Recovery

[annepanne]

This probably varies for everyone. And I'm not even sure exactly what they will do in the surgery yet. I'm one of those people in the greyzone. They know they will move my upper jaw, but we haven't decided if the lower jaw is necessary yet (I have an overbite, and slightly open bite). But how many weeks does it take to be up and out in public? And then I don't mean going to the grocery store. I mean actually going to school or taking my flight back home to Europe (from US), or going to a wedding. And what is elastics -if this is something I have to wear for weeks after surgery, then I probably dont want to be social at all. Is it even possible to attend a wedding 3-4 weeks after a surgery like this? (by then I'll probably be the skinniest woman in the whole wedding ha ha). I had a sliding genioplasty 8 years ago (they just covered up my bite -which was fine, until I started have jaw pain), I was at a party 1 week later. But I know that that was a much less invasive surgery..If anyone could share their experience, I would be glad.

[goofylook]

I just had my SARPE surgery (expansion of palate) about a month and a half ago. Like you said recovery time differs from a person to another. For me, the first week was the toughest from bleeding to just overall weekness. My 2nd week was a lot better, no more bleeding, just a little oozing here and there (nothing major). I was able to go to the stores, play pool and hang out with friends. However, I used to get tired pretty fast - so normally I would do stuff for 2 -3 hours a day thats it. My 3rd week was superb, I was able to go back to work -do full 8 hours, hangout and basically do my normal activities - besides any super movements like running, jumping, etc. I lost about 14 pounds in the first 2 weeks than I stopped losing weight. But I was pretty healthy, I took all the required nutrients (in a liquid form of course).

From a look prospective, you just need to pick up your self-esteem and it is what it is. I have gappy teeth because of the surgery that i wanted to hide initially with wax and all that then I just got used to it. I thought I was going to be an outcast because of that gap, but really people don't care. The most is they would ask what happened? after they know it is all good

So my conclusion if you need to do this surgery that just go ahead and do it, because there is simply no great time for it. There is always gonna be a wedding or some other social event. I hesitated for a year to do mine and now I wish I did it then because by now I would have been with this whole thing - my 2 cents.

Hope this helps,
Goofy

[bmueller]

I would guess you will be too tired for 1-2 weeks to really resume normal life. Did the surgeon explain everything to you? You will probably be banded shut for a few weeks. They use rubber bands (elastics) to hold your jaw shut for healing. You wont be able to open your mouth at all. You can still talk but between talking clenched shut and having a swollen face, you wont be talking too much for at least the first two weeks. hope this helps.

[annepanne]

hi. thanks for all replies. I know a lot, and read a lot, and my surgeon is great. My teeth was almost aligned before, so I've only needed braces for 7 months, and they are linguals so they don't show. They will put surgical hooks on the front teeth before surgery, but they won't stay there. I've just seen all these photos of people having crazy rubber bands, and sorry, but I would never go to school or work or wedding with that!! It's not really about self esteem, or probably it is, but I really don't have the energy to have to explain to people or have difficulties talking in school. It's my final semester in MFA program, but trying to decide if I should do it in Spring Break and then miss a bit of school, or wait 3 months until I have summer break. It's just that I'm so impatient and eager to get it done. At the same time, I don't want to miss too many weeks in school. I'm also a bit scared of being in US without my family, and I hope a close friend of mine from Europe can come over. I guess it is not a good idea to be too much alone, at least the first week? Another thing I'm scared of is, that even though, I'm so ready to get this done and look much better! (:) , It probably could be psychologically tough -at least to see yourself for weeks and not really "know" the result?? I've always had ups and downs with depression and anxiety, and I worry that the first weeks can be really tough since you're kind of in a limbo of the result? Did any of you experience that? I also kind of feel that the closer the surgery is, the more expectations I have for how I will look after surgery. Even though I do this for jawpain and alot of other stuff, I think that inside of me it is very much rooted in appereance..

[annepanne]

PS. I have already lost around 6 kilos since I got braces, and I'm skinny from before. So I'm really afraid that I will loose too much, or how to deal with getting enough food.

[midnight]

You should buy some of those meal replacement drinks as they are quite high calorie and contain lots of vitamins etc.. You'll need to make sure you get lots of food in you even if you are banded shut. Use full-fat milk, add cream to soup if you are worried about loosing too much weight.

You'll probably have to have elastics for quite a while after surgery - I'll have mine for 6 months - so unless you are planning on not going out or seeing anyone for ages, I think you will have to accept it and the way they look. You'll also probably be swollen for a couple of months although most of it will go within the first few weeks or so. You will look worse before you look better but honestly most people won't even notice after the first couple of weeks and if they do ask about it it's only out of interest anyway so don't worry about

Not going to lie, I think it has been difficult for me psychologically. I've also suffered with depression and anxiety and over the last couple of months I've definitely had ups and downs. Only being able to eat a liquid diet is really tough and even the soft food part isn't easy but it doesn't last long. Hopefully you'll think it's worth it though. I just told myself that if I wanted to look better this was just what I had to go through and in the grand scheme of things it's only a couple of months of my life and the time is flying by! Hope it goes well for you.

[Alisonpv]

How long did you guys miss work for this surgery (SARPE)? Specifically Goofy, you said weakness for 2 weeks??

[goofylook]

I personally took 2 weeks off work for the surgery. For me, the surgery was great, no major pain. I was able to walk, go to the bathroom, watch TV right after I came back home from the hospital [about 2 hours after I woke up from surgery]. However, the first week, especially the first 2 days you will have bleeding nose, which is annoying as hell. I got a strap from the hospital that goes across the nose and hang on the ears. I used to put gauze on my nose and hold it by that strap, worked really well for me. Walking around the house was no problem, however I was on pain meds just in case even though I felt I didn't need them.
The second week, most of the blood (from nose) was gone. Some oozing from the nose here and there, but stops right away. No running blood anymore. I was able to do more activities in my second week, like go out; I hit Starbucks almost everyday (since I couldn't go to restaurants, that was the second best thing ) I did go play pool couple of times. However after being out for more than 3 hours, I start feeling tired and sometimes my nose start oozing again for a bit. So my plan was 3 - 4 hours regular activity and rest the rest of the day. Hence I would recommend taking off work the second week if possible or at least work half days (4 hours).
The third week, I was almost normal, besides the fact I couldn't eat normal and my palate was hanging and my teeth are apart (not as bad as it sounds really ).

By the way, most importantly is food. You won't be able to eat your normal foods and you will lose weight, so EAT EAT EAT as much as you can. Stock up on yogurts, liquid meal replacement, protein shakes, ice cream, apple sauce, etc. and do get a blender if you don't have one, comes in really handy. Remember this is not the time to be thinking about loosing weight because believe me no matter how much you eat you will loose weight. On the bright side, it is a great time to enjoy the guilty pleasures in life; ice-creams, lattes, hot chocolates and still loose weight (kinda the dream right there )

I hope this helps and good luck.
- Goofy

[Alisonpv]

WOW! 2 WEEKS off of work?

That will probably rule it out for me

[annepanne]

Yes, two weeks sounds amazing -but I think it's different to have both upper and lower surgery. I'm thinking it's going to be at least three.
Midgnight; elastics for 6 months!? My surgeon told me they will go off gradually, and then I only need to sleep with them, and this would be in the
first two months.
Raspberry: I don't want to get into details here, but my surgeon is one of the best in US, and I don't need to pay for it, because my homecountry covers medial issues when you're a student abroad. Also I get this covered because my bite is wrong due to arthritis when I was a kid. so I'm not paying anything! it's crazy.

[annepanne]

midnight; thanks for the advice on how to get calories! and I see that you had your surgery 2 months ago -do you feel you are satisfied with the result, or are you still swollen?

[midnight]

midnight; thanks for the advice on how to get calories! and I see that you had your surgery 2 months ago -do you feel you are satisfied with the result, or are you still swollen?

I'm still a little swollen but I think I'm probably the only person that can tell now. If you touch my cheeks you can feel that they are swollen but it's not really visable anymore (or only very slightly). I posted some pics here - http://www.archwired.com/phpbb2/viewtop ... 4&start=30 I think they were taken about 7 weeks post-surgery. I think I'm happy with it - definitely feeling more positive about it all now that I can eat *nearly* normally again. It really is nice to close my mouth

Yes, two weeks sounds amazing -but I think it's different to have both upper and lower surgery. I'm thinking it's going to be at least three.
Midgnight; elastics for 6 months!? My surgeon told me they will go off gradually, and then I only need to sleep with them, and this would be in the first two months.

Sorry, yes it's not full-time elastics. Had them full time for 8 weeks and now it's only night time and I think I'll have them at night for another 2 months and then probably none for the final 2 months but obviously that could all change depending on how my teeth react.

[annepanne]

ok, that's good to hear! about the elastics. so did you have lower jaw surgery only? You look great!
I have to say that your smile on the little photo is the cutest thing I've ever seen! But I can imagine
that everything is better with your bite now, and probably your smile is still cute! What is wrong with
your nose? I can't see any difference in the photos. I'm a bit stressed about my nose actually, because
I don't want it to change at all! I hope it won't.

[midnight]

No, I had upper & lower jaw surgery. From the front, i'm sure my nose looks 'fatter' - maybe it's just me though

[goofylook]

if by "fatter" you mean wider then yeah. The upper palate expansion do widen the nose - on the bright side, you should breathe better now.

Or maybe since your face profile changed, it appears to you that your nose is fatter!

Either way I hope you like the new look better.. lol


- Goofy