wish I'd have found this before surgery

[Guest guest]

I had surgery almost 5 weeks ago. I am a 23 year old female who has

been in braces for 4 years. When I first joined the Air Force they

said that I " needed " to have this done. They said something about

there being a medical condition that needed to be fixed, I think that

was their way of letting me have it done. I really didn't have a

huge problem, just a small underbite and a large chin that I hated.

From what I have been reading it seems like I have spent a lot more

time in braces than most, probably because things have been put on

hold a few times to be deployed overseas. I had rapid pallet

expansion surgery 2 years ago and hated every minute of it. My OS

was the best though. I had the crank in the roof of my mouth that I

had to turn every day and then I had to live with a 1/4 inch gap

between my two front teeth for what seemed like forever, not much fun

for a single 21 year old.

My surgery, upper-lower-geno-septo, was 29 days ago and I thought I

was going to lose my mind the weeks before. I was so nervous and

afraid that I wasn't going to like what I looked like afterwards. I

didn't want to go out and I didn't want anyone to see me for fear

that they would hate the way I looked after surgery. I spent my last

few days before surgery just sitting in my room in front of a mirror

trying to remember every bit of what my face looked like. I really

wish I would have found this support group then, I sure needed it.

I was excited but scared at the same time the day of my surgery. My

OS could sense this and made me feel much better. All I remember is

getting a shot of something and giggling uncontrolably. I woke up in

the ICU, the tube in my nose was already taken out and my whole head

was bandaged up. I just remember the night male nurse being really

cute, especially while he was cleaning up the bloody droll off of my

face. There wasn't much pain while I was in the hospital. The day I

was released was also when I had to learn how to put the bands in, oh

what fun that was. My friends came to get me and we took the train

home. All I wanted to do was take a bath, can't get my face wet

though. The next day is when I started to hurt badly. All I did for

the first week was lay in bed and sleep. My first visit to the OS

was good, he said that I was doing fine and took out the only visible

stitches, on my cheeks from putting the screws in. I had a allergic

reaction to the tape that was put on my chin so he took that off too,

it was really red and broken out. Things were going good with the

healing process, pain was still there but I only needed the medicine

at night to help me sleep, until last week when I woke up and my

whole right side was swollen (worse than after surgery). My eye was

swollen shut and I could barely open my mouth, anyone else experience

this? My OS is 4 hours away and was gone on vacation that week so I

had to go to my local hospital and they had no clue what was wrong.

I was so scared, they just said if it gets worse..come back. I

finally got to talk to my OS and saw him the next week, he said that

it was just a small sinus infection and that I probably sneezed

during the night and didn't know it. That swelling is gone now but I

still have some swelling from surgery. The only numbness is in my

chin. My splint comes out next week and I can start eating soft

foods....don't know what my first meal will be yet! I only have to

wear my rubber bands at night now and I can see my new jaw line and

chin. All that worrying I did....I love my new chin and I can hardly

wait to show it off.