January 2012 Buddies!

[catsteeth]

Ashleigh, Good luck today! Have a speedy, uneventful surgery.

[Olive]

Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't check in sooner. I'm 8 dasy post-op now, about to go to my first post surgical appointment. I'm anxious to find out how I'm progressing and if there's anything I can start doing differently (exercises, brushing, etc).

The first 4 days post-op were utter hell but I got through it and I'm fine now. The pain level was moderate; the worst part was nausea from the meds and not being able to sleep. My energy levels are decent and pain levels very low now. I'm more concerned with swelling going down (slowly but surely) and a little worried about numbness. I'm also sort of wishing I'd got the genioplasty as well. But it's hard to say for sure with the swelling at this point- my upper lip is ridiculously swollen, my cheeks are still pretty swollen, and my chin looks tiny because it's not swollen at all. Who knows, if I'd gotten the genio maybe I'd be regretting it too because it would be swollen and my chin would look huge. It's too early to judge. The liquid diet is very annoying. But as I said right now I'm just waiting for my appearance and sensation to return. If that happens I think I'll be really happy with the results, as the bite seems (looks) great.

[keeponsmiling]

Good to hear from you Olive! Glad to hear the pain level is manageable, though the combination of nausea and a liquid diet sounds a bit miserable. Hopefully it won't be long before you can go onto soft food. Try not to worry about whether you made the right decision about the genio - I'm sure your appearance will improve rapidly from now on and you should push it to the back of your mind until the swelling is gone. Just concentrate on getting yourself well.

Thinking of you too Rivvie and Ashleigh, and sending you get well vibes.

Latest here is that I got yet another new date - 27 Feb now... apparently...!

[AWSeibert]

I'm finally home!! The surgery turned out to be 8 hours long instead of 6. My lips are ginormous! I am tightly banded shut and it feels hard to swallow sometimes. I have stitches all in my nose from the septoplasty and turbinate surgery. They are planning on doing more septoplasty at a later date. My pain level is unusually low, I have only had a small amount of narcotics ( in the hospital). I do not look anything like me due to the swelling. I can't talk or even mumble understandably. I get to attempt brushing tonight. My next appointment is next Tuesday. I got sick right after surgery... That was an experience to say the least! I also got choked on some crushed meds in juice. But overall I am doing pretty well. Olive and Rivvie, hope your recoveries are going smoothly. Keeponsmiling, yay for a new date!!

[Rivvie]

Great to hear from both of you Olive and Ashleigh, I am glad that you are doing ok! Good to hear that you are over the worst of it Olive, I hope the swelling will go down a bit soon. Then you will be able to see the results too.

Ashleigh, 8 hour surgery, wow that was a long one. Good that you are not in pain at least. Now it is on to recovery!

As for me, I have turned both devices for a week now and have a 5mm gap between my teeth both upper an lower. Might post some pictures in my braces story later today. Turning the lower device still causes me a lot of pain, I will be asking my surgeon about it today. Otherwise, recovery is going great.

[catsteeth]

My sympathies to all the swollen people. Glad to hear that the surgeries went well and recovery has started.

Ashleigh, 8 hours! I knew they were doing a lot but that's a long time to be in surgery. I know you are swollen but do you notice any changes in your breathing yet?

[AWSeibert]

I can't really tell too much of a difference with my breathing yet. Today I feel really congested and it feels like I am having to make more of an effort to breath through my mouth. I have stitches all up my right nostril and my swelling is worse. Hopefully my swelling will start to go down Friday and I can give a little more input. Today has been a rather tough recovery day but I still don't regret anything!!

[catsteeth]

Ashleigh, you sound very positive. I'm impressed! Any difference today? Hang in there.

[keeponsmiling]

Hi all! Hope your swelling is going Ashleigh - sounds like you had a mammoth ordeal, but every day will get easier from now on.

Rivvie and Olive - hope your post-op check ups went ok and you don't have too much pain. Won't be long now before you can have soft food surely?

[AWSeibert]

Let me just say that the last few days really knocked me off of my positive pedestal. I ended up in the ER Thursday night because I felt I couldn't breathe and I couldn't keep anything down so. They gave me IV fluids and meds and a breathing treatment. It was really scary! I'm not in a whole lot of pain, just my throat from throwing up which seems to happen daily with me. I can say that I have definitely been having the "I wish I hadn't done it" blues. I hope that all of you are well and Rivvie and Olive I hope you are progressing far better than I am!

[keeponsmiling]

That's awful Ashleigh! Hope things are getting easier now. To be honest, I was really surprised at how quick you were home after such major surgery. Fingers crossed this week will be better for you.

[catsteeth]

Ashleigh, Sorry you are feeling the blues. It sounds like you are on the right track for recovery though. I hope your swelling goes down and you have a pain free week.

How are things going with everyone else? I'm a Feb surgery and I'm obsessed with details!

[AWSeibert]

Hello Everyone!! I come back with my positive attitude again! The last time I posted I guess I had started the downhill slope because I have had two very good days now, working on the third! I haven't thrown up in a little over 48 hours, WOOHOO for that!! My swelling has gone down a bit more which is always a plus! I will try to figure out how to post some pictures. I have sworn off all but three medicines that I know aren't making me sick: my antibiotic, my narcotic oxycodone, and pseudofed. I've added miralax powder to some of my fluids just because I know the narcotic is known for contributing to major constipation. One of the meds the doc gave me was a laxative but it immediately made me throw up so no more of that! I am fairly tired of the liquid diet already. Although my Mom made me a really yummy homemade veggie soup that I have been enjoying last night and today for lunch, it's blended and thinned down of course but my favorite so far! I started drinking from a plastic cup because I was getting fed up with the syringes. Small amounts and taking it slow with the plastic cup has worked best for me. I even used a spoon to have my soup for dinner last night so I could feel more normal at the table with my family! It tools a looooong time but I managed with a bib and paper towels to catch the dribbles. I have been sleeping in a recliner with a humidifier and fan close by. My back hurts some from sleeping and sitting a lot but when I take my narcotic, that usually knocks out any jaw pain along with little body aches. I have my first post op visit tomorrow morning. I am hoping for really good news, maybe even grasping for more than I should but I am hoping they will allow me to go on the soft food/no chew diet, allowing me to remove my bands to eat and clean and do jaw exercises then put them back on. In the post op instructions they gave me it alluded to that happening between day 10 and the 2 week mark. I'm not sure of how much weight I have lost, I know when they weighed me in the ER 4 days after surgery, I was already down 7 lbs. I will weigh this evening when I get home and see what my scale says. I am officially 7 days post op today, ONE WEEK DOWN wooooohooooo!!! So I guess day 5 was the real turning point to feeling better for me!

Ashleigh

[catsteeth]

Ashleigh, Glad to hear you are doing better! Hope to hear some more of your positive progress.

[AWSeibert]

So I got everything I wanted at my appointment! I am down to just two bands and my splint! I am on a soft food no chew diet which makes life A LOT easier! I still have the red ring around my lips that is like a dermotological burn or somthing. They told me to quit using bacitracin and use plain vaseline. The Vaseline seemed to make the blisters that go along with the red ring spread so now it's on my chin too! UGH! So I stopped the vaseline and now I am just keeping facial moisterizer on it. It is really dry and really painful. I go back on Tuesday so hopefully they can look at it again and figure somthing else out.

Oh yeah here is the link where I put up all my pictures!! Enjoy!

http://ashleighsorthognathicadventures.shutterfly.com/