June/July 2015 Surgery Buddies

[snapdresser]

Jaime - Oooo you did your pre-surgical run-ups? Exciting! Mine are today and tomorrow. Starting to feel real yet? I hadn't heard about the nose widening issue. I have a narrow nose, but I like it. I wouldn't be suuuper thrilled if it got a little wider, but not a huge deal. Sounds like you're not thrilled with the idea tho lol. Good to hear your surgeon says it'll be a non-issue! I bite down naturally, I guess. To compensate for my chin, I carry my chin a little farther out just out of habit, but when I go to bite, I move it back and my teeth come together correctly. That's gonna be real nice when your bite is fixed! 3 hours aint bad either Luckyyyyyy!!! You get a private room??!! I don't... I'ma be laying out there with all the other poor schlubs

deathorglory - Phew... I got a little scared when you said it feels wobbly lol. That's interesting about what happens to your skin. I have pretty dry skin so maybe I'd be in the same boat as you? I totes understand your sliding your jaw forward for pictures. I mentioned it above that I kinda do it all the time. Makes my midface seem flat when I do, though. My surgeon seemed to suggest that I'll kinda look like when I slide my jaw forward but with a more full midface. Is that kinda in line with your results?

Ugh... 8 days now and "excited" is an understatement. My surgeon e-mailed me last night to cancel my appointment for today cuz it wasn't "necessary", but I asked if I could still come in and she's willing to see me. She didn't think it was important to go over my final treatment plan and VSP models until the day before the surgery, apparently... But she's accommodating, if nothing else! Anyways, I had a dream last night that some other surgeon was there in the OR and he was like "oh yeah, I'm gonna be operating. No biggie." and he gave me the anesthetic and I was all "Uhh... I'm still conscious." and he was like "Oh really? Hmmm... yeah, that's how it is for everybody. You ready to get started?" and I was like "Ummmm....." SO yeah. Not a good dream. On the plus side, more and more of my post-surgery stuff keeps coming in! My PSTV came in last night, which is the funnest item

Btw, I read up on VSP (Virtual Surgical Planning) this morning. It's super common these days for double-jaw surgery. You guys might be interested to check it out

[jaime]

Ooh, you'll have to let us know how your appointment goes.

Interesting discussion about skin after surgery. I didn't notice anything like that after SARPE, but I'm sure the swelling for that wasn't as bad as this will be.

I've seen a few people complain about changes to their nose after surgery so I wanted to make sure I didn't need to worry. My nose is on the larger size but I don't hate the shape, so I wouldn't want it to change.

That's a scary dream!! I would NOT want to be conscious while they saw into my skull.

I am super pumped about having a private room, not gonna lie. You'll be okay in the ward. I'm sure you'll be pretty out of it and bonus: you won't have to make small talk because you won't be able to talk anyway! You can just ignore everyone.

The surgery has always felt real, haha. I literally had 9 days notice for SARPE. My surgeon happened to have an opening the week after my initial consultation. I had no time for it to sink in as it was Christmas time and I was so busy preparing. I remember sitting on the hospital bed outside the OR and being like, "...Holy CRAP, I'm getting SURGERY on my FACE." It was the first time I ever really THOUGHT about it, you know?

Eight days for you, snap! Hard to believe we're in single digits now.

[KaylaChristine]

snapdresser/deathorglory - I'm tempted to ask my surgeon when I can resume relations, but I'll just play it by how I'm feeling. I imagine that would be a slightly awkward conversion with him lol.

jaime - My surgeon also takes preventative measures for nose changes. My ortho mentioned that one thing he does is stitches under the nose (through the mouth of course) to prevent the nose from turning up. Yeah, I don't exactly bite down on my natural bite either. But that's just because my jaws shift back after I fully bite down so my teeth will hit. That's great that they gave you recipes. I'm so jealous of how cheap your surgery is lol! I should probably add the catheter question to my listen of questions to ask my surgeon *sigh*

deathorglory - I have combination skin, so I'll probably be oily and peel haha. How many weeks are you post up now?

snapdresser - That's good that she let you keep the appointment. I wouldn't want to wait until the day before either. Lol gotta love dreams like that. I had a dream that my husband lost his job (and therefore lost insurance) the other night. I was hyperventilating the in the dream and woke up because I was breathing so hard lol. I'm sure I'll have many, many more bad dreams leading up to the surgery lol.

Does anyone plan on taking a daily multivitamin after the surgery? I'm thinking about it----I'm going to ask my surgeon first.

I'm thinking about buying Chrome Cast for my recovery. That way I can stream downloaded shows & movies from my PC. I just ordered my jaw bra (same one as you snapdresser). It should be here by June 11th...cutting it a little close lol.

jaime - I hope I get a private room! I'll have to ask about that at my pre-op next week. Wow, only 9 days notice?! I'm not in single digits yet, but man oh man the days are flying by.

[jaime]

KaylaChristine, during my pre-op yesterday at the hospital, the RN and I talked a lot about vitamins. I take several supplements myself and I asked when I should resume taking them. She told me that they can affect bleeding after surgery so it's best to stay off them for at least a few days. She recommended vitamin C, though.

Personally, I bought bromelain to help keep swelling down, so I will probably take that once I get home from the hospital.

This conversation about "relations" is making me laugh as my husband and I call it that all the time (as a joke). My husband is going to be out of town (for a vacation) 4 days after my surgery so I won't have to think about that. It actually kind of sucks that he even wants to go, but we compromised and he bought a refundable ticket in case I'm in rough shape. His friends are going to Alaska and since he went with them last time, he wants to go again...despite the fact it's really just about the worst possible timing.

[lalcharlie]

Jaime - ask him nicely to reconsider?
I was on my own after SARPE and totally regretted it. Hubby arrived in the evening and op was 9am . I needed him there, much as I hate to admit it. The girl across from me had double jaw, a totally different kettle of fish - and when her folks weren't with her I had to be there for her, when she was sick and there were no nurses available and when she was distraught and too upset to eat. She was only 17 poor thing, and overwhelmed by the whole experience. You on the other hand are very prepared but still, this is major surgery. You should have his hand to hold! Everyone is different, maybe you will be fine with all your family and friends. I consider myself to be horribly independent and stubborn - but I know I want my other half there! Even just to see for himself how hard it is, gives them a little more respect (like childbirth )

[KaylaChristine]

jaime - Oh thanks for letting me know! I'll stay away from the multivitamins for a while then. I'll probably pick up some bromelain as well. I hope your husband decides to stay home with you. Will anyone else be there for you if he isn't? My husband took off 7 days from work to help take care of me. I'm hoping I'll feel well enough after that point because he won't be able to take off any additional time.

I made an appointment on Thursday with my regular physician to talk about my options for my asthma treatment while I'm banded shut. My allergies have been awful lately so I've had a decent amount of asthma attacks recently.



deathorglory - Which syringes did you buy off of Amazon? Did the hospital send you home with any syringes/plastic tubing?

[deathorglory]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004FK ... ge_o07_s00 <---These are the syringes that I bought. They're pretty darn big and may be hard to handle if you're trying to use them one handed. I never actually had to use them other than for pain medication (and I only took three doses), so that was in small quantities. I got the big ones because I read a ton of people were getting really annoyed with trying to feed themselves with the smaller syringes. The hospital sent me home with 2 20ml syringes and gave me 2 "toppers" that fit over the open part of the syringe. They weren't super long or bendy or anything, but they were pointy so it was easy to point and shoot it into my mouth.

Please keep in mind that a lot of multivitamins are rather large...and your mouth will only be able to open so wide. When they gave me antibiotics, the surgeon asked if I thought I could take an augmentin 875mg tablet (and fit it in my mouth), but that tablet is HUGE (I work in a pharmacy so I know how big it is...how sad...) so I asked for liquid instead. That tablet...is about the side of my pinky to the first knuckle. Not small, and rather fat too...

Kayla...my face was pretty oily for my T zone, but dry around my mouth and my neck (where all my bruising was). I'd say take care of your skin, but you could always just hide inside like I did until my face went back to (kinda) normal...

Also, today I showed my day 3 swelling picture to a stranger who just had his wisdom teeth taken out... he and his fiance both went OMG! teeheee...I thought it was pretty funny... I'm a little past 2 months post op now. Life is pretty normal. I can even chew on the side that had almost no contact before! Actually, that side has better contact than the side I'm used to chewing on now!!! Insane, isn't it??? Over the last month I've noticed even more changes to my jawline. As the swelling has receded (slowly but surely!), my old jawline is slowly emerging. I thought my face shaped had changed previously, but it seems to have mostly been swelling. I'm almost 95% back to what I used to look like. There's a TINY bit of a difference, but really nothing noticeable now!

[jaime]

lalcharlie, you are a saint for helping someone after your own surgery. I could barely move after SARPE. Being alone after surgery would be so hard. I woke up from the anesthesia crying and upset for no reason (well, the anaesthesia was the reason). I probably would have bawled if I was alone.

My husband is still going to be taking me to surgery and taking me back to his place for a few days (we don't live together yet) so he'll be there for the worst of the worst. He has actually been saying he assumes he's going to have to cancel the trip, but it still bugs me a bit that he's even been considering going. I probably shouldn't have been so laid back about it though, so it's partially my fault that he thinks going is a possibility.

I live with my dad so if he does go on the trip, I'll be at home and my dad will be zero help. He also won't let my mom in the apartment (they're separated) and I don't want to stay at my mom's for various reasons. So really, hubby's place is the best place for me to be.

OK, enough negativity!!

KaylaChristine, that's really awesome your husband took 7 days off. That's super nice of him.

I also got a 60cc syringe like the one deathorglory posted. It is huge.

I meant to tell you guys that I mentioned to my surgeon on Monday that I was reading about the surgery on the Internet. He was like, "Don't read about it online; that's the worst thing you can do!" I think he assumed I meant horror stories, whereas I meant this forum and people's blogs. Gosh, if you didn't read about people's experiences with jaw surgery, you'd be woefully underprepared. The doctors don't really prepare you very well. My ortho's office keeps telling me it's like getting your wisdom teeth out.

[snapdresser]

Jaime - My appointment went AWESOME! She walked me through all the stuff she sent to the VSP modeling company and she's going to create my treatment plan with them tomorrow over Skype, basically. When she gets the .pdf with the pretty 3D pictures of my skull and the exact measurements (to the 1/100th of an inch), which will be tomorrow or Friday, she's going to forward it to me I brought up the nose thing with her and she said they mark where it is beforehand and then suture under the skin to keep it the same width. She said I could stand for maybe a slight widening tho, and I told her "whatever you think looks good, doc" Thanks for your jokes about the public recovery room... Easy for you to say while you're hanging out with your private room and your fancy walls and whatnot I just hope I get stationed by some people that aren't bellowing in agony, distracting me from my breathing exercises lol. My doc did say I might be in the intensive care unit that night tho, cuz it's for sleep apnea and they sometimes do that. You know, I guess it's different for you guys cuz you're already well into the treatment. I'm braces-less and free, so I'm probly a bit more anxious than you all. It's too late for y'all to back out Tho my surgeon said she met with her case for tomorrow and when the patient's dad heard the side-effects, they backed out... That's wacky about your husband tho... It's not like this happens all the time. Kinda insensitive IMO, but hopefully he has some great redeeming qualities about him Yep, we're in the Single Digit Club now! Yeah, it's pretty exclusive KaylaChristine and Nozzelnut aren't allowed in the Club House yet, but they're knocking on the door!

KaylaChristine - As Jaime said, my surgeon also told me to stop taking any multivitamins because of the bleeding concerns. She also confirmed they'll give me a catheter but they'll remove it after the surgery (hopefully when I'm still under). No wacky dream last night. Hopefully that's over cuz it made me anxious as h*ck when I woke up Btw, my PSTV isn't gonna work out cuz it won't show the screen for Netflix and Amazon Prime, JUST Hulu (which I don't have). So I'm back in the market. Looking at probly Chrome Cast or a Roku. Speaking of the jaw bra, my surgeon actually said that by the time I go home, the icing will be unnecessary. If it helps with the pain/discomfort, then fine, but otherwise it won't help recovery.

deathorglory - LOL that's real funny about showing off your swelling picture lol. I was pondering whether or not I should ask my surgeon to take a picture mid-operation so I can gross out people I hate or my sister or something Interesting that you look so much the same after the surgery! Even your profile is the same? I'm expecting my profile to change a bit and my lower 1/3 is supposed to get like 1cm shorter. Which sounds wack to me, but the surgeon swears it'll look good.

Everybody - So I DID ask my surgeon about when to resume "relations", and she said to wait at least 2 weeks, and then to "use discretion". Whatever that means... I didn't ask any follow up questions Funny that everyone's interested in that question, but my surgeon said she'd never been asked before lol

So my surgery's gonna be 7 hours long, apparently. 3 for the top, 3 for the bottom, and 1 for the genio. I gotta show up at 5:30 AM and my doc wants to see me after 2 days so we might just spend that second day at a hotel out by my surgeon.

[jaime]

Snap, I'm sorry if my comment about the ward came off as insensitive. I was genuinely trying to see the positive in it.

What kind of side effects are you referring to that made the other guy back out? The usual jaw surgery complications like permanent numbness?

As I mentioned above, I'm definitely partly to blame as I encouraged him to go. I don't know why, I guess I was trying to be a cool wife or something, lol.

Snap, how are they going to keep your teeth together after surgery? Or are they? I keep wondering that and then forgetting to ask.

Thank you for being brave enough to ask the question we all wanted to know the answer to.

[snapdresser]

Jaime - Hahaha I was joking, Jaime. Jeez... I'm sure whatever recovery situation I'm in will be fine, even if I don't get the biiig faaaancy private room The side effects that had him wigging out were the possibility of a blood transfusion, possibility of failure of union, or partial union (I think she said?), etc. Lol, "the cool wife". Cool wives are nice, but sometimes he should be the "cool husband", right? Lol. Well maybe he'll make it up to you somehow! Yup, I'll be wired together just like everybody else. During the procedure the surgeon is going to put in "arch bars" to hook the elastics to. You can google it if you want. It looks terribly uncomfortable lol. My surgeon wants me to try on the surgical splints next Tuesday, the day before my surgery, but she said for my bite she might not have to use them. Not sure that that's a good thing, tho. Seems to me that the splints would be the most precise...

Haha no problem. It's important! I'll let someone else ask their surgeon what "use discretion" means

[jaime]

Oh I see, you're making fun of ME! Here I thought I had said something stupid and made you think I was a jerk. But it's the other way around, IIIIII seeeeeee. (j/k)

Re: arch bars. That makes sense. I guess I forgot to consider that some jaw surgeries are because of accidents, etc. The injured person wouldn't necessarily have braces. I googled it and you're right...those don't look especially comfortable.

I can imagine what using discretion is, but I agree someone should ask their doctor and see what kind of fun answers (and/or examples) the doctor gives.

Well, I have 5 days of work left and I am accomplishing very little, despite my long to-do list. I'm much too distracted by thinking and talking about surgery!

[KaylaChristine]

deathorglory - Thanks for the link. I might buy a package just in case. I'm going to ask what I should expect to be sent home with after surgery at my pre-op. I bought a pill crusher for any medication that's too big to swallow :] I'm hoping I get mainly liquid meds though. I bruised all the way down to my neck from my wisdom teeth removal, so I'm expecting to look like a monster haha. Sounds like you're doing pretty good then!

jaime - Lol I've tried to be the 'cool wife' too about certain things...I always end up kicking myself for being like that. Yeah, I'm grateful he's taking time off work. Though he's been very, very nervous about the surgery lately. He's stressing about it more than I am lol. So hopefully he calms down soon. The internet has really helped me prepare mentally. I have only read a couple of horror stories lol.

Snapdresser- That sucks that your PSTV isn't going to work for you. My sister has Chrome Cast & seems to like it quite a bit. I plan on sleeping on my couch (that way I won't be tempted to sleep on my sides) & thankfully my THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR is in the living room. Darn, oh well, I'm sure the jaw bra will help with discomfort at least. Only three more days and I can join the single digits club!

Jaime, I can't stay focused on work either!

[Nozzelnut]

I've had a couple surgeries over the last few years. The worst, pain wise, was getting my tonsils out; the worst as far as mobility was having my shoulder repaired; sling 24/7 except for showers, for 3 weeks.

I guess from the guys perspective; I'd rather just relax at the hospital by myself than have someone hangout with me; watch me drool on myself, throw up, and that sort of thing... So maybe that's where couples should really discuss their feelings with each other. I'm single so I hope I can make friends with the nursing staff on the floor.

I've done ok coming out of anesthesia for the most part. And I'm not really expecting anything different from this one. I do have the constitution of a worm though; whenever they put me under I don't even get to the counting part. It's usually slide myself on the table look around the room for a couple seconds and out. I'm not sure what the first thing is they usually give me is but it's fast acting.

[snapdresser]

Jaime - Haha, well, I wasn't making fun of your situation THAT much, you ARE super lucky lol YOU should ask your doc what using discretion entails!

KaylaChristine - Ah, I was just gonna get a wedge pillow I think. I think that should discourage me from sleeping on my side. I think I'll go for the Roku over the Chromecast cuz it supports Amazon Prime better.

Nozzelnut - I need to get my shoulder done too put it off for this surgery. I like having moral support there. Maybe it'll gross them out, but eh. I think we get to be taken care of for at least a COUPLE days! You should do the count-down! It's a competition! See if you can beat your previous scores! I think for my wisdom teeth they had me count up to 10 and I made it to like 2 lol. But it's pretty hazy. I'ma see if I can't make it to 5 this time!

Work is interesting tho! It's normally kinda boring and I don't have a ton to do by next Wednesday anyways so this keeps me occupied. I try not to dwell on the surgery too much but that's d*mn well impossible, as you all know

So new stuff from my pre-ops: I got like 6 prescriptions from my surgeon to fill before the surgery: two nasal sprays (Flonase and a steroid), a pain killer (Tylenol with codeine... is that all you guys got too??), an antibiotic, and maybe a couple other things too. My surgeon said that the congestion will be worse than the pain, which I kinda believe. The congestion has me a little worried My doc also recommended a couple over-the-counter meds: a saline nasal spray, Children's Motrin (cuz it's a liquid), and Dimetapp, which she said I should take for the congestion around the clock. Wake up to take it if need be. They drew 4 vials of blood at the hospital pre-op and gave me a bunch of papers that I haven't read yet. Also, they gave me two pills in a little packet (prescribed by a doctor I never saw... shady... ) for nausea. It's called Famotidine? Take one the night before surgery. One the morning of.