Summer 2016 Surgery Buds

[palm55]

I'm getting a 3-piece LeFort 1 next week. Starting to get a little bit nervous, but after almost 16 months in braces, I'm excited to take another step towards putting this all behind me. The biggest concern I have is for recovery. I have the whole month of September to recover, but not sure how soon I'll be able to start exercising again, or even going out to see friends or run errands. I'm beginning to get myself packed and make sure I have helpful items on hand. Good luck to all!

[BrooklynsOwn]

It was rough and I went into acute respiratory failure

What is that and did it happen while you were awake?

and they almost didn't intubate on time due to congenital issues on my palate so I had a breathing tube for a couple of days and they kept me under anesthesia.

What is the difference between being intubated and having a breathing tube or is the same thing? You mean they almost werent able to give you a breathing tube but then they managed to? Also when you say they kept you under anesthesia for a couple of days were you in an induced coma??

My biggest fear is trying to breath after waking up from surgery. Im glad to hear you are doing OK!!

[uneunsae]

Now that my swelling has gone down, I definitely feel like my chin should have been moved several millimeters more forward. I brought it up to my surgeon and he said that a weaker chin looks more feminine. I showed him over and over what I wanted and he didn't say he wouldn't do it. When it came down to it, he did what he wanted, not what I wanted. I'm upset because I went through so much and am not happy. I don't even know if I should push for a revision or not. I don't have any family or moral support and I am worn so thin from everything.

[glennstanzalone]

I'm in the same boat as you, uneunsae. My surgeon didn't want to do a genio even though I asked like 3-4 times. He said we should wait to see how it looks after the jaw surgery. While I appreciate his conservative approach, I still have lip incompetance and my jaw line still sucks. I'm only 2.5 weeks into recovery so I know I have to wait for more swelling to go down but I already have an appointment to see a plastic surgeon in November to give me a more defined jawline. Maybe a combo of lipo, chin aug or kybella.

[uneunsae]

Sorry you have to go through this as well.

Mine didn't want to do it at all, either even though it will help my sleep apnea! I'm lucky he moved it the tiny bit he did. Do you know if this is something I can argue with my surgeon about? Insurance paid for my surgery and I certainly can't afford to pay out of pocket for another surgeon to do it later.

I don't understand why surgeons do what they want instead of what the patient wants. It's not like I asked for a protruding chin or something crazy. We have to go through so much for this surgery. I'm just afraid of arguing because I am so conflict adverse but I am my only advocate right now. I should have flat out told him today that I wasn't happy, but all I could say was, "It could have been moved forward a little bit more but oh well."

At least a genio is a very minor surgery compared to the jaw part.

I'm so disappointed and down right now. I'll have to wait another week to see him since he's only in the office on Tuesdays. Right now he likes me and thinks I'm a pleasant person. I'm prepared for him to not like me so much after I tell him how I feel. I just want to cry.

[snapdresser]

Now that my swelling has gone down, I definitely feel like my chin should have been moved several millimeters more forward. I brought it up to my surgeon and he said that a weaker chin looks more feminine.

What he said is true according to aesthetic rules of thumb, but it sounds like you think yours is weaker than the rule of thumb indicates is ideal. If you drop a line straight down from your brow, how many mm would your chin be behind that line?

[uneunsae]

Definitely a few mm. This weekend I will take a photo and put it into photoshop to get an idea of just how far off it is.

[glennstanzalone]

So my chin isn't recessed behind my brow. It is looking better and better each day. It just doesn't have that button look I wanted from the genio. I'm actually way happier than I was a few days ago about it. I think I need to look into a speech therapist because it's sooo hard for me to swallow with my elastics in and I've had a tongue thrust for years. I think fixing that will help my jaw line.

[Lorimac]

Hi everyone....2 days post op for a hugely impacted canine. Wondering if anyone had trouble breathing through their nose after their surgery and how long thst took to go away. Also I haven't had any swelling or bruising....does thst come after? I ask because I would like to know for work ....I'm a part time make up artist and work during the day with autistic children. I'm wondering if I should prepare for some days off....so far I look exactly the same so maybe I got lucky? Woke up today feeling like my fave is getting puffy though.
Also how long did it take for your impacted canine to come down? Was it painful to have tension put on the chain? How often did you have to go in to get that done....so many questions.
By the way I'm Lori, 41, a specisl needs nurse and makeup artist from Canada, got braces a year ago in Sept with my 4 teenaged sons so we could go through it together....it sucks lol

[Lorimac]

[quote="Lorimac"]Hi everyone....2 days post op for a hugely impacted canine. Wondering if anyone had trouble breathing through their nose after their surgery and how long that took to go away. Also I haven't had any swelling or bruising....does that come after? I ask because I would like to know for work ....I'm a part time make up artist and work during the day with autistic children. I'm wondering if I should prepare for some days off....so far I look exactly the same so maybe I got lucky? Woke up today feeling like my face is getting puffy though.
Also how long did it take for your impacted canine to come down? Was it painful to have tension put on the chain? How often did you have to go in to get that done....so many questions.
By the way I'm Lori, 41, a special needs nurse and makeup artist from Canada, got braces a year ago in Sept with my 4 teenaged sons so we could go through it together....it sucks lol[/quote]

[underbitewars]

Is there any way to justify asking a surgeon for a redo with unaesthetic results? He said things like "you're a very pretty girl now, but this will really put the icing on the cake," and "I just know faces - I know what looks good." My D ended up with her maxilla too far forward after lefort 1, and the results aren't aesthetic. How does one approach this when it's "subjective?"

It's nothing to do w swelling. With the maxilla being too far forward, the bottom part of her face looks very wide and exaggerated in size, while the upper part of her face looks too narrow and recessed. It's an optical effect of the bottom half of the face being closer to the viewer than the top half - I don't know what to call it - "depth of focus?"

(She is 2 months post op, btw.)

[uneunsae]

I'm not sure. My problem is the opposite. My chin is too far back and not even close to being even with my forehead line. They didn't even move my jaw as far forward as they said they were going to and the only answer I got was, "We had a difficult time getting a good bite on you." Well, that's what models and homework are for, right? If they needed my teeth adjusted for a few more months, they should have said so. But I don't know the real technical reason because all I get are vague answers. Tomorrow is the appointment where I will bring up the chin issue. Since it's subjective, like you said, I don't know what else we can say other than the typical aim is to create a profile so that if you draw a line straight down from your forehead your chin matches up. That seems to be the gold standard. I'm extremely nervous and have a feeling that my surgeon will continue defending his personal love of weak chins on females. One thing I'm able to bring up in my case is my sleep apnea. He seems more concerned with giving me a weak chin than moving my jaw a little more forward which would help my sleep apnea. Since my surgery's primary function was to correct the apnea, I don't see how he can logically defend his position as a surgeon. Not to mention my jaws are misaligned somehow so when I open my jaw goes to the left. Needless to say, I am so disappointed and heartbroken at this result. I'll post what happens when I get home tomorrow afternoon.

[snapdresser]

It's nothing to do w swelling... (She is 2 months post op, btw.)

How do you know that? That's exactly what I experienced when I was 2 months post-op and it turned out to be swelling after all.

[uneunsae]

Okay, after a long argument, my surgeon FINALLY admitted that he is not skilled enough to move my chin more forward. He said it takes a very skilled surgeon because my muscles are stretched quite a bit, but that it could easily be done by a surgeon with the right skill set. Gosh, if he would have said that to begin with, it would alleviated so much stress and friction between us. I get that it was probably difficult to admit that he couldn't do what I want, but he should have done so from the beginning so I could have found a surgeon who could. My surgeon works in a teaching hospital FWIW. He said he focused on the aesthetic aspect because he wanted to reassure me that I didn't look ugly. Well, I suppose I appreciate his concern but I should have had all the info to choose a surgeon I liked best. Anyway, he suggested that since things are going to move around a bit still that I wait until I'm ready to have braces off to decide if I am happy or not. If I'm not happy, and still have some apnea, he said we would discuss revision (with another surgeon I suppose), but if there's no apnea he won't discuss it further, of course because insurance only covers treatment for my apnea. If I am still unhappy and don't have apnea anymore, I will go for an implant since it's relatively cheap compared to a genio. I trust his judgment and will patiently wait to see my result in six months after everything is over and I have my sleep study. He IS a good surgeon technically, I just wish he would have been honest from the beginning.

[glennstanzalone]

Okay, after a long argument, my surgeon FINALLY admitted that he is not skilled enough to move my chin more forward. He said it takes a very skilled surgeon because my muscles are stretched quite a bit, but that it could easily be done by a surgeon with the right skill set. Gosh, if he would have said that to begin with, it would alleviated so much stress and friction between us. I get that it was probably difficult to admit that he couldn't do what I want, but he should have done so from the beginning so I could have found a surgeon who could. My surgeon works in a teaching hospital FWIW. He said he focused on the aesthetic aspect because he wanted to reassure me that I didn't look ugly. Well, I suppose I appreciate his concern but I should have had all the info to choose a surgeon I liked best. Anyway, he suggested that since things are going to move around a bit still that I wait until I'm ready to have braces off to decide if I am happy or not. If I'm not happy, and still have some apnea, he said we would discuss revision (with another surgeon I suppose), but if there's no apnea he won't discuss it further, of course because insurance only covers treatment for my apnea. If I am still unhappy and don't have apnea anymore, I will go for an implant since it's relatively cheap compared to a genio. I trust his judgment and will patiently wait to see my result in six months after everything is over and I have my sleep study. He IS a good surgeon technically, I just wish he would have been honest from the beginning.

WOW THATS SO FRUSTRATING! Why wasn't he just honest and humble from the beginning?! Damn that makes me mad for you.