June/July 2015 Surgery Buddies

[Liz192]

Lol snap! I feel like you had the energy of 10 men in that last post. I am doin good today. I have "energy" at least for a little while. I had scrambled eggs for the first time and I gummed the heck out of them. Haha chewing is so hard being still numb but that's ok. It's a baby step. I felt like I woke up this morning with a little more numbness than yesterday but it's probably the way I slept. I did the same thing you did. I haven't posted anything about my surgery on Facebook. Only family and close friends know I've had surgery. Ok, am I the only one who didn't really take their antibiotic? They gave me horse pills that I couldn't swallow. I hope I don't get and infection from not taking them.

Jamie- I can't wait for your next video. I love seeing your progress.

Kayla- thank you for your support. Ugh the cost of all of this is crazy!!

Nozzelnut- I hope you aren't in any pain with your infection. I'm with snap, I wanna know the details but I don't all at the same time. Haha

[snapdresser]

Liz192 - Lol you know, returning to work and resuming caffeine intake has a way of doing that. When I was at your stage, I was napping every afternoon. Good job on the scrambled eggs! You should throw a little Texas Pete or Cholula hot sauce on them! If you like spicy food, that is. You sleeping flat already? Yeah, only my family and some close friends know. And some of my wife's friends cuz she "didn't think it was a secret" lol. I forgot to remind her that loose lips sink ships! In all fairness, I didn't even tell my brother until literally the day before the surgery. I just didn't think it was necessary and I didn't want him to be telling me "oh, don't do that" or asking questions I wasn't comfortable answering like "oh, you really think your face is that bad?" I left that for my wife and parents to say lol. Ummmm... I think the antibiotic is supposed to be a big deal. I don't want to alarm you, but I've read stories of them having to put people back under to remove screws cuz they got infections around them. Sounds like no fun. I know at least 1 other person here for the pill form, but I had liquid Azithromycin. The liquid was easy peasy. 10/10, would recommend! Oh yeah, and thanks for teaming up with me to put pressure on Jaime to make a new vlog post! JAIME...

[jaime]

Haha you guys. I appreciate how much you want to see a vlog. I was going to make a video yesterday but as fate would have it, my grandmother passed away and I obviously didn't feel up to it. I feel much better today so I am planning to do one. I probably won't have time to do a blog post, so keep an eye on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjXo7H ... h1NtTRSyAw

Snap, I think you are onto something with not telling people. I do appreciate all the support my friends and family have given me, but I still got lots of annoying comments. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who thinks their face looks smushed.

Liz, my antibiotics were big, too. I was only obedient about taking them because the faster you get through them, the faster they're done forever. They gave me nausea and a bad taste in my mouth.

Nozzel...I also would like to know the answers to the questions snap asked. But I'll make sure I finish my lunch first.

Question for everyone/anyone: is anyone else using an electric toothbrush? I've been using mine and so far it's fine, but when I brush in the area of one of the plates, it feels SUPER weird. It's extra super duper sensitive. Just typing this out makes me think, well duh...just wondered if anyone else has noticed anything like that. Maybe not even necessarily with brushing.

Oh and if anyone wants to add me to Instagram, my username is jciatti. You know my first and last name now so feel free to add me to Facebook there, I'm the only one with my combo of first and last name.

[snapdresser]

Jaime - Oh noooo! Sorry to hear about your grandmother! That's good that you're feeling better today

Yeah, it's really the questions and comments that I didn't want to deal with from people. I figure my parents, my sister who's a doc, and the people on here are more than sufficient at giving honest feedback, advice, support, etc. And of course y'all have been awesome I think my face looks kind of smushed now cuz I had a long face before. Just like how the people with the Class III malocclusions always report that their chin looks too far back after the surgery? I think people are just used to a certain appearance looking "normal" to them and they overreact to even marginal changes. So I think our faces aren't actually smushed, they're just new and different and FUN!!!!

[gruntled]

Jaime - I've been using my electric toothbrush and I totally know what you mean. If I put the toothbrush in a certain position it feels like it's vibrating my whole skull.

My gums at the top very front are still slightly numb, so it's odd because I can't really feel the toothbrush there but can feel it everywhere else!


Snap - you're right, scratch n sniff stickers are MUCH better than puffy ones

Went to my cousin's today and she immediately went OMG YOUR FACE LOOKS SO DIFFERENT! Her two year old also told me that my face is less "pointy" but more "hard" and told me with great concern that I've got some metal on my teeth....

[Nozzelnut]

Sorry to hear about your grandmother Jaime. My condolences to you and your family.

Snap- He said he saw a bubble of it in my cheek (on the inside); that's where he squeezed and got fluid out of. He did do some other pressing alongside my gums and he didn't get any fluid out from there.

Probably a combination of everything; more swelling than my left side, a little more pain/achey. I didn't have any fever, localized warmth in the cheek area, or discharge.

The good news is it didn't hurt; I'm still pretty numb/desensitized in that area.

[deathorglory]

Jaime I'm so sorry to hear about your grandmother!

Snap you look great! I wouldn't have guessed you had any residual swelling at this point

For my infection, I had no pain but was feeling "weird" for a day and a half. Nothing specific to pinpoint, just off. My right side had more swelling on the first day I noticed the off feeling, but I assumed it was because I had been sleeping on that side. I didn't notice until day 2 that the swelling was significantly larger on that side than on the left, and had actually gone UP from the previous day. The surgeon squeezed along my gums for any discharge (right on the incision...not very fun) but didn't see anything. He still gave me antibiotics. He asked if I thought I could take the pills, though, and I said the pills he wanted to prescribe are GIGANTIC and I couldn't open that wide yet so he gave me liquid instead. ...Horrible stuff...

Liz, I can't believe you're going back to work so early! Do you work a desk job? Will you be able to take breaks to save your strength?

Mannnnn it's times like these when I wish I was still on social media...

[Liz192]

Jamie I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother

Deathorglory- that infection sounds terrible! But I hear ya on the pills. Mine are huge! I am a dental hygienist so luckily most of my job is sitting. The hard part for me will be x-rays since I have to run out of the room repeatedly. But my coworkers are wonderful so they will keep a good eye on me making sure I don't push myself too hard.

[gruntled]

Oh Jaime so sorry about your grandmother. Hope you and your family are holding up okay.

[jaime]

Thank you for the nice words everybody, I appreciate it very much. My grandma passed away in her sleep basically from old age after 92 years of life, so it's hard to be too upset, if that makes sense. She lived a long life and was generally healthy other than age-related stuff. You can't really ask for better.

Liz, do you predict it will be difficult to be leaning over patients at work? I couldn't look down without drooling for a few weeks. That would be VERY embarrassing if you drooled into somebody's mouth. omg...

Nozzel, that's good that your infection doesn't hurt. The last thing you really need is more discomfort!!

Gruntled, okay so I'm not alone in the crazy feeling over the plates. I hope that the feeling goes away eventually. So are your gums not that numb then? My lower jaw is fine but my upper gums and palate are completely gone. They stayed numb after SARPE for a good 7 months so I'm not too worried about it.

Snap, I think you're right about being so used to one face type.

omg you guys...my friend brought over White Castle last night and they are so easy to chew because they're basically mush to begin with. I scarfed down 4 sliders very quickly! Soooo good.

Oh and my video is up now. YouTube takes forever to upload to.

[gruntled]

Jaime, it's just the edges of my top gums that are a bit numb now. I was really lucky that my feeling returned almost immediately anyway. I must've had a great surgeon!



A soppy moment - I'm genuinely so glad to have found this forum. It's so nice to talk to people who understand exactly what's happening and don't ask me annoying questions like "but do you think it was really necessary? It's basically plastic surgery" etc. It's been good to hear your recovery stories and have somewhere to complain as well. You're all great

[lalcharlie]

Gruntled - I'm also NHS (i might be wrong in thinking you are too) and was given little or no support for my SARPE surgery. Im not blaming them, they are short of money! This forum was a lifeline for me when I felt isolated and knew nobody else who'd been through the procedure. I'll be re reading all your post as I head towards my double jaw surgery in 2016! By then this will all be a distant memory for you ...

[Liz192]

Jamie- loved the new video. Your face is shorter but it looks great. It is so great seeing your improvements and how far you have come.
And drooling into someone's mouth would be so gross!! Lol luckily I'll have a mask on. I don't think drooling will be a problem. I think making conversation all day long is goin to be a challenge. Cause my mouth/jaw gets tired if I talk for too long. I can't believe I go back to work tomorrow. Ugh...oh well. Bring on the new challenge. Oh, what have y'all been bringing to work to eat?

Gruntled- I feel the same way. Y'all have been a god send. Listening to everyone's experiences knowing I'm not alone and that it will get better/easier is what keeps pushing me. Thanks y'all!!

[kelse]

Quick query!

I'm going to be having the nose stitch to help prevent widening during my surgery.

Have any of you had it? What are your experiences?

Thank you x

[jaime]

Kelse, I got the fun nose stitches too. My nose did still widen but I think it looks fine. My nose is still sensitive to being pushed or poked. Blowing my nose is fine but squeezing it is out of the question.

Gruntled, I am so glad this forum exists too! I pretty much went through SARPE alone and this has been a much more positive experience this time.