JULY 2010 BUDDIES!!!!

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#196 Post by **isolde** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 12:46 pm

VikingGirl wrote:
Kirish wrote:14 days post-op, and I'm stuck with swelling that simply refuses to let go (can't say I've seen any significant improvement regarding swelling for the last 1 week). What a bummer...
Yeah, at first it goes really fast, but then you're stuck with weird, child-like looking cheeks for a long time. Well, at least I am. Haha!

Hey VikingGirl how are things with you? You must be a few weeks post op now! Have you had your splint out yet?

#197 Post by **VikingGirl** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:18 pm

isolde wrote:
VikingGirl wrote:
Kirish wrote:14 days post-op, and I'm stuck with swelling that simply refuses to let go (can't say I've seen any significant improvement regarding swelling for the last 1 week). What a bummer...
Yeah, at first it goes really fast, but then you're stuck with weird, child-like looking cheeks for a long time. Well, at least I am. Haha!
Hey VikingGirl how are things with you? You must be a few weeks post op now! Have you had your splint out yet?

This monday I'll be exactly four weeks post op! Never got a splint but had a wafer put in. Still banded shut though and is craving to brush my teeth real good! But I'm actually pretty good!

Still a bit swollen though..

#198 Post by **Aviv16** » Fri Aug 06, 2010 5:33 am

I'm glad to read that everyone is doing well. I'm 4 weeks post-op today. I'm still tired but otherwise fine. I'm even eating relatively normal food - I now have elastics from my orthodontist and they are much springier and allow for a lot more movement than the ones from my surgeon. (I never had a splint or anything, only elastics since surgery - very tight ones to begin with).

I still have some swelling and numbness, but both are improving daily. I've realised that after I get a lot of tingling/burning/shooting pains in one area, the numbness decreases and the feeling increases. It's a slow process though - no area is completely numb anymore, but I have varying degrees of numbness around my nose and upper lip.

#199 Post by **mulligan24** » Fri Aug 06, 2010 10:05 am

I know it's August, but add me to the list of July buddies. Reading what everyone else is going through is helping a lot!

I had a Le Fort I, BSSO and genio done on July 29th and am feeling pretty good...in fact, suspiciously good...I am banded shut and my surgeon has me taking the bands off for eating/brushing and encouraging me to stretch my jaws as much as possible in that time. My ROM is good enough that brushing is basically back to normal (save for the splint in my mouth) and I've moved on to soft foods smashed up with a fork. The Chef Boyardee ravioli I had for lunch was, I think, the best thing I've ever tasted! Hard to believe a week ago I was squirting Gatorade into my mouth with a syringe.

I know it's crazy, but I'm worried that I'm healing almost *too* quickly. When I saw my surgeon for my first follow-up yesterday he seemed really pleased with my progress, but adjusted how I naturally positioned my lower jaw while biting down and now I'm paranoid I might be healing my bite in the wrong place! Is this a legitimate fear, or should I just be thankful the 10 weeks of only liquids I thought I was getting myself into turned out to be overblown?

#200 Post by **mitchejk** » Fri Aug 06, 2010 12:58 pm

Mulligan - no need to worry about healing too quickly. I thought the same thing and I'm okay! I did find my bite was more "messed up" after surgery than I thought it would be but that had more to do with the way my mouth was swelling than the actual surgery.

Aviv16 - you do such a great job of describing how your recovery is going that I feel I'm just echoing what you say! I too am 4 weeks post-op and experiencing much of the reduced swelling and numbness. I do wonder how long it'll take to really feel my chin again. It is a bit odd to touch it but not feel that I'm touching my chin!

I've lost most of my stitches now so that is nice. My diet is still pretty much soft foods that I can easily chop up or chew. I can't open my mouth very wide so that is a bit challenging but I'm not complaining!

Hope everyone else is recovering nicely! We made it to August... yay!

#201 Post by **James0099** » Fri Aug 06, 2010 1:17 pm

I go for my 2nd post op visit Tuesday, I am hoping I have 1 more week of being wired shut.

#202 Post by **James0099** » Fri Aug 06, 2010 4:23 pm

My stitches started to fall out, I was looking in my mouth and it look disgusting on my upper jaw gumline, looked nasty and I took a q tip to it and whipped and it was my stitches, just like 2 strands are still in, but most fell out.

#203 Post by **Kirish** » Sun Aug 08, 2010 7:08 am

17 days post-op. The gum tissue above my front upper teeth, turned white. Is this normal ?

#204 Post by **James0099** » Sun Aug 08, 2010 8:53 am

Kirish wrote:17 days post-op. The gum tissue above my front upper teeth, turned white. Is this normal ?

Mine did too, I took wet q tips to it and it went away.

#205 Post by **Kirish** » Sun Aug 08, 2010 1:34 pm

James0099 wrote:
Kirish wrote:17 days post-op. The gum tissue above my front upper teeth, turned white. Is this normal ?
Mine did too, I took wet q tips to it and it went away.

Thanks James. Any idea what it is ?

#206 Post by **James0099** » Sun Aug 08, 2010 8:47 pm

No clue, just randomly appeared one day, I was worried thinking it was some kind of fungus.

#207 Post by **BracketRacket** » Sun Aug 08, 2010 8:56 pm

I'm more than two months post-op and just had the white gum deal...still not sure what it was, but I'm happy it went away!

#208 Post by **VikingGirl** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 2:12 am

Had it too and removed it with a toothbrush! Looked like death skin or something!

#209 Post by **VikingGirl** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 2:21 am

VikingGirl wrote:Had it too and removed it with a toothbrush! Looked like death skin or something!

And also: I've had the wafer taken out, now I have bands to make my teeth meet. Anyone knows how long it usually takes before my teeth will touch in the back?

#210 Post by **Audra** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:16 am

My bite closed within a week after getting elastics from the ortho when the splint was taken out. I changed my elastics 3 times a day.