MARCH 2011 BUDDIES

[Laundraholic]

On another note -- am 6 days post-op and its the first day I woke up with my nose not all blocked up with blood

Yay for small steps!!

[rtxtavi02]

I read somewhere that 50% or more of people that have oral surgery are 25 or older. I probably read it on the Internet and everything on the Internet is true, right?

The last two days for me I have noticed an incision in the middle of my upper lip that has a stitch sticking out of it, and it keeps getting hooked on one of the surgical locks and I think I am just beginning to get feeling back because it is starting to bother me.

And I think the pain as the numbness wears off is pretty normal, it just depends on the amout of work you had done; for me it is in my upper cheek area. The surgeon said he had to do a little more 'disection' (I hate that word) to get my cheek tissue implants in place. Although it isn't a sharp pain just yet, I think my face knows something is up because I have been struggling with pressure which is causing me headaches. I have had the sweats probably 3 or 4 times since surgery (not in the last two days though).

On another note, I am also 6 days post op and my swelling it really starting to come down, but I still have a HUGE upper lip that looks just weird.

[Laundraholic]

On another note, I am also 6 days post op and my swelling it really starting to come down, but I still have a HUGE upper lip that looks just weird.

Same here... that upper lip is HUGE. And I mean really really huge.
I can't wait for it to go down to see how my face is supposed to look, because right now I don't look like me at all

[Rizzie]

Hi March Buddies! I don't tend to post too much, but I am watching your stories and progress, and wish you all a speedy recovery.

To freakyteeth:

HANG IN THERE...you'll turn the corner soon and the depression will improve. You have had more extensive surgery than most, so it makes sense to me that it will take a few extra days for you to turn that corner, but you WILL. It seems like everyone eventually has that day when they wake up in the morning and say that they feel so much better and your day is coming!!!

I'm so glad that this forum has the Buddies threads...it is the perfect support group format for post surgery folks who are homebound and recovering. (Can you tell I'm a psych nurse?) I so glad I found this site. I should be up for my surgery sometime in the next couple of months.

[dtdtdt]

Ok it looks as if I win the title of Oldest March Buddy at age 38.

I am 3 weeks and a day post BSSO to correct a crossbite and slight assymetry. My swelling has gone down much more on one side that the other. It looks strange. Has anyone else ever heard of this? And, the dr is adamant my midlines are spot on, but my bottom middle teeth miss lining up with the top middle ones by a very slight bit. Now i wonder if ortho can fix this? Does surgery only take it so far and then ortho tweaks at end? Maybe I will post a picture and see what you guys think.

Ugh.
My chin has also started to tingle so much at night it burns and aches. What do I take for this? Am I a total wimp?

I would say woa is me but I learned today that insurance is paying a heck of a lot more of surgeon's fees than I expected. Who would have guessed this?

Hope the later March buddies continue to make it through those rough days and to the good side!

From Your Senior Buddy

[I love my teeth]

dtdtdt-

I am a young 39, turning 40 next week

I read your post and felt like I was reading my own!! I also had asymetrical swelling....I think that, plus the tighness in the jaw muscles gives you the illusion that your midlines are off.....I know I had a hard time believing my surgeon as well! But now at 11weeks post--they are spot on--and beautiful! Give it some more time, it's still early!

Yes, ortho tweeks the bite after a while, so he will finish up.

My surgeon said if I couldn't take the burning he would give me something, but I declined, doing accupuncture instead--really, really helped the burning go away (or it just went away on it 's own I don't know!)--But now at 11 weeks, I still have numbness--but less and less of that harsh tingling and burning all the time. Hang it there--this too shall pass!

congrats with the insurance! I am still waiting for my appeal to come through, should have an answer next week--so I am gearing up for round 2 (hopefully not needed )

good luck--and you should see a big difference in the next 3 weeks!
Christine

[freakyteeth]

I love you guys!!!

Laudraholic - *envious* - I wish my sinuses would open. My swelling is way down.

yesterday I did feel a little bit better! I took a shower and loaded the dishwasher. Then I got out of breath. I became really panicked and thought I had a pulmonary embolism (I'm such a hypocondriac). Whenever I move around too much I'm out of breath. I went into surgery fairly anemic and my hemoglobin was down to 9.0 after surgery. I'm hoping this is the cause.

It's interesting we are mostly in our late 30's. I had put the surgery off for a while. Are we getting surgery because we can now afford the orthodontics and have the leave time, etc? Just curious about this now.

When does the drooling stop? I am so ready for this.

[DRG]

I'm still pretty depressed I think. I hate not being able to take care of my family. Plus I'm older than most of you - 37.

Freakyteeth - I understand completely about feeling depressed. I'd say that a lack of calories is a prime culprit here in making you feel that way. Looking back at my experience (granted, I'm roughly a month ahead of you in recovery), I really didn't feel like myself until I was able to eat sufficiently. For me, that took a few weeks because (1) I just wasn't hungry at first, and (2) it was such a hassle to eat. Not to mention that (3) I was on a liquid diet for nearly five weeks.

I love to watch Survivor, and can only now begin to relate to how those people feel after spending weeks on an island with a very limited amount of food. No wonder they start acting out eventually. It's just not a healthy way to go through life, and for those of us recovering from surgery -- there's a price to be paid.

You will feel better, and soon. What you're experiencing is very typical, in my humble estimation.

DRG

[Laundraholic]

It's interesting we are mostly in our late 30's. I had put the surgery off for a while. Are we getting surgery because we can now afford the orthodontics and have the leave time, etc? Just curious about this now.

When does the drooling stop? I am so ready for this.

In my case it had originally been recommended that I do this when I was 18, when the bones stopped growing.
Although I have an underbite, by teeth adjusted themselves to my jaw (upper teeth flared outward and the lower leaned inward a little) so they could meet, so I didn't have an open bite and although I didn't have the best or straightest teeth it didn't look horrible or anything.
My mom was okay with me getting (and paying for) the braces, but was really against having such major surgery and going through what at the time I was told was normally 6 weeks of your jaw being wired shut to "just fix your teeth". But I was long told (since I was 13) that braces could do nothing for me unless I got the surgery.

Then I guess life just got in the way... got married, bought a house, had 2 kids -- and it just wasn't a priority.

But it was always in the back of my mind about "what if", especially when I would see the dentist every 6 months (since I had been going to him since I was 7 years old he knew my whole story).

Finally when I brought it up AGAIN (and then was going to again just brush it off, thinking I was now "too old") my husband reminded me that I had never forgotten it, that I had never been able to eat a sandwich or burger properly, and that it was only 2 years... he didn't want me at age 40 thinking I SHOULD have done this when I was 30.

Now my mom feels guilty about not doing it soonner -- I think she realizes that if it was done when I was younger then I probably would have had youth on my side in terms of recovery, as well as not having to worry about taking care of kids or having to take time off work, as it could have been scheduled for summer break at school.

[rtxtavi02]

I am only 7 days post op now, but I had a few rough days because I wasn't taking in enough water and calories. Since then I started making myself drink water even if I wasn't thirsty and I have now been eating more even though it is such a hassle. Half of my day is spent eating and rinsing my mouth out with salt water. The thing you have to be careful about is if you do start moving around more, then you need to compensate for that by eating even MORE calories because your body is starting to burn them. Probably the reason your getting so tired. I out did myself a little yesterday and paid for it last night; I was dizzy and not feeling well.

The food (calories) thing has been the hardest for me because I generally eat whatever I want because I am pretty active.

By the way, I am craving Buffalo Wild Wings right now and it is killing me!

[rtxtavi02]

I only took profiles on my phone; my wife has the rest on her camera. For those of you that haven't read any other posts, this is what I had done.

July 1997, braced
December 2008, braced (2nd time)
March 31st, 2011 - Lefort 1 5.5 mm advancement with cheek implants (bottom jaw untouched)

As you can see I am still pretty swollen.

Happy with the new placement though, huzzah!

IMG_0122.jpg

IMG_0127.jpg

[kelhuntley]

Hi all,

I am 2 weeks, 4 days post op now. Had another appointment with my surgeon on Wednesday. He said I can stop wearing the back rubber bands (hurrah!), so I'm only wearing the front/side ones now. I don't go back to see him until the 28th April now! He said I can start jogging (gently) again and am allowed to blow my nose, etc - YAY!

Th rubber band on the left hand side of my jaw is causing me grief. It is rubbing against the corner of my lip and I now have a nice juicy ulcer that has popped up and seems to be constantly aggravated - the ulcer is actually getting stuck inside the rubber band - OUCH! I've been salt rinsing like a mad-woman but because the rubber bands are on full-time it doesn't seem to want to heal am going to phone the surgeon today to see if I can take it off at night possibly just to give it a break so it can heal. Fingers crossed. Anyone have good tips on how to get around this?

Since, we are all telling our stories - I'm 29. Had always wanted braces when I was younger, but there were four of us kids that all needed them and my parents just couldn't afford to fix all of our teeth, so none of us got them. I looked into getting them when I was around 24 but was told I'd need surgery and was not in the right mindframe (or financially stable) so got scared and forgot about it. Fast forward a few years later, I met my partner and he encouraged me to look into it again. We decided I should do it, started saving for the 18months I had my braces on and here I am today. My goal now is to have my "perfect smile" before my 30th birthday in November this year. I've uploaded a couple of pics of me prebraces and one from the other day.

Freakyteeth - I've been following your blog - your swelling has gone down HEAPS! I hope you are feeling better x

[jonathon003]

Jonathon,

I'm Day 9 today (Praise God) and Day 8 had the worst pain of the entire time. Terrible sinus pain. These sinuses. Ugh. Ibuprofen and Lortab didn't even help it. It's back this am too.

Maybe like someone said, the pain is worst when the numbness wears off and you continue to heal.
However, I know the pain is bad because I really can't 1) watch TV, 2) read, 3) drive, 4) use computer for longer than 10 minutes., 5) wear my glasses So what do I do? Play on my phone a little bit, take my medicines, nap, and blend food. You'd be surprised how much of the day that takes up.

I'm still pretty depressed I think. I hate not being able to take care of my family. Plus I'm older than most of you - 37.

Thanks for the comforting reply freakyteeth. How are you doing now? Is it any better? It's insane for me to fathom you guys taking care of kids at a time like this, it really kind of puts my pain and b*tching into perspective a little lol.

For me that intense pain has finally left thankfully. Now there's just a constant ache-like pain (feels like that pain you get when you get your braces adjusted at the ortho...not cool) but I can manage this much better than piercing, gives my shivers type pain.

I'm about 14 days post-op today. I'm allowed to remove my elastics now so I can finally clean my teeth a little which was awesome. Still can barely open my mouth though so can't brush really on the inside. The elastics are much tougher to put on then you'd imagine (for me anyway) b/c well I can't open my mouth well enough to show the teeth/hooks I need to use, so I must use one hand to keep my lips/mouth clear while the other tries to hook the elastic around the 4 hooks (2 top, 2 bottom).

One thing that slightly worries me (although I'm pretty sure at 2 weeks, it's fairly normal) is my bite seems VERY weird. Hoping the ortho can somehow make that fit a whole let better, and the chewing motion (which is impossible right now) becomes natural again. Just goes to show how many weeks it could take for signs of normalcy to return. I'm sure it'll be all worth it in the end though.

[bracedfaced]

Looking good rtxtavi02 & kelhuntley! I can't wait to see more when the swelling is down a bit more. Congrats!

[kelhuntley]

Hey March buddies, and anyone else reading ,

3 weeks post-op for me today - the time has zoomed on by, although the surgery is starting to feel like a distant memory. Have attached a couple of new pics. Still struggling to smile properly - it is very lopsided and looks more like a grimace

Went and saw the surgeon today as I had nasty ulcer - turns out it was one of my hooks causing it, so he has moved it out the way, so I'm hoping that it might to start to finally heal up now. Mouth felt a bit swollen internally most of the day today, so was good to just get everything checked over and know I am okay!

Eating is slowly starting to feel a bit easier - I've managed to eat out a couple of times now (with my trusty mirror!).

Have just emptied out the savings account paying the last bill for my surgery - ugh! No insurance for me sadly. But worth every penny.

How is everyone doing?