One Week Post Op

Hello!

Today is the one week mark from surgery and what a week it was.  I still keep thinking back to the surgery day around this time when I was still feeling absolutely awful.  I'm proud of my progress to this point.  I haven't had too much pain the past day or two.  I still take the drowsy medication at night to help me fall asleep and I've slowly been working my way down from sleeping in an upright position.

My diet has also improved.  I went shopping again today to pick up some more stuff because I can now open my mouth enough to fit soup in.  I actually have been the last two days or so, but I just have to kinda mush up the chunkier chicken parts and once I get it into my mouth I'm able to just mush it up using my tongue.  For snacks I've still been eating jello, applesauche, drinking my milkshakes or gatorades and last night I just tried eating canned peaches which I was able to get down.  I bought oatmeal for breakfast going forward and that is awesome.

As far as my jaw, everything has been going well.  Today and I think yesterday are the first days where I really felt a lot of the swelling go down.  You can clearly see my left side is way more swollen than my right.  It feels the same way in my mouth too like there was alot more stitching that went on.  This is kind of gross but the past two days I've also noticed that if I turn my head to the right stuff like leaks out from the stiched area.  At first it was like dry blood it looked like but its weird because its like super minty, like the taste of mouthwash.  Not that it tastes good but it doesnt exactly gross me out.  I do this a few times a day and rinse my mouth out and then it feels like the swelling is even bigger.  The best way I can put this into words is it reminds me of a blister.  When you pop a blister all that clear stuff oozes out and then it really stings because theres no more lubricant between the skin and the blister itself.  I dont feel any pain when I do it but its just weird.  I see the surgeon on Wednesday I'm going to ask him why my left side is more swollen than my right.  My right side is hardly numb and doesnt really have any swelling at all, it even feels normal inside my mouth.

I'm still wearing the rubber bands, I take them out each morning to brush my teeth and eat and then I'll put new ones in.  The pain from those has gotten better as well so hopefully that means my jaw is learning to move into the correct position.  I've noticed now when I bite straight down, unlike before, everything seems to fit.  Before when I bit straight down my teeth still werent lining up correctly, I would have to shift my lower jaw to the left for things to fit.  I still have the rest of this week off and then I guess I'll be back to work next week.  I'll post again after my visit to the surgeon's office on Wednesday to see what the next step is!

The red mark is where the stitches are.  You can see the yellowish color from the swelling as well.

Whats up with the double chin? haha

I don't know what the white thing is back there but I just hope its not an infection of any sort?

Day 5

One of two things happened.  Either my swelling has gone down or the feeling in my lower jaw has come back some.  Or maybe both I think I can feel a bit more inside my mouth.  I took the bands out to brush my teeth today and was able to get some dry blood out from the back.  I put the bands back in and as I said I feel like the swelling has gone down at least on my bottom lip a little and I have just a bit more feeling in my chin than yesterday.

I'm still eating mush for food which is pretty bad.  I had mushed up hamburger helper last night and scrambled eggs this morning mushed up.  Neither was really too bad but I just miss the texture I guess its definitely not the same.

Sleeping is still a bit awkward because I'm trying to sit as upright as possible.  The pain hasn't been too bad but I take the pills at night to help me fall asleep and that seems to work.  I'm hoping the swelling really goes down over the weekend but we shall see.

Day 4

Hi everyone,

I just got back from my appointment with the surgeon.  Everything went really well.  Since the resident doctor at the hospital told me to keep that gauze wrap on my head I wore it to the appointment.  All the staff thought it was pretty funny and said they never saw someone wear that into the office.  Apparently the staff at the hospital was new or something and they said I only really had to wear the gauze for like a day.  They also said I should have had my X-rays done at the hospital.  I specifically asked the resident doctor about that when I was there and he said they would just take them in the office so who knows who was right.

The X-rays were pretty awesome to see though as you can see below.  I cant believe how off my jaw was.  Two of the assistants at the surgeons office were also in a bit of shock and said it was so hard to see that there was anything wrong from the outside but that things look great now.  Also the resident doctor said I only had 2 screws put in on each side when in reality it was actually 3.

My surgeon seemed awfully pleased with his work and he put some new rubber bands in.  I explained that it still feels like my bottom jaw has to move to the left to properly have everything fit like it should and he said thats normal.  He said that my jaw has been biting down like that, off center, all this time so its going to take some orthodontics to fix it and train it to bite down on center.  He said I won't be visiting the ortho until another 1-2 months though.

All the good news I got was that I don't have to wear the guaze warp anymore, he said no more ice, and he said the swelling should begin to come down from here on.  He said I could shower and also shave but just to be careful around the stitches I have on the outside of my face.  He told me to do my best to try to get my toothbrush back as far as possible and do super light strokes but just to help to avoid any type of infection.  They told me to try not to open my mouth when I talk so much.  I asked them about the surgical hooks since it didn't seem like he ever used them.  He said he used them for the entire surgery to hold the jaw where it needs to be when he screws everything in so that was good to know.

I'm scheduled to go back in a week to get the stitches on the outside of my face out.  Can't wait to shower right now!

 

 

 

This was post-op. Look at how straight the brim of my nose got haha.

 

This was the day before surgery.  Pretty crazy the whole shape of my face changed!

Day 3

Quick update for day 3.  Today was very much like yesterday.  I had applesauce and jello for breakfast.  A milkshake for lunch and a blended up chicken wing with gravy for dinner which was pretty tasty.  I did sleep quite a bit since I have been keeping up with my pills.  The swelling is kind of annoying at this point.  I finally took off that hairnet thing that was holding the guaze onto my stitches on the outside of my cheeks.  I going to try to ice it for just like a half hour so I get some direct contact and then put it back on before bed tonight.   I have my appointment tomorrow with my surgeon at noon so I will update after that.

Surgery! Days 1 and 2.

Hey guys,

I made it.  I really want to try to put this post together so as to not scare everyone who hasn't had theirs yet but I'm just going to tell you how things went for me specifically.  Unfortunately my version might not get you so amped for yours although I'm glad I didn't know going into it how brutal the recovery was for the first ten hours after or I would have been dreading this a lot more.

I showed up at 6a and didn't have to wait more than 20 minutes before i was called.  They strip you all the way down and all you wear is a garment they give you and then a robe over top.  You can see the pics below for an actual visual.  As I said before I was only really nervous about what I was gonna do in my down time in the room for so long and the results.  Those should have been the least of my worries.

I don't know what it was but in my head walking into the room where all the people are getting prepped for surgery getting their IVs started and "loopy medicine" going got me super nervous.  You get to meet everyone else who will be in the room other than your surgeon before you get rolled in.  I just compared that walk into that room though like a cow who was about to get slaughtered and had no idea what he was in for.  Thats a terrible metaphor I know but I think the thought of not knowing what was going to happen next just got me so nervous.  They tried putting the IVs in both my hands and the girl wasnt able to hit either vein.   The anesthesiologist said it was because I was so nervous and my veins were retracting.  Eventually she had to do it herself instead of her assistant and they got me going.

After meeting everyone, they roll you into the room and thats when you start feeling the first drug.  Honestly I hardly remember seeing my surgeon, I think I shook his hand and said we'll take good care of you and that was the last thing I remember.  They said I talked to him afterward too but I dont remember that either.

So they asked me if I was in any pain and I remember saying no my joints were a bit sore like a 5, 10 being the worst. They took me up and was so in and out of it.  I drank some water and it felt like I had strep throat.  This was by far for me the worst part.  I don't know if something was unique about my case and they just scratched my through or they had trouble getting it in, I really don't know but thankfully now its subsided to a bad sore throat.

I was being forced to eat jello in little spoonfuls which was also not fun since all I wanted to do was sleep and then after taking percasets about a half hr later I threw up all of it along with a lot of dark blood.  I stuck to morphine from then on and I had an oxygen mask on me to help me breathe cause I kept having shortness of breath and this machine would beep everytime I wasnt breathing in enough oxygen.  This didnt exactly help my throat.  The surgery was at 8a, at about 8pm my mom had already left so it was just the nurse and I and she had me sit up to use mouth wash.  I was able to use that and then the flood gates opened. I said I was going to be sick and she just left me in the room to do my business...I threw up a ton of dark blood I guess that was sitting in my stomach from the surgery.  After that I felt fine.  I'll be honest I wouldve preferred a really bad hangover than go through that again.

I was able to eat water ice and a crushed pennicilin in that at around 1am and I was in an out of sleep most of the night which was good.  Whether or not you want to, you will have to go pee every hr and half at least cause the IV pours in 100 mL of water into your body every hour so its kind of hard not too.  The nurses were greatly helpful though everytime and its vital to have someone there with you for the first 8 hours to help you everytime you want a drink or if you are being forced to eat something like I was. My mom was there for me.

So far I am obviously really swollen.  I have no feeling on my bottom jaw, chin, or lip.  I can feel just about everything else.  Most of the pain is coming from the joints/incinsions they made on the outside of my face to put the screws in.  Apparently they put in 2 screws on each side.  I should get the X-rays to see on Thursday when I go back to visit.

My bite feels great when I bite down like Im supposed to like everything interlocks and I can't stick my tongue out anymore haha. Right now though it just feels like I purposely have to move my bottom jaw to the left for everything to interlock.  The other resident doctor said that the orthodontics will eventually fix that and train my jaw how to bite down properly.  Hopefully this will fix my crooked smile that I had before.

I was able to scarf down breakfast which consisted of cranberry juice, apple juice, and cream of wheat and I had no sickness since that 2nd and final throw up.  I was not expecting it to be so bad from everything I've read but I'm just so glad its over.  Apparently the swelling is supposed to get even worse in the next two days and then gets better from there so we shall see how it goes.  I was able to check out of the hospital at 10 am today, the day after.  I'll have plenty of time to kill so I'll post once each day with pics to show my progression.  Let me know if anyone has any questions if you're reading this now or even a year or two for now.  Sorry if I scared anyone!

Night Before Surgery

Hi everyone,

Well this is it.  My last night with a bad bite.  I guess I don't really have much to say but I wanted to at least make a post and load some final pics up.  Everyone keeps asking me the same questions pretty much.  What exactly am I having done.  How long will I be out for and how long is the surgery.  Am I nervous.  So I guess I'll answer those.

I'm having lower jaw surgery only.  My jaw will be moved back 2-3mm and to the right 1mm.  The jaw will be turned counter clockwise to go up and behind my front teeth like they are supposed to for the proper bite.  Both jaws should fit together like a puzzle piece.  The surgery is 2 hours long and I will be sedated for 3.  The surgery is at 8am and I have to be at the hospital by 6 am.  I don't even know if I'm gonna be able to sleep tonight.  I am staying over for one night and that brings me to the "am I nervous" question. 

The only thing I'm nervous about is being bored in the  hospital since I should be awake by like noon I think.  I'm just going to be laying there with nothing to do I feel like.  Perhaps I'm underestimating the power of the drugs they will give me since this is my first surgery ever.  A lot of people told me I will probably just sleep all day, but I'm the type of person that once I'm up, its very difficult for me to fall back to sleep.

The other thing I'm nervous about,and honestly I don't think it would be normal for any person not to be about this, but I'm nervous about the results.  The surgeon said that it is going to be very hard for people to notice any outside physical change to my face.  I feel like something has to and will change though even if its subtle and I just hope its for the better.  Otherwise I'm really not nervous about anything else.  I donate blood like 5-6 times a year so needles don't bother me at all so I wont have any problem "going under."

It's funny to me how impatient I've been with this whole process and now that the day is here I want to say wow that was really fast haha.  After this is over, I feel like it will just be a countdown until the day the braces come off, but I understand there is still a lot of orthodontic work that still needs to be done to fully fix my crossbite and get everything aligned.

If anyone is curious as to how long its been since I first got my braces on and doesn't feel like scrolling back to the first post like I've done viewing a lot of blogs I'll make it easy for you.  I got my braces on 12/1/12 and my surgery is 3/10/13.  15 months and ten days.  I feel like that is a little bit longer than normal, but I think I said before this ortho and surgeon are perfectionists so I guess I can't complain too much.

Alright well once again this is all new to me so I have no idea when I'll be good enough to post some pics along with an update but I will as soon as I'm able to. Wish me luck!

Pre Surgery Meeting

Hey all,

I had my final meeting with the surgeon today before my surgery.  I had new X-Rays taken and I had to make new molds which always sucks to do.  Once that was finished, one of the main secretaries came in to almost do a checklist with me.  Did you schedule your physical? Yes.  Did you schedule an appointment to get your hooks on? Yes.  Did you call the hospital? No they called me and I have to speak with them again this Friday to run through my medical history.  Any questions for me?  Yes what is the deal with my insurance do I have to do anything further? No everything is approved and set up all you have to do is make sure there are no deductibles (which I dont think I do) and I'm good to go.  They'll bill me for anything additional I owe since it covers 80% as far as I know.

Next the surgeon came in.  He asked me right away if I had any questions and I said yes a lot.  He said fire away and he was like half looking over my notes the whole time.  My first question was simple, I said what are we doing with my jaw?  He said hes moving it back about 3-4mm and every so slightly maybe 1mm to the right.  The lower jaw is going to be turned counter clockwise up and under for the perfect bite.  Well not exactly perfect because he says I still will have a crossbite but that will be fixed with orthodontics afterward.  He said thats why they decided to only do the bottom jaw is because the ortho said give the post surgery position he would be able to fix it.

He showed me a model and this is how he will be doing the surgery.  He said 3 screws on each side.  Almost all of it done internally with just two very small incisions on either side I'm guessing for the screws.  He said I should really see hardly any facial feature changes what so ever.  He said I would not be wired shut, just rubber banded shut and that I would be able to take them off and put them back on each time to eat and stuff.  He said itll be about a week on the liquid diet and then I would be able to start on soft foods.  He said my recovery time is actually a lot faster than what a double jaw surgery would entail or even just the upper jaw.  He said the movement is so subtle the recovery time might not be all that long.  They said I would be out of work for at least a week but I already had the second one off either way for March Madness.  I'm hoping my insurance approves the 2nd week though so I can save that week of vacation!

I work out and play indoor roller hockey so I asked him how soon I would be able to do either.  He said after about a week as soon as I could get on my feet I would be fine for working out but he said hockey at least 4-6 weeks before any contact sport.

He said the surgery is 2 hours but I'll be asleep for 3.  I'll be staying 1 night.  I asked him if he thinks I'll get sick at all and he said nowadays its very rare.  He did give me two warnings.  One was that there is the possibility of permanent numbness on my chin and around my lower jaw line on my cheeks.  The second was in order to prevent infection he asked me to brush 4 times a day leading up to the surgery.  He wants me flossing twice a day and he wanted me back on the super strong mouth wash they gave me before for when I had my wisdom teeth out. Oh and he told me to shave haha.  He said all of that was to prevent an infection of any sort.  Otherwise he must've said like 3 times how impressed he was at the job the orthodontist has done up to this point he said my results should be really good so I was happy to hear that.  If he only said it once I would've just shrugged it off and thought he was being nice but he actually did seem impressed.

So that's pretty much it.  I have my pre-medical screening this Friday, then my physical next Tuesday and then the surgical hooks go on next Thursday, and then the surgery is on Monday March 11th.  I have a follow up appointment on March 14th with the surgeon already scheduled as well.  All I can say is I CAN NOT WAIT to get this over with and get to counting down the days until I can get these braces off.  It's actually kind of funny sitting here thinking about how mad I used to get at not having an appointment for once every 6 weeks.  But due to a car accident in November and the approaching surgery I've had an average of 3 appointments per week between ones with an injury dr, physical therapy 3 times a week, meetings with my lawyer, meetings with insurance drs, meetings with my ortho, and meetings with my surgeon... I am so sick and tired of having to be somewhere all the time.  I'm actually looking forward to just doing nothing for 2 weeks except lay in bed and sleep haha.  Alright that's enough for now I'll post again probably the night before my surgery.