40 day post-op
I'm completely back to normal. I always thought I was a quick healer, but wow. There is a significant change in appearance, which I am thankful for. The bite is perfect. However, the right jawline is just a tiny bit off to the right. The OS last week said it's still early, and to give it 2 more months for complete healing and the numbness/swelling to go down (I really just have a little numbness on my chin). At that meeting in june, he will re-evaluate me. He says it's possible I may need a genioplasty, which will correct the chin position and pull the right jaw in. The OS said he could not have done it the day of the surgery, and I thought I was all done. He says it's possible it may correct itself with orthodontic work and bone healing. I have no choice now but to keep being patient, and see what I'll look like this summer. He said if I had to do it, it'd be a day surgery. I don't have any details at all about the genioplasty, can anyone explain how it compares to the double jaw surgery? Thanks
March 2010 surgery buddies
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revolutionary
- Posts: 96
- Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:13 am
- Location: NYC
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I'm 37 days post-op. I've been on soft foods and only 2 elastics on my canines (that I can remove for up to 2 hours to eat and talk) since Monday, can open my mouth about halfway to normal.
I saw my OS today, after 4 days of soft foods and 2 elastics, and he said my bite looks perfect and stable, thus I am officially, legitimately getting sedated and de-braced at 10AM next Wednesday.
My 22nd birthday was this past Wednesday and I got to eat cake and cupcakes and ethiopian food (though the meat was too hard to chew yet
)
Things are looking good.
I saw my OS today, after 4 days of soft foods and 2 elastics, and he said my bite looks perfect and stable, thus I am officially, legitimately getting sedated and de-braced at 10AM next Wednesday.
My 22nd birthday was this past Wednesday and I got to eat cake and cupcakes and ethiopian food (though the meat was too hard to chew yet
)Things are looking good.
- Alison
I’m 55 days post-surgery, and my jaw saga is far from over still. During my last visit my surgeon told me that now my TMJ on the left side is out of the socket, and that I will need another surgery to fix it. He wants to do an IVRO (Intraoral Vertical Ramus Osteotomy), wire my mouth shut for 10 days, and he wants to do this as soon as possible. I was absolutely flabbergast when I heard him say those words. I’m just coming out of a massive bimaxillary surgery, and I’m supposed to plunge into another operation? Will this nightmare ever end? I just went back to work two weeks ago, after 6 weeks of medical leave, how am I going to ask for more time off?
I already scheduled an appointment with another surgeon for a second opinion, and I also already consulted with my orthodontist to see what he thought about it. Unfortunately my ortho agreed with the surgeon about my joint being out of place and the need to procede surgically to fix it. He also thinks that the midlines shift that I experienced starting from a couple of weeks after the surgery was caused by my joint not sitting properly in the socket.
I’ll wait to get a second opinion (and maybe even a third one) before considering myself totally screwed, and make a decision on what to do next.
At the present time I’m heavily banded, as my orthodontist took over placing the elastics around my brackets in order to close the gaps between upper and lower jaws. So instead of being banded immediately after surgery, I got my mouth shut more than 50 days after the operation.
My weight loss topped at a whopping 30 pounds, as my poor diet and increasing anxiety don’t allow me to put any weight back on.
Hadoudi: We had our surgeries on the same day, but our experiences so far have been totally different. The only thing in common that we have is that after surgery we are left with the desire (or need) to have a genioplasty to fix our chins. Indeed in spite of the lower jaw advancement, my chin still looks rather receding. If I wont be able to avoid the IVRO to fix my joint, it will be very tempting for me to have the genioplasty done at the same time, since I would have to go under the knife in any case.
I hope that everybody else is doing great.
Davide
I already scheduled an appointment with another surgeon for a second opinion, and I also already consulted with my orthodontist to see what he thought about it. Unfortunately my ortho agreed with the surgeon about my joint being out of place and the need to procede surgically to fix it. He also thinks that the midlines shift that I experienced starting from a couple of weeks after the surgery was caused by my joint not sitting properly in the socket.
I’ll wait to get a second opinion (and maybe even a third one) before considering myself totally screwed, and make a decision on what to do next.
At the present time I’m heavily banded, as my orthodontist took over placing the elastics around my brackets in order to close the gaps between upper and lower jaws. So instead of being banded immediately after surgery, I got my mouth shut more than 50 days after the operation.
My weight loss topped at a whopping 30 pounds, as my poor diet and increasing anxiety don’t allow me to put any weight back on.
Hadoudi: We had our surgeries on the same day, but our experiences so far have been totally different. The only thing in common that we have is that after surgery we are left with the desire (or need) to have a genioplasty to fix our chins. Indeed in spite of the lower jaw advancement, my chin still looks rather receding. If I wont be able to avoid the IVRO to fix my joint, it will be very tempting for me to have the genioplasty done at the same time, since I would have to go under the knife in any case.
I hope that everybody else is doing great.
Davide
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revolutionary
- Posts: 96
- Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:13 am
- Location: NYC
- Contact:
Davide, I'm sorry to hear that your post op experience has been such a nightmare. I really hope that you don't need a second surgery... Keep us posted. It is really weird that you got banded so late; it seems natural that if your jaw isn't immediately fixated after the surgery, things will slide around because nothing is fully healed.
I am approaching 9 weeks post op and my recovery is going really smoothly... I've had the braces off since 4/28 and I'm really happy with my results and surgeon. I've had no complications and except for the minor setback of being confused about my de-bracing, everything has gone according to plan. I can open my mouth a little more than two finger-widths, and my doc says I should be back to chewing completely normally in another 2 weeks or so.
I'm still adjusting to my new bite and keeping an eye on myself slipping back into the way I was accustomed to chewing with my giant underbite. Also, my upper cheeks are still just a teensy bit numb, but it's barely noticeable.
I haven't really tried any form of exercise yet, so I guess that will be the next saga in my journey. I still can't believe my underbite is gone. I am seriously so much happier and more confident.
I am approaching 9 weeks post op and my recovery is going really smoothly... I've had the braces off since 4/28 and I'm really happy with my results and surgeon. I've had no complications and except for the minor setback of being confused about my de-bracing, everything has gone according to plan. I can open my mouth a little more than two finger-widths, and my doc says I should be back to chewing completely normally in another 2 weeks or so.
I'm still adjusting to my new bite and keeping an eye on myself slipping back into the way I was accustomed to chewing with my giant underbite. Also, my upper cheeks are still just a teensy bit numb, but it's barely noticeable.
I haven't really tried any form of exercise yet, so I guess that will be the next saga in my journey. I still can't believe my underbite is gone. I am seriously so much happier and more confident.
- Alison
Hey Alison,
unfortunately I will really need another surgery to fix my TMJ. The second surgery is scheduled for June 30. I really hope that this is the last surgery, and that everything will be fine from then on.
I'm glad to hear that you are doing fine, and that you are pleased with the final results of your surgery.
Davide
unfortunately I will really need another surgery to fix my TMJ. The second surgery is scheduled for June 30. I really hope that this is the last surgery, and that everything will be fine from then on.
I'm glad to hear that you are doing fine, and that you are pleased with the final results of your surgery.
Davide
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revolutionary
- Posts: 96
- Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:13 am
- Location: NYC
- Contact:
I had my second jaw surgery on Wednesday, June 30. I had an IVRO to set my left TMJ back into the socket, and a 5 mm sliding genioplasty. The whole operation lasted 3 hours and the surgeon said that everything went well.
I woke up with my chin wrapped in bandages and feeling a lot of nausea. I spent the night at the hospital, but the following day I didn't have any complication so my OS discharged me just 24 hours after surgery.
I've been home alone since Thursday afternoon, and overall I'm doing ok. It's just the same nightmare all over again in terms of pain, swelling, numbness, bruising, and weight loss. This time I'm forcing myself to take in more nutrients, so to minimize the weight loss, but I already know that I've lost a few more pounds.
So far this second surgery has just been as hard as the first one, but thanks to the first experience I already know all the drills, and I know what to do and what to expect. I find myself way too eager to heal and move on, and I'm pushing myself really hard to get back to a normal life. I stopped taking pain medication since day 2, and I've been driving my car around after just 5 days. This time I don't really have a 6-week medical leave to recover and Im supposed to go back to work next Monday!
The biggest difference between this surgery and the one I had in March is that this time around I'm wired-shut and I will be so for 12 days. Being on a liquid diet sucks, but at least it's not the 4-6 weeks that everybody else on the board talks about.
I just hope that this was really the last jaw surgery ever of my life, and that from now on it will be just joy and laughter.
Davide
I woke up with my chin wrapped in bandages and feeling a lot of nausea. I spent the night at the hospital, but the following day I didn't have any complication so my OS discharged me just 24 hours after surgery.
I've been home alone since Thursday afternoon, and overall I'm doing ok. It's just the same nightmare all over again in terms of pain, swelling, numbness, bruising, and weight loss. This time I'm forcing myself to take in more nutrients, so to minimize the weight loss, but I already know that I've lost a few more pounds.
So far this second surgery has just been as hard as the first one, but thanks to the first experience I already know all the drills, and I know what to do and what to expect. I find myself way too eager to heal and move on, and I'm pushing myself really hard to get back to a normal life. I stopped taking pain medication since day 2, and I've been driving my car around after just 5 days. This time I don't really have a 6-week medical leave to recover and Im supposed to go back to work next Monday!
The biggest difference between this surgery and the one I had in March is that this time around I'm wired-shut and I will be so for 12 days. Being on a liquid diet sucks, but at least it's not the 4-6 weeks that everybody else on the board talks about.
I just hope that this was really the last jaw surgery ever of my life, and that from now on it will be just joy and laughter.
Davide