Double Jaw Surgery w/ Dr. Arnett 10/4

[Marisama]

I'm always around.  I posted in this thread. Anyway, this is Znewton's thread. Looking forward to hearing from him.

[treevernal]

Ck, how long until you felt up to texting/using a pc after surgery?  A few hours?  Days?

[Antbee]

Also - just quick as this is Zach's thread but heard from Trossi too. She made it and from what I can tell seems ok if nauseous. I'm sure she'll be back here soon too. Just always nice to hear people made it without any obvious upfront complications. Thinking good healing thoughts for them.

[treevernal]

trossi?

dont really want to hijack zach's thread lol. do u want me to move that or re-post it in my thread?

Lol no one is hijacking his thread.  Im just asking a question about recovery to get a better idea of when we might hear back from zach.

[Cmonster]

Zach looks like he's doing okay and TRossi is doing well for being a few hours post op !
Im slowly learning, post op expect everything and then some.

Im no where near surgery ready and Im supposed to go w/ Gunson but Im starting to get a pinch worried.

[Antbee]

Trossi posts on the other forums - thought she had been on here too...
Frankly I'm nervous as hell - mine's in five days and hearing how bad everyone feels right after is giving me the willies

[znewton]

well, i was in the recovery room longer than average i think, and it also depends on how long you were under. i wasnt really ready to use the computer until maybe a week after my surgery. but i was till in SB, and the laptop wasn't mine. i was able to skype on the 10th day but i think the frustration of not being able to talk was a huge turn off.

i definitely wasnt in a state of mind to discuss my surgery online in a meaningful way until much later (early August). zach should be able to use a computer rather quickly, but he may not have the motivation/desire because the post-operative reality is so traumatic physically. or maybe he is 100%, everyone is different and not all surgeries go as anticipated.

Hey eveyone - this pretty much sums it up. So tired, extremely swollen, and was not expecting it to be THIS bad. Lips are HUGE and I'm overall just extremely uncomfortable. It's hard to breathe and anytime I drink something half of it just pools up in my mouth.  Don't really have much else to say at this point. Surgery was six hours, was in the hospital one night, and was discharged yesterday at noon.

[Marisama]

Congrats on making it to the other side.  How does the new bite feel?  Or can you even tell since you are most likely numb?

[Antbee]

Good to see you here Zach. Was wondering about the pooling liquid. Sounds like you have feeling and not completely numb (also from what you said before) - that's good. I never thought about that problem of liquid before though. I guess tipping your head forward to drool it out is too painful? Or doesn't that work? I'm seeing that the first few days are just a really rough road... All the best

[Cmonster]

Zach! Glad to see your okay (minus lots of the swelling).

This is TRossi or Terra http://openbiteblog.blogspot.com/ she had her surgery on Friday for an open bite!

[znewton]

Hey everyone! Finally getting around to updating on here. I'm hanging in there and am doing alright. As of now I'm just over 120 hours post-op and saw Dr. Arnett for my first follow-up appointment today. I'm extremely swollen due to all of the BMP (bone morphogenetic protein) that was used for grafting on my upper jaw. Apparently this causes prolonged and more intense swelling which wasn't really mentioned to me until after surgery. Lena even mentioned today that they need to update their post-surgical care packet to educate patients about this so they know what they're in for. Whereas most patients swelling will peak around Day 3-4 mine should peak around Day 5-7. It's rough but I'm just hoping I'll wake up tomorrow with a little less swelling. My lips are also very swollen which I've been treating with blistex 24/7. In regards to numbness - can't feel much around both my cheekbones, right nostril, roof of my mouth, lower lip, and chin. I'm more than willing to answer any questions some of you might have. Can't really think of much else to update. Just trying to stay positive that the swelling will subside soon!

[treevernal]

Hey zach!  Glad to hear youre doing ok.  How difficult has it been to sleep upright/not disturb your cheekbone augmentations?

[znewton]

Sleep in general has been hit or miss but I haven't found it too difficult. I guess I don't seem to move much in my sleep because I've yet to fall asleep in an upright position and wake up on my side  Just have to be careful!

[znewton]

Congrats on making it to the other side.  How does the new bite feel?  Or can you even tell since you are most likely numb?

The bite feels good but is also very foreign to me. I can't remember the last time I had a bite that actually closed. That being said, it's pretty amazing to be able to feel the closed bite with my tongue whereas last week I could fit my tongue through the same spot.

[treevernal]

The bite feels good but is also very foreign to me. I can't remember the last time I had a bite that actually closed. That being said, it's pretty amazing to be able to feel the closed bite with my tongue whereas last week I could fit my tongue through the same spot.

Cant wait for that feeling