10 months later I regret having surgery

[PloskoPlus]

This paraesthesia is driving me up the wall. I look in the mirror a couple of times a day.  But I feel this crap every waking moment. 
And now I'm compelled to have  even more surgery to balance my face - the le fort advancement made my upper lip, my midface way too full, my chin weak.  What a clusterf**k.

[Lazlo]

wow you're going through some pain man. Don't let it get to you too much. It's really unfortunate about the lip sensation. Something like over ninety percent of people say it doesn't bother them but how in the world this happened to you. Really bad luck. But again dude you never know it may in fact improve.

Have hope. And you look great as is.

[PloskoPlus]

It's the f**king upper lip. I've never heard anyone have trouble with their upper lip for so long.  Earl had a god damn modified lefort iii, and his lip was numb for only a week.  The upper lip is  used for everything. What the hell was the point of all this, when talking, smiling is a chore. Ditto with my teeth.  Solid bite... But I don't eat anything.  It seems like I can't get ahead.  All my wins come with losses elsewhere. Like a curse.

[terry947]

man that sucks. you think you just have bad luck or maybe the surgeon made the cut too high? from what i remember you said you had a higher lefort, possibly this caused you to have these lingering issues?

[PloskoPlus]

man that sucks. you think you just have bad luck or maybe the surgeon made the cut too high? from what i remember you said you had a higher lefort, possibly this caused you to have these lingering issues?

The plates are under the cheek bones, next to the Infraorbital nerve. I basically have the complications of le fort ii (any higher and it would have been one ) without any of the benefits - upper midface is still recessed.  Lower midface is too full.  The dreaded chimp look.

[Lazlo]

we should make a list of people who regret/don't regret their surgery. I have a feeling the "regrets" are gonna win. And that is something people need to know. Like everyone needs to know this.

[LoveofScotch]

Ditto with my teeth.  Solid bite... But I don't eat anything.

What? Why?

Long shot, but is there any possibility pulling some of your plates/screws could relieve the problems you're experiencing with your upper lip? I suppose another surgery, cutting through the same tissue, could actually make the problem worse but I would still consider it.

Sorry, PP.

[Lazlo]

That really sucks PP why did you get surgery to begin with, did you have a functional problem or was it all aesthetic?

[JawKid7]

8 weeks out from surgery and reading this makes me scared as fuk. I hope you get your problems fixed man

[PloskoPlus]

8 weeks out from surgery and reading this makes me scared as fuk. I hope you get your problems fixed man

Don't worry, you're young, your nerves will regenerate better than mine.  This stuff is not painful at all, just annoying.

[PloskoPlus]

That really sucks PP why did you get surgery to begin with, did you have a functional problem or was it all aesthetic?

I had no functional problems, except for underbite, deep bite, cross bite, some teeth showing wear from grinding.

[PloskoPlus]

This stuff is not so bad.  More like Chinese water torture.  Drip, drip, drip, and then I snapped last week, because it's been going on for so long.  I actually have feeling on my lip everywhere.  It just feels stiff and rubberry on the right side.  I keep rolling the right side of my lip over my teeth, which triggers this semi-burning stiff numb feeling.  This stiff burning feeling resonates into my teeth a lot and even into the tip of my nose and roof of my mouth a bit. The roof of my mouth also has a funny feeling - like I burned it the day before... a bit dry.   The stiffness seems to be abating.... slowly.  It's just annoying me.

Perhaps because I had only single jaw surgery and the recovery was so easy, I just have this normality elsewhere which makes this really frustrating. If only surgeons set lower expectations - LF1 nerve problems are hardly ever mentioned.

Ferraro's max fac text book says it takes 12-18 months for things to return back to normal post-LF1.  Incidentally, I suddenly started having electric sparks in the left corner of my lip again - and that's my good side!

[Gregor Samsa]

Ferraro's max fac text book says it takes 12-18 months for things to return back to normal post-LF1.  Incidentally, I suddenly started having electric sparks in the left corner of my lip again - and that's my good side!

Sounds about right. I've had nerve damage from an unrelated surgery and it took me a really long time to get back to normal.

[Tom2]

This stuff is not so bad.  More like Chinese water torture.  Drip, drip, drip, and then I snapped last week, because it's been going on for so long.  I actually have feeling on my lip everywhere.  It just feels stiff and rubberry on the right side.  I keep rolling the right side of my lip over my teeth, which triggers this semi-burning stiff numb feeling.  This stiff burning feeling resonates into my teeth a lot and even into the tip of my nose and roof of my mouth a bit. The roof of my mouth also has a funny feeling - like I burned it the day before... a bit dry.   The stiffness seems to be abating.... slowly.  It's just annoying me.

Perhaps because I had only single jaw surgery and the recovery was so easy, I just have this normality elsewhere which makes this really frustrating. If only surgeons set lower expectations - LF1 nerve problems are hardly ever mentioned.

Ferraro's max fac text book says it takes 12-18 months for things to return back to normal post-LF1.  Incidentally, I suddenly started having electric sparks in the left corner of my lip again - and that's my good side!

The electric sparks thing is a good sign!     I got that feeling in areas before the feeling came back.

And, I agree - the amount of nerve issue and time of recovery (and feeling of depression) are NOT discussed enough.   I think they think open and straightforward discussion would discourage people from the surgery and they assume that in time you will be glad you did it......but for that time after surgery until recovery - and for those whom it goes bad for.......well   you just feel a bit mislead.....

[PloskoPlus]

Most doctors would refuse chemo.  I wonder how many surgeons would accept jaw surgery for themselves. Anyway,  no matter how much you know, unless you've experienced X oneself, it's impossible to truly empathize with someone experiencing X.