yesterday I had my second post-operation visit with my surgeon, and he gave me a bit of bad news. He said that my bite looked better the last time he saw me (last week), and that my teeth are now touching just in the front and in the back, but not in the sides. He put some light elastic bands on the sides to try to close those gaps, and instructed me on how to change them and put new ones every day. I'm scheduled to see him next on April 5th, and if those gaps are not closed by then, he'll put some heavier bands on.
I'm really upset about this because I don't know whether this might be a sign of the much dreaded relapse which could push my jaws back to where they were before surgery. I know that most people on this board got elastic bands since their surgery or shortly thereafter, and I don't understand why my surgeon waited 16 days after surgery to put the elastics on me.
I'm also not very pleased with the aesthetic result of the operation. I took a good look at myself in the mirror and my chin still looks rather receding, although there is some improvement from pre-surgery. The surgeon told me that he came a little short with the lower jaw advancement. He moved it by just 6 mm rather than the expected 7 mm, and as you know, 1 mm sounds like little but it actually is a lot. The 7 mm advancement was already a compromise for me, as I was pushing more for 9-10 mm to gain better facial harmony. I still have some residual swelling around my face, and I hope that things will improve when the swelling settles down, but I know that my chin would not grow further forward by magic.
Lastly my midlines are symmetrical to one another, but not centered in the middle of my face. They are indeed located a little bit to the left. My surgeon says that it looks like that because my nose is slightly crooked to the right, and that my midlines are actually centered in the middle of my eyes. It doesn't look like that to me, and I look forward to let my orthodontist take a look at it and figure that out for me. I hope that things can be fixed orthodontically if there really is a problem with my midlines.
My surgeon didn't clear me for resuming orthodontic treatment yet. I don't know whether the problem with my bite will delay things around, but I guess all I can do is cross my fingers and diligently follow all of doctors' orders.
Well sorry about all the venting, but I'm not doing too well emotionally after yesterday's visit with my surgeon, and I know that you guys are always there to listen to people's ranting. That's what this board is all about.
I hope that everybody else is doing great with their recovery, and wish luck to the people undergoing orthognatic surgery in the near future.
Davide
I'm really upset about this because I don't know whether this might be a sign of the much dreaded relapse which could push my jaws back to where they were before surgery. I know that most people on this board got elastic bands since their surgery or shortly thereafter, and I don't understand why my surgeon waited 16 days after surgery to put the elastics on me.
I'm also not very pleased with the aesthetic result of the operation. I took a good look at myself in the mirror and my chin still looks rather receding, although there is some improvement from pre-surgery. The surgeon told me that he came a little short with the lower jaw advancement. He moved it by just 6 mm rather than the expected 7 mm, and as you know, 1 mm sounds like little but it actually is a lot. The 7 mm advancement was already a compromise for me, as I was pushing more for 9-10 mm to gain better facial harmony. I still have some residual swelling around my face, and I hope that things will improve when the swelling settles down, but I know that my chin would not grow further forward by magic.
Lastly my midlines are symmetrical to one another, but not centered in the middle of my face. They are indeed located a little bit to the left. My surgeon says that it looks like that because my nose is slightly crooked to the right, and that my midlines are actually centered in the middle of my eyes. It doesn't look like that to me, and I look forward to let my orthodontist take a look at it and figure that out for me. I hope that things can be fixed orthodontically if there really is a problem with my midlines.
My surgeon didn't clear me for resuming orthodontic treatment yet. I don't know whether the problem with my bite will delay things around, but I guess all I can do is cross my fingers and diligently follow all of doctors' orders.
Well sorry about all the venting, but I'm not doing too well emotionally after yesterday's visit with my surgeon, and I know that you guys are always there to listen to people's ranting. That's what this board is all about.
I hope that everybody else is doing great with their recovery, and wish luck to the people undergoing orthognatic surgery in the near future.
Davide
-
revolutionary
- Posts: 96
- Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:13 am
- Location: NYC
- Contact:
Aw, Davide, I'm sorry to hear about your setback. It seems to soon to tell if a relapse is happening, but I really hope that your surgeon caught it in time and the elastics will help. It is interesting that your surgeon waited 2 weeks to put them on... But then again, mine told me I didn't need braces and operated on me without ANY prior orthodontic work/braces, so I digress.
Most people's bites don't fall perfectly right after surgery - even if they have 2 years of braces first - which is the whole reason the bands are put on after surgery. While your jaws are still healing (and therefore mobile and adjustable), they give the surgeon the ability to keep tweaking things around, which gives your bones the best chance of healing into the right position. At my first post-op visit last Monday, my doctor pulled out my molds, compared them, said he didn't like a few things and adjusted my bands and pushed my jaws into a different position and it was painful/weird as all hell, not to mention I was freaked out at hearing that it wasn't "perfect"... But it didn't mean the surgery wasn't a success or that I was relapsing, just that they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to tweak while things were still loose, icky as that sounds (and feels :-/ )
So, try to stay positive, and definitely give it a bit more time.
Did your OS tell you why he only moved it 6mm, when 7 was your compromise and you'd wanted 9-10?
Most people's bites don't fall perfectly right after surgery - even if they have 2 years of braces first - which is the whole reason the bands are put on after surgery. While your jaws are still healing (and therefore mobile and adjustable), they give the surgeon the ability to keep tweaking things around, which gives your bones the best chance of healing into the right position. At my first post-op visit last Monday, my doctor pulled out my molds, compared them, said he didn't like a few things and adjusted my bands and pushed my jaws into a different position and it was painful/weird as all hell, not to mention I was freaked out at hearing that it wasn't "perfect"... But it didn't mean the surgery wasn't a success or that I was relapsing, just that they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to tweak while things were still loose, icky as that sounds (and feels :-/ )
So, try to stay positive, and definitely give it a bit more time.
Did your OS tell you why he only moved it 6mm, when 7 was your compromise and you'd wanted 9-10?
Hi Alison,
thanks for the kind words, but it's kind of hard to just relax and stay positive. I'm actually growing angrier at my surgeon with every passing hour. Our attitutudes have been totally opposite throughout this whole ordeal as he was very cautious for the surgery and very careless for the recovery. On the other hand I wish he was more daring for the surgery and more thoughtful for the recovery.
I wanted more advancement for both of my jaws, but he always replied that the more the advancement, the higher the risk for a relapse. For the amount of advancement that I wanted he would have needed to do some good amount of bone grafting, and I think that at the end he didn't feel confident enough to do them, or he didn't want to spend the time and/or effort to do it. Since the beginning he actually tried to talk me out of the upper jaw surgery. The plan called for a small bone graft to bring my maxilla 3mm forward, and he didn't even do that. He just moved both my jaws forward as much as he could without doing any bone graft. I'll wait until next time I see him before I blast at him, as he promised me that we'll go over the x-rays and show me what was actually done during surgery.
On the other hand he was rather careless with the recovery as he didn't put the elastics on me right away, and he even told me to start chewing as soon as I got home. He told me that my bite fit perfectly well after the surgery and that he was confident that nothing would have shifted. Luckily I was more cautious than he told me to, and stayed on a liquid, no-chew diet for the whole time, and will do so until I feel like everything is stable enough. It also makes me angry that he decided to start with light elastic bands rather than the heavy ones even though he knows that some damage has already been done during these two plus weeks following the surgery. I can feel the gaps between my teeth when I run my tongue on them, and they are not getting smaller.
And now I have one more problem as I just checked my teeth a minute ago and even my midlines are not symmetrical to one another anymore. They were asymmetrical to my face before, but until this morning at least they were symmetrical to one another.
I think I'll give my surgeon a call on Monday morning and ask him to switch to heavy bands right away rather than wait to see whether the light ones fail first.
Sorry for all the ranting, but as I said in my previous post, I'm feeling rather emotional right now.
I hope that your digression will stop and that your jaws will be on their way to proper healing. This surgery is hard enough as it is and dealing with all these complications makes it way too much to handle.
Davide
thanks for the kind words, but it's kind of hard to just relax and stay positive. I'm actually growing angrier at my surgeon with every passing hour. Our attitutudes have been totally opposite throughout this whole ordeal as he was very cautious for the surgery and very careless for the recovery. On the other hand I wish he was more daring for the surgery and more thoughtful for the recovery.
I wanted more advancement for both of my jaws, but he always replied that the more the advancement, the higher the risk for a relapse. For the amount of advancement that I wanted he would have needed to do some good amount of bone grafting, and I think that at the end he didn't feel confident enough to do them, or he didn't want to spend the time and/or effort to do it. Since the beginning he actually tried to talk me out of the upper jaw surgery. The plan called for a small bone graft to bring my maxilla 3mm forward, and he didn't even do that. He just moved both my jaws forward as much as he could without doing any bone graft. I'll wait until next time I see him before I blast at him, as he promised me that we'll go over the x-rays and show me what was actually done during surgery.
On the other hand he was rather careless with the recovery as he didn't put the elastics on me right away, and he even told me to start chewing as soon as I got home. He told me that my bite fit perfectly well after the surgery and that he was confident that nothing would have shifted. Luckily I was more cautious than he told me to, and stayed on a liquid, no-chew diet for the whole time, and will do so until I feel like everything is stable enough. It also makes me angry that he decided to start with light elastic bands rather than the heavy ones even though he knows that some damage has already been done during these two plus weeks following the surgery. I can feel the gaps between my teeth when I run my tongue on them, and they are not getting smaller.
And now I have one more problem as I just checked my teeth a minute ago and even my midlines are not symmetrical to one another anymore. They were asymmetrical to my face before, but until this morning at least they were symmetrical to one another.
I think I'll give my surgeon a call on Monday morning and ask him to switch to heavy bands right away rather than wait to see whether the light ones fail first.
Sorry for all the ranting, but as I said in my previous post, I'm feeling rather emotional right now.
I hope that your digression will stop and that your jaws will be on their way to proper healing. This surgery is hard enough as it is and dealing with all these complications makes it way too much to handle.
Davide
Davide, I am sorry to hear what you are going through. I would be really ticked off too. I cannot understand why an OS would not use elastics immediately after surgery, and then tell you to chew right away. That does not sound right at all. I will have a splint for 4 weeks and I'm not allowed to chew for 6 weeks. I also will be banded shut immediately for probably the first 4 weeks while the splint is in.
With regards to the bone grafting, I asked my OS whether I'll need bone grafts and he said no, and he's planning on moving the upper somewhere between 4-5 mm and the bottom 2-3 mm. He'll decide when he works on the models.
I know you are angry, but I think it would be best to try to remain calm when talking to your OS. Blasting him will not get you anywhere. Obviously you have to state your concerns and tell him what you want, but at the end of the day, you want him to still remain on your side. Save the blasting for later when everything has been sorted out.
I wish you luck in getting this sorted out. I can't imagine how exasperating it must be.
With regards to the bone grafting, I asked my OS whether I'll need bone grafts and he said no, and he's planning on moving the upper somewhere between 4-5 mm and the bottom 2-3 mm. He'll decide when he works on the models.
I know you are angry, but I think it would be best to try to remain calm when talking to your OS. Blasting him will not get you anywhere. Obviously you have to state your concerns and tell him what you want, but at the end of the day, you want him to still remain on your side. Save the blasting for later when everything has been sorted out.
I wish you luck in getting this sorted out. I can't imagine how exasperating it must be.
-
bitewonder
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2010 8:38 pm
- Location: alberta
Davide,
SOrry to hear about your predicament, but there is some improvements from the surgery right? As for the advancement of the lower jaw, I think there is a limit or it gets risky- I know you mentioned bone grafts etc. there is also the nerve that runs along the lower jaw - this nerve gets stretched abit, that why we get numbness but it heals over time. I am still numb in my lower jaw but it is coming back.
As for the symmetry ortho can fix that my upper is not symmetrical with my lower - I use my nose and lips, its off a bit not noticeable but braces can move that easily and close the gaps once they use the power chains.
I think you should trusts your surgeon since they are professionals and have the years exp/education and have treated many cases. Good luck!
SOrry to hear about your predicament, but there is some improvements from the surgery right? As for the advancement of the lower jaw, I think there is a limit or it gets risky- I know you mentioned bone grafts etc. there is also the nerve that runs along the lower jaw - this nerve gets stretched abit, that why we get numbness but it heals over time. I am still numb in my lower jaw but it is coming back.
As for the symmetry ortho can fix that my upper is not symmetrical with my lower - I use my nose and lips, its off a bit not noticeable but braces can move that easily and close the gaps once they use the power chains.
I think you should trusts your surgeon since they are professionals and have the years exp/education and have treated many cases. Good luck!
Oh man, that sucks. You've waited so long for this.
Perhaps you can ask your surgeon : Why do other surgeons recommend a liquid diet and elastics post-op and he doesn't. Not blasting but definitely confronting him.
Could you possibly ask your physician to refer you to another oral surgeon for a second opinion or for the remainder of your treatment?
Tempered faith in your doctor is good, but listen when hints to the contrary hit you over the head!!
Perhaps you can ask your surgeon : Why do other surgeons recommend a liquid diet and elastics post-op and he doesn't. Not blasting but definitely confronting him.
Could you possibly ask your physician to refer you to another oral surgeon for a second opinion or for the remainder of your treatment?
I used to work for a doctor and I will tell you he didn't care and made mistakes that cost lives. As they say, somebody has to graduate at the bottom of the class.bitewonder wrote: I think you should trusts your surgeon since they are professionals and have the years exp/education and have treated many cases.
Tempered faith in your doctor is good, but listen when hints to the contrary hit you over the head!!
-
bitewonder
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2010 8:38 pm
- Location: alberta
I think asking for a second referral might not go out pretty well, and I know the oral surgeons here all know themselves and its possible that the surgeon might be the only cat in town..bb wrote:Oh man, that sucks. You've waited so long for this.
Perhaps you can ask your surgeon : Why do other surgeons recommend a liquid diet and elastics post-op and he doesn't. Not blasting but definitely confronting him.
Could you possibly ask your physician to refer you to another oral surgeon for a second opinion or for the remainder of your treatment?I used to work for a doctor and I will tell you he didn't care and made mistakes that cost lives. As they say, somebody has to graduate at the bottom of the class.bitewonder wrote: I think you should trusts your surgeon since they are professionals and have the years exp/education and have treated many cases.
Tempered faith in your doctor is good, but listen when hints to the contrary hit you over the head!!
I think there is some misunderstanding, I will hope that the surgeon is qualified enough.. I think with lack of comm and expectations cause misunderstanding, I actually used 2 orthodontics, the reason was I moved to another city, so I was on ortho longer than I wanted, the first ortho did not opt for surgery for me, so I felt I 'wasted' time, I guess I thought I should have had surgery earlier in my treatment but the ortho taught that it could be fxied by braces.. and really surgery is the last resort. Now I wont have or expect to have a hollywood smile.. that is why the patients expectation of the surgery outcome is important... I knew goin into the surgery what it will fix, and what more ortho treatments I will need 6-10ms (braces). Now I am happy with the results and my recovery has been good my swelling has gone down considerably and I am about 12 days post-op.
Since the swelling has gone down, I am able to come out of the house during the day now, not just at nights..I am still on elastics and the splint will come of in about 4 weeks time, the splint makes it hard for me to speak. I will have an ortho adjustment after the splint is out.
-
maloccluser
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 8:04 pm
hey davide.
sorry to hear about your recent frustrations.
the doctor's approval of chewing food and the fact that he didn't put you in elastics after surgery seems a bit strange, but as far as the gaps and offset midline is concerned, i think much if not all of that can be fixed with orthodontics.
i'm five weeks post-op and when i got my splint off last week i could finally see how my teeth were meeting (or not meeting as the case was). the left side of my back teeth were not able to touch. still, both my surgeon and my orthodontist were really pleased with my results. my orthodontist put me in new elastics (three in a weird pattern) that i change daily and just over this past week those elastics have really pulled those gaps together. i think it will just be a matter of a few weeks before the teeth meet.
anyway, my point is don't worry about the gaps and offset midline. your orthodontist will be able to correct that. also, this surgery is tough because we're all getting it for functional improvements with the benefits of aesthetic improvements as well... but for the first month or two after surgery, we don't see any of those improvements... and we have all the discomfort and pain that comes with surgery.
you're right... your chin probably isn't going to move forward... and that's something you'd need to discuss with your surgeon... but with the other stuff, give it a little more time. things will improve.
keep us posted.
sorry to hear about your recent frustrations.
the doctor's approval of chewing food and the fact that he didn't put you in elastics after surgery seems a bit strange, but as far as the gaps and offset midline is concerned, i think much if not all of that can be fixed with orthodontics.
i'm five weeks post-op and when i got my splint off last week i could finally see how my teeth were meeting (or not meeting as the case was). the left side of my back teeth were not able to touch. still, both my surgeon and my orthodontist were really pleased with my results. my orthodontist put me in new elastics (three in a weird pattern) that i change daily and just over this past week those elastics have really pulled those gaps together. i think it will just be a matter of a few weeks before the teeth meet.
anyway, my point is don't worry about the gaps and offset midline. your orthodontist will be able to correct that. also, this surgery is tough because we're all getting it for functional improvements with the benefits of aesthetic improvements as well... but for the first month or two after surgery, we don't see any of those improvements... and we have all the discomfort and pain that comes with surgery.
you're right... your chin probably isn't going to move forward... and that's something you'd need to discuss with your surgeon... but with the other stuff, give it a little more time. things will improve.
keep us posted.
Hey guys,
thanks for all the support and kind words.
I called my surgeon's office this morning and I was told to go in tomorrow morning for an urgent visit. I was told to remove the elastic bands right away because the surgeon is now afraid that the configuration is wrong and that the bands are actually pulling my jaws more out of allignment rather than helping. So I followed doctor's orders and removed the bands, and now I'm waiting until tomorrow trying to stress myself out as little as possible.
Audra: I don't know why my surgeon decided to resort to elastics just two weeks after surgery. Before surgery I got myself mentally ready to go through even the whole wired-shut mouth ordeal, and I was very puzzled when my surgeon told me that I was not even going to be banded-shut nor he was going to use a splint. He said that the plates and screws would have been enough to hold my jaws together. When I woke up from surgery my jaws where completely free from any constrains, but all my teeth were touching and my midlines were perfectly alligned.
With regards to bone grafting, I believe that those are used for large movements only. If your jaws are moved just by 4-5 mm, that shouldn't warrant resorting to bone grafting to carry the surgery out.
Bitewonder: Yes there is an aesthetic improvement from the surgery but it came short of my expectations. As I said in a previous post, with all that we put into this massive surgery in terms of effort, time, and money, and considering all that we have to endure during the recovery, we expect almost perfection out of it (at least I did, and I know that many people on this board think the same as I do). The number one aesthetic result that I wanted to achieve through this surgery was to get rid of my receding chin, and unfortunately my chin is still receding after surgery, although not as much as before. I'll try to live with the results, but if I won't be able to do it, I'll probably get a genioplasty sometime down the road.
Also you are right that there is a limit to how much you can move jaws around, but the measurements I was shooting for were nothing out of the ordinary. On this board you will find people who had their jaws advanced by a lot more than what I wanted mine advanced.
bb: I agree with what you said. I know very well that my OS is not the best one out there, but he was one of the few available through my insurance company. At the end I paid for this surgery just $350 for the hospital co-pay plus the $50 co-pay everytime I see my OS. As the old say goes, I got what I paid for. Unfortunately after spending 8K for orthodontics, I didn't have any money left to go out of network, so I got stuck with this OS. I don't think it's wise to start working with another OS at this point in time, but I might have to do it anyway because I just received a letter this morning from my insurance company saying that as of 4/11 my surgeon won't be in the network anymore. So I have to figure something out really fast. Just another one of those bumps in the road.
Bitewonder: I'm having problems with speaking too, and I am already 19 days post-op. Actually I almost entirely lost my voice for about 5 days, from around day 3 to day 8 post-surgery. I don't know why that happened, my surgeon thinks it might have something to do with those tubes that they put inside during surgery.
Maloccluser: The most frustrating thing is that my bite was perfect after surgery. When I looked in the mirror the day after surgery all my teeth were touching and my midlines were perfectly alligned. I believe that two weeks without the elastics holding my jaws in place caused the changes the I'm experiencing now. I hope that things can be fixed either by the surgeon or the orthodontist without having to resort to additional surgery.
I do have some residual swelling and numbness around my cheeks and lips, and I can't wait for everything to settle down. As far as my chin goes, it really needed to come forward another 3-4mm to look more balanced. But I better concentrate on the bite issue for now and worry about my chin later on. After all there isn't anything that I can do right now except for yelling at my OS. But that's not really advisable because, as Audra said, I still need him to work with me.
Well that's all for now. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow when I see my surgeon. I hope that everybody is doing well and that you guys are having no drama with your recoveries.
Davide
thanks for all the support and kind words.
I called my surgeon's office this morning and I was told to go in tomorrow morning for an urgent visit. I was told to remove the elastic bands right away because the surgeon is now afraid that the configuration is wrong and that the bands are actually pulling my jaws more out of allignment rather than helping. So I followed doctor's orders and removed the bands, and now I'm waiting until tomorrow trying to stress myself out as little as possible.
Audra: I don't know why my surgeon decided to resort to elastics just two weeks after surgery. Before surgery I got myself mentally ready to go through even the whole wired-shut mouth ordeal, and I was very puzzled when my surgeon told me that I was not even going to be banded-shut nor he was going to use a splint. He said that the plates and screws would have been enough to hold my jaws together. When I woke up from surgery my jaws where completely free from any constrains, but all my teeth were touching and my midlines were perfectly alligned.
With regards to bone grafting, I believe that those are used for large movements only. If your jaws are moved just by 4-5 mm, that shouldn't warrant resorting to bone grafting to carry the surgery out.
Bitewonder: Yes there is an aesthetic improvement from the surgery but it came short of my expectations. As I said in a previous post, with all that we put into this massive surgery in terms of effort, time, and money, and considering all that we have to endure during the recovery, we expect almost perfection out of it (at least I did, and I know that many people on this board think the same as I do). The number one aesthetic result that I wanted to achieve through this surgery was to get rid of my receding chin, and unfortunately my chin is still receding after surgery, although not as much as before. I'll try to live with the results, but if I won't be able to do it, I'll probably get a genioplasty sometime down the road.
Also you are right that there is a limit to how much you can move jaws around, but the measurements I was shooting for were nothing out of the ordinary. On this board you will find people who had their jaws advanced by a lot more than what I wanted mine advanced.
bb: I agree with what you said. I know very well that my OS is not the best one out there, but he was one of the few available through my insurance company. At the end I paid for this surgery just $350 for the hospital co-pay plus the $50 co-pay everytime I see my OS. As the old say goes, I got what I paid for. Unfortunately after spending 8K for orthodontics, I didn't have any money left to go out of network, so I got stuck with this OS. I don't think it's wise to start working with another OS at this point in time, but I might have to do it anyway because I just received a letter this morning from my insurance company saying that as of 4/11 my surgeon won't be in the network anymore. So I have to figure something out really fast. Just another one of those bumps in the road.
Bitewonder: I'm having problems with speaking too, and I am already 19 days post-op. Actually I almost entirely lost my voice for about 5 days, from around day 3 to day 8 post-surgery. I don't know why that happened, my surgeon thinks it might have something to do with those tubes that they put inside during surgery.
Maloccluser: The most frustrating thing is that my bite was perfect after surgery. When I looked in the mirror the day after surgery all my teeth were touching and my midlines were perfectly alligned. I believe that two weeks without the elastics holding my jaws in place caused the changes the I'm experiencing now. I hope that things can be fixed either by the surgeon or the orthodontist without having to resort to additional surgery.
I do have some residual swelling and numbness around my cheeks and lips, and I can't wait for everything to settle down. As far as my chin goes, it really needed to come forward another 3-4mm to look more balanced. But I better concentrate on the bite issue for now and worry about my chin later on. After all there isn't anything that I can do right now except for yelling at my OS. But that's not really advisable because, as Audra said, I still need him to work with me.
Well that's all for now. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow when I see my surgeon. I hope that everybody is doing well and that you guys are having no drama with your recoveries.
Davide
-
revolutionary
- Posts: 96
- Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:13 am
- Location: NYC
- Contact:
Pills, pills, pills while you're banded shut post-op
Hey guys...
Aside from the obvious crushing and mixing with liquid, has anyone thought of any other clever way to down prescription pills? Say, pushing them to the back of your mouth, sucking them to a straw... Anything?
The taste of my (non surgery related) meds is started to make me sick, even mixed with strong juice, so I was just wondering if anyone had figured out an alternative method.
Aside from the obvious crushing and mixing with liquid, has anyone thought of any other clever way to down prescription pills? Say, pushing them to the back of your mouth, sucking them to a straw... Anything?
The taste of my (non surgery related) meds is started to make me sick, even mixed with strong juice, so I was just wondering if anyone had figured out an alternative method.
-
revolutionary
- Posts: 96
- Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:13 am
- Location: NYC
- Contact:
So today is 13 days post op! I had my 2nd post op OS visit this past Monday... It went SO well, nothing like the first visit. Everyone in the surgeon's office, from the receptionist to the nurse to the two residents to the doctor, complimented me on how great I looked and how quickly I was progressing... They said my swelling was down faster than normal, that I looked really good, and my doctor even said "look at her, she's gonna be in hollywood" haha... And since my appointment time this Monday was the same day/time as last week, I saw two other patients in the OR that I'd seen last week, two guys around my age, both said I looked great...
I was worried that my bite would be out of place since I haven't exactly been the best patient this week - I've slept on the side of my face, I suck with a straw through my front teeth instead of pushing it back, etc etc.... But the doctors said that my bite looked PERFECT, and they didn't even need to do ANY of those awful adjustments! Everything is healing in place, and I've got two more weeks of braces and liquid diet.
I've been feeling really good in general... Aside from minor jawaches when I talk too much or sleep on my side (I know it's not good but it's not really painful, and I can't fall asleep on my back), I'm not in pain.... The worst part is just being SO DAMN HUNGRY, and well, not having properly brushed my teeth in 2 weeks. But otherwise? Everything is going fantastically, I feel VERY happy, confident, and blessed.
Not to mention everyone around me has noticed a change in my mood.... People have said that I'm practically glowing, even though I am physically gaunt and weak and the bands make me look like Hannibal and I'm hungry and look like a holocaust victim and swollen.... Even though I'm still only 2 weeks post and not fully recovered, I already feel so much of the depression and self-hatred that have been like a 50 pound weight on my shoulders for 15 of my nearly 22 years, is GONE! I don't know how else to explain it... I've struggled with chronic depression most of my life, and I honestly feel like a boulder has been taken off my chest.
So.... Yeah.... I feel like this is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I feel so blessed and fortunate that my process is going so smoothly, that my insurance covered my surgery, that I have a knowledgeable, competent, and cutting edge surgeon, that I didn't have to go through braces before my surgery and won't need to after my 4 weeks of these surgical ones (!!!), that I trusted my gut with the first surgeon I met (who gave me a bad vibe from the get-go) and got a second opinion.... My ONLY regret is that I didn't do this 6 years ago!!!
I was worried that my bite would be out of place since I haven't exactly been the best patient this week - I've slept on the side of my face, I suck with a straw through my front teeth instead of pushing it back, etc etc.... But the doctors said that my bite looked PERFECT, and they didn't even need to do ANY of those awful adjustments! Everything is healing in place, and I've got two more weeks of braces and liquid diet.
I've been feeling really good in general... Aside from minor jawaches when I talk too much or sleep on my side (I know it's not good but it's not really painful, and I can't fall asleep on my back), I'm not in pain.... The worst part is just being SO DAMN HUNGRY, and well, not having properly brushed my teeth in 2 weeks. But otherwise? Everything is going fantastically, I feel VERY happy, confident, and blessed.
Not to mention everyone around me has noticed a change in my mood.... People have said that I'm practically glowing, even though I am physically gaunt and weak and the bands make me look like Hannibal and I'm hungry and look like a holocaust victim and swollen.... Even though I'm still only 2 weeks post and not fully recovered, I already feel so much of the depression and self-hatred that have been like a 50 pound weight on my shoulders for 15 of my nearly 22 years, is GONE! I don't know how else to explain it... I've struggled with chronic depression most of my life, and I honestly feel like a boulder has been taken off my chest.
So.... Yeah.... I feel like this is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I feel so blessed and fortunate that my process is going so smoothly, that my insurance covered my surgery, that I have a knowledgeable, competent, and cutting edge surgeon, that I didn't have to go through braces before my surgery and won't need to after my 4 weeks of these surgical ones (!!!), that I trusted my gut with the first surgeon I met (who gave me a bad vibe from the get-go) and got a second opinion.... My ONLY regret is that I didn't do this 6 years ago!!!
I saw my OS yesterday morning and he changed the configuration of my elastic bands to correct the midline asymmetry and a bite that looked like was shifting out of place. Within 24 hours my midlines are once again symmetrical to one another and the gaps between my arches on the side are already getting smaller. Kudos to my OS, I regained some respect for him already. I asked him why he didn't put elastics on right after the surgery, and he replied that he's always done his surgeries this way and he never had any problem with shifting bites. He actually said that during his whole practice he had to redo just one surgery due to a shifted bite.
Next week we'll go over the x-rays and he will show me what he did during surgery. I look forward to find out why he didn't move my jaws forward as much as planned, leaving my chin still rather receding, although not as much as before surgery.
Overall I'm feeling pretty good, I still have some residual swelling and a lot of numbness around my lips and chin. My OS told me to start excercises to stretch my mouth sideways and to open it as wide as I can to increase ROM. I'll probably go back to work part-time from home next week and forfeit the last two week of my medical leave.
Alison: I'm glad to hear that you are pleased with the aesthetic results of your surgery. It must feel really good to see that your expectation have been met by your surgeon. What did you exactly have done and by how much did you have your jaw(s) moved?
I can relate to being hungry all the time, I think that's something that every person who goes through orthognatic surgery experiences. I weighed myself half an hour ago, and I found out that I already dropped a whopping 21 pounds, although I lost 5 pounds before surgery because of stress.
I guess I'm lucky that my favorite sleeping position is on my back with my head propped up. That's the perfect position for healing from orthognatic surgery. I can see which kind of pain it can be for people who like to sleep on their sides, or, even worse, on their tummy.
I can't give you any advice on how to take medication without actually tasting it. I'm lucky that I was able to swallow my meds in pill format since day 2 of my recovery. However I still couldn't avoid tasting the antibiotic which also caused extreme nausea until the very last pill that I took.
Keep us posted with your progress and good luck with the rest of your recovery.
Davide
Next week we'll go over the x-rays and he will show me what he did during surgery. I look forward to find out why he didn't move my jaws forward as much as planned, leaving my chin still rather receding, although not as much as before surgery.
Overall I'm feeling pretty good, I still have some residual swelling and a lot of numbness around my lips and chin. My OS told me to start excercises to stretch my mouth sideways and to open it as wide as I can to increase ROM. I'll probably go back to work part-time from home next week and forfeit the last two week of my medical leave.
Alison: I'm glad to hear that you are pleased with the aesthetic results of your surgery. It must feel really good to see that your expectation have been met by your surgeon. What did you exactly have done and by how much did you have your jaw(s) moved?
I can relate to being hungry all the time, I think that's something that every person who goes through orthognatic surgery experiences. I weighed myself half an hour ago, and I found out that I already dropped a whopping 21 pounds, although I lost 5 pounds before surgery because of stress.
I guess I'm lucky that my favorite sleeping position is on my back with my head propped up. That's the perfect position for healing from orthognatic surgery. I can see which kind of pain it can be for people who like to sleep on their sides, or, even worse, on their tummy.
I can't give you any advice on how to take medication without actually tasting it. I'm lucky that I was able to swallow my meds in pill format since day 2 of my recovery. However I still couldn't avoid tasting the antibiotic which also caused extreme nausea until the very last pill that I took.
Keep us posted with your progress and good luck with the rest of your recovery.
Davide