July 2013 Buddies

[mia137]

I'm scheduled officially now. July 26th. Dr. Schendel in the operation suite at the office and then one night at a recovery center for pain management and nifty healing things like compression booties and oxygen.

[yellowhat]

Just a few days after me then Mia.

Visited the Ortho on Friday. He took impressions and photos. I also saw the surgeon briefly to discuss a few bits. He will be moving my top jaw UP 6mm and will also do something to my nose to avoid all my nasal passages getting squashed. I'm mentally preparing myself for a change in my nose shape now too.

I seem to have an underlying nervous feeling all of the time. I'm waking up feeling sicky and anxious. My main concerns are:
1) I might die
2) I won't like the look of my new face
3) I will be too hot and uncomfortable in hospital
4) My little boy won't recognise me
5) I'll get a post- op infection

[ReoSity]

Good luck yellowhat!

[yellowhat]

thanks

[Beebop]

Hi,
I've finally got my date through for my surgery; 22nd July. I'm having my upper jaw impacted to get rid of my gummy smile and possibly a small movement on my lower jaw to make sure both jaws fit together well.

Anyone else out there having surgery in July....?

Just read this, today was the day! Hope it went well

[tangledgurl]

It's July 22nd! Good luck! Hope all goes well!

[yellowhat]

Hi.
I'm back home now. 2 days in hospital was more than enough!
Mixed results at the moment. During surgery only top jaw was moved and in theatre my bite was correct. However, post-op, I now have a 6mm overjet. It's so big I can put my tongue through it. I've got elastics on but if they don't pull it back I may need another op- just on my lower day.
Feeling a bit down- had a few tears this morning.
I found the whole build up to op so stressful- I don't want to have to go through it all again.
On a positive note, pain and swelling has been minimal.

Photos are coming.... xx

[bmueller]

yellowhat

Do you have an explanation from the surgeon as to why your overjet was fine during/immediately after surgery but now has become 6 mm? That large of a discrepancy seems strange like something has shifted out of place.

My heart goes out to you. This is a tough surgery and I wouldn't want to go through a second round!

[ReoSity]

Good to hear your doing alright, sorry to hear you may need additional surgery. Was your stay in the hospital that bad? I've heard repeatedly the first day and night is the worst.

[yellowhat]

Hospital stay wasn't too bad- i felt well looked after. Ward was very hot though. As for the overjet - surgeon says that some movement is normal and should settle down as swelling reduces. I was in tears this morning and he kept reassuring me that it was normal .

[mia137]

Hi Everyone. I had my surgery yesterday at 11:30. I'm recovering at home now. I spent the night in a recovery center, where I had compression booties for circulation, oxygen, and real (not hospital) food. It was nice but I hated the IV and had a lot of trouble sleeping so I'm glad to be home. Luckily, they had a lot of fresh veggie juices, smoothies, and purees for me. I'm pretty unhappy today but it's not nearly as bad as I expected and today and tomorrow are supposed to be the worst. My hubby is making me soup from our garden tomatoes right now. I'm on a whole slew of drugs - Norco for pain, antibiotics, anti-nausea (though I haven't had any of that since this morning), and they gave me some sleep and anxiety meds to take as needed.

One thing I discovered I really liked at the recovery center was ice masks for my whole face. I already had a jaw bra for at home but they also put an ice eye mask on me and I found that very soothing, probably because of the swelling in my cheeks and under my nose. They let me take a couple home so I've been using that when I'm sleeping. (I've been napping on an off most of the day). My surgeon (Dr. Schendel) visited me at the recovery center this morning and will be setting an appointment for Monday.

I have a lot of numbness, especially on my nose, and it's bleeding a teeny bit, but the surgeon only had me open about 90 minutes so I'm hoping the swelling goes down quickly. I highly recommend Dr. Schedel for anyone in LA area of Palo Alto.

I look like one of the village children from the movie The Grinch.

[ReoSity]

Great to hear everything went well mia. Did you have upper only or double jaw surgery? I'm leaving for cali tmrw morning (my docs out of state) and I'll be there for 3 weeks before I'm cleared to go home. It's a relief to read you're all doing well and the hospital stay wasn't too bad, that's my biggest worry. Well that and not waking up from surgery and slipping into a coma.

[mia137]

Excuse errors. On drugs and sending from phone. I only had upper. Lefort 1. They also drilled some holes in lower to aid in orthodontics but no movement down there. I'm scared of general anesthesia too so you're not alone. I got to meet the anesthesiologist yesterday which made me feel better. He was thorough and cracking jokes.

If you'll be in the hospital for a while see if you can have someone bring you healthy non hospital food. Where in california are you having it done? I live outside of LA.

Best of luck. For what it's worth it hasn't been anywhere near as bad as I expected. Oh also make sure the hospital lets you sleep if you'll be there for a while. You can ask them to put "patient refused" on late night blood pressure checks and then let them do it if you wake up anyway. I had trouble with a pulse ox machine beeping and had to bug them several times to switch machines out but they were very understanding and did it for me.

[yellowhat]

Glad you are ok mia. I've had bit of trouble with antibiotics. They've been too strong and sent my stomach into spasms. Back to Dr for a slightly gentler type.
Swelling is going down nicely. Im Still puffy and numb around upper lip and nose.
I'll be seeing ortho weekly for 6 weeks now. Surgeon will be present at some appointments too.

Good luck Rio

[BracketBaring]

Thanks for the updates. My surgery is in 2 days (July 31st). Just got my hooks crimped on this morning. Can't wait to get this over with, lol.