April 2011 surgery buddies!!!!!

[twinmom]

I am doing 10x better than I was a few days ago! I am at Day 7 post-surgery (I was in the OR at this time last week).

I get my wires off next Tuesday!!! My husband thought it was pretty funny when the receptionist at the surgeon's office asked "do you want morning or afternoon" I was very quick to say "MORNING!".

Dr. says I am healing very well. I have not had any numbness in my face like alot of people. There is no swelling in my chin at all, just in my cheeks up to my eyelids and around my nose. This has the effect of making my chin look very small and I thought at first he had someone shortened it (which I did not want), but it's just the swelling.

I am SO sick of the liquid diet! There is very little that is appetizing to me that holds enough calories to make it worthwhile.

I did score a Venti Starbucks White Chocolate Frappucino with protein powder yesterday, that was a good one! I had to let it sit and melt a little because the slushy ice was too cold on my teeth.

[rtxtavi02]

I am doing 10x better than I was a few days ago! I am at Day 7 post-surgery (I was in the OR at this time last week).

I get my wires off next Tuesday!!! My husband thought it was pretty funny when the receptionist at the surgeon's office asked "do you want morning or afternoon" I was very quick to say "MORNING!".

Dr. says I am healing very well. I have not had any numbness in my face like alot of people. There is no swelling in my chin at all, just in my cheeks up to my eyelids and around my nose. This has the effect of making my chin look very small and I thought at first he had someone shortened it (which I did not want), but it's just the swelling.

I am SO sick of the liquid diet! There is very little that is appetizing to me that holds enough calories to make it worthwhile.

I did score a Venti Starbucks White Chocolate Frappucino with protein powder yesterday, that was a good one! I had to let it sit and melt a little because the slushy ice was too cold on my teeth.

Yay! You will be able to upgrade to food like oatmeal and mashed potatoes! I actually have been a big fan of finely chopped beef mixed in with instant mashed potatoes. I also have been making regular runs to Panera for brocoli cheese soup!

Congrats on your progress!

[happy teeth]

I am doing 10x better than I was a few days ago! I am at Day 7 post-surgery (I was in the OR at this time last week).

I get my wires off next Tuesday!!! My husband thought it was pretty funny when the receptionist at the surgeon's office asked "do you want morning or afternoon" I was very quick to say "MORNING!".

Dr. says I am healing very well. I have not had any numbness in my face like alot of people. There is no swelling in my chin at all, just in my cheeks up to my eyelids and around my nose. This has the effect of making my chin look very small and I thought at first he had someone shortened it (which I did not want), but it's just the swelling.

I am SO sick of the liquid diet! There is very little that is appetizing to me that holds enough calories to make it worthwhile.

I did score a Venti Starbucks White Chocolate Frappucino with protein powder yesterday, that was a good one! I had to let it sit and melt a little because the slushy ice was too cold on my teeth.

SOOO how does the bit feel? I know you have tons of swelling and your mouth is wired shut but do you feel as if you made the right choice going through with everything?

[twinmom]

This surgery was so serious that I cannot say yet if it was worth it. The first couple of days, I was telling myself it definately was NOT. I also knew I could never ever let a child of mine do this surgery until they were an adult and could make the decision themselves. This is some serious stuff.

That being said, alot of my swelling is down but not gone. I am still having trouble breathing through my nose at times, and then when you have your mouth wired shut and a splint in there taking up space, it can be very frustrating and stressfule to not be able to breathe properly.

Once I'm able to use my new bite and can experience food the way most people do, then we'll see. But I expect it's alot like childbirth, extremely painful and at the time you swear you'll never do it again, but then you get that "amnesia" and forget how painful it was.

[Chip]

Hey twinmom and waterboy, good to hear your experiences so far. I've got my SARPE surgery in two days now. Will come on after that once I'm able to and update how its going, hopefully all good!

[WaterBoy13]

Hey guys!

Just wanted to check in! (Glad to hear you are doing better Twinmom)

As far as my past week, it has been quite a rollercoaster. As I reported previously, the first 5 days after surgery went smoothly and were incredibly simple. Then day 6 game and it all went downhill. I woke up around 9am with a nosebleed. At first I wasn't too concerned as it was pretty common to have nosebleeds after this surgery. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my nose to stop the bleeding and come 12pm, I become concerned. I called my surgeon and he directed me to just lay back and relax, which I did and the nosebleed stopped, but from that point on it would be on and off all night long. It would stop for 30/45 minutes, and then all of a sudden I would feel the blood clot slide down my throat and it would start up again. Around 8pm I become concerned even more, called my surgeon again and he directed me to come see him at his office. Upon arrival he did his best to try to get it to stop, which included inserting an Anterior Nasal Pack. Let me tell you this is soooooooooo uncomfortable (and painful). After an hour of this, the bleeding still didn't stop so we went to the ER. Once at the ER, my surgeon inserted a Posterior Nasal Pack. The purpose of a nasal pack is to put pressure on the blood vesels, cause them to collapse and clot. This aparatus is approx 65mm long and has two balloons inside it which can be inflated from the outside to apply a desired pressure on the inside. Regardless, this is also incredibly uncomfortable and they had to be in for a minimum of 24 hours. I didnt feel any pain once they were in, but the discomfort definitely starts to take a toll on you. I felt pretty warn out and tired, but a full day later, I went back into his office and had them removed, and happily..... no more bleeding!

Since then my nose has been clogged with the goop from the nasal pack, and some blood clots in the back of my throat, but my surgeon said that is all normal.

Aside from that... I have been continuing with my expander and currently up to 3mm. My surgeon told me today that I should expect to go to 7mm in total at least. Im not excited about that as its going to look absurd, but I know that it won't last forever, so I will get by.

[twinmom]

Yikes Waterboy! That does not sound like any kind of fun!

I had my wires cut off yesterday, but it did not give me the freedom I thought I'd have. Still on a liquid diet. The rubber bands are alot more comfortable than the wires were, but I had my hopes set on some mashed potatoes or refried beans once the wires were cut! Oh well, it is all good, my mouth should be opening up a little every day now.

[freakyteeth]

Twinmom -

Totally agree with everything you said and have described.

I'm hoping as time goes on I too will feel it was worth it. Right now, I do not.



Here's to feeling normal soon!


www.dentaltransformation.blogspot.com

[rayray]

Hello all! I am 2 day post op from my BSSO on 20 April. I had an 10mm advancement to correct my overbite. It has been a roller coaster since then. My lovely wife has been pumping me full of meds and smoothes. My swelling is about at its peak now. I don't foresee it getting any worse ( I look like Bubba from Forrest Gump, stung by a bee!) Not much pain, but I have been cautious not to make sudden movements as a headache will emerge. I have optimism that I will heal fast. First post-op appt is Monday. Just a little background of my dental care, I had four teeth extractions in Sep 2009, braces applied in Oct 2009 and now my BSSO on April 20, 2011

[rtxtavi02]

Congrats on being through the hard part (surgery). I am 3 weeks post op and only waiting for swelling in my lips and cheeks to go away. I just can't wait to eat solids again! You will know what I mean even more by week 3; the soup just isn't cutting it!

[LAJaw]

Just made it to the other side. Had a 3-piece lefort 1 and bsso yesterday morning to correct my underbite. It went surprisingly well - I have almost no pain and am not super numb. Worst part is just the general discomfort and boredom of being at the hospital. I am super congested and not used to sleeping upright and probably got only 2 hours of sleep last night. But besides that day 1 went much better than I had expected.

I should he discharged in a few hours and will give a better report when I get to a computer. But so happy to join the post-op club!!

[twinmom]

LAJaw - good luck over the next few days, those were the worst for me.

I will be 3 weeks post-op in 4 days. Am hoping this next week brings more solid foods!

rtxtavi02 - post when you are able to eat something besides soup! I had some chicken noodle soup last night and got a few teeny-tiny bits of noodles swallowed. I am able to open just a little bit and slurped it right in. I mean, these were smaller than a piece of rice.

[LAJaw]

Ok got discharged around noon today and by the time I got home I was just feeling a mess. My nose is super congested and I have to breathe through my mouth most of the time. No problem - except for the bands preventing my mouth from opening and that big fat splint that's in the way. I just have to really concentrate on breathing, which while I'm awake is fine, but makes falling (and staying) asleep really difficult. TwinMom, please tell me it gets better

[twinmom]

LAJaw - it does get better! But I really had to work to keep the congestion at bay, even now I still get bouts of it. I spent almost one whole day after surgery sitting in front of my humidifier. Hot showers, saline nasal spray, everything helped a little but it was still a struggle!

The Afrin was great but of course you can only use that for 3 days at a time.

I think sometime within the first week, the congestion waned off a good bit.

One thing that seems to help me now, is if I am up and moving around, the congestion gets better. Not sure if getting the blood flowing and some circulation going is doing the trick? But yes it is awful laying in bed and night and not being able to breathe! Hang in there!

[rayray]

Well, I'm at day 4 post op. I was actually well enough to venture outside the house today and ride with my wife to drop our pooch at the groomers! A good noticeable amount of swelling subsided overnight and I haven't used any Roxicet since yesterday morning. I have managed to keep my smoothie and shake down also! I go in for my first follow up tomorrow morning... hopefully they give me a good prognosis of four weeks being wired shut instead six!

Cheers!