JULY 2010 BUDDIES!!!!

Message

#181 Post by **ztm134** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:42 pm

isolde wrote:Thank you for your replies! I guess it's a very varied matter.

I was just a bit worried because today at the hospital, one of my surgeons said I might have mine out tomorrow...! Maybe, maybe, depends on the ortho, but I was thinking 4-5 weeks as well initially. He even took all my bands out today, I was really shocked.

p.s. bb you're lucky!

p.p.s. It's a good thing actually, as I was just brushing my teeth I think I may have knocked it slightly! I'm getting a bit too vigorous with brushing because I can't feel my top gums, haha.

Haha I have the same exact problem. It's weird not being able to feel your gums.

I too had my splint out at Day 10. My bands are still in place, however.

My swelling has pretty much disappeared now @ day 12. I CANNOT BELIEVE the difference. I still have numbness in my chin and inside my mouth and for all I care, it can stay numb. This was the absolute best decision that I ever made and I'm so sorry that I waited for as long as I did.

I can breathe through my nose, my teeth are hugely more comfortable, my face looks better, I even like my new, slightly wider nose. I hope there are some people the fence about this surgery that are reading this!

#182 Post by **isolde** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 4:49 am

ztm134 wrote:
Haha I have the same exact problem. It's weird not being able to feel your gums.

I too had my splint out at Day 10. My bands are still in place, however.

My swelling has pretty much disappeared now @ day 12. I CANNOT BELIEVE the difference. I still have numbness in my chin and inside my mouth and for all I care, it can stay numb. This was the absolute best decision that I ever made and I'm so sorry that I waited for as long as I did.

I can breathe through my nose, my teeth are hugely more comfortable, my face looks better, I even like my new, slightly wider nose. I hope there are some people the fence about this surgery that are reading this!

Once again we're in the same boat, because I just got back from having my splint out, and it feels incredible doesn't it!? I am still on a liquid diet because I got some industrial strength (or so they feel) bands back on, but with the splint off I couldn't care less about the bands. I can drink through a glass with much success, so who cares?!

And yes haha I am becoming endeared my wider nose too, I think the trade off was worth it, agreed?

The only thing without the splint is... muscle spasms, slightly irritating. But bearable!

#183 Post by **ztm134** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 3:58 pm

isolde wrote:
ztm134 wrote:
Haha I have the same exact problem. It's weird not being able to feel your gums.

I too had my splint out at Day 10. My bands are still in place, however.

My swelling has pretty much disappeared now @ day 12. I CANNOT BELIEVE the difference. I still have numbness in my chin and inside my mouth and for all I care, it can stay numb. This was the absolute best decision that I ever made and I'm so sorry that I waited for as long as I did.

I can breathe through my nose, my teeth are hugely more comfortable, my face looks better, I even like my new, slightly wider nose. I hope there are some people the fence about this surgery that are reading this!
Once again we're in the same boat, because I just got back from having my splint out, and it feels incredible doesn't it!? I am still on a liquid diet because I got some industrial strength (or so they feel) bands back on, but with the splint off I couldn't care less about the bands. I can drink through a glass with much success, so who cares?!

And yes haha I am becoming endeared my wider nose too, I think the trade off was worth it, agreed?

The only thing without the splint is... muscle spasms, slightly irritating. But bearable!

I feel you...I'm also still on a liquid diet but I'm really pushing it with what I consider "liquid." How thick does something have to be before its not considered liquid anymore?

The wider nose is absolutely worth it! I haven't had much in the way of muscle spasms yet though....are you able to open your mouth much yet if you take the bands out? I thought that my ROM was going to be really limited for a while, but when I change my bands I'm able to open my mouth all the way...however if I go too wide my muscles start to spasm a little.

#184 Post by **WiredRunner** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 6:27 pm

Day 3 into recovery. I'm generally feeling ok. There are highs and lows and I'm just trying to stay positive. I'm very swollen but I don't look as bad as I was anticipating. My upper jaw was moved forward and down. My lower was moved back and rotated to fix asymmetry. I'm banded but no splint. I can eat soft foods but I'm not feeling brave enough just yet. I've been trying to stay active (without overdoing it) and eat and drink as much as I can to help recovery. It's not easy but I'm trying

One thing I'd like to say is thank you to all of you. I've researched this surgery so much (mainly by lurking here) and tried to prepare myself but it's still the scariest thing I've ever done. I don't know how I'd be handling all of this if I hadn't read your questions and stories or seen your pictures. It's definitely helped keep me sane through this so thanks

#185 Post by **isolde** » Sun Aug 01, 2010 12:41 am

ztm134 wrote: I feel you...I'm also still on a liquid diet but I'm really pushing it with what I consider "liquid." How thick does something have to be before its not considered liquid anymore?

The wider nose is absolutely worth it! I haven't had much in the way of muscle spasms yet though....are you able to open your mouth much yet if you take the bands out? I thought that my ROM was going to be really limited for a while, but when I change my bands I'm able to open my mouth all the way...however if I go too wide my muscles start to spasm a little.

I'm not allowed to open my mouth, and not even take my bands off, which is a pain. All I want to do, more than eat pints of ice cream, is clean the damn backs of my teeth and tongue!

But when I was at the ortho and given the glorious ability of opening my mouth, I failed, extremely, with about half a cm of an open mouth.

Soon enough, soon enough

#186 Post by **James0099** » Sun Aug 01, 2010 2:41 pm

Man I can't wait to get these wires off, I want to open my mouth. I am sick of not being able to talk clearly or eat. I am sick of this liquid diet. Hopefully 2 more weeks and I get the wires off.

#187 Post by **VikingGirl** » Sun Aug 01, 2010 3:09 pm

James0099 wrote:Man I can't wait to get these wires off, I want to open my mouth. I am sick of not being able to talk clearly or eat. I am sick of this liquid diet. Hopefully 2 more weeks and I get the wires off.

Hang in there, I feel with you! I so want to brush my teeth! I've looked in there with the help of a flashlight and it does not look very nice! Yuck!

I want to eat something that needs chewing!

#188 Post by **Kirish** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:46 am

I'm 11 days post-op, and today they removed the bands completely, so my mouth is open exactly as it was before surgery. Is this something or what ?

My surgeon explained to me that's one of the benefits of doing Subapical osteotomy instead of BSSO (of course only in cases where one can replace the other).

To tell the truth, even though I didn't like the closed mouth, I kind of got used to it and could have passed another 2-3 weeks like that without that much trouble. The reason why I wanted my mouth opened is because they told me I can't get back to doing exercise with closed mouth.

#189 Post by **Kirish** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 11:45 pm

14 days post-op, and I'm stuck with swelling that simply refuses to let go (can't say I've seen any significant improvement regarding swelling for the last 1 week). What a bummer...

#190 Post by **Audra** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 7:27 am

Swelling takes MONTHS to go away. You can't expect it to be gone in two weeks.

#191 Post by **VikingGirl** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 8:12 am

Kirish wrote:14 days post-op, and I'm stuck with swelling that simply refuses to let go (can't say I've seen any significant improvement regarding swelling for the last 1 week). What a bummer...

Yeah, at first it goes really fast, but then you're stuck with weird, child-like looking cheeks for a long time. Well, at least I am. Haha!

#192 Post by **bracesat30** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 8:40 am

I'm at 6 weeks now and there is still definitely residual swelling that is hanging around, but I knew there would be and don't expect it to fully go away still for months, but it really doesn't bother me now. It's definitely worse in the mornings and worse when there's rainy weather, anything with a low pressure system. Maybe I should have had this surgery in a dry cold winter vs. a humid, muggy summer!

#193 Post by **Kirish** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 8:42 am

VikingGirl wrote:
Kirish wrote:14 days post-op, and I'm stuck with swelling that simply refuses to let go (can't say I've seen any significant improvement regarding swelling for the last 1 week). What a bummer...
Yeah, at first it goes really fast, but then you're stuck with weird, child-like looking cheeks for a long time. Well, at least I am. Haha!

Exactly VikingGirl. I simply didn't think I'll look so bad with those "child-like looking cheeks".

Audra, do you still have any significant swelling ?

#194 Post by **Audra** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 8:45 am

Most of it is gone now, but I still have a bit inside my cheeks at the back of my mouth (by my last molars) and I'm 16 weeks tomorrow.

#195 Post by **James0099** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 9:00 am

A lot of my swelling went away after a week or so, but there is still some puffiness.