June/July 2015 Surgery Buddies

[gruntled]

Reading all your stories I am infinitely glad for the NHS and my surgeon! If I'd have had to pay for this surgery there's no way I'd have gotten it. I'm so lucky to have had it for free. My recovery seems to have been super quick compared to some others, and I know the girl who had the surgery two hours after me is more or less recovered too.

What I really want to know is why my bilateral osteotomy only took 1.5 hours whereas some people have had surgeries scheduled for 7 hours?! What is it that takes the extra 5.5 hours?!

[jaime]

How are you back to normal? That doesn't even make sense?! I wonder if your short surgery is connected somehow to your rate of healing. My surgery was about 3.5-3.75h, which is still short compared to many. I'm just plain not allowed to eat any solids until week 6 though (she types between spoonfuls of SpaghettiOs...).

[deathorglory]

My BSSO was also only 1.5 hours and I was out of elastics (except when sleeping) and eating whatever I wanted at 4 weeks also. I think what takes longer is getting to the bone in the maxilla. It's gotta be harder to see what you're doing up there too, right? And harder to reach...

So far my bill out of pocket has been something like $230. I'm still waiting for the hospital bill (hah! I'm already 3 months post op!) but the cost without insurance would've been $36k just for the hospital bill. The surgeon's fee was something like $9k and the anesthesiologist was close to $2k, but I know that my surgeon's office does lower jaw surgeries for about $10k out of pocket for people without insurance...It's not a small sum by any means, but it's sure a lot lower than $46k!

Also, Gruntled...what exactly is a pasty? Whenever I see the word I always assume it's a typo and someone dropped the "r" in pastry...but I hear it's something like a hand pie...? I think it's weird that I know what poutine is, but not a pasty... Someday I'll visit England... I hear it's rainy just like the Pacific Northwest!

Liz, I hope your surgery went well!

[snapdresser]

Gruntled - You're pretty much back to normal? You have no remaining swelling or numbness/tingling? That's really impressive! My impression was that it took months for most people to regain all normal feeling and for the swelling to fully subside! Maybe those pasties (which, btw, are what we call sticky nipple covers here in the U.S. ) have some powerful medicinal properties! That's cool that your muscles have adjusted to the new position already. I think it might come more naturally when you're starting with an underbite. Overbite correction means our jaw muscles are getting stretched. God forbid you also have a cant they're fixing too, then they're getting stretched unevenly lol. That's where I'm at, and it took a week or two with elastics to get used to. My bite seems to come together fine (even tho the elastics are a little uncomfortable for my teeth, but even that's pretty much stopped now), but I'm trying to follow the doc's instructions as best as I can. Nozzelnut said his doc told him chewing too soon can cause scar tissue build-up, so I guess that would be a good reason to wait to chew, but I don't know anything about it, what issues that scar tissue creates, etc. I mean, I could pop off my elastics and resume chewing right now, but I'd still have some remaining swelling and numbness/tingling. You must have had a great surgeon to have gotten rid of all that so fast! Congrats!!!

Btw, you said your BSSO took 1.5 hours? I think that's in line with how long that portion of mine took. They did the maxilla for you too, right? And the chin? They also had to apply the archbars for me too, so mine probably took longer than most people's.

deathorglory - Still waiting on the bill after 3 months?! Wow! My anesthesiology charges were a lot more than yours for some reason... Huh.

Liz192 - WOOOOO you're done!!! Now begins recovery

[Liz192]

Hi everyone, I survived. I'm SO numb and swollen. My tongue is numb so swallowing is very difficult. I have a thick straw, skinny straw and syringe. I'm working on swallowing. I can get a few drops down but mainly if just dribbles down my face. Did anyone else have a numb tongue? If so how long did it take to come back? I haven't had a chance to read everyone's posts yet. Hope you are all well

[jaime]

Liz! Glad to see you made it out and are lucid enough to post. My tongue was only numb from the freezing, which lasted about 4 hours or so. I have heard of people's tongue being numb as part of the rest of their numbness though. Either way, I sympathize because that must be uncomfortable.

[Nozzelnut]

Liz nice to hear from you! Take your time with the drinking; hopefully they left you hooked up to the IV and you can get fluids that way too.

I found the syringe along the side of my teeth to work the best; instead of going straight in from the front.

Gruntled; the longer surgery would be everything. Probably a 3 piece Lefort 1, BSSO, and sliding genio. The 3 piece lefort probably taking the longest to get all the cuts lined up correctly and set in the splint.

I have an appointment with my surgeon today and I'll ask how long my surgery was. I didn't even look at the clock when I first woke up in the recovery room so I have now idea how long mine took

[Liz192]

I was able to semi-drink earlier today but my swelling increased including my tongue and now I can't drink. I can't really even get a smaller syringe in my mouth. I'd say it's safe to say I won't be going home tonight.

[Nozzelnut]

Take your time with it Liz. It's ok if you don't go home today; other than not really being able to sleep in the hospital. Better to be safe than have trouble breathing or other issues when you're away from the hospital. If you do get nauseous, they can give you drugs to help! I did need some a few hours after I woke up; guessing too much blood in my stomach. I wasn't too hungry the entire time I was there and straight apple juice was too sweet for me.

Hope you feel better, the swelling goes down, and you get out of the hospital when you want!

Best wishes Liz! (We've been there.)


Got back from my appt a little while ago... My surgery was about 3 hours long; I asked. And I also learned that my lower jaw on the right side didn't have as much overlap as the Dr wanted and he needed to use a plate to help secure it. I did have a little ache in that area last night; not sure if it was from that molar being the first one that connects when I bite or more feeling coming back or... And I have lots of screws in me; he went over the number somewhat quickly; 4 over here and there and we used 4 here.... Something like 30ish total.

And with that news; no chew diet for another week and he said no biting with my front teeth for at least 8 weeks. Good news is no more elastics as my bite is repeatable(?) (I think that's a word)

We talked about my slight nasal congestion still and what can be done to help it. He said that would be a referral to an ENT dr/surgeon.

[gruntled]

Liz, you seem to be doing quite well considering it's been merely hours since your surgery!

I wasn't capable of using a straw until at least a week after surgery , I wasn't able to create the suction! I stayed overnight in hospital too, and woke up to a puddle of blood on my pillow where my nose had bled, so don't panic if that happens either.

Best part of passing the two week mark is no more permanent nose bleed!

The tip of my tongue was numb for about 5 days but the feeling came back quickly after that.

Nozzel, good to know that your congestion problem will be dealt with. Definitely the worst part of the whole thing. That and how loopy the pain meds made me...

What is a sliding genio? I keep seeing that phrase but no idea what it actually is!

Snap, as far as I can tell all my swelling has gone now. I'm pleased to report that my nose has returned almost to normal, no more piggy nose! I still have a little bit of numbness in my upper gums, but I would say I've gotten back around 70% of the feeling there too. My surgeon was apparently one of the top 3 in the country but seeing how small my country is, that probably isn't saying that much. Why on earth are pasties called sticky nipple covers?! ! ! My surgeon said 3/4 weeks of soft diet so I took that as being allowed to eat solid food now! Mostly I couldn't wait any longer, haha.

I had my maxilla moved forward and mandible moved back, but nothing else! No chin job haha, not sure the NHS could cope with that.


Deathorglory, I'm not entirely sure how to describe a pasty...it's sort of like a pastry but it's savoury and has a savoury filling. Famous example is a cornish pasty. Usually either square, rectangular or in a half moon shape and filled.

Jaime, I'm not entirely sure. I do heal very quickly and have an immense immune system (probably due to eating so much dirt as a child ) so that probably contributes quite significantly. I also think you had much more invasive surgery than me!

[deathorglory]

So it is a hand pie! I had assumed a meat filled (mince?) pie eaten while hand held. Otherwise, wouldn't it just be a mince pie...? Not sure why sticky nipple covers are called pasties, though...Snap you took me back to when "pasty" was a common word after that whole Janet Jackson Superbowl issue...

A sliding genio is when the surgeon makes a cut across the chin and pulls the chin forward to create the look of a larger or more prominent chin. I don't think they call 'em sliding genios when the patient has the chin reduced...not sure what those are called.

LIZ YOU SURVIIIIIVED! Don't let your tongue swell too much...definitely let your nurse or doctor know if it starts getting hard to breathe - that's a sign of a serious allergic reaction. If it's not due to an allergy, some NSAID meds (think ibuprofen) would help reduce that swelling a bit. They've got stuff to go in your IV while you're at the hospital instead of having to take oral meds for antiinflammatory action. With the syringe, I found that it helped to shoot the liquids towards the back of my mouth inside my cheek, almost like I was aiming for my molars. That way, it wasn't so close to my lips that I drooled (when I tilted my head back, anyway). You can also hold your lips together when using the syringe to decrease dribbling as others on here mentioned previously

Never had a numb tongue, though...that's got to be a strange feeling...

[gruntled]

Deathorglory a hand pie is a perfect way to describe it

[snapdresser]

Liz192 - I don't remember my tongue being numb, just my gums, cheeks, and chin. Yeah, drinking is tough for the first couple days, so in the next day day or two I think you'll be getting much better at it and should be dribbling a lot less. Of course, they won't discharge you without your being able to get in fluids, which is kinda good and bad, IMO. It's good to BE home, but I recall not wanting to go home yet cuz I didn't want to ride in the car lol. It's not that bad tho. They'll probly give you a powerful liquid painkiller to drink right before you hit the road, so that helps. Good on you for being so active on here! I didn't make it back to leave an update for like 2 days, I think. Jaime beat me to it and she went the day after me

Nozzelnut - 30 screws?! Jeez! I didn't ask how many I have, but 3 x 8 = 24, so that's my guess. 8 screws each for the maxilla, mandible, and chin. That's interesting about your overlap. I seem to recall that being an issue for someone else in a story I read a while back, so maybe it's fairly common? Because my jaw muscles are being stretched more on the right, one of my right molars would touch first sometimes. SUPER annoying Now that I've had my elastics on for a while tho, it's gotten much better and now it's fairly rare unless I purposefully do it just out of curiosity cuz I'm weird, I guess . It def made that tooth hurt tho, like you said. I thought I might have a cavity or something Still no chew on anything? No mashed potatoes? That's awesome that you got your elastics off!!! I'm all sorts of jealous What's the deal with your congestion? They popped that thing back into place, right? How bad is the congestion? I'm STILL a bit congested in my left nostril, but I'm not allowed to blow my nose yet. Even if I did, I'm not confident I could get it out. It's deep in there and feels like it's stuck on my nose hair or something. Like a giant solid booger cuz jammed way back in there. I want to ask my surgeon to take a peak. Did your surgeon look in with one of those nasal-scope things? I'm guessing your next steps would be a turbinate reduction (tho were you the guy that had nose stuff done at the same time? Someone here did, IIRC) if they're constantly inflamed, or if it's a soft palate issue, UPPP My turbinates were constantly inflamed until I got on allergy shots for a year. Much better now! Good luck and let us know what they say!

gruntled - I feel you on the nose bleeds. I had an issue with that too for the first couple weeks. When I look in the mirror, my face doesn't really appear swollen, but from what I've heard, it still goes down a little up to 6 months out. My surgeon said to take a picture at 6 weeks and one at 3 months and you'll see a difference. I was going to That's great to hear about your nose! I remember you were pretty concerned about it. So what do you think of your new appearance??? Hahaha nooo, sticky nipple covers (like strippers might wear? Or a girl who wears a dress that prevents wearing a bra and doesn't want them to show through) are called "pasties" Not the other way around lol. Best convo ever Hand pies are called "Hot Pockets" here That's really neat that your surgeon said 3-4 weeks of soft diet! There's definitely a spectrum of post-op instructions and you seem to be on the opposite end of me lol. Sucks, but we'll all be done soon anyways, I suppose!

deathorglory - Hahaha yeah, The Wardrobe Malfunction Jeez, that was a while back now. I think some of these younger people on here might not even be familiar with it

Now less than 3 weeks until I get my archbars off and I'm DONE!!!! That tooth moved back to it's previous position, except it's a fraction of a mm lower than my other front tooth, so that's good. Or at least better than it was lol. In the morning I feel a little puffy right around my mouth still, but I'm wondering if that's mostly just general discomfort from the archbars. It's a similar feeling to having braces, but I've only had them 5 weeks so I haven't gotten totally used to them yet. The left side of my chin is still numb, and my lips still have a small amount of altered sensation, but full feeling. My gums vary. Some parts are very sensitive when I brush, some parts seem completely numb. My palate still feels pretty numb too. All of that nerve stuff I expect to last for months, but I THINK I'll feel 95% back to normal in LESS THAN 3 WEEKS when I get my archbars off

[gruntled]

HAHAHA snap, I finally gotcha and yes!! A hot pocket! That's exactly what it is!

Yeah, it does seem to be a heck of a lot more relaxed for me than for you guys ! Do you still feel as though you're recovering ?

About my appearance. . I look different. Not bad different ,just...different and I think I need to get used to it before passing judgement !


Apologies for my appalling punctuation, my phone and this website don't seem to get along at all!

[Liz192]

Hi all, I was speaking good and drinking out of a cup last night cause my tongue swelling was almost gone. Then the swelling came back this morning making it hard to drink. They are goin to release me today though. I have been able to drink better as the day has gone on. I was able to take a Percocet tab earlier which made me itch like crazy so they ended up giving me some Benadryl. Everyone seems to notice a difference in my swelling but I just see myself in a fat suit haha. I'll keep y'all posted.