Surgery with Arnett 10/11

[Cmonster]

Antbee you're welcome Did you have an impaction of your upper jaw (gummy smile?) or what? Would love to know more about your case!

[CK]

you'll do great. funny, i also had two "bad" nurses. one was a bully, and tried to force me take more affirin than what gunson prescribed, and the other was totally absent whenever i pressed the bottom. also tried to taper me off the IV much too soon than i wanted, but i think that's deliberate because AG want you to be able to swallow on your own and be able to drink liquids.

[CK]

Yeah they want you to give up the suction and the IV and be making it on your own drinking and taking meds etc. My thing is I don't respond well to being bullied or this one guy being so flat-out rude. I would have responded better if they'd been compassionate about it. However when my friend told the nurse to stop shouting and let me do things in my own time, he did apologize and was helpful after that. I did manage to call him an asshole when he left the room though, even though speaking was so difficult. I guess needs must!

i never really used the suction thingy because i was so wonked out on the morphine lol. plus the huge thing around my head and neck and all the discomfort. i did use it when the nurses said i had to but it was hard to know where to suction when you don't know where your features are (kinesthetic sense.) and the mirror was so SMALL.

 w/o insurance, hospital is close to 10k. most of that is for OR time but like i said AG bring the hospital probably 1 million a year in fees. though it is a private hospital i would say it is understaffed. im glad my first nurse was super awesome, because the first evening is pretty bad.

[Marisama]

What do you mean when you say your teeth don't touch properly?  That is one of the main goals of jaw surgery afterall.

[CK]

He implants a hook in the lower jaw and puts a screw in the upper jaw. These two points are used to mount the center elastics. I believe at about 3-4 months post-op they are both removed. I can tell you, it's quite odd looking inside my mouth and seeing a hook coming out of my lower gums. I can't see the head of the screw on my upper jaw because I haven't been brave enough to pull my upper lip up that far yet. Don't want to mess with the stitches and whatnot!

the hook in the lower jaw is removed, but the hooks on your braces - where you loop the bands on your own - remain for the duration of the surgical recovery. i dont think they are removed because they are attached to the braces.

can you see how many bands you have in your mouth right now?

You were in bands two months? I thought it was just a few weeks until you went on a soft diet.

let me think. you are in bands 24/7 for the first few weeks. then about a month later you only wear them part of the day (ie., 5-10 hours off each day, wear bands at night) until eventually the bands are dropped. i dont remember when i stopped wearing them completely, but i do recall still wearing the bands on-off daily until the 7th week? maybe 9th week. you can always ask. bands aren't that big of deal, training yourself to put them on on your own is a pain though. z will learn that eventually lol.

[znewton]

let me think. you are in bands 24/7 for the first few weeks. then about a month later you only wear them part of the day (ie., 5-10 hours off each day, wear bands at night) until eventually the bands are dropped. i dont remember when i stopped wearing them completely, but i do recall still wearing the bands on-off daily until the 7th week? maybe 9th week. you can always ask. bands aren't that big of deal, training yourself to put them on on your own is a pain though. z will learn that eventually lol.

Is it really as much of a pain in the ass as everybody says it is? Today marks Day 12 and I honestly feel ahead of the curve. Zero pain thus far (crosses fingers) and I'm just doing my best to rest and let my body heal. Going to my 2nd post-op appointment tomorrow and can't wait to get a chance to open up and brush my teeth. Mouth feels GROSS inside! Only complaint is the feeling of pressure I get at times from the bands. It's hard to tell but it almost feels like I'm clenching but I think at times I'm just more aware that they're on there.

[CK]

Is it really as much of a pain in the ass as everybody says it is? Today marks Day 12 and I honestly feel ahead of the curve. Zero pain thus far (crosses fingers) and I'm just doing my best to rest and let my body heal. Going to my 2nd post-op appointment tomorrow and can't wait to get a chance to open up and brush my teeth. Mouth feels GROSS inside! Only complaint is the feeling of pressure I get at times from the bands. It's hard to tell but it almost feels like I'm clenching but I think at times I'm just more aware that they're on there.

yeah, looping the bands is a pain. it would take me maybe 30 mins to take them off and on when i first started. it's hard to hold your lips out to do it. one of the assistants will walk you through it but it's still hard.

did they say you could brush at your second week? i think you'll only be able to brush the surface (facial part) of your front teeth, definitely not the back or under areas of the teeth. that feeling is totally normal with the bands. of course any brushing has to be really light, no electric tooth brush or flossing. stitches are still vulnerable.

[znewton]

yeah, looping the bands is a pain. it would take me maybe 30 mins to take them off and on when i first started. it's hard to hold your lips out to do it. one of the assistants will walk you through it but it's still hard.

did they say you could brush at your second week? i think you'll only be able to brush the surface (facial part) of your front teeth, definitely not the back or under areas of the teeth. that feeling is totally normal with the bands. of course any brushing has to be really light, no electric tooth brush or flossing. stitches are still vulnerable.

I'm sure the brushing will be minimal as you said the stitches are still vulnerable. I can just feel all sorts of gross buildup on the inside of my molar bands (I have the kind that has a hook on the inside as well as the outside). Do you think they'll let me brush there? It feels extremely unsanitary and rather nasty.

[CK]

I'm sure the brushing will be minimal as you said the stitches are still vulnerable. I can just feel all sorts of gross buildup on the inside of my molar bands (I have the kind that has a hook on the inside as well as the outside). Do you think they'll let me brush there? It feels extremely unsanitary and rather nasty.

not sure. i was restricted to brushing only the front areas of my teeth, and that was 2 weeks post-op. just do the 8 rinses a day. yeah, it does feel grody, especially behind the teeth.

[treevernal]

Still really swollen but gradually improving. Saw Dr A today for the first tooth brush and mouth opening session which was good. Huge relief to brush even if I'm only allowed to do the front ones at this stage. I'm still on pain meds because I have quite a lot of discomfort when I try and go without. I'm also already getting tingling in my cheeks to signify nerves returning, it's maddening though.
I have pretty much full feeling in both lips and am only really numb completely on my chin and next to my nose. Dr A says he didn't compromise my nerves and expect full feeling to return.
I can only just see my teeth - I'm told not to attempt to lift my lips manually to see. They look so weird and my bite is way deeper than its ever been- basically my jaw closes as it should. My tongue also has enough space to fit entirely in my mouth and for the first time ever I can breathe comfortably and entirely through my nose, which is so bizarre I can hardly believe it.
Looks wise- it's been hard as I really bear very little resemblance to either my old self or my new one (I hope) my face is super square and my eyes are rounded, nose a tiny bit wider. All these things are, I'm assured, caused my swelling. The HA and BMP causes waaaaay more swelling in G/A patients than others. Lena told me today that others' progress is not comparable to their patients because they do a lot more, causing a lot more swelling. That made me feel better.
The main weirdness has been the square face, but I can see clearly how huge swelling along my jawline and neck is causing that and I have faith that ill look like my old self only with a more compact face in future.

Awesome post!  Sounds like youre gonna have a full recovery (no numbness) and you can already breathe through your nose...amazing.  so happy for you.

[Marisama]

My tongue also has enough space to fit entirely in my mouth and for the first time ever I can breathe comfortably and entirely through my nose, which is so bizarre I can hardly believe it.

This just made my day.

[Lazlo]

Yeah congrats! Both you and znewton sound like you're doing really, really well both functionally and aesthetically so it's great to hear these positive results. Gives me hope!

[CK]

yeah, my nose was sort of the same - but just pure numbness. nasal floor harvesting or something?


good to know you're feeling fine. everyone swells up differently. i would anticipate random swelling in the next few weeks, i freaked out originally when that started happening (no swelling on left side, two days later swelling shows up.)

[CK]

My ortho attended the course and told me about it.
You mean the conversation about my lower jaw and lip placement? I initiated it. I detailed in my post what he said. He's very to the point and doesn't extrapolate a lot. But he listens. I've seen many examples later of him really paying attention to what I said. e.g. today - my worries about my nose were taken seriously and exercises prescribed, even though my nose is only a teeny bit wider.
I think my exercises differ because I had such a huge impaction and upper lip reconstruction - my upper lip is really stiff now - which I knew to expect since Dr A had warned me about it.

i get what he said. this was during the pre-op? i mean arnett writes a lot about patient-surgeon expectations and information. did the atmosphere/climate seem normal, like this is the time to know everything?

edit: i realize this is a pretty dumb question. anyways, im glad you knew what to expect and everything.

[Marisama]

Good advice.  Thank you for sharing.  If you think of anything else like this, please do share.