November Buddies

Message

#76 Post by **beowulf68** » Fri Nov 12, 2010 1:31 pm

My surgery day got moved up to Tuesday at the last minute. And WOW was it a surgery. The surgery took 9 hours. They did both my upper and lower jaw (advancing them 1 cm each), a genoplasty and a septoplasty. I have 18 titanium plates holding my jaws and chin together. When I woke up I was still incubated in the intensive care unit because my airway was so swollen. The next day they extubated me which sucked because I was awake. Then to top it off they brought me down to a procedure room to get my jaws wired (which actually took them 3 attempts because they wanted the bite perfect.) shut without anesthesia or pain meds. I almost passed out by the 3rd wiring attempt it hurt so bad. I just left the hospital a couple of hours ago and will be wired shut for 10 to 12 weeks. This really sucks and is definitely not what I was expecting. But my wife says I look completely different ( in a good way

even though I still have quite a bit of swelling. Well I guess I have 10 or so weeks of a liquid diet to go through and then it will be over. Question....Did anyone who was banded or wired have tons of saliva production and how did they stop that?

#77 Post by **Rodney008** » Fri Nov 12, 2010 1:50 pm

Holy crap dude....you had a lot done! Well...the worst is over Beowulf and I wish you a speedy recovery. As for your saliva problem....I had that in the hospital and was able to use their suction device. When I went home it did not seem to be a problem anymore.

#78 Post by **sauerkraut** » Fri Nov 12, 2010 2:54 pm

Oh my word, beowulf, I don't know what to say! You've already gone through so much, I just wish you all the strength in the world to get through the coming weeks as well. Do you have to syringe your "food" into your mouth? I suppose the only consolation is knowing they're obviously determined to get your bite 100% right, so putting up with this now should save you hassle in the future.

Like Rodney, I think the saliva thing gets better on its own. I had it when I got my RPE, and this time round with the splint and elastics. I think it's the mouth's normal reaction -- to produce extra saliva when it detects a foreign body, so to speak. It calms down once it gets used to the extra stuff being there, but it can take a few days.

It's very mild in comparison to beowulf, but I've got my own minor niggle: an elastic has slipped out of place and I'm not sure how or where to put it back. Why do these things always happen at such awkward times? (It's nearly 11pm Friday where I am). I called the hospital and they don't want me to leave it over the weekend so I'm to go in first thing tomorrow morning to get it fixed. Which is fine except that means a 5-hour round trip in the car.

Ho hum. Hope everyone else is doing OK!

#79 Post by **dvdrdiscs** » Fri Nov 12, 2010 4:37 pm

5 days wired shut and I'm already sick and tired of it. Before going in, I thought no matter how long it took, I would be able to handle a prolong period of not being able to chew. But man I don't think I can go as long as 10 weeks. Here's to a speedy recovery for ya.

#80 Post by **beowulf68** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 2:42 am

Thanks for the kind words and support!! As for right now i can kind of drink from a glass but I have to go real slow because I'm still so swollen and numb. Plus it's still a little hard for me to swallow quick enough because I'm still not use to being wired shut and my throat is a still sore. I do have a couple different types of syringes and they work but man does it take a while to drink anything with them. I'll just be happy when my lips aren't so swollen so I can suck stuff through a straw. I suspect it won't be for almost a week before that happens considering my surgery was Tuesday morning.

Sauerkraut: That sucks that you're having complications and it's even worse you have a 5 hour round trip. I don't know how people do these extended travels for pre and post-op appointments? I live 30 minutes from the University hospital that did all my work and that's long enough for me.

#81 Post by **sauerkraut** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 6:55 am

Will they allow you to use a straw, then, beowulf? Some surgeons don't because they say it impedes healing. (Mine's not one of them, by the way). But if you can already drink from a glass that's quite impressive. That can only get better as the numbness fades.

I'm just back from my 5-hour trip for my 2-minute appointment. Elastic replaced and an extra one added each side for good measure. Hmmph. Normally my ortho would take care of things like that; it was just lousy timing, before the handover had been completed properly. Travelling to the hospital IS a bit of a pain, so my ortho (who is within walking distance) takes on a bit more than usual of the pre- & post-operative care . My surgeon was his uni professor so I guess he thinks having trained him he ought to be able to trust him

#82 Post by **beowulf68** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 8:15 am

Sauerkraut: They didn't mention anything to me about not using a straw. Hell they didn't even tell me to not blow my nose which I hear is a no-no. Being that last night was my first night home from the hospital I stayed at my parents just in case due to my wife working midnights. I'm on my way home now to try and drink an ice cream smoothie. We'll see how I do??

#83 Post by **Rodney008** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 8:21 am

My surgeon also didn't say anything about a straw, but I haven't tried it since I've read so much on this board. He did say to not blow my nose unless I really want to swell up.

#84 Post by **chicago29** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 8:27 am

beowulf,

I'm glad you're on the other side - I know it doesn't seem like it now but each day will get better. I wish you a speedy and uneventful recovery.

I do have a couple of questions. Was your surgery done in a university or teaching hospital? 9 hours is an insanely long time, especially if you weren't even wired shut yet. Also, were you expected to be wired? The way you wrote up your experience I couldn't tell if you expected that or not. I hope you did - as I can't imagine how hard it would be to NOT expect it and then find it is the reality once you regain consciousness.

It really blows my mind how much variance there is in these surgeries. I can't understand why it takes some surgeons 3 to 4 hours and others 8 to 9. I'm sure other surgeries are this way too...after all everybody always has their preference for doing things a specific way.

Best of luck as you continue to heal!

-Chicago29

#85 Post by **beowulf68** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 8:46 am

Chicago: Yeah it was a teaching hospital and a senior resident, a general resident and 2 dental students were involved in the surgery besides the 2 attending surgeons. I think there were over 20 people in the operating room!! I was initially told the surgery was going to take 4 to 5 hours worse case 6. But after they got me opened up they saw that there was a lot of work to do, way more than expected. The Lead surgeon wanted to maintain my bite being that it was already good but guarantee that I wouldn't have anymore apnea issues. They told me after the surgery that they usually don't advance people's jaws as far as mine (each 1 cm) but they had no choice if they wanted to guarantee my outcome.

I new I would need to be wired I was hoping only for 2 to 6 weeks not 10 or 12. I will just have to suffer thru. I'm sure things will be better after the swelling is down. How did you handle the liquid diet while wired? Were you able to drink well enough from a glass or did you use syringes all the time?

#86 Post by **dvdrdiscs** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 11:43 am

If you can drink from a glass and have the liquid just go through your front teeth, that is the most sane way to do it. I tried the Zip and Squeeze bags and the syringes, they were both horribly slow. Imagine trying to drink a protein shake that you already dread the taste and having to do it SLOWLY. The thought of it makes me want to heave.

#87 Post by **beowulf68** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 1:40 pm

I can drink thru my front teeth but my lips are too swollen and numb to do it efficiently yet. I'n hoping when the swelling goes down and numbness subsides I'll be good to go.

#88 Post by **Dani73** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 6:32 pm

Oh beowulf, I really feel for you. We had similar operations (and for the same reason) but I think mine only took 4 hours and I haven't been wired shut either.

I had to drink from a cup from the get go! I eventually worked out that if I put my tongue on the cup, it was easier to drink - but still messy - but if you are wired, I doubt you'll be able to do that??

I'm Day 13 now and I have the feeling back in my lips and most of the swelling has gone down, but still can't move them properly. I still have swelling in the centre of my top lip, but I think it's because the stitches are behind there. ATM I look like I've been attacked by botox.

Hang in there mate!

#89 Post by **beowulf68** » Sun Nov 14, 2010 6:54 am

Dani: I'm glad to hear your doing well and didn't have to go thru all the stuff I did....Especially the wiring shut!! Again my big problem now is the swelling and numbness which impedes me from eating/drinking effectively. With your jaws not being wired shut how long did your doc tell you it would be before you can chew food? I've got 10 or 11 more weeks plus after I get the wires and archbars off another 3 months after that before I can open my jaw wide like I use to. The surgeon said he's going to give me a tool to slowly open my mouth because the muscles and joints will be frozen. Bitten line, I can't wait for the day I can eat a pizza again!!

#90 Post by **beowulf68** » Sun Nov 14, 2010 9:25 am

Maybe someone can answer this but I was reading thru my discharge paperwork and noticed that one of the procedures done on me was a piriform rim oseotomy. I'm not aware of this procedure and my surgeons didn't say why they had to do it. I'm going to look it up but in the meantime I was curious if someone on here has had it done.