June/July 2015 Surgery Buddies

[gruntled]

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 ...

Yup, I'm NHS. I definitely learned more from this forum than from my very rushed doctors/surgeons/etc! It's definitely nice to have some other people who know what they're talking about.

[snapdresser]

Jaime - I haven't gotten a chance to see your new video yet. Probably at lunch today I'll check it out. I'm excited tho! Excited to see how everything is going with you! You're the one who got your surgery closest to mine, obviously, so I'm especially interested in your progress You should take some regular pictures when oot and aboot (see what I did there?)! I've been taking some recently for FB. Everyone's been very nice about them, even if they have no idea why I suddenly look different lol. I had a goatee for about 5 years so maybe they just think this is what I look like when I shave I bet White Castle was amazing I know, you find something you can finally eat and you just go to town! That's how I felt about those 5 pieces of pizza Oh, and we're on pretty much the same boat with upper gums/palate numbness. My lower gums are a little numb, but on the top I can't even feel it when I'm brushing on the left side That's interesting to hear that your feeling took 7 months to come back after SARPE. I guess that's probably what I'm in for. My surgeon said it always comes back on the top, so yeah, not too worried either.

gruntled - So I just looked up scratch-n-sniff stickers on Amazon. I had no idea they were so expensive! And they all seem to be one brand. I remember the little basic ones from when I was a kid. These ones are like Apple Pie scented and stuff and they cost like $20! I want to get some for my son but I don't want to spend $20 on stickers! Lol, less pointy, more hard. I think this surgery has a way of making our features "less soft", so I guess that's a good descriptor!

Nozzelnut - Ugh... That's so gross Reminds me of when I had an ingrown toenail and the doc had to squeeze out all the puss before he attempted to fix it. It was incredibly painful. Hopefully that helps resolve the infection quicker tho!

deathorglory - Thank you! I think I do have some residual swelling but I can't even tell in the evenings anymore, really. Even along my jaw line it's almost completely gone. Of course when my arch bars come off everything will have to settle a little more. Oof, that sounds brutal with the surgeon squeezing along your gums... It hurts mine just to think about it lol

Liz192 - I concur with Jaime, I still drool occasionally even almost 7 weeks post-op. That mask is going to be key lol

kelse - Everyone who gets the LeFort gets the nose stitches, whether they're aware of it or not. Because of the way they separate the tissues during the surgery, your nose won't hold its shape without it. There was a girl (on archwired?) that didn't like how narrow her nose looked after the surgery so she had her surgeon remove the stitches. It got really wide really fast. She had to have them redo the stitches. But yeah, they're necessary for everybody. My nose looks exactly the same as it did pre-op as far as I can tell. It kinda feels weird when I move my face around like I'm sniffing or something, but I suspect that will go away in time.


A mere 9 DAYS until I'm DONE!!!! Next Wednesday (not this coming one), the arch bars are coming off and that's it for me! My cheeks still seem puffy in the mornings, but by the evening time everything looks fine. I'm sure my cheeks will continue to go down over the next few months. Diet is cheeseburgers, pasta, sandwiches, eggs, even chips occasionally supplemented with Gatorade and Ensure. I only have about 2 Ensures a day now, rather than the 6 I was having before. Yesterday I had a sandwich with thin sliced ham, shredded lettuce, brown mustard, and horseradish, and the consistency was just right. I recommend the ham sandwich for you guys that are just opening up your diet. The shredded lettuce was key, too. I don't think I could have eaten the big leaves.

[Nozzelnut]

Snap,Congrats on being so close to being able to turn the page and putting this behind you!

haha For the record it was just inflammatory fluid; not the nastiness you're thinking of. I'm not sure if it's because of my auto immune issues or what though. The thyroid is close enough that maybe my Hashimoto's got confused and wanted to eat something else... The good news is the swelling is going down on that side.

I had something odd happen over the weekend; I woke up Saturday morning and my bite was closer to midline and opened about 2mm. I'm guessing the disk in my right TMJ slipped back into place. It rotated my jaw some and changed the way my molars meet. Maybe it was due to the inflammation...

I did have my first orthodontist appointment today. Bad news is I'm back in elastics. Triangles both sides from my upper bicuspids to my lowers. Guess this might be for a while judging by the gaps I have between my upper and lower teeth in that area. My left side was a lot worse from the bruxism; guessing there's a 2-3mm gap. The right side gap is just about 1mm. After surgery was the first time in more than a year my molars touched.

[gruntled]

I was supposed to get my surgical hooks hooks/wires changed today but my usual ortho wasn't in clinic today so I saw the head registrar. He just put powerchains on and left the surgical hooks

[Liz192]

Well I survived my first day back to work. I am also happy to report that I didn't drool in or on anyone. Yay!

[Nozzelnut]

Good to hear Liz!

I'm sure the patients appreciated it; even though they probably didn't notice.

[Liz192]

I'm still pretty bruised up so I had to tell them all I didn't take up UFC fighting since I saw them last I just had jaw surgery. Haha

[jaime]

Congrats snap on getting your arch bars off soon! And to Liz for going back to work. How were your energy levels?

I went back to work yesterday as well. I ended up having to go home early as I got over 100 mosquito bites on the weekend (grr) and couldn't go any longer without Benadryl, which makes it too unsafe for me to drive. I got the bites Friday and today (Tuesday), the itchiness has finally subsided. What an ordeal. I honestly think it was worse than the first few days after surgery.

Nozzel, how are the elastics going?

I have to say that being off work for 6 weeks has really messed up my perception of the current date. The time went by SO fast, that to me it feels like it's only maybe July 10th or so. I keep getting reminders it's the friggin end of July and I feel like I time travelled or something. I can assure you, my coworkers are not sympathetic.

[KaylaChristine]

Snapdresser – Ohh okay. I’ve never had anything from Chick-fil-A before. There is one about an hour away from where I live though. Not being recognized actually bums me out a bit for some reason lol. I’m not sure how long I’ll wear elastics. I’ll be sure to ask today. Yeah, I’m hoping I can open my mouth enough to at least eat mashed potatoes lol. I'll message you my instagram. I did post a new youtube video. I’ve yet to catch my blog up yet though. Congrats on being almost done!!

Jaime- I’m very sorry about your grandmother. Oh and my upper gums are completely numb as well. No lower gums numbness. And that sucks about the mosquito bites! I get huge welts from them so I can imagine how awful that many must feel. I only took 2 weeks off but I can agree that time has flown by. I don’t know where my summer went! It sucks too because I’ll have classes resuming in about 2-ish weeks. But the faster the days go by the sooner I can eat food…sooo I’ll take it I guess.

Kelse – I got the nose stitches too. My nose is a little sensitive but it’s not too bad. Though I’ve recently noticed one nostril is bigger than the other….I don’t know if was like that before hand or not though.

Nozzelnut – Sucks that you are back in elastics. Hopefully it gets all aligned soon.

Liza192 – Glad to hear your first day back at work wasn’t too bad. Were you exhausted by the end of the day? I know I was for a little while. How many weeks are you post-op again?

About 5-ish hours until I get my wires cut. I really hope I’m able to eat soft/no chew foods right away. This liquid diet is driving me mad lol. I have had some pain in the nose area…maybe around the plates/screws. I’m not sure but it feels a little like a sinus infection. The pain isn’t constant and it isn’t too awful. It just feels like a lot of pressure. And when I blow my nose one nostril has had a bit of blood the past few days. I’ll be sure to mention it when I see my surgeon today.

[Liz192]

Kayla- eek! I am so excited for you to get your wires cut!! I am 2 weeks post op today. I was a little tired yesterday and am pretty tired today but am pushing through. I can't wait till Friday when I get to fly home and relax for a couple of weeks. I have a follow up with my oral surgeon again this Thursday.

Jamie- How was your energy level when you were at work? And ugh, I hate mosquitos

Snap- was it you who puréed a cheeseburger? I need the details on this because I totally want to try it. I am dying over here! Lol

Here's an update on my numbness, my whole chin and lower lip are completely numb. I do get a few tingles in my lower lip and just under my lip. My tongue is slowly coming back. There is just a small spot on the left side of my tongue that is still numb. My lower teeth seem to still be numb as well for the most part.

[Nozzelnut]

I blended up the cheeseburger. If I were to do it again, I would have removed the bun...

The easier way would be to boil some ground beef in water or beef broth/stock and mix it really well while cooking it; so it doesn't stick together and you get a gravel kind of thing. Then pour it in the blender and throw in a couple slices of cheese (or cheese soup), a little ketchup, and a squirt of mustard. Pickles if you'd like... Basically cheeseburger soup. I think I'm going to post a couple recipes that I really liked in the soft foods thread at the top of this section while they're fresh in my memory.

And I'm finally able to (officially) start chewing! Unfortunately, my orthodontic adjustment yesterday included some new wires and those awesome elastics and my teeth are aching pretty good, so I might actually stick with soft stuff. Grrrrrrrrrr.

[kelse]

Thanks all for the feedback regarding the nose stitch.

x

[jaime]

I'd like to know some of these recipes, Nozzel! If you have a White Castle near you, I recommend going there for a burger. I ate several over the weekend. They're very soft and easy to chew.

Liz, my energy has been fine at work. I think I was more busy when I was off, going on road trips and hanging out with friends, hahaha.

I guess since I've been away, my boss went and got braces! Kinda cool.

The numb area of my chin is getting progressively smaller, I'd say it's only about the width of 2 fingers (as opposed to about 4 before). That's also about how far I can open my mouth now.

Kayla...how's the wireless life? Wifi braces!

[KaylaChristine]

Liz192 - Wow, sounds like you are doing pretty good though. I hope the rest of the week goes by quick for you! I only took two weeks off from work as well. Thinking back I wish I had taken 3 weeks off instead though.

Nozzelnut - Congrats on a being able to start chewing again!

Jaime - That's neat that your boss got braces while you were away. The wireless life is a work in progress haha. It's definitely a challenge

I'm free!! My mouth is no longer wired shut!! It's so great being able to open my mouth--even if it is just a little bit. I can open my mouth a little over a quarter of an inch (maybe about 7 millimeters). My bite is so different than my old one that it feels like my mouth isn't my mouth. I keep biting my tongue a little bit because I'm not used to where everything is at. I only have two elastics--I'll post another youtube video tonight showing them. I only need to wear the elastics at night. For lunch yesterday I mashed up a can of mini ravioli and ate it with a baby spoon. I'm so glad I bought the baby spoons btw. I tried using a regular spoon but it just wasn't working. Then for dinner I had two slices of bread soaked in white gravy and mashed potatoes. They both took forever to eat but they were so worth it. The bread was a little tricky to eat but it wasn't too hard to swallow if it was doused in gravy & cut up into small bites. I tried eating scrambled eggs for breakfast today but unfortunately it was too hard to eat. My mouth/teeth/jaws/muscles are a little sore but it's not too bad. At least I can take regular ibuprofen now though. I don't have to take the nasty children's liquid ibuprofen anymore!

I see my surgeon again next Tuesday. If all looks good at that appointment I'll see him a month after that.

Anyone have any soft food/no chew food suggestions? I'm all ears

[Liz192]

Kayla- yay!!! Congrats on no wires!! It sounds like you and I are on the same food level. I can't chew food really at all right now because of the swelling in the back of my cheeks. I keep biting them. I can barely suck down noodles in chicken noodle soup right now. Ugh...

Jamie- is your lower lip still numb? I wouldn't mind if it was just my chin that was numb but my lower lip drives me crazy and I still sound like a small child when talking. Haha