September 2011 Buddies!!!!

[gothpenguin]

Marian, I am so sorry to hear about your jaw Did it just happen one day, or do you think its been like that for a while? I'm praying your recovery is quicker this time.

To everyone else; I'm getting my braces off on tuesday !!!! YAY. For those of you who had your braces off, did you have dirty teeth(I'm going to want to smile and what not during an interview on wednesday)? Did you have trouble talking properly? etc?

jeff

[underbiter]

Again Marian, so sorry to hear about the surgery, cant imagine what it must feel like to have your jaw moving like that sounds horrific! Minerva is right suggesting pineapple to help with the swelling, but you can get 'Bromelain' tablets from health food shops like holland and barrett which are basically made from the enzyme that you get in pineapple, i found they helped a lot with my swelling. They are quite expensive tho (about 15 quid for 60 tablets!) but worth it for convenience.

Jeff i had my bottom brace taken off and it didnt feel that bad dirt wise, but they are quite yellow so i think once ive had everything done im going to have them whitened.

Also getting my top brace off next thursday so excited about that! Got appointments planned for april for me to have one screw in tooth where i have no real tooth and veneers on the rest of my top teeth, thankfully im not having any teeth taken out, which is what i was concerned about as last time i had teeth taken out i felt every little movement despite using local anaesthetic.

Im having a few doubts recently about whether im happy with my jawline, but im going to wait until ive had my veneers done and see if that makes any difference, its not so much the outside of my jaw but the fact that when my mouth is open you can see the bottom jaw is still in front of the top which annoys me. May decide to have the jaw surgery redone in the future, but we'll see what happens. In totally unrelated news, i'm still waiting for my echo scan to determine how serious my heart valve problem is and what can be done so thats a bit of a nuisance, as i cant return to work until thats done.

Oh and i found out that the swelling i have left on my face is not due to the surgery as that would all be gone now, im suffering from a condition called cushings syndrome which is due to me being on such high doses of steroids to keep me going whilst i was ill. Luckily im now back to my normal dosage, but still it remains, so its just a waiting game now. Plus my skin problem is now gone thankfully, and ive been discharged from the dermatologists department, so wont need to go back there unless it comes back which *touch wood* it wont!

I think im in need of a very long holiday after everything

[Marian]

You lucky, lucky people - you're all getting your braces off!! Perhaps, as each of us finishes our treatment, we should all start posting piccies of our lovely new teeth so we can admire each others nashers. Pity we don't all live near each other - we could have sat in a pub smiling at each other for a whole evening!!

Jo, fingers crossed your teeth will be completed Jan/Feb, your heart condition can be treated and then hopefully you can have a break from the numerous hospital visits you must have made. You must be sick of the place!

Jeff, could luck with the interview - I'm sure you'll dazzle them with your new teeth.

Right, I'm off to eat my tea (slowly) now. Here's a question, why is it when you're about a week away from surgery EVERYONE around you gets a cold. Even in Tesco's tonight someone sneezed next to me!! Never mind - I might treat myself to some Christmas Quality Street tonight (this is the first year when I've only ever eaten the soft centres - I wouldn't normally even look at a strawberry cream!!

Marian xx

[Marian]

Oh it just gets better and better.

My operation is not on the 24th Jan now, it's been moved to the 28th Feb. To say I'm pi*&£d off is an understatement.

They break my jaw, fix it, break it again and postpone the date for fixing it. I am fuming!!!!!

[underbiter]

Oh no marian!!! im sorry is there no way of persuading them to bring it forward? I suppose the only consolation is that at least you didnt get there on the 24th and it got cancelled on the day, Id be completely going bananas if that was me, think id stage a sit in! I got bad news this morning the orthodentists secretary sent me rescheduled appointments for my veneers to be fitted and wont be til september! Definately not waiting that long because as i explained to them, i wanted it to be ready before september as its my brothers wedding then and i wanted to be 'picture perfect' so come monday they are gonna have a fight on their hands!

[Marian]

September Jo - that is bloody ridiculous!!!

How can they skip to then!! Need I ask, but is it the NHS doing your veneers?

It seems to me that until you are laid out on the theatre trolley or laid back in the ortho's chair that you can't guarantee that your appointment is going to go ahead.

It is clear that the managers of the NHS are completely forgetting that they are dealing with real people with real lives.

After what you've been through the least they can do is honour your first veneer appointment!!

xx

[boatsink]

Hey September Buddies!
It's been such a while, and it seems there are several active issues. I'm sorry to hear you'll be undergoing another surgery Marian. Feb 28th is approaching, but I understand that it is not soon enough! I hope things gets resolved.
Jeff/Jo - congrats on getting the braces fully/partially removed. Hope the veneer situation gets resolved. I can't wait to get these braces off my teeth. Yup, braces are still on. My ortho is still trying to close one gap he created for the surgery. It seems like it just won't budge! I can't go on looking like a teenager forever. And the feeling I get when I see a teenager with braces next to me, don't get me started

[Marian]

Boatsink! How lovely to hear from you.

Well, my op went ahead - that was another 2 hours in surgery - I've had more swelling this time than the first time (I guess the bone graft from my chin didn't help matters).

I am paranoid now that things are moving again when I swallow - hopefully this is just my imagination and the plate hasn't broken again!!!

I was trying to drink 2 pints of fortified milk each day this time (as recommended by the dietician) but I have a very upset tummy, from the anitiotics I think, so milk is off the menu - I'm a bit concerned about this because the reason my first op failed was that there was no healing on the one side of my jaw - this time I wanted to overdose on calcium to try and ensure this didn't happen again.

My teeth have been banded shut this time to give my jaw some extra stability so fingers crossed all is going well.

I'm not sure how quickly the surgeon will be able to tell from an xray that things are healing well. Any ideas?

Best wishes

Marian

[gothpenguin]

Hello Everyone,

Hard to believe its been almost 6 months for some of us(much less time for Marian- I'm hoping/praying that there are no more complications)

I'm really curious now as to how everyone is doing; I'm guessing given the lack of activity here most people are fairly well... but I'm guessing still not perfect. For example I still have numbness on my chin and lower lips (I'm guessing due to the genioplasty). The most annoying thing right now is when I yawn the jaw joint hurts(it doesn't "pop" per-se, but almost). This has been around for awhile and a few months ago my ortho said it was due to the muscles stretching---I'm also pretty sure that when I yawn I try to yawn using my old jaw settings.

One last thing, I have plastic retainers(almost invisalign like)....how are you supposed to clean them? I brush them but they can still stink to high heaven at times.

Jeff

[DRG]

I was trying to drink 2 pints of fortified milk each day this time (as recommended by the dietician) but I have a very upset tummy, from the anitiotics I think, so milk is off the menu - I'm a bit concerned about this because the reason my first op failed was that there was no healing on the one side of my jaw - this time I wanted to overdose on calcium to try and ensure this didn't happen again.

@Marian - I'm no doctor, and I have not done any search for data here...but I doubt that increasing your calcium intake will make an immediate difference. Per the doctors I dealt with, the body only holds the bone in place with a cartilage-like soft tissue initially. Over many, many months this tissue is replaced by traditional bone (ie. calcium-based).

Also, and I know this is weeks later now so likely no longer the case, but your upset stomach was very likelycaused by the increased milk in your diet. After the age of two (or thereabouts) the human body does not have a high resilience to lactose. The "average" is something on the order of 8oz of milk before trouble starts. I have read that everyone is indeed "lactose intolerant", it's just a question of degree (some have very little tolerance while others have high tolerance, but there's always a limit - except for the young'ns naturally).

Best of luck in your healing process. May this soon seem like just a minor setback on your path to a perfect smile (and bite).

DRG

[boatsink]

Hey everyone! Any updates from fellow September 2011 surgery buddies? I hope you all are well.

I wanted to come on by and thank you all in this thread, and forum, for your support over the years. It definitely helped me get through the surgery and all the anxieties that followed.

Best of luck to the others going through this process!