Slawdawg's Journal

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#31 Post by **Slawdawg** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 6:34 am

Good Morning! It's day two post-SARPE and what a wonderful night we had last night! I slept sitting uprigh tin the bed with about a dozen pillows (my lovely children were glas to share with their daddy!), an ice pack wrapped around my head, a CEPAP machine strapped to my nose, and a big bottle of water nearby. It wasn't really that bad of a deal. The CEPAP was much better than what they had tried to provide at the hospital. First, I have only th little nasal pillows which are much less intrusive than the face mask, and second, I have a compartment that produces warm, moist air, so my throat didn't dry out too much. I slept fairly well for about 6 hours getting up for ater and potty regularly. I moved back downstairs to my chair at around 5:00. When I got up, I was not excited by the trickle of dried blood coming out of one corner of my mouth, but the doc says some seepage is normal and not to worry. Also, every time I bend over, it feels like my upper "dentures" are going to fall out. Another interesting trick is that I can feel an air leak between the inside of my moth and the gums and it's fun to blow bubbles, but I don't think it will help the healing. When walking, the upper palate is jarred rather nicely causing more annoying feelings. My favorite, though, is how a few of my teeth act like a tuning fork whenever I talk. This will certainly have to stop if I'm going to return to school on Monday. So far my diet has included a custard-style yogurt, grits, applesauce, and a protein shake made with skim milk. I also have some meal-replacement drinks that the doc says will be excellent to maintain nutrition. I have been advised to stay away from too much sugar...probably a good idea to continue after healing.
Well. thay's about all the sitting up to type I can stand for now. The head is still a bit swimmy. I currently have a very small gap and lots of pressure strtching the gums in between. Breathing does seem to be a bit easier already, but I continue with the nasal spray twice a day to keep things clear.
On negative bit to sign off with...the good doctor forgot to remove the wisdom teeth while he was in there! It will be no big deal to do them later, but I was rather disappointed by this since he assured me they would be taken care of at the same time. If he wasn't such a cool guy with a great manner about him, I might be angry, but I'm just a little annoyed that I'll have to return later for him to "pop them out." Oh, well. Much easier to get them out later than put them back if taken out by mistake. Have a great day, guys, and thanks for listening.

#32 Post by **Slawdawg** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 6:43 am

to brandy...you did it again...I'm going to have to start charging you a banner-rate for posting your blog in my journal all the time...LOL

to fran...I know exactly how you feel. The first few hours with the expander were not too bad, but the longer I went, the more difficult things got. That night, I was feeling s claustrophobic, I wanted to rip the thing out. I got over it, though, and just came through my surgery.

The constant saliva will last a few days since your mouth thinks you've got a hunk of food to digest in there. When it gets used to it, you should settle down to just a few slurps every now and then to clear things out. I drank lots of water to help wash the saliva to the back of my mouth where I could swallow it easier. I had the expander in for a month before the surgery, so I got used to eating pretty much anything I wanted. The best things to avoid are melted cheese, soft bread, and spaghetti noodels. These things were a constant source of frustration since they get hung up so easily. Also, invest a few dollars in a water pick if you haven't already. I used it every night and was surprised at how much had gotten left behind during the day. Hope all goes well for you fran and keep us posted. If you have any other questions...that Brandy hasn't already answered on her most-famous and most-thorough blog...please ak. Folks here are extremely helpful!

#33 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 10:47 am

Hey Slawdawg,
I'm not intentionally trying to hijack your journal, I just get sick of typing all that stuff out a zillion times to answer peoples questions. I will say that your RPE is the smallest I have ever seen! I so totally wish that I had yours! Then I might not be having this sucky RPE experience. I hate hate hate , no I detest this RPE!.....and I say those words with the most feeling, emotion, and emphasis that is humanly possible. The surgery was a piece of cake, this stupid appliance is daily hell for me.

So...with that being said, I'm glad that you are not having too much trouble with yours. I have not eaten much of anything in over a month, have lost 8lbs since my surgery, and I have most certainly not eaten anything remotely enjoyable during that time.

Glad you are starting to feel better though! and I hope things start to improve for you. Did you use ice packs the first 24-48 hours? Then switch to warm moist heat. It will help with circulation and will get things moving and reduce your swelling quicker. I'm currently 39 days post op and I'm still achey. My front teeth have been very burny lately, however, I'm starting to get feeling back in the roof of my mouth and teeth so its good.....

Keep us posted, since you are home recovering now! LOL...

Brandy

#34 Post by **Slawdawg** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 2:09 pm

I agree, the surgery is no big deal, but the feelings afterwards are driving me nuts! When I bend over, I feel my palette shift forward and when I swallow and puch on the RPE, it applies pressure and tries to push my teeth out!
I had a neat little contraption from the hospital that filled with ice and wrapped around my head and was velcroed at the top. It was very cool and I took it home to use for a couple more days. The swelling is not bad at all and I have no bruising that I can see.
I don't enjoy eating at all, but I enjo food and know I need the calories, so I'm finding some god stuff to eat. I absolutely love grits, so that will be an inmportant staple. I also drink a protein powder with milk fro breakfast every day, so I'm used to that. I also have some meal-replacement drinks I use for midday meals that are great. I got the larger ones (310 calories) that have 43 grams of protein, 25 grams of good carbs, and 7 grams of good fats. These will keep me going for a while, but what I really want already is some of the real food that everyone else is having. I really need to lose weight, so I'm going to use this lower calorie diet to jump-start my weight loss program and my prayer is that by the time I reach 40, the teeth will be straight and the body will be healthy. I guess I need to start another "weight loss" strand to follow that progress.

#35 Post by **Slawdawg** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 9:53 am

Every time I read Brandy's blog, I think of something else she has shared that I am experiencing, too. The gums inside my front teeth are on fire! They are burning and stretching, but since my archwire is still attached, I don't think they're moving anywhere. I don't have a gap of any kind yet. I'm again guessing that when I go back to the os on Wednesday that he will snip the wire to allow things to expand. I seem to be doing a lot of guessing. I guess I'll just rust these folks and enjoy the ride. The information I learn on this site is wondeful, but tends to get me thinking too much. Why didn't I do that? Why don't I know about that? My experience seems to be so different from much of what I'm reading.
My pallet is completely loosened from the bone and really moves around alot...especially when I walk, talk, or rinse with the salt water. It feels like it moves out of place and then has to move back. Very uncomfortable.
The only real pain I have is when I try to swallow. If I don't do it just right, then my tongue pushes the appliance forward and applies pressure to my palette and tries to expand it. Unfortunately, it does not want to expand yet and causes a significant bit of pain. It feels like my upper teeth are being pushed out of my mouth!
While I'm not really congested that much, I am having a lot of drainage that wants to slide down my throat and force me to swallow more. Which, as I mentioned before, has to be done just right. Gross, I know, but just reporting the facts...it makes me feel better.

#36 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 2:23 pm

Hey Slawdawg...I'm thinking your ortho will probably just remove your archwire or not depending on what type it is. Mine was taken out the day of surgery but they put it right back on when I went in for my first expansion. I have had it the whole time I was expanding. I think it might be part of the reason my gap never got very big.

The burning is irritating isn't it. That is what it felt like when I had that stupid power chain on in the beginning....very uncomfortable. I don't think OD, or OS's accurately understand the pain/discomfort that goes along with this surgery. Especially the super sensitive front teeth area. As for your palate moving around, mine was pretty loose but not like yours. There was another posted I read earlier on this board whose was more like yours. She had some nose bleeds, and said her palate was literally loose and would move around. IT sounds more like they did a Lefort I on you rather than just SARPE. But what do I know! lOL...

Hope you are feeling better soon!

Brandy

#37 Post by **Slawdawg** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 11:38 am

Sunday, April 9.
I went to church this morning and stayed afterwards for our church family picnic. Hated not being able to partake of the assortment of grilled delicacies and homemade goodies, but the kids had a great time playing and hunting for eggs. I took a small nap and returned for our evening AWANA program which I am in charge of. I made it through rather well, but sat quietly a lot more than usual.
Monday, April 10.
I went back to school thinking I could sit quietly at my desk, give my students their instruction and they would quietly attend to their tasks. Yeah, right! It worked well for the first few classes, but the longer I was there, the more animated I got. I can't teach sitting down and being quiet. That's just not me. By the time we were discussin the soap opera of English monarchy during the 1600's, I was up and telling the story with all the gusto I usually do. Bad idea. I also had a very late meeting Monday night and stayed up too late watching two hours of The Apprentice, so I was in bad shape when I went to school Tuesday morning. I had to call it quits at lunch time, come home and take some Advil and a good nap. I felt better that evening, so I took my daughter to cheerleading practice and again felt awful when I got home.
Guess what, stupid?! You just had fairly major surgery on your face! Sit down and rest awhile. The world will still be there when you get back.

#38 Post by **Slawdawg** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 11:45 am

Wednesday, April 12.
I just returned form a visit to the OS to check on things. Other than the fact that I need to rinse my mouth a lot better up in the gum line. things went very well. He told me to use a mixture of Listerine and salt water to rinse a clean things up. Interesting. We'll try that tonight.
The OS gave my expander a turn and taught me how to do it. Difficult, but not impossible and not at all painful, just wierd. I need to crank this thing 3 times each day for the next five days. I'll see the good doctor again on Monday to see how we're progressing. I don't think I'll be cranking for more than a week or so, though.
Let's talk about sleeping for a minute. I have been sleeping pretty much upright for the last week. I accidentally fell asleep on the couch lying down the other day and when I woke up, it felt like my upper lip had grown around my braces. Not a cool feeling! I think the swelling comes on stronger when lying down, so I have a big stack of pillows on the bed to support me at night, but it's still not very comfortabe. A couple of nights, I even came downstairs to sleep in a chair. I'm doing OK, but still need more sleep than I'm used to getting. I was glad to be able to sleep in this morning since I had a visit to the OS scheduled.

#39 Post by **Slawdawg** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 11:54 am

Enough Journaling...

Brandy,

When I looked on my paper work, it said that the SARPE would be done via a "Partial LeFort Osteotomy" so I guess that's what happened.

When I went in today, the OS snipped my archwire in the center so things can expand. I already have a small gap, maybe 1 mm. He also said that if I feel no pain and see no gap, I'm not doing it right. I expected sharp pains in the jaw, but what really happens is more like a dull ache from the pressure which gradually moves up into my head. Advil has been plenty enough to handle it, though.

Luckily, no nose bleeds, but I do get really congested. A little nasal spray in the morning and evening does the trick.

#40 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:17 pm

Hey Slawdawg,
Well sounds like you are quite the busy guy! Like you said....slow down, take it easy, let your body heal! LOL...

As for expanding...I did not find expansion to be painful. Uncomfortable yes....weird, unnerving, even sorta strange, but not painful. Mostly I just felt the pressure that came from the added force on my teeth. Occasionally I would get a bit achey in my palate area but would just take some Advil and things would be fine. I will say that I pretty much lived on Ibuprofen for the whole 17 days I was expanding though, and honestly, I had three weeks off from work but still felt pretty puny coming back even then. I'm at 40 days post op now...and 3 weeks out from expansion completion, and I still get a lot of discomfort in my teeth and upper gum area as things are healing. They get sorta burny and achey and I still have to take Advil once in
awhile just to manage the discomfort. Like you said, you had semi major surgery, so just listen to your body and don't overdo it!

I totally agree that laying down increases the swelling. I would be really puffy in the morning upon waking and my upper lip would get really swollen and numb feeling. This didn't happen near as much if I slept in a more upright position. I did find that a hot shower helped a lot with reducing the swelling in the morning, or a warm compress. It wasn't comfortable for me to sleep sitting up for more than a couple of days so I mostly just tried to deal with the swelling. Mine was pretty much gone by day 5 though.

Keep us posted on your progress, and happy healing!

Brandy

#41 Post by **Slawdawg** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 4:47 pm

OK, I got almost NO sleep last night. I went to bed around 10:30 and by 1:00 AM I had slept maybe 30 minutes, but not in a row. I moved downstairs to my chair and continued to toss and turn until 3:00 AM or so. At around 3:00, I slept for about an hour, got up and called in to work. There's no way I can chase 6th grades around on 2 hours sleep! I hate missing work, but even more I hate missing sleep. I slept again from about 5:00 until 6:00 when it was time for the morning rituals to begin. I got the family off to school and crashed into the bed at around 7:00. I slept sitting up for about 4 hours! Why couldn't I do that last night? Four straight hours and a few naps in between would have been great!

I cranked the "device" three times this morning. At least I think I did. I stuck the key in, pushed until I felt like I was going to bend the key, and I felt a little pressure. I di that two moretimes and finally felt like things were spreading. I'm afraid to go too much, but I'm really not feeling much when I use the key. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to feel it more. I had planned on doing one turn three different times during the day, but I think I'll do all three together so I can feel something and know things are moving.

Tomorrow, it's back to work for sure. I have to get ready for the lovely state testing ritual. Since I teach students with disabilities, I usually have to read the test aloud. That ain't happenin'! Luckily the powers that be have arranged things so I have students that need extra time and frequent breaks rather than have it read aloud. I stil have to read through the directions and such, but not the test itself. What fun it's going to be!

#42 Post by **Flora2006** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 4:55 pm

Sounds like you had a bad night. Hopefully tonight you will get more sleep and will feel better.

I hate that feeling when you just haven't had enough sleep or no sleep at all...I have it often due to many all-nighters for university papers and such...it just feels like the end of the world and everything is just wrong.

So I really hope you get tons of sleep tonight so you can go to work tomorrow feeling energized and just better overall

#43 Post by **Slawdawg** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 2:12 pm

Much better today! Thanks for the well-wishes, guys. I slid down a little in the bed last night and slept much better. I had two huge bumps on my cheeks in the morning, but they went down after a shower and walking around a while. I think I shall put up with the lumps and sleep tonight as well.
I'm still having a little trouble knowing if I've turned the key or not. After what I think is one turn, I don't feel anything. After a second go, though, things do get tighter. When I spoke to the folks at the OS, they told me better to not go enough than to go too much since the space won't be filled in quickly enough. Since I am still in doubt, I'll continue to make the required three turns, but hope at least two of them are good and I don't accidentally do a fourth!
Otherwise, all went well back at school today. It ws pretty normal other than the constant aching in and around my head and the lovely mush that I ate for lunch. I'm still bot much on chewing, so if I can b;end it and turn it into mush, I'm happy. The trouble is that the easiest thing and most satisfying thing for me to eat is soft ice cream. I went through two quarts of sherbet in a week and I'm working my way through a half gallon of Dulche le Leche (ggod caramel stuff) now. Still, I've lost about 15 pounds, but I hope it will stay gone when I'm done.

#44 Post by **Slawdawg** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 1:08 pm

Returned to the OS this afternoon for a little check-up. He said, "Smile." I did. He said, "You haven't been doing it." I frowned. Apparently I completely misunderstood how to crank this thing and I've been doing it wrong! For the last 5 days, I've been accomplishing absolutely nothing! Oh, well. I know the correct procedure now and we can get on the raod to expansion. I do have a little space in the front, but that's probably due to the turning he did when I had the surgery. I will return Thursday to what I hope will be much better news, then see the Ortho to check if the expansion is enough. I don't have far to go, so I should only expand for a week or so. Which, of course, would be done by Thursday if I had done it right. Darn it! I hate when I screw up.
Had a great litle Easter dinner with the in-laws Saturday. Mom-in-law made lots of soft stuff and I bought a "Magic Bullet" to handle the rest. I love this contraption! If you haven't seen it on TV, check out buythebullet.com. It's small, easy to use, and makes just about anything into mush in 10 seconds. It also makes great smoothies, shakes, dips, and other lovely treats.

#45 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 3:31 pm

Hey Slawdawg,
The exact same thing happend to one of my little kiddos at school. Her mom was actually turning it the wrong way and pulling her palate in for 2 weeks. Now they are on track and she is starting to get that characteristic little gap!

You are lucky you don't have too much to do, but I agree it is pretty tricky getting the hang of cranking these torture devices. Good luck!

Brandy