Surgery with Dr. Gunson Next Week!

[chinnychinchin]

Hello, I have an overbite w/ sleep apnea issue that I'm getting jaw surgery for with Dr. Gunson this upcoming Wednesday!  My treatment plan will be a CCW-R with a small genio for facial balance. I've uploaded my treatment plan so you can see what it looks like:

http://imgur.com/a/ovVPs

I'll be updating this thread and/or blog with the latest updates to help other prospective patients. Thanks!

[dantheman]

Hey man,
Thank you for posting this. It's really useful to me and I'm sure some of the others to see the plan and outcome of your surgery. I suspect I might need similar movements and plan to consult with A+G at some point.

[dantheman]

Chinnychin,

How did it go? Hoping all is well and that you will be have a satisfactory result. any updates are appreciated !

[chinnychinchin]

Hey guys I'm alive! Now I know why they say no one makes it out alive from this surgery. This was real tough, especially the 72 hours after. You're gonna need someone to take care of you, I guarantee it. I've donated a kidney before and this surgery might be harder than that. Anyways, sorry I haven't been writing simply because I've been focusing on trying to do even the basics right.. like walking, drinking, etc.

Everything is swollen real bad so I can't really tell what changed other than looking like a hippo. Dr. Gunson said the surgery went really well although it took 2 hours longer than it should've been (originally 4 hours).  Over the next few days hopefully I'll have some pics to show. Thanks!

[ForeverDet]

Hey Congrats! I also had surgery with Dr. G.

Try to drink as much liquid calories as possible!

[jesterofmalice]

what is it that makes the recovery so bad? Is it just constant pain in the face? Congestion etc?

Looking forward to your before/after pics

Happy recovery!

[terry947]

Nice hope the recovery goes smoothly.

[chinnychinchin]

@ForeverDet Did you have surgery this week?

I had double jaw surgery so I had to re-train how to swallow, breathe, etc all the while you're completely congested, nauseated from all the blood trickling down your throat, and swelled up like a balloon. The pain isn't more the issue as it is simply just uncomfortable... painfully uncomfortable.

I had my first appointment with Dr. G and everything looks great. My bite was "perfect" in the operating room and although the joints are swollen now, they'll eventually settle into the perfect position. So it'll be another week of Ensure, clear liquids, and green kale juice before I'll be able to possibly go to a blended diet. Now that I'm back home, I'm looking forward to a better and more comfortable recovery process. Also, my nerves are starting to come back in full force. The tingling sensation and sensitivity of the teeth it causes unfortunately cannot be addressed by painkillers. Anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with this as it's becoming unbearable. The surgeon's office recommended baby Orajel but it doesn't seem to have much have an effect.

Until next time!

[Lazlo]

Congrats. Wow must be tough, but hang in there. I'm sure after like the two week mark it's smooth sailing.

[buzzhead]

I just had my surgery this past Tuesday.  What a pain tying to get ensure in my mouth with those syringes.  I cant breath very well through my nose because of the clotting and I can't really open my mouth very much do to the bands.  I have a coulpe of pill meds that I am going to have to figure out today.  Someone please tell me that this will get better.

They ended up using grafts in my upper jaw to bring it forward and down while rotating my lower jaw clockwise and forward aswell.  Hopefully I will be rid of sleep apnea any ways.

[buzzhead]

Didn't have it with Gunson and it on east coast at Strong Memorial in Rochester NY.

[chinnychinchin]

I just had my surgery this past Tuesday.  What a pain tying to get ensure in my mouth with those syringes.  I cant breath very well through my nose because of the clotting and I can't really open my mouth very much do to the bands.  I have a coulpe of pill meds that I am going to have to figure out today.  Someone please tell me that this will get better.

They ended up using grafts in my upper jaw to bring it forward and down while rotating my lower jaw clockwise and forward aswell.  Hopefully I will be rid of sleep apnea any ways.

After the first week, it gets 10000x better. It actually gets a little bit worse after the first 72 hours. I never used a syringe--I was drinking from a cup by the time I was released. I think they want to see that you're getting enough fluids by the time they discharge you and the only way to do that is from a cup. I think you can totally use a cup, you just have to re-train your throat on how to do it again. It's extremely tough and worrisome that you might tear or break something when you first do it, but rest assured that the screws and plates have you secured.

I had a sleep apnea/tiny tiny airway before the surgery. I'm now able to breathe with just my nose. It's pretty awesome.

[ForeverDet]

@ForeverDet Did you have surgery this week?

No, I had it done 2 years ago. I just remember when I lost 13 pounds in one week, I still had some fat left on me but I was getting skeletal.

[chinnychinchin]

My nerves are on fire! I've regained full sensation of my upper lip and the sides and bottom of my chin. However, my bottom lip and triangular area of my chin are still completely numb. I'm hopeful that it'll return cause the surrounding area has been tingling fiercely with a "pins and needles" feeling but still concerned that it's *still* completely numb. It comes in waves and has been killing me lately and keeping me up at night. Pain meds don't do crap for this type of "pain" so I've just been riding it out.

The swelling has also gone down significantly. I've been taking bromelain, tumeric, and quercetin supplements as well in hopes of speeding up the process. Also been doing my best at drinking at least a gallon of liquids a day. This liquid diet seems to be doing wonders for my skin and hair. I got a masticating juicer and have been starting my mornings with a kale/celery/cucumber/ginger/apple concoction.

I'm going back to Santa Barbara this Tuesday to see the good doctor again. It's my "2 week" appointment and it seems like most patients get cleared for a blended diet at this point. Hopefully I'll be blending my way to happiness when I'm back Not sure how much I longer I can drink this Ensure stuff.

[dantheman]

Good luck at follow up chinnychin.

If you have ongoing nerve pain, you should see if you could get your hands on some tramadol. It's a weak opioid but often works great specifically for neuropathic (nerve pain). Can cause nausea in some.

Can't wait to see the results.