SARPE Surgery

[redwine]

hooray for your SARPE approval!
Next surgery in about 12 mos. and I will have my sister come. I need somebody who isn't afraid to ask questions, make demands, and stay on top of things. I'm convinced I wouldn't feel/look like this if I had had constant ice for the first 36 hours. Sorry to sound so cranky. I'm usually very optimistic!

[redwine]

Five days in and still feeling like dirt. DH must have thought I'd be fine in 3 days because he has become impatient if I ask for any help - like with feeding the dogs. He is used to being center of attention, as he has been ever since the stroke. Next surgery I will definitely get a different caregiver. I am very surprised that I am healing so slowly. My cheeks/jowls are still hugely swollen and horribly discolored. From blogs and photos I've seen, this is a bit unusual. Can't wait to see ortho on Thursday to a) begin turning and b) ask him if if this is normal. This IS gonna get better, right?

[Vantwins]

Congrats to Cfx and Redwine on getting through your surgeries! Redwine, I'm sorry about your complications. I didn't get ice at the hospital either, but I was only there for a couple hours post surgery. I put ice on at home, and was aiming for 20 minutes on and 20 min off. I didn't do that though, I felt bad having someone keep getting fresh ice/frozen peas out of the freezer for me. But I'll do it for my next surgery, because I also was incredibly swollen for so long. My face wasn't bruised, but my neck was - took over 3 weeks for the bruising to go away. My surgery was on a Monday and when the physician's assistant saw how swollen I was on Friday, she put me on a course of prednisone (steroids). It seemed to help, although it made me very dizzy. I was also found the recovery to be much tougher than I expected. My surgeon told me it'd be a 2 day recovery - I was in bed for 8 days! By day 6 or so, I was definitely getting depressed. I have 3 young children, so it was very hard not being able to take care of them and also scrambling to find babysitters and line up friends to bring dinner, take the kids to school and lessons, etc. My husband and I are in agreement that we'll have to find some sort of live in help for my next surgery for a month or so. Depending on timing, I may send my kids to my mom's house for a week and have my husband work from home. When I was still so swollen, my 2 year old didn't even want to see me, I guess he was scared. This Monday will be a month post surgery for me and I'm feeling so much better. My gap is shrinking, although still very noticable. I've gotten pretty used to it though. I still have some swelling in my cheeks and numbness on my upper lip and my upper gums. I still sometimes take one percocet at night - by the end of the day the swelling can feel uncomfortable and my teeth are sore from the braces and archwire on the front 2 teeth. I think the toughest part is feeling like there's no end in sight since I've still got to deal with the RPE, braces, the next surgery and recovery, etc. I'm definitely looking forward to getting the RPE out so I can hopefully eat normally again and speak clearly. I'm hoping to get it out in March. Redwine, if your sister is available to help out next time, that sounds like a great idea.
Vanessa

[katsface]

I'm so sorry to hear about the slow recovery you're having redwine and the recovery you had Vantwins.

I've read that recovery can depend a lot on your age, and on the condition of your immune system prior to surgery. I've done a lot of research to find the best pre- and post- surgery supplements and nutrition that support speedy recovery. I thought I would share a little bit of what I've found from reading, just in case it helps.

Two supplements that people swear by are Zinc and Vit. C. Apparently they will probably do more good if built up in your system a couple of weeks before surgery. But, taking them post surgery can't hurt, and it will give your body the building blocks it needs to heal and fight off infection.

Another important one is taking a good pro-biotic ESPECIALLY if they put you on antibiotics. I have a lot of food allergies and taking a good multi-strain pro-biotic with at least a billion live active cultures does a world of good for me. Keeping your digestive system running smoothly will help you absorb more nutrients from your food, and again help you fight off infection.

Last, people say that Bromelain (sp), an enzyme derived from pineapple, will help with healing and swelling.

I hope you heal well! And good luck on any future surgeries!

[Vantwins]

Thanks Katsface! I'm 34. Not really thinking of myself as old, but yep, might recover slower than a 20 year old I guess! I actually was in the best health/shape of my life before the surgery, which probably made the tough recovery more difficult. I feel better every week though and am aiming to be teaching step aerobics in a couple of weeks. I did take bromelain post surgery and will start it before my next surgery. It was a big pill though and tough to swallow with the expander in! I can't imagine swallowing it when my jaw is banded shut! I'll try the vitamins and probiotics, couldn't hurt!

How are you feeling redwine? Did the swelling go down?
Vanessa

[Vantwins]

Kat - expansion of 14mm?!! It'll be worth it in the end, but that's no fun!

[katsface]

Kat - expansion of 14mm?!! It'll be worth it in the end, but that's no fun!

Yeah, I was a little shocked when the ortho said that too, and he said it's possible that he'll want more! But to be honest, I think I would have been disappointed if I was having surgery for less expansion... only because in my case I can tell I need a lot of expansion. I have no idea how big the gap will be but my front teeth don't overlap at all so I'm guessing it will be huge . He said he will make me a 'pontic' or fake tooth to fill in the gap and shave it down as it closes. He also said he might need to use a special expander to get enough expansion since I think the normal ones max out at 14mm. I'm going to look really silly for a while, but you're right, it will be worth it!

I think I know what you mean about being in great shape but not healing as quickly as you would have thought. I was on a strict Paleo diet long before I had my wisdom teeth taken out (all four at once, some were impacted), and I had been working out (which I NEVER do) but I was still super swollen and miserable for what seemed like a week afterwords. I'm really hoping that the Zinc, Vit C, Bromelaine etc. will help with the surgery, but who knows?

I'll definitely keep everyone posted and if it seems to be helping I'll report back.

[katsface]

I was just doing a bit of research about post-op depression, which is pretty common. A family member recently had open heart surgery, and they had some unexpected depression afterwords.

Anyway, not to imply that anyone here is depressed, but I thought I would share this post-op motivational reminder sheet that I found. It's like a daily affirmation that will remind you that feeling bad after surgery is normal. I know I can be incredibly judgmental and critical about myself, so I think having something like this will be really helpful. It's for chin surgery, but should be equally applicable to any jaw surgery, I think. I think I'll add it to the post-op supply list thread too.

Anyway, here's the link: http://www.chinaugmentation.com/postop_ ... _print.htm

[redwine]

Swelling is still going down, but seem to be developing a sore on the inside of my mouth - top, at the back. Also have a huge amount of pain... oh wait, that's DH who is tired of waiting for me to recover completely. And I have to admit that I have been a bit crabby these last few days.
Starting turning on Wednesday and have done 5 turns so far. It's hard to do! Getting the key in has been very difficult, but the turns are a piece of cake. Bit of pressure but not bad at all. The gap is growing much more quickly than I expected. Bruising is going away slowly but surely - as pale as I am, this is not surprising. I'm losing more weight than I had hoped (first time I've ever said that!), but am keeping up with proteins, vitamins, and a couple of homeopathic things (doc approved). Still pretty worn out, but I'm probably doing too much too quickly. Sometimes you just have to Can't wait to get back to normal exercise and get those endorphins going again

[Vantwins]

Hey! How's everyone doing? So peeved with my orthodontist, I went last week to get my bottom braces on and he decides my gap is closing to quickly, so he takes off the power arch and puts a wire on to discourage it from closing more. I promptly went home and maneuvered the wire looser, so it can close more if it wants! Yes, if anyone else did that I'd think they were crazy, but I really didn't hear any valid reason not to let the gap close, so I'm going rogue! I've got rubber bands now that will hopefully level out my crooked palate, which is annoying me more than the gap at this point. The good news is that I'm (besides my mess of a smile) feeling recovered from the surgery. I think I'm 6 weeks post surgery today. My upper gums are still numb, but I've gotten used to that, I only notice it when I brush my teeth. I feel a tiny bit of swelling around my nose still and a little swelling/numbness in my top lip, but not noticeable to others or to me, unless I'm purposely touching my face. I still can't chew anything very crunchy. I'm assuming that will last a couple more months until the bone heals?? I start teaching aerobics a week from Wednesday! Hopefully no one will mind my speech issues from the RPE, I'm still not the clearest speaker!
V

[redwine]

Wennt for a surgery follow-up today and got the proverbial "good news / bad news". The good news is that things are looking excellent and the teeth are moving just the way they're supposed to. The bad news: at least six more weeks of eating mush! I will probably stop turning around the end of the week (I hope!), but then the surgeon wants me to wait for my jaw to stabilize before attempting to chew. Oh, and I found out today that they had to remove a wisdom tooth! I had no idea it was even there, but it explains the stitches in that area. Perhaps that was another reason I was so miserable for those few days. I'm doing so much better now. Swelling is still subsiding, and the worst things are that moving around (walking, driving over potholes) makes me feel like my face is going to fall off (not painful, but disconcerting), and I am super tired at the end of the day. Ortho visit tomorrow. Was supposed to expand around 8mm, but I have a feeling it will be more. Right now the gap is at about 5mm, and I've expanded to a little over 7mm, so I guess the gap could be a lot worse. I didn't see a thing for the first two days of turning!
Hope everyone else is doing well. Just think, while our friends and relatives were putting on the holiday weight, we were losing weight!

[Vantwins]

Honestly...I think you could start chewing a bit more if it's comfortable!

So, I've been so concerned about my results. I haven't seen anyone else with the uneven palate I've ended up with and my orthodontist doesn't make me feel confidant that he knows what he's doing. I got a 2nd opinion today from another surgeon who confirmed my suspicions that the SARPE was poorly done. And actually, he would've done the expansion and the jaw surgeries in one surgery. He said doing two surgeries is the "old school" method. This was who I was originally referred to as the best of the best, but I didn't go to him because he doesn't take insurance. He was really surprised the other surgeon did not discuss my nose with me as he's fairly certain that I have a crooked septum that needs to be fixed as well, or could be made worse by the jaw surgery. After the appointment today, I don't feel comfortable using my other surgeon again. The tricky thing is that he won't work with my current orthodontist. I don't blame him! So, I'm seeing another orthodontist on Tuesday. I have to figure out if I can get money back from my current orthodontist. I hope it doesn't get ugly. I am so kicking myself for not getting a 2nd opinion before the SARPE surgery.

Hopefully this will all work out for the best. Meanwhile, I'm very sick of the gap, the speech issues, and the eating constraints!

Vanessa
7 weeks post SARPE

[redwine]

I, too, am sick of this mess that used to be my mouth. Tired of mush, tired of gap, tired of worrying if everything is going well. Was supposed to expand to 8mm, am now at 9.5mm and won't know when I can stop until tomorrow. Meanwhile my teeth look like somethig you could buy in a truck stop somewhere and wear for halloween. Surgeon follow-up today (again), ortho follow-up tomorrow. I have my ups and downs, and today is definately a down day. I'm being told that the gap isn't big enough! It feels plenty big to me, but not nearly as large as many photos I've seen posted here. Surgeon told me he put a stitch in the bones in front for stability and he may remove it today. I have visions of my gap opening wide and suddenly - like a stage curtain. Ugh! I hope my mood lightens soon. The grey days we've had aren't helping matters.

[redwine]

Latest update: follow-up w/surgeon, bones healed too quickly and the ones in the front had to be re-broken. So, that happened on Tuesday, I worked on Wednesday and iced a LOT both at home and at work. Bruising was kept to a minimum, but I woke up on Thursday with my face unbelievably swollen, and my eyes nearly swollen shut! So, called the doc and got Prednisone. A day later (today / Friday) and I can open my eyes most of the way. Whew - never saw that coming (no pun intended). I saw the ortho on Wed AM and he was pretty surprised. But he gave me the good news that I could stop turning (as of yesterday) and I'm at a total expansion of 10mm. When I say the surgeon on Tue, the gap was at about 6; when I saw the ortho the next day, the gap was almost 9mm. So I'm glad I got the bones re-broken, even though it wasn't exactly fun. My next appt with ortho is 2/12 to get lower wires changed, and I get uppers braced on 3/14!

[Vantwins]

Eek! That sounds awful! I had to do a course of prednisone too. It made me really dizzy.

Looking forward to seeing my new orthodontist on Tuesday and hopefully putting a new plan in place. Hopefully this new ortho will actually know what he's talking about and can let me know what to expect for closing the gap, when I can get the RPE out, and when I might be ready for my next surgery. Then if all goes well, I've got to break it to the current orthodontist that I'm switching and try to get some money back.

Vanessa