June/July 2015 Surgery Buddies

[Nozzelnut]

Welcome! We understand the nervous feeling; we've all been there.

I'll be two weeks post op this Thursday. If you have no complications during your recovery, I'd imagine you'd be good to go flying. You'll get worn out really quick and might have a hard time finding things you can eat while traveling; depending on your diet restrictions. Just something to think about.

These next 2 weeks will fly by and your surgery will be here before you know it.

[kelse]

Wow! You guys have a great thread going here!

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I have found them really helpful thinking ahead to my surgery in August.

I wish you all luck with your recovery - keep posting!!!

Thanks again x

[jaime]

Kelse, I'm glad it has been helpful! Feel free to post any questions or concerns you have, and us surgery vets will do our best to answer you.

Liz, I imagine you'll be fine to fly at 3 weeks post-op. I'm 19 days post-op today and feeling great. In fact, I spent all day talking and sewing. I could probably manage fine if I went back to work this week but it's nice not to be there. If I had to hop on a plane today, I think it would be fine, so I think you'll be okay! I agree with Nozzelnut that eating while travelling might be a hassle, but as long as you plan ahead and have backup plans (e.g. Ensure shakes in your hotel room or whatever), you'll be fine.

[Liz192]

Thanks y'all. I'll definitely plan ahead. I'll be staying with family so that will make it easier. The on plane food ideas might be a little more challenging.
When did the majority of your swelling finally start to go away? I puffed up a lot when I had my wisdom teeth removed so I am expecting to swell like crazy. Haha. I didn't have any pain associated with my wisdom teeth removal so I'm not exactly sure what "wisdom teeth pain" is.

[jaime]

My body was weird...I reached peak swelling at 24 hours and then it's gone down a bit every day since. I think for most people, swelling peaks around day 3 or 4. I'm still a bit puffy, but pretty early on you'll look normal to strangers (barring any bruising on your face or neck). I've been sleeping on an incline though, which I'm sure helps. I definitely recommend it for aiding in keeping the swelling down. I would say a good half of the bruising is gone now.

[Nozzelnut]

80% of the swelling is gone now; day 12. Mine was the worst around the 48 hour mark. And I'd guess I'm down to the last 20% for bruising too. A majority of my bruising was on my neck that drained to my chest. My neck is pretty clear and most of the bruising ion my chest has gone away. I still have small bruises on both side of my mouth/jaws but those are going away. I slept on an incline the first 3 nights but then I needed some real sleep and went with pillows to help prop my head up.

[snapdresser]

KaylaChristine - Glad to see you back! I was wondering how you're doing. Yes, I believe you're the only one wired shut. The cursory reading I did said it might be because you got IVRO. Apparently they don't use hardware on your lower jaw so they have to wire it into place? That sound right to you? Why'd you get the IVRO instead anyways? Any pointiness that's a result of a bone edge where they cut should naturally round off over time, I think. That may take months tho, so I wouldn't worry about it. My lips get these wacky indentions in them from my elastics but they don't actually cut and bleed. Sounds like the IVRO and wiring is pretty brutal. That's good news that they avoided unecessarily doing your upper jaw! Seems like that reduces risk a fair bit You should post some updates pics on your blog!

Jaime - One of your teeth in particular is always really painful? Does the pain ever go away in that tooth or is it constant? My tooth pain seems to kind of jump around, but it's also a kind of dull ache in all my teeth all of the time too Hey, so we can both talk alright, but do you find it difficult to project your voice? With the elastics it requires a bit of effort for me to speak loudly. I have to be very deliberate. Same for you? So they loaded you up with elastics as predicted, but are your teeth together now??? How's your bite??? Ahhhhhh you can blow your nose?? LUCKY!!!!

Gruntled - I really can't wait till I can take my elastics out and brush my teeth properly... The back of my teeth feel nasty too and I hate it, but I just have so dang many elastics...

Nozzelnut - I yawned and broke ONE of mine once. That's funny that you snapped that many lol. It's a PITA to put them back on for me tho. The tweezers that came with my emergency scissors are grippy tho so they've been really useful at replacing broken elastics. That's awesome that you get some time off from elastics! What I wouldn't give for an hour off...

Liz192 - 2 weeks??!!! WOOOOO!!! Exciting!!! Yeah, the nervousness will only get worse until surgery say lol. I'm planning to travel 4.5 weeks post-op. My surgeon said she wanted to think about whether or not she was ok with it. She never got back to me about that particular question, but I feel like I'd be fine. It's a little hard to breathe with the congestion (tho tomorrow is 3 weeks for me and as of yesterday my nose has been much less congested) and the lower oxygen concentration in the airplane at altitude could be a bit unnerving, but I think it should be fine. I understand that with a doctor's note you can bring Ensures through security so you have something to eat/drink on the plane and at your destination. My swelling started to go down on Day 4 post-op, and by Day 14 I looked like a "normal" person. I still have some residual swelling, but I can go out now and whatnot. Those 10 days made a HUGE difference in the swelling for me. Take your Motrin, sleep on an incline, and you should be fine to work on Day 14. Your movements are fairy similar to mine, but you're coming forward a bit more. Good luck!!! And chow down on everything delicious you may want for the next couple months

Kelse - Thanks for the support! I'm sure there will be several people with August surgery dates too Like Jaime said, if you have any questions, let us know!

[Liz192]

Thanks everyone for sharing. Oh man. Oral hygiene is going to drive me crazy!!! I'm a dental hygienist and not being able to brush my teeth may be the worst thing ever for me. Lol I'm glad to hear that things start to change semi quickly. How is the numbness? That is my biggest concern. Permanent numbness scares me a lot. What was one thing you couldn't live without through your hospital stay/first few days home? I want to start a list of things to get. I saw the pre/post list but there seemed to be a lot lf things on there that weren't actually used or helpful. What was your favorite thing to "eat"/drink? I've never had ensure before. I might go get some tomorrow to start testing flavors. Haha

[snapdresser]

Liz192 - I would save trying the flavors of Ensure for during recovery, when a new flavor of Ensure may be the only pleasant culinary experience you've had in weeks The numbness isn't bad. It feels swollen still, but the feeling is normal or kinda tingly pretty much from nose to my chin. My nostrils and the left side of my chin are pretty much completely numb still. Feeling in the nostrils will return but it might not for the lower left part of my chin. Time will tell and my doctor seems to think it will. It's only an issue cuz it makes shaving seem weird. Shaving new curves of my face is tricky as it is, and when it's numb you wonder if you're being gentle enough. Of course as a girl, you won't have to worry about that anyways A button-down shirt and some Gatorades was all I needed in the hospital. Everything else was supplied by them. At home the wedge pillows were good, and a baby toothbrush was useful after a few days. Also, small disposable cups. I've used them for Gatorade, Ensure, soup, mouthwash, water. They're great so I don't have to do a bunch of dishes during recovery.

[Liz192]

Thanks snap!

[jaime]

I meant to say in my earlier post that 50% of my swelling has gone away! I would say that I look about 90% back to normal.

Snap, yes talking loud is difficult. I try not to shout anything, I just walk over to whomever I need to speak with.

Liz, this would be my essential list:
-baby toothbrush
-sport squeeze bottle (available on this site admin's store, dentakit.com)
-Ensure shakes
-lots and lots of paper towel
-a dark (or old) towel to support your neck while sleeping and wipe up drool/blood while you're awake
-wedge pillow to sleep on

I posted a surgery shopping list on my blog (link below) and everything I bought has come in handy.

[snapdresser]

So today was my 3-week post-op! My surgeon didn't take any elastics off She said the elastics are mostly for muscle memory and that if they take off the elastics too soon you'll carry your jaws in a crooked position naturally just because the muscles haven't been trained to stay in their new position. The good news is that if I look this good next week, she said she'll take off all but two of my elastics!!! Also, she ok'ed me to use the waterpik my mom bought me when she was in town to take care of me. She wants me to swish with the special mouthwash only once a day now cuz it turns your teeth grey and she said she could tell it was starting to affect mine. She also said I can't have any booze till 6 weeks post-op And the big news for me (I know some of you have already been adventurous): I HAVE PERMISSION TO START PHASING FOODS BACK IN!!! This week she's having me start mashed potatoes! So you can bet your @ss I'll be having mashed potatoes for dinner!!! Next week she said she'll have me start scrambled eggs!

[Nozzelnut]

Saw the surgeon today; back into elastics; 4 of them.... 2 each side with nothing in front. I knew it was too good to be true. He wants me to stay with the same diet which I now take as a no chew diet instead of liquid diet. I am a horrible patient, I know. I did ask for some spare elastics just incase they break again. He said I can blow my nose; which I promptly did when I got home and the stuff that came out; whoa.

Jaime's list is pretty good. Couple of the biggest things I used were: syringes the 72 hours following surgery for hydration, towel/bib, and sports squeeze bottle.

I did buy Ensure powder instead of premixed bottles so I could mix my own. All of the protein powders I bought are pretty disgusting IMHO. So ended up getting Carnation instant breakfast to round out the flavor of them. Ensure makes a variety of different flavors; if you can get the high protein. It helps with recovery and healing.

Snap- Nice that you can officially start phasing food back in !! Whoo hooo!

I've lost about 15lbs in the 13 days since surgery. Lucky for me I have some room to lose the weight. Just feeling weak as a result of it.

[Liz192]

Thanks y'all! Your info has been amazingly helpful.
Jamie- I will definitely check out your list. Did you have any weight loss? I'm worried about that because I'm 107lbs and don't have any to lose. I've been trying to bulk up but haven't had any luck.

Nozzelnut- thank you for sharing. Did you mix the ensure powder into the carnation instant breakfast or just with milk? I will definitely be getting the high protein shakes.

Snap- I'm glad to hear you were able to graduate to "real" food. That's exciting.

Y'all talk about the elastics. Are they so tight that you feel like you are clenching your teeth all of the time? I am a clencher at night and prone migraine headaches.

I am SO glad I have y'all to talk to. I'm sorry I am asking so many questions. I'm just one of those people who likes to be over prepared.

[KaylaChristine]

Jaime - Yep. Wired shut with actual wires. How long have you been able to drink from a cup? I've been able to since about 10 or so days post-op...though I wasn't the most successful at it lol. Definitely a lot easier. My bottom teeth are the most sore. Especially the ones on the right front and right side.

Nozzelnut - Ouch! Yawning is so painful for me. I almost sneezed today...thankfully I was able to stop it. I don't want to know what that feels like. Mmmm I'd kill for some mac and cheese.

Liz - Congrats on your surgery date! It'll be here before you know it. If you're feeling well enough I don't see why it wouldn't be okay. You could always get your surgeons opinion about it. My swelling peaked within the first couple of days. I'm still swollen, but as Jaime said you'll look normal enough to strangers by then.

Snap - Oh lucky me. Yeah, I kind of figured it was because I had the IVRO. Yep, no hardware on the lower jaw at all. I'm not sure why he decided to go with IVRO. He must just be more familiar with it. I think there's less chance of permanent numbness with the one I had. Surgeon said he didn't even come across a nerve on the lower jaw. I really don't have any numbness on the lower jaw area. Yeah, my surgeon assured me that the pointiness will go away over time. He told me to massage it to help it go away but that hurts at the moment lol. Yeah, I'm glad that didn't have to widen the upper at all. I think I have four different sets of plates & screws on the upper jaw if I remember correctly. I should have taken a pic of my xray. I plan on getting my blog caught up tonight. I have pics from every day post op (I think..) so far. Congrats on the mashed potatoes!! Ohh man, I'd love some of that right now. The hunger man, the hunger.

Nozzelnut - I'll have to look at the store for Ensure powder instead. Wow, I've only lost 6 pounds. I lost that the first 4 days and have kept it off. I'm sure the only reason I haven't lost more is because I've had a few milk shakes from Sonic.