My Surgery DISASTER!

[BracedforSurgeryUK]

Thank you loulou123, and all that offered words of comfort in this thread, it means a lot. It's hard to explain things to friends/relatives as they don't understand, as much as they try.

It sounds like you went through an awful lot - the plate infection sounds like a nightmare! I'm glad you have came out the other side and all is now well. I will have a read of your blog.

my swelling has reduced dramatically over the last few days, really surprised how fast it has gone down. the diet is driving me mad, but everyone has to go through that so can't complain to much.

The bite and appearance from the outside is looking ok, i'm actually very pleased with it. Problem is when the mouth opens ...smiling is difficult with the elastics but you can visibly see where it's 'wonky' on the right hand side due to the "unfortunate split". The left side is closeded and neat, the right side open with gapping.

At the moment it's just a waiting game, i'm really hoping i don't have to go through surgery again but i think it's almost certain i will

[BracedforSurgeryUK]

Just been to visit the ortho again,

As I suspected would be the case I'm going to need more surgery booked in for 10 days time. involves accessing the jaw from the outside and fixing the break. the elastics aren't doing the job. i've only been wearing them for a week. think it was a case of breaking the news to me slowly..good old nhs.

pretty upset and feeling sorry for myself...asking why i bothered with us this comestic surgery stuff blood pressue was extremely high when i came out last time...hopefully my body will survive another bout of surgery and they won't be anymore mess ups.

the nightmare continues

[FuzzyPants]

That must be tough news to hear. I'm so sorry that you will have to go through another surgery. On the bright side, your surgeon will be able to repair your jaw so you can move forward with your healing. Do you know where the incisions will be or how large he needs to make them? Those who had screws placed from the outside for their BSSO's healed quite well without scars, so hopefully you will have the same outcome.

Please let us know how things work out for you.

[sauerkraut]

No great words of wisdom or advice here, but I just wanted to add my sympathies. What a miserable time you must be going through. I suppose if it's any kind of comfort at all: the surgeons, having had something go wrong first time, will be extra specially on the lookout next time round to make sure nothing like that happens again.

Wishing you all the very best

[BracedforSurgeryUK]

Hi FuzzyPants,

Unfortunately (more bad news lol) the incision is taking place on the outside of my face just below the ear at the top of the jaw line (about 1 and a half inches) so i'm going to be scarred. he said it should be hardly noticeable after 6 months...but i've lost faith in anything my surgeon says, unsurprisingly. This is to fix the unfavourable break. That should be that then. but i'm worried of more mess-ups..there is also a small risk of a 'droopy smile' because where he is going in there is near to the nerve ending at the corner of my mouth...again this is another worry.

it's a shame because cosmetically it looks great...swelling as gone down loads and i'm virtually off pain killers already.

sauerkraut - thank you. i take what you say about them being more careful this time, ideally there would be a professor or something over-seeing the surgery.

[ohmyjaw]

Having a scar is a bit of a bummer, but the part that really concerns me is the risk of a "droopy smile". I would ask some more questions about this - like exactly how much of a risk is there, and why?

I have always been under the impression that nerve damage from orthognathic surgery can only cause numbness, not loss of function, so this is quite surprising and worrying to me.

I really hope this second surgery goes well for you, and please keep us posted.

[BracedforSurgeryUK]

ohmyjaw, thanks for your good wishes.

The risk is due to the surgeon having to access the jaw and fix it from the outside, and the proximity to the nerve of my mouth. the risk is small but it can happen.

you are correct standard jaw surgery (or BSSO) usually only carries the 1 in 10 risk of permanent lip numbness. the reason why i'm at risk of this droopy lip is because they've essentially messed up my BSSO surgery henceforth they are having to correct it using unorthodox methods.

So long as your surgery and 'brake' goes fine then all will be ok. The risk of an 'unfavourable break' what happened to me is 0.9%.

[BracedforSurgeryUK]

Meryaten,

hard to see any scarring on that picture...that's good to hear about the facial scarring...makes me feel better.. i'm just thinking the worse case scenario all the time at the moment due to the initial mess-up.

[loulou123]

Its very normal to be thinking worse case (or i know i was anyway) but im sure itll all go well this time.

As for your concerns about the blood pressure, effects of surgery on your body etc, i had a terrible time with the anesethic and painkillers the 1st time, but as this was noted in my records, when it came to the second time things went much much better.

I also understand how hard it is, when you lose faith in the surgeon, knowing hes going to operate again, but what happened the 1st time was properly just very bad luck and not his fault.

Big hug and hope it all goes well

[descantus]

Just wanted to say good luck also. I was watching a documentary last night on jaw surgery for people who had been in serious accidents, and saw that surgeons can truly work wonders in this area. I'm sure your surgeon will do a great job of putting everything right!

[Happysmiler]

Oh dear, you poor thing, I really do feel for you.

I just wanted to say that while I was in London having my upper jaw surgery, the girl in the bed beside me had to have a repair done to her condular joint (the hinge part of the jaw) She had been operated on externally but her incision was so neat. It literally follows the shape of the ear, so its not like a straight scar. It curves around the shape of the ear so really fades to virtually nothing and totally blends in (even when it was 1 day old it wasn't highly visible).

I hope this encourages you a little - these surgeons are so good.
I agree it must be so distressing to hear you need this second surgery, but I'm sure your surgeon is exceptionally good and that the problem that has occurred is bad luck rather than his lack of skill.

I suppose the risk to the corner of the mouth drooping is because the nerves that are located on the outside of the face are the muscle movement controlling ones, rather than the ones inside which are the sensation ones. Again, they will do everything to ensure that this is not severed, I'm sure it is just one of those things they have to tell you is a risk, although hopefully a very very slim chance of actually doing it.

Best wishes, try to stay as positive as you can at this really challenging time.

Happysmiler

[BracedforSurgeryUK]

Thanks again all for good wishes, it means a lot.

I've just been for another visit to my surgeon, he had the diagrams from the CT scan. It turns out the right hand jaw has slipped out of it's socket (or condular joint), In addition to the incision below my ear on the jaw line there is likely to be another incision above and around the ear. Happysmiler - it's sounds almost the exact same procedure as the girl you met in hospital had.

In addition to the above the screws and plates on the left side, (the side with no problems) have to be realigned again to 'match' the correction on the right side.

I was very reluctant to undergo further surgery...my surgeon said if I just left it , it would cause me problems in the future and could lead to my jaw becoming 'inactive' and needing to be completely replaced . He bought of of his colleagues in for a second opinion, who confirmed it was best to go ahead and fix the displacement of the jaw.

My surgeon called it a "unlucky" and "unique" situation. He then went on to say it is going to need all his skill and expertise to fix it! needles to say this has only made the anxiety worse.

He says he will see me first so there is no waiting around and so him and all his staff are 'fresh for the task'. I asked him how long it would take, he said could be anything upto 6 hours. He says he isn't going to rush and if needs be will cancel any remaining appointments for that day.

The nightmare goes on and keeps getting worse. I'm hoping next time I post there will be good news and can say the surgery went well (it's on thursday)..but naturally I'm expecting there to be more problems of some variety.

[Happysmiler]

What a nightmare for you, you poor thing. I can only imagine how terrible you must be feeling right now, but it will all be over in a few days.

All I can say to offer words of advice, is that these maxillofacial surgeons are the ones that are able to fix peoples faces who have been in accidents involving multiple facial bone fractures. I read about one in London who operated on a patient who had broken virtually every bone in the face and they did an amazing job.

I think the standard procedures that most of us on this board have are pretty routine to them, so yours is more of a challenge, but I'm sure it is something that will be fixed for you.

I will be keeping everything crossed on Thursday for you!

Best Wishes
Happysmiler

[sauerkraut]

Wishing you all the best for tomorrow, BfS. Post when you can to let us know how it went. Try not to worry -- the surgeons are obviously going to take the very greatest of care

[BracedforSurgeryUK]

Hi all,

Good news - the surgery was a success The right jaw fragment has been 'locked' back into placed and fits how it should into the hinge (condular) joint. My surgeon said it was the most difficult operation of it's type he has ever had to do but was happy with the results. Phew!

The night on the ward after my surgery was the worst of my life. My surgeon had gone so could only send a junior to reassure me that it gone ok. But she was unsure as the bite was still favouring the left hand-side. my blood-pressure was at 180/40 all night and i didn't get any sleep.

The next day the surgeon came in epsecially early and advised me it was a success. He advised the bite was favouring the left due to swelling on the right and said elastics would even it up...he went onto say he was very happy with the results and had 'no concerns'.

I had a rough weekend at home mostly due to the after-affects of the anthestetic. I went to see my surgeon again today who removed the stitches from the wound which extends from my ear to half way down my jaw line. He said everything was healing fine. I am however having to wear light elastics to bring the bite on the right toghether so the first contact isn't favourable on just the left. He assured me this is ok and it would come toghether within the next few weeks! My ortho also came in and I have an appointment for 10 days time so he can resume to final part of the brace work!

With regrads to the facial nerves and 'droopy smile', the surgeon did say the nerve became 'streched' during the op but there was no damage, and there is no visible affect on my smile. Which again is good news.

So assuming the bite falls back into place on the riht side which i am assured it will do all is fine and dandy. The only other risk I have is that of plate infection. Apparently the risk of infection is higher when you've had to go 'back in' and realign so i'm hoping this doesn't happen.

But all in all i'm happy with everything in a lot better spirits. I'm still questioning having the work done however but maybe later down the line i'll change my view. (when i get the braces off probably lol)