October 2012 Buddies

[Indigo]

I made it through... I'm happy but the down side is my nose keeps bleeding! I'm walking down the street using a wash cloth. And I've never had a nose bleed in my life.. I have a lot of swelling. I stayed over night. All I can say,this surgery is not for wimps and it's very humbling. I am wired shut for six weeks but I am looking forward to the transformation. This has changed my life. Let's see how things look after a week or two. Btw,I pray this is swelling under my jaw,because this double chin look is not nice. I'm happy!

[HelenUK]

congratulations to all those who have made it through, and I wish you an easy and speedy recovery! One week to go for me now. It is starting to become a little too real. I had my pre-op assessment last week, all is fine. My family have started talking about when they'll come and visit in the hospital and i'm really not liking that. I hate hospitals.

[speechie]

How are all of this week's and last week's surgery buddies feeling?

[HelenUK]

my surgery has been cancelled, for the third time, with less than one days notice. so frustrating. good luck to everyone else xxx

[Indigo]

I'm feeling crazy! LOL I still have major swelling. I use a pair a tights. I drop two surgical gloves filled with ice,in them.. It works really well. This morning it felt like someone poured sand in my head. I'm tired of taking meds. Every morning I anticipate the look on my son's face.. I must be looking better because he didn't jumped when I walked in his room this morning. LOL. My lips are going down. The blisters and other nasties are drying up.. I had to go to war...I wear a medical mask when going out in public I look like a pound puppy and I'm not too happy. I'm becoming a pro at blending..LOL I've lost 11 pounds...But now that I can make the perfect chocolate,peanut butter smoothie,I might gain it back... I'm happy,tired,sad and scared. I just figured out I'd still be wired shut for Thanksgiving,so add angry to the list of emotions I've been feeling this week. Today I realized I did not thank god for a successful operation.. I was praying prior to surgery but forgot to say thank you..Well let me get back to thinking what will I look like tomorrow.. I hope everyone is recovering well..Take care

Antibiotics is a blessing and a curse!

[sarasea]

Indigo, how long did it take for your lip swelling to go down a bit? I had my surgery just yesterday morning and my lips are driving me nuts. So very swollen, it's making me miserable. My doctor said about a week - that feels like forever away right now! Hope you are feeling better very soon, anyway.

[trossi]

Can't remember the last time I updated on here. I'm 3 weeks post op tomorrow. I went to the surgeon on wed and I have an infection in my upper jaw. Every time I lift my lip some really nasty stuff starts popping out of the incision lines. I started swelling up again on that side a few days before.
This surgery was nothing like I expected. I feel blessed to be alive and to have had a successful surgery but the recovery wasn't easy and still isn't easy.
The first week was so bad I wished I hadn't done the surgery. I was nauseous all the time, puking up blood and blood clots, couldn't keep anything down, couldn't sleep, had various liquids oozing out of my nose and mouth at all time that smelled like death. I would never want to re-live that week. It's getting better now but it's still tough. I'm on antibiotics again, 4 times a day and they make me want to puke which means I have to consume as much as I can with them so I don't get sick after. He has me on pills now and although I can open a little, I have to push the pills in beyond my comfort, I don't know how I even swallow them because I still have lack of feeling in various parts of my mouth.

I just want to be like 2 months post op so bad. I was sleeping amazing on lorazepam but my surgeon took me off of it. Now I'm up all night with my jaw aching and tons of pressure.
I added a before and after that is about 2 weeks post surgery, I'll take a better one when the infection goes away and all this added swelling goes down.

I love my new profile, I don't think I realize how bad it was until I look at pre op pics and see my profile. I still don't recognize myself but I still have so much swelling.

I've lost almost 10 lbs but i was never heavy to begin with. I was about 112 before surgery and now I'm maybe around 103.

On the bright side the surgery is over!!!! YAY

The wait is so long for this and like many people I've had setbacks. We were suppose to do it in April and then somehow my ortho didn't do what my surgeon wanted and I got pushed to October.

[sarasea]

I feel so fortunate that I haven't had any issues with nauseousness other than right after the surgery, and they gave me meds right away to help it so I never threw up. I couldn't even imagine throwing up with my mouth like this, how would it be possible? I cannot open my mouth at all.

I am also questioning why I did this. I can already tell my profile looks better but I have never felt worse in my life. I can't wait to be further along in recovery. I felt better right after the op than I do now. I suppose some of the numbness is beginning to wear off just a bit. I'm keeping up with my meds every four hours as prescribed (afraid not to) but can already feel my jaws aching. I just want to sleep until I feel better. I knew it would be bad but actually living it, wow, it's much worse than I could have imagined. At least it is right now.

[Indigo]

@Sarasea... My top lip is still swollen. It went down a lot though.. I would love them if I could smile. LOL In the past, I would push my tongue up against my upper lip to give that "full effect" but now I don't have to.lol I went for my two week check up and everything is going well. I was advised to take in more calories and rest. I would have never believed I'd ever hear a doctor say,eat more..HA!

[Indigo]

It is much worse than I thought..But I think the first two weeks are the hardest! I'm starting to feel better. Please get your calories in...I know it can be a pain trying to eat,but it's vital... I had that feeling of regret by day 4..but today,day 11 I'm happy I did this..And for some reason,I feel stronger than ever,mentally... The thing I worry about is my 17 yr old son. He is about to start the process;and it kills me to know he will have to go through the agony. From the day I came home,he says he couldn't wait for his turn... Yesterday I mumbled with him and expressed my concerns and he said "I'm ready"

[GillyWeed]

Hey Trossi,

I'm just your average brace wearer, no surgery for me but I just wanted to say that your results so far are amazing! The whole process looks so incredibly intense. I wish you the best in your recovery and the rest of your life. I hope your new teeth and jaw turn out to be everything you had hoped for:)

[trossi]

Hey Trossi,

I'm just your average brace wearer, no surgery for me but I just wanted to say that your results so far are amazing! The whole process looks so incredibly intense. I wish you the best in your recovery and the rest of your life. I hope your new teeth and jaw turn out to be everything you had hoped for:)

Thanks so much. This really was a journey, I can't believe I somehow got to the other side of surgery. Up until a couple years ago I never imagined I would have jaw surgery, yet alone braces again.

UPDATE:
I'm 25 days post op. I'm surviving and on a good note it's getting a little bit better.
Just want to share what I'm feeling now for those of you early on in the recovery process:

-Still numb in my chin
-Wearing elastics to guide my bite (conflicting opinions with my surgeon and my orthodontist ugh)
-Still on no chew (my hand blender broke yesterday so I'm eating pudding and yogurt until I get a new one)
-Swelling is going down very slowly
-Sleeping on two pillows
-Only sleeping if I take advil or tylenol before bed
-Waking up swollen
-Face is still very stiff
-Can open my mouth 3mm with elastics on
-On antibiotics for an infection
-Had the infection draining from my incision lines (this wasn't fun at all)
-Smile lines are coming back (I no longer look like an evil pumpkin when I smile)

Hop everyone is recovering well, this surgery is by no means easy and I think is way too sugar coated before we go into it. I promise though it starts to improve as the weeks go by. Be strong guys, one day we'll be able to enjoy our new titanium reinforced jaws.

[speechie]

43 days post-op and my splint was removed today. I can eat whatever I want and participate in all of my pre-op workouts. I only have to wear bands at night and a few waking hours until I see my ortho. I also won't be seeing my surgeon again until after my braces are off. I was able to eat chinese food and Reese's cups for dinner tonight! Looking back, I feel very fortunate since my recovery was pretty cut and dry and it seems my surgeon is a lot more laid back than what I have read about others with respect to restrictions with working out, eating, etc.