What is double jaw surgery like one week post-op?

[boodles8]

Hello,

I am considering scheduling my double jaw surgery (BSSO with Le Fort I) for exactly one week before final exams. I'm concerned about how I will feel, though. Will I still be taking drugs so much I'll be too drugged to think? Will I be able to sit up for two hours?

And why do insurance companies have such high deductibles, anyway, and make me need to do this crazy scheduling? Sigh.

Thanks for your help.

[Hyrules]

In my case it was until now the worst week of my life and i'm 30. You will take medications regularly. I took Antibiotics (had a graft), Ibuprofen , I also had codein which I did'nt take/need. You will feel really weak and tired. You will want to sleep often and you will drool like you never did before. I sometime choked in my drool during nightime. Your jaw will be held together with rubber bands or wire and you wont be able to breath through it or talk. Your nose will often be clogged and breathing through it will be sometimes hard. You will have to stay calm.

I hope I didn't scare you. it's really the first 7 days that are the worst with that surgery.

[ST24085]

Dude. Really? Isn't there a better way to schedule that?

I always compare injuries/colds/recoveries to other things. For example, your body barely heals from a common cold in 7 days. Big bruises and gashes from downhill mountain biking take 2-3 weeks for me. Do you really think you'll be in any condition physically or mentally to write a final exam seven days after double jaw surgery? Not to mention swelling peaks several days after surgery so you'll be puffed up like a pumpkin.

I have not gone through it yet, but I will. And I am planning on 2-3 weeks off work.

I would seriously reconsider and take the appropriate steps to reschedule your surgery date until after your exams if possible.

[yellowhat]

Im on day 5 and feel pretty rotten as I've had a bad reaction to the meds i was discharged with. Accute stomach cramps and violent diarrhea. That's on top of usual swelling.....
I would consider another date

[Hyrules]

Like the others said I do not recommend doing an exam 7 days after your surgery. You wont be able to attend it. You will certainly not be able to study for it before the exam.

[HelenUK]

I had my surgery one week before christmas. There would be no way I'd be able to take an exam a week after surgery. I was very tired, couldn't talk or eat, swollen and aching. sitting up and hunching over a desk for even 5 minutes would have caused me problems. Also, you won't be able to study for the exam at all in the week before. I had no concentration and found it tiring to go back to work 4 weeks after. either delay your surgery, or delay your exams.

[kpw818]

I'm glad someone else asked this, because I was wondering about going back to work, etc. afterwards. It sounds like the first couple of weeks are not fun. Maybe schedule right after exams?

[davinci7]

My first week was relatively easy, particularly as I spend 5 days of it in the hospital being looked after. I never needed any pain killers and the worst part was not eating for the first 3 days. My swelling was rather minimal. Admittedly there were complications during the surgery so I was badly bruised and a little more beat up than normal.

The worst time was 10 days later when the pain started. I had horrific ear/lower jaw aches that came without warning. Talking made it worse so i stopped talking. This lasted 2 weeks and was almost unbearable, but thank goodness it improved before I went crazy. Heat packs and opening my mouth actually helped a lot but pain killers did nothing.
I'm now almost at 6 weeks. Fortunately I work for myself so I've been able to work at home when I feel up to it. In all honesty I would say that I am just barely ready to face normality again. I'm only just able to talk relatively normal again. The drooling is only occasional but until I can eat normal I still feel weak and tired most of the time.

I'm usually a very active person who can handle anything, but this feels like a marathon. My recommendation is to give yourself a lot of time post surgery to recover. It's not a walk in the park for everyone so play it safe and allow as much time off work (and everything else you can) as possible. i'd recommend 6 weeks (my doctor gave me a medical certificate for 8 weeks).

[bitemyshinymetaljaw]

i apologise but i'm on day 7 on from my bimaxillary osteotomy, (sorrynotsorryforboastingalittle) but im already in great shape after my surgery but i had the best doing it (salisbury, odstock, UK) but I'm a great healer (no idea why)-i haven't got lots of swelling and im eating and drinking, that's luck though-now for the bad part- im still not in good enough shape to go outside, swelling and pain aside, i really mentally am not prepared for it!

my brain is fully switched off, im not attentive to much or for very long, i start conversations and don't end them, im really not 'with it' my energy is low, where it is normally quite high, and as for writing and reading, it's taking a while to get back to it, so studying for you will be off the cards

i would recommend rescheduling till after! give yourself some time to study and take exams first!

hope this helps!

[AntWalkerCook]

Like all the others have said, 7 days won't really be enough. I've read copious numbers of blogs and have found that two weeks minimum is the best recovery time I've been planning this sort of thing as well

[casydee]

See my day 5 post from yesterday... I highly recommend against it. I can't concentrate well enough to read, and the idea of trying to study is ridiculous. I think I'm very fit and healthy, and I also think I'm healing pretty quickly, but the thought of having to go back to work in another week is daunting. I agree with the masses... schedule for after the exams.

[annepanne]

4-6 weeks at least!! I'm not only thinking about the physical aspect. Mentally it is a flower roller-coaster. Not to mention what the drugs do to you. I had to take oxy and vicodin for two weeks. you cannot plan doing anything social or work a while