Re: looking for info/help

[Guest guest]

Hi. My 17 year old son had surgery March 9. Moved jaw back, chin

forward, upper jaw out and down, and removed all 4 wisdom teeth. He

spent one night in hospital on pediatrics, with good nurses, then

went home the next evening. I expected him to be very swollen when

we first saw him, but he had little swelling. Instead, he had lots

of blood which we had a suction tube we had to continue to use to

remove the blood from his mouth to prevent nausea. I stayed with him

that night and was up most the night using the suction. That stopped

the next morning. I never thought he would be well enough to go home

that day, but he gradually improved. He stayed on pain medication at

home for about 3 days, then moved to tylenol. His worse pain was the

throat where the tube had been during surgery. He also thought his

surgery didn't look right the first night, and kind of panicked, but

his dr assured him it would look right after the swelling. Lots of

swelling the first 4 days, then went down. He wasn't wired shut, so

he could use a spoon for soup and shakes. The first 3 or 4 days were

hard, then everything seemed to improve dramatically. If you are in

the hospital that long, I think you will be in great hands. I was

kind of nervous to go home so soon.

He went to school on day 13. He is a very happy kid now. Loves the

change from the underbite he always hated. My daughter will have the

surgery next year.

One dr wouldn't pull the wisdom teeth during the surgery, so we

changed drs. Went to the expert and he said, and he was right, that

they would cause no problems.

Good Luck. It is such a relief when the surgery is over and the dr

meets you to tell you it was all a success. I'll pray for you and

your daughter.

a

> my 13 yr old daughter is having surgery 4/15/04: lower moved back,

> upper & palate done with all wis teeth removed at same time. Dr has

> told us 1 night ICU, 2 nights on floor then home for 2 to 3 wks

> recovery. Please tell me what to expect...what we should NOT do,

and

> any other info you have

[Guest guest]

What you absolutely SHOULD do is to ask about whether her doc is

certain that her growth is complete. This is an important issue --

there have been folks who have had surgery at an early age, only to

relapse later on because of a growth spurt.

There are tests (involving x-rays of the hands, I think) that can

address this question. If you've already been there and done that, so

much the better. But 13 is way younger than most folks. I have a

young friend who's 16, and is waiting 2 more years for the surgery,

although she's already been in braces, just to be sure.

That's the first biggie.

Cammie

> my 13 yr old daughter is having surgery 4/15/04: lower moved back,

> upper & palate done with all wis teeth removed at same time. Dr has

> told us 1 night ICU, 2 nights on floor then home for 2 to 3 wks

> recovery. Please tell me what to expect...what we should NOT do,

and

> any other info you have