June/July 2015 Surgery Buddies

[deathorglory]

I bought a few button down pj sets to wear after surgery, but to be perfectly honest, I mostly just stole my boyfriend's old tshirts. He's already stretched out the neck hole (hence "old") so getting it over my swollen head even with the ice pack wasn't too bad. He did help me make sure the ice packs didn't get caught, though I doubt I would've been able to get away with just a pull over shirt right out of the hospital, though. I was pretty tired and still slightly uncoordinated at that point.

I know that double jaw surgery is usually a lot longer than just one jaw, but I think it can be as little as 5 hours or possibly as long as 12 for really complicated cases. Good luck with the catheter...I can't imagine that can feel pleasant :T

[KaylaChristine]

I'm sure a few of my husbands shirts would work pretty good for me as well.

My surgeon's assistant said mine will probably take about 10 hours. I feel bad for my husband having to wait that long. It'll be like no time has passed at all for me lol. Boo to the catheter

[snapdresser]

Haha, yeah, thanks for bringing up the catheter again, deathorglory...

[jaime]

I was told my surgery would be 4 hours but who knows.

During my SARPE, the hospital wouldn't let my mom leave. Hopefully my husband can leave; I'll feel terrible if he has to sit there all day. It's not even like he can play on his phone, because his phone will be on roaming (he lives in the US, I live in Canada).

[snapdresser]

Jaime - 4 hours? That's not bad at all! How did the hospital not let your mom leave?! Like they wouldn't operate on you if she walked out? That's wack... I'm not gonna make anyone wait for me during this surgery... And if I'm in the hospital for 2 days, obv they'd have to leave anyways. Not sure what the point of making them stay for the surgery would be, unless it was outpatient surgery so they want to make sure there's someone to take you home right afterwards. So maybe it'll be different for this? Btw, I thiiiink the hospital should have wifi, so free data even for your DH, right? Isn't wifi the same internationally?

Everybody know what their treatment plans are? How many mm they're moving the top and bottom/chin?

[KaylaChristine]

That's odd that they wouldn't let your mother leave. I hope that isn't the case for my husband. 10 hours is a long time to wait around doing nothing.

My surgery is being done about 45 minutes from where I live. But thankfully my husband has a friend that lives there so he can hang out with him at his apartment during my surgery.

I don't have my exact mm movements yet. I'll get final measurements done on June 9th. Surgeon estimates moving the upper jaw forward 5-6 mm and expanding the upper by 2-4 mm. Lower jaw is estimated to be moved back 1-2 mm. Snapdresser, how many mm are yours being moved?

[snapdresser]

KaylaChristine - Lol yeah, 10 hours? Fuhgeddaboudit! Those measurements aren't too bad! The 1-2mm back almost seems unnecessary. Did they explain why they don't just move the top forward 1-2mm more and avoid operating on the bottom at all? My non-doctor self is probably grossly oversimplifying things lol. I'm coming forward like 6-7mm on the top, and up about 4-5mm at the front. They're gonna raise the back a little on the left too, like 1 mm, cuz I have a very slight cant (+points to my surgeon for fixing the little stuff ) The bottom is coming forward about 4-5mm too, and the genio is coming forward another 5mm for a full cm total on the chin.

[jaime]

It's interesting you guys know how far your jaw is supposed to be moved. My surgeon didn't even tell me WHAT surgery I was getting until I asked. I have no idea about measurements.

I double checked my consultation paperwork and yup, it says 4 hours.

I don't know what the deal was with my mom and my SARPE. She told me after surgery that she tried to leave and they made a huge deal out of it, so she decided just to stay put. My mom is not very assertive so it's hard to know just how much pressure they put on her to stay.

Snapdresser, I kind of doubt there is wifi at the hospital...it's also really strict about where you can use your phone. It will really suck for him if they don't want him to leave.

[KaylaChristine]

Jaime - I asked my surgeon almost immediately on how much he was moving the jaws lol. And I wonder if that hospital just has a certain policy about having an immediate family member there during a scheduled surgery.


Snapdresser - He said he couldn't get away with just moving the upper. My results would look best with both being moved. I will say that his initial estimation was the upper being moved 3-4 mm forward the bottom being moved 3-4 mm back. I won't be surprised if it's completely different than what he estimated last time---as he only looked at my molds. I attached my x-ray from my consult back in July if anyone wants to see.

[deathorglory]

My surgery was only 2 hours and my boyfriend was allowed to leave, probably because we have to stay overnight. Poor guy...He didn't go to bed until 4am (he works till midnight) and I woke him up at 4.30...he sat with me for presurgery stuff until I told him to go home and try to sleep. ...He fell asleep at 7.30, then got called at 8.30 to be told my surgery was done...then fell back asleep and called again at 10 saying I was being moved to my own room and he can come visit. ...There's no reason you shouldn't be able to leave the hospital if they're keeping you. It's different if it's an outpatient procedure (my boyfriend had an outpatient surgery and I had to stay until he was released) because you get to leave almost immediately.

I wasn't told about my movement measurements. Basically, the surgeon fitted my bottom jaw to my upper jaw and didn't bother about how many mm he'd be moving me exactly, so long as the teeth fit right. He said it was probably about 7mm, though...

[snapdresser]

Jaime - I'm in the same boat as KaylaChristine: I asked. Not out of curiosity, tho, but because I was switching surgeons and wanted to know what treatment the first one recommended, and because a "minimum movement" (10mm maxillary advance) came up regarding sleep apnea treatment. I probably wouldn't have known had I not asked. But I'm glad I did because my surgeon and I were able to have a candid discussion regarding the virtues of different movements. That really sucks about the wifi. They should get with the times! Without wifi how am I gonna post my scary photoshopped pictures for you all???

KaylaChristine - I gotcha. There certainly would have been some aesthetics lost if they were limited to just the top, at least. Same for me. Oooo super interesting to see your x-ray! Cool necklace I looked on my phone to see if I had a copy of mine to post and I don't on-hand. I'll try to look tonight

Anyone know how long you're supposed to abstain from... relations for? Just wondering if anyone knew before I "have that conversation" with my doc

[deathorglory]

Haha, "relations"...

I abstained for about 3 weeks. It was long enough time that my jaw didn't feel too wobbly. The first week I was really tired and out of it. The second week my entire face was peeling and yet oily and I didn't feel attractive at all (also when the infection happened). Week 3 was when I started feeling normal-ish again. I didn't really ask my surgeon (because, haha, awkward), but at around 3 weeks he stopped needing to see me on a weekly basis and changed to a biweekly visit, which I took to be a good sign. If you want to be SUPER careful, I guess you could wait the full 6 weeks but wow...that's a long time. At 6 weeks my surgeon told me I could resume getting kicked in the face if that was the normal prior to surgery, so a little jostling at that point probably won't matter much.

And of course, I'm female. ...I can just lay there if I want... Men have to put in a little more work and deal with a tad more jostling...

And ladies, if you've gotta take antibiotics, please remember they may render your birth control pills not as effective and so a backup method (ie condoms) is recommended for the duration of your antibiotic treatment and for 1 week after completion. This is a public service announcement. ...IUD people are safe cuz that creates a "hostile environment".

[snapdresser]

Haha ok, thanks deathorglory. 3 weeks if I just lay there. Got it lol. How "wobbly" did your jaw feel? Cuz that sounds like a pretty disturbing sensation... Why did your face peel in the second week? That happens to everyone, I'd assume? Also, good to know that the weekly post-ops only last for the first 3 weeks. What's the interval after that?

[jaime]

Just got back from my 2 pre-op appointments!!

Had x-rays and impressions done at my surgeon's. I always say this but my surgeon is awesome. The assistant was telling me how she once told her husband if anything ever happens to her jaw, she wants to go to my surgeon "because he's the best."

I was asking him about the potential for my nose to widen because of surgery, and he told me 3 or 4 different measures he does during surgery to prevent that, so that's a relief. I also asked about how my smile is asymmetrical and was told -- as I predicted -- that my wonky smile is due to muscle imbalance, not a skeletal cant. So that's good and bad I suppose. It's not super noticeable, but my upper lip on my right side lifts up higher than my left side.

Do you guys find that you don't bite down where your "natural" bite is? My surgeon kept telling me to bite "naturally" for photos and I was like, "I am!" He always has to move my jaw to where the joint naturally is. Oh. My. Gosh. My natural bite is so beyond messed up, lol. No wonder I need surgery. Only the edge of 2 molars touch on my right side and everything else is way off and very open. I didn't realize how much my muscles have to compensate for that.

I had to go to the hospital after that for the usual medical history stuff. Between the surgeon's office and the hospital dietician, I got lots of recipes for liquid food, so that's cool. They also gave me 2 bottles of Ensure and a voucher to get a 6 pack of Ensure for free. I'm also super pumped because my health insurance will pay for most of the fee to have a private room. I live in Canada so it's not that expensive to begin with, so I'll only have to pay $65 out of pocket.

More good news: I will only have the catheter during surgery (not after), and my surgery is apparently only 3 hours (that's how much time my surgeon booked the OR for).

Anyway, I won't keep blabbing on here. 10 more days!

[deathorglory]

By "wobbly" I really just mean that my bite was slightly variable (which is why we wear elastics after surgery...to train our muscles where to put the jaw after surgery because they're not used to the new position). I was very aware that my jaw had just underwent surgery and that there was still a decent amount of swelling involved. Doesn't exactly make for being in the mood for "relations" really...

My surgeon said I did really well with my bite after surgery (by which I assumed he meant good job wearing your elastics) so I only saw him weekly for 3 weeks (plus one unscheduled infection visit), then I saw him at 5 weeks after surgery, then he said everything looks good...I can stop wearing elastics at 6 weeks and start chewing and resume life as I knew it and he'd see me when my braces are ready to come off. ...Not very many visits, eh? You guys might see your surgeons more or less than I did...it all depends on how quickly you heal up

My face peeled because my body was dealing with having gone through surgery. Some people get really oily, apparently my face will peel. It was mostly around my lips. There was dry skin galore ON my actual lips and I had this weird perimeter around the outside of my lips that was also peeling. ...It was very weird. Oh, and there was a ridiculous amount of bruising inside my lips right after surgery (super swollen inside of my bottom lip...it looked like someone glued halved cherries in there). It went away over time, but it was kinda scary when I first noticed it because I didn't expect it...but it also explained the discomfort I felt in my lips. I also didn't really moisturize my face until week 2 was over. I was super conscious of my jaw, etc and was very leary of touching my jaw for fear of messing something up, but that's rather silly now that I think about it. I have screws and plates holding my jaw together...I doubt a little moisturizer could've thrown something off

I noticed that before surgery, I would slide my jaw forward when I smiled for pictures. Apparently I also did it when I tried to chew. It's why we all need surgery, right? Because our natural bites are super off?

10 days! You must be getting excited! I didn't get super nervous until the anesthesiologist came to walk me to the room...but then I was out like a light, so it wasn't too bad.