December 2012 Buddies

[DRG73]

Hi Guys!
I'm sorry I haven't posted since my surgery. It all went very well! I had my lower jaw surgery at 8am on Wed. 12/5, as expected. I spent the night in the hospital and was released around 10:00am Thursday. The time in the hospital is a bit of a blur, but I do remember feeling nauseated at some point. I was given something for it and it subsided eventually- without incident, thankfully! Other than that, the first night was fine.

I was so scared going into this. I had this surgery scheduled in September, but I cancelled it two weeks before because I was terrified! At this point, I can say that I'm so glad I rescheduled it because it really hasn't been that bad. I haven't had any pain except on the fourth day or so, when I got a splitting headache. I did get VERY swollen and bruised, which peaked on the fourth or fifth day, but it's been getting better everyday and I look almost normal now. Also, I'm not banded shut at all! It's been so nice to be able to speak normally! As far as numbness goes, I was lucky that I haven't had a problem with that. I would say that right now I have about 90% feeling on lower lip and 80% on the chin.

I'm starting to get tired of the no-chew diet. I've been drinking lots of Ensure, smoothies, and pureed soups. The best so far has been blended chicken tortilla soup. It may sound gross, but it was good! I have another appointment with my surgeon next Thursday, so I hope he tells me I can start a soft chew diet in time for Christmas!

221B, I'm glad to hear that you are doing well! Keep us updated!
HelenUK and redwine, good luck on Tuesday! You will be fine!
Midnight, you are the only one of us who gets to enjoy Christmas dinner! I hope to be back on here before then, but if not, good luck to you!

[Vicki]

I also had lower jaw surgery. I had it on 12/3. The first few days were not bad but days 5-7 were hell. I think i was trying to get off of my meds too quickly and paid for it. So, here I am 2 weeks post op. The swelling has mostly subsided. The bruising is fading fast. I was really surprised on how much bruising there was. I'm a little numb on the right side of my mouth and very numb on the left. I suppose it will take up to 6 months for it to go away. I had my post op appointment with my doctor and he said everything is going so well that he said I didn't need to wear bands anymore but I must remain on a soft food diet until my next appointment (1/2/13). A few odd things I noticed: I don't like coffee like I used to; I have a new appreciation for canned chili blended with mac and cheese; and I have a sweet tooth now. Go figure. I feel very lucky to come out on the other side so well since I'm 54 and have heard the horror stories about how advanced age can impact your recovery and not in a good way.

I wish those who have had surgery already a speedy recovery and to those who are approaching that big day, a successful surgery and speedy recovery as well!

Cheers!

[midnight]

DRG73 & Vicki - glad to hear you both got through your surgery ok. I'm dreading the no chew diet - definitely going to make the most of eating solid food over the next week! Thanks for posting an update - it's always nice to know how people get on and stops me panicking quite so much.

Helen & redwine - hope it both went well today and hoping that as you haven't posted anything that it was postponed again!

I had my pre-op yesterday and having the wafers fitted tomorrow and then hopefully I won't be back at the hospital until my surgery! Hope no emergencies come in over Christmas to delay it... Apparently i'm last on the schedule for the day at the moment so looks like i'll be sitting around the hospital for a long time on the day

[HelenUK]

Hi! so my surgery wasn't cancelled this time, even though i was sure it would be even on the morning! I had surgery tues am, took 6 hours, was sick a few times afterwards. I woke up with a wafer in, and then was banded tightly shut the next day. I went home 2 days later which was much beter - i didn't like being in hospital and had some traumatic times with cannulars and x rays. they did have a really good face mask with cold water running through it though - i wore that most of the time and it really soothed and helped with swelling.

4 days post-op today. i'm eating everything through a syringe, including liquid meds, yuk. starting to feel a bit better today, but haven't slept well and it's hard to breathe when eating so everything is very tiring. not much pain, mostly aching, and swelling is going down a bit now. Also I can't talk at all, so paper and pen are essential!

glad everyone else is doing OK.

xx

[redwine]

We made it through! Hoping that this time next week things will be MUCH better for both of us.

[HelenUK]

hi, how are we all doing? I'm getting much better every day. my swelling is reducing, still very little pain, and the numbness is wearing off too! i'm still banded shut until 2nd jan so everything is through a syringe, but i've finished antibiotics now. christmas dinner liquidised and through a syringe was surprisingly tasty! xx

[midnight]

I'm out of hospital. Not got enough energy to right about it all now. Swollen but not to bad pain wise & banded shut until at least 7th Jan. Hating syringes already. Thanks for update Helen, glad to know it gets better quickly.

[Vicki]

Midnight - you might want to try those squeeze bottles that are used for ketchup and mustard. I bought some and used them the first two weeks. Much easier than the syringe. Feel better and keep up on your pain meds!!!

[midnight]

Feeling more awake already - sorry for righting right not write! Will look out for some squeezy bottles tomorrow if the shops are open. Everything takes forever with a syringe!

My stay in hospital wasn't great. They had no ice packs so when I asked for ice they just filled some rubbers gloves with ice but it was so hot in there that they melted within 20 mins and they only bought me more when I actually asked. Luckily managed to get discharged a day early as there was no way I wanted to stay there any longer. When the doctor came round to check I was doing ok and had managed to eat something I don't think he was very impressed when I told them that they hadn't given me anything to eat! They were trying to persuade me that I could eat cottage pie!!! Apparently someone had written on the notes that I could eat soft food but there's no way I could eat anything that's not liquid considering I can't open my mouth at all. Luckily one of the healthcare assistants realised and bought me some soup. X-ray technician was also brutal with pushing my face right against the x-ray things.... And then I was discharged without enough antibiotics so day 2 and I already had to make an emergency appointment with the GP. Luckily my boyfriend realised today otherwise with it being bank holiday tomorrow I would have run out. GP was great and also prescribed me some soluble co-codemol as the hospital just gave me tablets which have been near impossible to take and given me some fourty-sips as finding it difficult to get the volume of food I need.

At home now and pain not too bad although i'm starting to get ear ache which I guess is down to the swelling? Very tired but finding it easier to breath and can see the swelling as gone down slightly. Made some soup for dinner which i'm looking forward to as everything i've had in the last 2 days has been sweet.

[midnight]

And this is probably going to sound like a really stupid question but the nurse that discharged me didn't seem to know anything... I'm meant to leave the wafers and elastics in right? The elastics are really really tight meaning that there's no way I can brush my teeth other than the outside of the few front ones but there's no way I could put the elastics back on if I took them off and they haven't given me any spares (said they would give me them at my follow up appointment). Just worrying about getting cavities etc.. but i'm rinsing with salt water and antiseptic mouthwash. My boyfriend said I must be feeling better as I'm starting to worry about stuff again!

[HelenUK]

hi midnight, glad you got through it. the first few days are the worst, just hang in there. really sorry to hear you had trouble with food and meds and ice in the hospital, i was really lucky to get looked after so well i think! yes you must leave the elastics and wafer in. mine have been in for 2 weeks now, hopefully getting removed tomorrow. just brush the bits you can see, and use the mouthwash 4 times a day. syringes are so frustrating, especially as mine started to stick after a while. a couple of days ago, when my lips got enough feeling and movement, i could start to use a straw instead. i'm still on fully liquid diet as i have to suck it through a straw and my teeth to take anything in! i'm not on many painkillers at all now, just ibuprofen once a day ish.

take care, and happy new year! xxx

[midnight]

thank you so much for the reply - glad of the reassurance. I was also surprised at how little pain there is considering. Will keep going with the meds and syringes. Need to put some more weight on now but think that will get easier now i'm more awake.

Happy new year to you to and hope the recovery continues to go well.

[HelenUK]

so i had my first post-op appointment with the orthodontist yesterday, and they removed the bands and wafer, yay! i can open my mouth a little now, but that has brought some pain and discomfort. i also have a powerchain across the front top teeth to close a couple of gaps, and elastics on both sides to adjust my bite a little, so that is making it all a little sore. i'm taking painkillers more often again. i can eat soft food now, but no chewing. very pleased!

[redwine]

Now that the worst is over, I can go back to being disgustingly cheerful. Bruising nearly gone, swelling going down more every day and the gap is opening nicely. I feel like the worst of phase one is over. I'm looking forward to having this appliance removed and upper braces installed. Don't have a timeline for that yet, but after seeing the ortho yesterday, I think it will be in the next couple of months or so. No more surgery until next December! By then, I'm hoping the memories of this part will have faded away. Hope everyone else is doing well.

[midnight]

Well i've just taken the last of my antibiotics Feel so much better than I did at the beginning of the week as ended up being sick a few times (I think due to the antibiotics) which wasn't fun!!! Swelling has gone down some more, definitely not back to normal but I'm no longer looking like a chipmunk. I have noticed my skin is ridiculously dry though. Liquid diet is starting to bore me now especially since I've run out of useable syrings and none of the pharmacies round here seem to have any that are bigger than 5ml. Trying to drink through a straw but it's taking me about an hour to have 200ml.

Got a post-op appointment with the consultant on Monday and really hope they take the wafers out!! Can cope with the liquid diet if I can actually get the liquids in me Then the following week I have an appointment with the orthodontist. How often are the follow up appointments after that? Does it go back to every sixish weeks? Also hope they sign me off work for another two weeks as although I'm fine just sitting down I have absolutely no energy!