June/July 2015 Surgery Buddies

[Nozzelnut]

I can definitely relate to the regret feeling. It will get better!

Being dehydrated only adds to not so good feeling. If you haven't purchased one yet:
http://www.amazon.com/Mueller-Sports-Wa ... 735BPDYCXZ

Helps getting fluids in and lets you visualize how much you're drinking.

[jaime]

That Mueller sports bottle Nozzel posted and my bed wedge are the best purchases I made for this surgery. Seriously!!

Snap, I can only feel where one bone cut is. My chin was kind of knobby feeling to begin with, but I can feel a gap on the left side. I had my husband feel it last night and he was a bit grossed out.

Liz...totally been there. Days 3 and 4 were HORRIBLE for me. I felt like I was completely failing taking care of myself. Gravol (anti-nauseant) saved me though...I used that for a few days until I was able to start ingesting enough liquids to not get sick from the meds. Hopefully you are on the upswing now.

Managed my first out of town trip this weekend. It actually wasn't so bad! I brought Ensure and I didn't even need any.

My midline stays put even when the elastics are off for hours so hopefully I get put on night elastics only when I see my surgeon on Tuesday.

[snapdresser]

Nozzelnut - I can open a liiiittle wider now, maybe, but not much. Still only about 1 finger width. I ate a donut this weekend and that was pretty tricky.

gruntled - So I'm kind of falling off the wagon here I had thai for dinner last night. Pancakes for breakfast on Saturday. A beer, charcuterie, and fries on Saturday night. Sounds like Jaime's being adventurous too, so I guess we're all in the same terrible patient boat these days I've heard the same about my looks: that I look similar to my dad and brother now. I guess I could see it? Maybe? The three of us will have to do a picture together sometime so I can see.

Liz192 - You know, I felt like I could have easily been in the same situation post-op. It's hard to drink in the beginning and I probably would have felt better with IV fluids. The skin sloughing on your face is something I think we all went through. Unfortunately that seems to be one of the longer lasting hassles. Mine only stopped at like week 4 or something. Went through a good 2 or 3 layers of skin, I guess. Feeling helpless and sick and ready to be better and out and about is DEFINITELY something we all went through. It's pretty brutal. BUT after a couple weeks you'll be out doing stuff again and you'll start feeling a lot more normal. Plus, since by then you're used to the suckiness, it'll seem extra awesome Hope you're feeling better today. You should start seeing some improvements in the near future if you haven't already! Take pictures to document! It's really neat to see the day-to-day and week-to-week changes, and it's easier to see if you take pictures! I tried to do mine in the afternoons so I wasn't as puffy as in the morning.

Jaime - Haha yeah, my wife hates to feel the ridges in the bone. It feels like slight bumpiness on the sides of my mandible. Then the top of my chin and the top of my maxilla have a straight ridge across them. My chin is still a little swollen I guess, so that one's harder to feel. I can feel the hardware in it tho. In fact, it's been hurting right around the hardware the last couple days. Probly from poking at it too much lol. Good luck with your appointment tomorrow! I have one too. I guess we're both on Week 6! You believe it's been that long already? Good luck!!!


Last night I tugged on my sutures with the little needle-nose pliers my surgeon loaned me and it stung pretty bad, so either she's gonna have to take them out or they'll have to fall out naturally. The scarring on the bottom doesn't look pretty, but I think it's because it's covered with imprints from my archbars lol. And quite frankly, if part of my body isn't gonna look pretty, you can't really beat the inside of your lips

SO Saturday night I went out for date night! Did my hair, got a little dressed up. Not my aforementioned post-op baller outfit, tho. I'm saving that for when the puffiness in my cheeks has gone down Plus it was like 90 degrees out and it was hot enough as it was. Aaaanyways, I took some pictures and stufffff and it's crazy, I actually take good pictures now!!! I used to hate virtually every picture that was taken of me. Soooo much better now! I feel like I should be posting on instagram or something

[Nozzelnut]

Snap; it's a bit odd to have the stitches still in; unless they're dissolvable and just haven't yet. Definitely ask about them your next visit.

[snapdresser]

Nozzelnut - Yup, they're dissolvable and just haven't yet lol. My surgeon offered to take them out at week 4 but I said "Nah" and here I am 2 weeks later and they're still there. I'll bring it up next time.

[jaime]

Yay for us being on the cusp of 6 weeks! You'll have to let us know how the appointment goes tomorrow.

So funny story about looking like relatives. Prior to surgery, when my sister and I hung out, we would ALWAYS get, "Wow you look so much alike!" or "Are you twins?!" or my favourite, "Which one is older?" (I'm 5 years older than my sister). On Saturday, we were at a baby shower and the person we were talking to said, "Oh, you're sisters? Okay... I see the resemblance." I was like I guess I didn't realize how much I like that my sister and I look so similar. I wonder what will happen as the swelling continues to go down and I get my braces off, whether we will look so similar anymore. My sister recently had braces but didn't need surgery or anything.

Snap, I can't believe you had charcuterie! Was that a struggle? I can't even imagine eating any meat right now, or cheese. I bought a soft loaf of bread but even that is a bit of a struggle.

You know, I think I would be eating way more "real food" if the left side of my bite wasn't so open. As it is, it's limiting because I have to chew everything on the right side and it gets sore and achy so quickly.

Liz, I really hope you're feeling better and happier today. This surgery is pretty infamous for causing all sorts of misery; physical and emotional. I'm glad you have us to talk to during the hard parts, though.

[snapdresser]

Jaime - Yup, I'll report back about tomorrow. My surgeon said she'd take off the elastics, so I'm looking forward to that! No mention of me still wearing them at night, so I'm hopeful! 2 more weeks of archbars... Sucks because once my archbars are out, I'll be totally done! It's like if you guys came around to getting your braces off and they said "Well, you're ready to get them off, but we're just gonna leave them on there for two more weeks juuuust in case". I suspect she'll open up my food choices some too. I've been doing well with most things that will fit in there, but you called it about the charcuterie being a struggle. I had pieces of the meat (I don't really care for cheese in general), but those were pretty tough to chew. They were hard meats. I think hamburger or ham or something would be much more doable. The fries are what I really chowed down on at the French lounge place we went to. You know what I've found though? The more I chew stuff, the less it hurts. The first fry hurt a little, but by the end I was mowing through them Not sure why chewing more would make your teeth hurt less, but it seems to. The opening wide and tooth pain are the limiting factors for me. It's not like it hurts where my hardware is when I chew or anything.

That's pretty funny that you look less like your sister now lol. If you do a blog post this week you should post side-by-side shots so we can compare! What's the outlook for the left side of your bite? Does it seem to be getting closer to closing? They said it's cuz of tightness in the TMJ, right? I wonder if they gave you 9 elastics like they gave me if it would close.

[jaime]

I can't believe you ate meat. You are crazy, lol. Interesting that the more you chew, the less it hurts. I've been the opposite.

Hmm, interesting idea to do a side-by-side with my sister. I might do that when I'm less swollen. I'll have to ask my sister first because she always seems mildly annoyed when people say we look so similar.

My bite was open on the left before surgery. I have a slight cant in my maxilla, so it must just be the way my teeth are angled right now or something. My orthodontist didn't say why it's open, just that it's normal and we'll fix it later. I see him and my surgeon tomorrow so hopefully one of them puts on elastics to fix it.

It's like if you guys came around to getting your braces off and they said "Well, you're ready to get them off, but we're just gonna leave them on there for two more weeks juuuust in case"

That's actually pretty common, but change "weeks" to "months." Braces suck!

I am envious that once your arch bars are off, you're done. I have a long way to go. My orthodontist seems more conservative than others. I have to wait 6-12 months after surgery to get my braces off, whereas I've seen lots of other surgical patients get theirs off in 3.

[snapdresser]

Jaime - Speaking of eating meat, I had pizza yesterday. 3 pieces with pepperoni and ham on it. I know, I'm pretty much a lost cause BUT the really crazy thing was that about 2/3 of the way through my second piece, I'm just sitting there watching TV and chewing like it aint no thang and suddenly my TMJ on the right side just seemed to relax out of nowhere and I suddenly went from being able to open my jaw 1-1.5 fingers wide to a little over 2 fingers wide It suddenly no longer hurt on that side when trying to open wide, too! I felt like I could have opened even wider if the left side didn't still hurt. Anyways, about 5 minutes later it went back to only being able to open 1.5 fingers wide, but the right side doesn't hurt anymore when I try to open wide. Pretty crazy. No idea how I did it. Just opening without focusing on it, maybe? It woulda been nice if it affected both sides and stayed that way, but alas... Couldn't be that easy, right? I had chips yesterday too. It was doable, but it wasn't particularly enjoyable lol. Not cuz it hurt my teeth a ton, but just the motion of grinding it between the teeth was tricky.

Let us know what your ortho/surgeon say! That's gonna be really neat when everything comes together I had braces for a good couple years or more as a teen. I remember being somewhat anxious to get them off, but after a couple years with them on, I had long since gotten used to them. It was actually pretty strange getting acclimated to having them off lol. They felt so smooooth! That's bull that they're making you keep them on for another 6-12 months!!! Or 5-11 now? Still, that's wack. But I could see them doing it to make sure your teeth don't move after they take them off. 2 weeks after I got my braces off I lost my retainer the day before I went for a week of summer camp and when I came back, my teeth were already messed up. Had to get braces right back on again for another 6 months and now I have a permanent retainer on the bottom lol

[jaime]

That's so weird and crazy about your jaw loosening while eating! Pizza..you are living the dream!!

I just saw my surgeon. No more midline elastics! Although I have an ortho appointment today at 3 so I imagine I will get some new elastics then. But until then, I am going to enjoy these elasticless 6 hours.

Probably because my surgeon is fully booked until about
November (no exaggeration), he says he doesn't want to see me for 10 months since I'm doing great. Kinda nice I won't need to keep driving out to London every few weeks, as it's an hour drive from where I live.

I asked him about my skin breaking out and he said no one has ever asked that in his 30 years. Oh jeez. I really hope I'm not allergic to the screws and plates.

Can't wait to hear how your appointment goes, Snap!

[gruntled]

I feel like the worst patient ever talking to you guys


I've been meat eating galore. Even had a steak very slowly the other day. It was lush!

[snapdresser]

Jaime - Welllll... I'm not sure 5 minutes of a loose TMJ qualifies as "living the dream", but at least it's a sign of progress? Or a sign that I jacked something up because I was eating pizza and I wasn't supposed to be I really hope it's not the latter... It's hard to keep up the liquid diet when I expect the requirement to go away in just a few days. And when gruntled is there telling me "oh, look at me, I had a pasty! Look at me, I'm eating steak!" Obv I kid, but seriously, it does make it harder when I read that other people with the same procedure are eating stuff without any issues. That's why I felt ok about having a beer Saturday night. Cuz you said you had had some with your friends, right?

Congrats on no elastics! Here's to hoping the ortho doesn't put more on! Your surgeon doesn't need to see you for 10 months???!!! So what's the deal with the diet?! What's the deal with the open bite?! Or are you holding out on the details for a big blog post? That's sweet that you don't have to drive out there anymore! Doing that kind of trip to see mine was brutal. The last thing I wanted to do shortly after the surgery. So you're returning to work, what, this week? You said you have some other travel coming up too, right? Exciting times in the world of Jaime!

If nobody's brought up the skin thing with him, that's just cuz they thought it was a personal thing. Deathorglory (IIRC) and I both experienced increased oiliness and at least I also broke out afterwards. Def not an allergy.

gruntled - That pizza was the first thing I've bitten into with my front teeth since the surgery. No issues. I wonder if I could handle steak now too? How wide can you open at this point?

[KaylaChristine]

Sorry for being MIA again! Work has been really busy the past two weeks. Short version: I work at a newspaper that sponsors a 3 day farm show. I’m on my 9th day of work in a row…only 3 more to go until a day off. Oh, and the farm show is outdoors so I spent 3 days in 95-100 degrees Fahrenheit temeratures….it was great. Not! I felt super exhausted near the end of the days. Work was really busy leading up to the show too. I’ve just been too tired & busy to post lately. I’ve gotten all caught up on posts but I’m only going to reply to the stuff on the most recent page or so.

Liz – I regretted it for about 4 or 5 days…at least. The whole thing was a complete nightmare… I wanted to get re-admitted for fluids but my husband wouldn’t let me lol. It gets better though, I promise. You’ll get through it. Hang in there!

Nozzelnut/Jaime – I bought the same sports water bottle but I completely forgot to use it lol. I imagine it would have been a little helpful

Snapdresser - Weird that you still have stitches. I think mine were all gone by 2 weeks.

Jaime - It’s funny that you mention the whole sister thing! My sister & I are also 5 years apart (I’m the youngest) and we frequently get “Are you twins?”, etc. Funny thing is now is that I’ve had a lot of people tell me I look more like my sister lol. I wonder how much we’ll look alike after as well.

Snapdresser/Jaime – My skin is super oily and broken out as well….I’m hoping it clears up soon.

Not much has changed the past couple of weeks. I’d say my energy level is about 80% of what it was before. I only have one small patch of numbness left—the left portion of my upper lip & some of the area above it, and a little in my nostrils.

I should only have one more week left of being wired shut…..My surgeon was counting the weeks in his head last appointment & said I should be unwired the 1st of August…..umm no….I should be unwired the last week of July.

Speaking of pizza...my niece is having a pizza party for her birthday today. I’ll be drinking Ensure with half a dozen pizzas all around me.

So the hospital finally billed my insurance…the charges are $24,065!! I don’t know my portion yet or what insurance is making them write off. That just seems crazy to me though. I was only there for a day and a half.

I tried recording a video for my blog last week but I was too hard to understand to upload it. I’m going to try again tonight. I’m also going to finally get my blog caught up….I know I keep saying that but I mean it lol. I’ve just been so busy lately.

[gruntled]

Snap, I'm about two fingers wide now. You?

[snapdresser]

KaylaChristine - You know, last week I intended to ask my surgeon to pull out the remaining stitches but she seemed particularly rushed so I didn't bother. It doesn't seem to be a huge deal, but maybe I'll ask today. Depends on the vibe I get. Last week she told me to "hold on" cuz she was about to go do an extraction for someone but instead she just saw me real fast. If I were you, I'd tooootally push to get unwired the earliest day possible lol. But that's just me and being wired shut sounds miserable Not sure how you pulled off working!

gruntled - 1-1.5 fingers. Closer to 1 with the elastics on. A solid 1.5 when I remove the elastics. When I was eating that pizza last night, it suddenly changed to a little over 2 fingers, but it was shortlived