MAY 2011 BUDDIES!!!!

[luke88]

Sams: I am finding it hard to differentiate between swelling and numbness.... huuum.... my right side of my face feels almost normal again with a bit of tightness (kinda feels like I have been sunburnt) but my left side has some swelling and numbness still although it is getting smaller. My chin area, lip and cheek area and underneath my eyes (all on the left hand side) are numb with swelling (I think). Bruising has disappeared completely now. It is hard to account for any of this by looking in the mirror.... I look at my cheek and think... is this 'puffy' part normal, was it there before I had surgery or is it numbness and swelling? lol Can not wait get my normal feeling back, it can take months unfortunately.

Rizzie: I get the super tight feeling you're talking about too. Mine tends to come on during the evening. I take some paracetamol and that usually sorts it out.

Coming up to 4 weeks being banded shut, I absolutely hate it but I am over half way now and it does feel good. I am still finding it hard to breathe still, I suffer from hayfever so my nose has been blocked (I am using so many nasal sprays, I know I shouldn't but it's either use them or not being able to breathe). I wish I could be de-banded so I could breathe through my mouth properly. As a result, I still haven't had anywhere near a decent night sleep, I wake up so many times throughout the night, unable to breathe.

All of my stitches are still present.... I hope they start to disappear soon as they are dissolvable ones. During my last appointment at hospital, I was unbanded and was allowed to brush my teeth but I couldn't open my mouth, it was very strange. I felt my jaws were unsafe without being banded shut, that is how much I have got used to these bands. I heard my self speak properly too for the first time in 3 weeks 2 days and it felt weird! Back to being banded shut now though.

Can not wait until I am 6 weeks 2/3 days post op cos I am debanded and put onto lighter elastics... I will be able to open my mouth and breathe, talk and start eating again 9although soft foods first!).

[MeanCactus]

I'm only a week and a day post op with no numbness and very minimal pain or even discomfort. I had an IVRO cut on the lower jaw, top jaw was moved up and forward however many mm (I forgot). Swelling has gone down a ton, I'm surprised I have so little pain too because so many people have talked about how bad it hurts. Just waiting it out until it's four weeks from now and I'm not wired shut anymore.

[aussiere]

Not through the woods yet....but, this weekend has made a huge difference. Last week I posted I looked like a bulldog (and as Titaniumadded pointed out, I now had an underbite), that is exactly what I looked like. I thought maybe the surgeon messed up the measurements and reversed something that gave me the opposite result. I was very depressed last week/this weekend. However, today the swelling has gone down some and I am losing the bulldog appearance. My surgeon kept telling me I cannot judge my appearance for 6 months as it takes that long for everything to settle in.

I guess the lesson here is not to panic too soon in the process. I was comparing my progress with others and benchmarking I should look like this x days post op. Everyone heals at different rates and I need to keep reminding myself of that.

This message board had been a lifesaver for me and I thank everyone for their contributions, advice and encouragement.

[Sams]

Wahoooo! 5 weeks today and I got the go ahead from my OS to start eating again! Plus metal brace with hooks was removed too

Going out for dinner this evening to celebrate!

[Rizzie]

Congratulations, Sams! That is definitely something to celebrate! I have my 4 week appointment tomorrow. I am hoping that my OS will decrease the number of elastics holding my jaws closed. I now have 10, and the ones across the front are very annoying. I'm going to visit my daughter and new granddaughter next week and would love to be able to speak clearly and not look quite so odd. I will at least pitch my case and see what he says!

[neens]

hey all,

seems like you're all recovering well now! I'm 4 weeks post op and I'm quite swollen and a little bruised too, the numbness is going a little every day. I'm really tired all the time and spend most of the day in bed as I can't concentrate enough to read or doing anything other than watch crap tv really. I've been out for very short walks but they just exhaust me. Has anyone else experienced this? I can't imagine being ready to go back to work anytime soon as I'm so swollen, tired and still can't talk that well, which seems to be the opposite of alot of the other people in this forum!

[a2hopper]

I'm 3 weeks post op from my Sagittal Split Osteotomy, Lefort 1 Osteotomy and Genioplasty, so i had is done on May 19th. Wanted to say most of my swelling has gone down, and I am getting more and more and feeling back everyday. I lost about 10% of my body mass since the surgery (I really didn't start to eat well till 10 or so post surgery), about 25lbs. My weight seems to have stabilized, but I'm worried that like with my SARPE no mater what i eat or how much i do i seem to lose weight on these soft food diets. Hope everyone else's recovery is going well.

[Sams]

Hi all

@Rizzie, thank you Rizzie! I enjoyed a fab alfresco dinner of fish and it was fabulous! Congratulations yourself with your new grandaughter have a wonderful visit with her and your daughter

@ Neens, although I'm getting more energy as time goes on, I too get very tired and sleep a lot! I work Mon-Thurs so I was off yesterday and I slept in till 11:30 and had to have an afternoon nap too which lasted 3 hours! This is heavy stuff we're going through in that the body has to repair broken bones at the same time as having a severely restricted diet and of course the emotional upheaval of dealing with facial changes and facing people's reactions, etc. I read time and time again on these forums that we need to give the recovery process a lot of time and take it day by day and I'm clinging to that advice myself.

I'm 5 1/2 weeks post op and am feeling OK. I wake up with a stiff face but find that eases as the day goes on. I have moments of thinking I seem to be OK and moments of thinking I look freaky and that my nose is only getting wider... Visions of my nostrils eventually reaching my ear holes perturb me But I'm presuming that too is just swelling and it all needs to settle down.... right?? Can't wait to get my teeth cleaned professionally in a weeks time - the mouthwash I was prescribed has stained my teeth which is not helping the 'look' lol!

How are the rest of you doing??

Sams

[Rizzie]

I am happy to report that my OS removed the front elastics so I can now use a baby spoon to shovel in non-chew food! Refried rice and beans from my favorite Mexican restaurant was SO tasty...and the margarita wasn't too bad either!

I still have stitches in my upper jaw that haven't dissolved. They are thick, white, heavy-duty suture material, supposedly designed to dissolve in salt water rinses. I've not managed to rinse with salt water 8-10 times a day as recommended, but I am surprised that they are still intact @ one month postop. I can feel them pulling when I smile or make faces. So I am now rinsing like crazy, trying to get these things to dissolve. Anyone else still have their sutures intact, or feel pulling/resistance when smiling?

My energy level is slowly improving. If I overdo it, the next day I am flopped on the couch or sleeping off and on all day, so I'm trying to pace myself while still trying to increase my activity a bit each day. Overall, though, I feel good and am so happy to be at this point in recovery!

[Lingualita]

Hi all!

It's been 3 weeks since my second surgery (I had lefort 1 the 16th of May, but they had to perform a sagital split as well, which they did the 20th. of May)

I'm not in pain, but each morning i feel a bit uncomfortable, perhaps I'm clenching my jaw during the night. As for swelling, I am not that swollen anymore, but the area between my nose and my cheeks are still quite swollen.

I have jaw exercises I have to do five times a day. (Opening my mouth as wide as possible for 1 minute five times, and do that five times a day (total 25 minutes)). My ortho and surgeon said that it's important that I do these exercises, since the jaw is tightened after about 6 months. Now I can open my mouth about 2,5-3 cm, before the surgery it was 4,7 cm, so I hope to get as close to this over the next weeks/months. Anyone else doing these exercises?


As for weight loss, I haven't lost too much, perhaps 8 pounds. I'm on a soft diet for 6 weeks (3 weeks left), but I've now started eating pasta, so I don't think I'll loose anymore, rather gaining

I think my looks has improved after this surgery, and I'm glad I did it. However I still have a somewhat weak jaw/chin and some lip-incompetence. I discussed this with my surgeons, and we decided to schedule a meeting in September to discuss a possible genioplasty.

I'm glad you guys are recovering, look forward to hear about your progress!

[Sams]

It has gone quiet in this thread... 'Thought it high time to add something

It's almost seven weeks for me. Within the last week all my stitches dropped out/disappeared, which makes things much more comfortable! Tomorrow I'll go back to the hospital to get my teeth 'cleaned' to remove the staining caused by the mouth wash I was given. Can't wait for that! I was told to expect 'bling bling'!

I've been back on a proper diet for two weeks now and although actual chewing can be a little tender, I can eat most things - so long as it doesn't crunch I've also noticed that my appetite is smaller nowadays which is no bad thing.

You may have seen in other threads that I'm conscious about the fact that my nose has 'bulboused' (I know, not grammatically correct but you get my point) which I'm not crazy about and hope that it is still swelling although it's hard to imagine that my actual nose itself could have swollen.... I'll ask my surgeon about it when I see him.

So, come on then May persons, how about you??

[trc]

Just about 4 weeks post op for me. Physically I am feeling much better but the swelling around my nose, upper lip and cheeks is very noticable. My face has taken on a square look because there is still significant swelling in my lower jaw and chin. I feel like my face is much more swollen than it was last week. Seems like it should be going down not up at this point. I still don't want to go out in public because I think I look very odd. Even my youngest daughter said to me the other day "your face looks scary today mommy". That didn't make me feel to great but she was right. My smile still looks very plastic and fake.

I can eat soft food so I have slowly started to gain back the 12 pounds I lost in the first week. I still get tired very easily too. Sleeping through the night is still a challenge although I am back sleeping in my bed but propped up with pillows. I can almost fit two finger widths in between my bite. I work on it every day. I think the swelling is keeping it from progressing further.

Does anyone know if flying is painful after having the surgery? I am worried that because of the air pressure my face and sinuses might swell up on the plane. I don't want to come off looking like Mrs. Potato Head when I land in Vegas at the end of August.

How have the other May buddies been doing.

Sams - I can totally relate to you about the swelling and the widening of the nose. For me I am starting to look more like a rat or chipmunk with the swelling because it pulls my upper lip up and back away from my teeth. I can't stand it!

[Rizzie]

Ok, finally something to report. I saw my OS today for my 6 week checkup. He took off the elastics and cleared me to chew and see my ortho. So I saw my ortho 3 hours later, and I am back in elastics again, and they are tighter than the ones the OS had me in! (and these are the lightweight/daytime bands--haven't even tried the heavy-duty/nighttime ones yet!) At least I can take these out to eat and brush my teeth. I also got a new wire, with LOTS of bends in in, which means I will be in a world of hurt very soon.

So, the 3 hours of being band-free was wonderful! I was sort of prepared for the new band configuration, but a little break from elastics would have been nice. If there is good news, it is that my ortho said probably 3-4 more months until I am done!

It was also nice to see my teeth without the archwire. I can get a better idea how my teeth really look--and I was very pleased to see no surgical hooks, gummy smile, or overbite!

Regarding flying, I flew to Portland last week @ 5 weeks post-op and had no problems. I had upper and lower surgery, and by that time, my nose was completely clear.

It looks like I will be off work for 3 more weeks. Not ready to go back to 12 hour shifts yet--so I will most likely be cleared for work at my next OS visit.

How is everyone else these days?

[TitaniumAdded]

6 weeks post op now. Energy level is back to normal. I can chew foods but they still need to be on the soft side. I haven't really tested my chewing ability out too much. Mouth only opens as far as a finger and chewing is up and down. I also have found I don't eat as much since I believe my stomach has shrunk.

I see my OS in 2 weeks. The plan is to do resistance exercises then to get the range of motion back in my jaw.

[Rizzie]

For those of you who have begun to chew again...how would you describe the feeling you have in your jaws and teeth? I just started back chewing at 6 wks postop, and all I can say is that something, either the food or my numb teeth/gums feels spongy. I am hoping this is normal. My OS said it would feel odd for 8-10 weeks.