8 wks post op Wednesday

[Guest guest]

Hi Group,

I will be 8 wks post op on Wednesday (upper/lower surgery to correct

my underbite). I thank God that all is well. I was one of the

fortunate ones in that I had an easy go of it. Surgery went well

(3.5 hours) with little loss of blood . . . no nausea or pain post

op . . . didn't have or need the morphine pump . . . I was prescribed

Toradol in the hospital and Lortab at home (ironically, I am told,

the Lortab is stronger than the Toradol) . . . all tubes were removed

in recovery - which I have no memory of . . . I was neither wired or

banded, but I did have a splint (it was removed 5 wks post op) . . .

I drank loads of apple juice and water in the hospital . . . I was

able to walk to the bathroom unaided and was not dizzy in the

least . . . one night in the hospital . . . days three and four were

the worse for me . . . from then on it was all uphill . . . I did

have a not so good experience with constipation brought on from the

Lortab . . . I was on a no chew diet for 5 wks . . . consumed lots of

water, juices, soups, mashed potatoes with butter, cheese and sour

cream, creamy red and white beans, Boost, pudding, ice cream . . . my

favorite for breakfast was about 12 ozs of milk, 1 pack of chocolate

Carnation Instant Breakfast, 1 scoop of vanilla flavored whey

protein, and 1 banana (sometimes I would add 1-2 tablespoons of

peanut butter) all blended together in a 2 cup measuring cup with my

Braun handheld blender. Ten days post op my OS put bands on, which I

wore twenty-four seven for about three weeks. I was back at work two

weeks to the day after my surgery. My splint was removed 5 wks post

op and I given the nod to begin a " soft chew " diet. I saw my OD the

very next day after my splint was removed. The surgical wires and

hooks came off and I was back in regular wires and rubber bands

(which are being used to bring my back teeth together). I have very

little numbness and some slight residual swelling. I saw my OS today

and he is happy with the way things are proceeding and gave me the

okay to chew and eat whatever I want, of course, with in reason. I

can open my mouth pretty much and have no trouble yawning. He would

like to see me be able to open my mouth another 5 mm, so he gave me

an exercise to do. The next time he wants to see me is when my ortho

treatment is complete. I have my second appointment with my OD next

week and I will also have my teeth cleaned the next day.

I want to say that I am very happy with my results and I am glad that

I had the surgery. However, I do want to say that it wasn't a

decision that was made lightly. I've known for years that I needed

the surgery and just kept pushing it out of my mind. So after lots

of pondering, at 50 years of age (I will be 52 years " young " in

August), I decided to have it done. Once again, I thank God, because

I was blessed with a terrific dentist, a great orthodontist and a

wonderful oral surgeon (which my dentist recommended) and just as

wonderful oral surgeon that assisted. Of course, I am so very

thankful to these two boards. Both boards made doing my " homework "

easy. From reading all the messages, I was as prepared as I could be

going into surgery. I would especially like to thank Cammie and

for all the good advice and support. I also want to thank and

wish the best to my surgery buddies on the June'04 surgery and hats

off to the man that kept us all in the loop . . . Thom (aka Dammit).

I do have one thing I would like to comment on. After the many

months of reading the many post on both boards, a number of times I

have read that how much easier and quicker recovery is for the

younger person that has this surgery. This is so far from the

truth. There have been many in their 40's and 50's that have had

this type of surgery and from what I have read here, all have done

quite well with little, if any, complaint. I guess age and treachery

does overcome youth and skill . . . LOL! So if you are a person in

your 40's or 50's and considering this type of surgery, don't let

your age be a deciding factor. Everything needs to be taken into

consideration and weighed out. With that said, whatever age you are

and if you do decide to have this type of surgery, one of the most

important things to remember is . . . PATIENCE!

Best wishes and God speed to all post and pre ops out there.

With regards,

Dale

[Guest guest]

Dale,

Godspeed on your journey to debanding and a perfect bite!

Dammit

> Hi Group,

> I will be 8 wks post op on Wednesday (upper/lower surgery to

correct

> my underbite). I thank God that all is well. I was one of the

> fortunate ones in that I had an easy go of it. Surgery went well

> (3.5 hours) with little loss of blood . . . no nausea or pain post

> op . . . didn't have or need the morphine pump . . . I was

prescribed

> Toradol in the hospital and Lortab at home (ironically, I am told,

> the Lortab is stronger than the Toradol) . . . all tubes were

removed

> in recovery - which I have no memory of . . . I was neither wired

or

> banded, but I did have a splint (it was removed 5 wks post

op) . . .

> I drank loads of apple juice and water in the hospital . . . I was

> able to walk to the bathroom unaided and was not dizzy in the

> least . . . one night in the hospital . . . days three and four

were

> the worse for me . . . from then on it was all uphill . . . I did

> have a not so good experience with constipation brought on from the

> Lortab . . . I was on a no chew diet for 5 wks . . . consumed lots

of

> water, juices, soups, mashed potatoes with butter, cheese and sour

> cream, creamy red and white beans, Boost, pudding, ice cream . . .

my

> favorite for breakfast was about 12 ozs of milk, 1 pack of

chocolate

> Carnation Instant Breakfast, 1 scoop of vanilla flavored whey

> protein, and 1 banana (sometimes I would add 1-2 tablespoons of

> peanut butter) all blended together in a 2 cup measuring cup with

my

> Braun handheld blender. Ten days post op my OS put bands on, which

I

> wore twenty-four seven for about three weeks. I was back at work

two

> weeks to the day after my surgery. My splint was removed 5 wks

post

> op and I given the nod to begin a " soft chew " diet. I saw my OD

the

> very next day after my splint was removed. The surgical wires and

> hooks came off and I was back in regular wires and rubber bands

> (which are being used to bring my back teeth together). I have

very

> little numbness and some slight residual swelling. I saw my OS

today

> and he is happy with the way things are proceeding and gave me the

> okay to chew and eat whatever I want, of course, with in reason. I

> can open my mouth pretty much and have no trouble yawning. He

would

> like to see me be able to open my mouth another 5 mm, so he gave me

> an exercise to do. The next time he wants to see me is when my

ortho

> treatment is complete. I have my second appointment with my OD

next

> week and I will also have my teeth cleaned the next day.

>

> I want to say that I am very happy with my results and I am glad

that

> I had the surgery. However, I do want to say that it wasn't a

> decision that was made lightly. I've known for years that I needed

> the surgery and just kept pushing it out of my mind. So after lots

> of pondering, at 50 years of age (I will be 52 years " young " in

> August), I decided to have it done. Once again, I thank God,

because

> I was blessed with a terrific dentist, a great orthodontist and a

> wonderful oral surgeon (which my dentist recommended) and just as

> wonderful oral surgeon that assisted. Of course, I am so very

> thankful to these two boards. Both boards made doing my " homework "

> easy. From reading all the messages, I was as prepared as I could

be

> going into surgery. I would especially like to thank Cammie and

> for all the good advice and support. I also want to thank

and

> wish the best to my surgery buddies on the June'04 surgery and hats

> off to the man that kept us all in the loop . . . Thom (aka

Dammit).

>

> I do have one thing I would like to comment on. After the many

> months of reading the many post on both boards, a number of times I

> have read that how much easier and quicker recovery is for the

> younger person that has this surgery. This is so far from the

> truth. There have been many in their 40's and 50's that have had

> this type of surgery and from what I have read here, all have done

> quite well with little, if any, complaint. I guess age and

treachery

> does overcome youth and skill . . . LOL! So if you are a person in

> your 40's or 50's and considering this type of surgery, don't let

> your age be a deciding factor. Everything needs to be taken into

> consideration and weighed out. With that said, whatever age you

are

> and if you do decide to have this type of surgery, one of the most

> important things to remember is . . . PATIENCE!

>

> Best wishes and God speed to all post and pre ops out there.

>

> With regards,

> Dale

[Guest guest]

Dale,

Nice to hear you're doing well...

Firstly, it's the surgeons that state kids will recover faster than

adults. Furthermore, kids will are less likely to suffer from

permanent numbness than adults... the chances of permanent numbness in

adults is about 11% , whereas in kids its close to 0%.

Secondly, just because kids recover faster than adults does not mean

adults (even seniors) are at major risk by having this surgery.

Thirdly, and more importantly, i think most people have a very smooth

recoveries. Just by reading the comments on these forums, it appears

that less than 5% have any sort of major complication...

Finally, people should seek the advice of a doctor or surgeon before

taking advice off this board... :-) A surgeon can give a much better

assessment of a patients chances..

> Hi Group,

> I will be 8 wks post op on Wednesday (upper/lower surgery to correct

> my underbite). I thank God that all is well. I was one of the

> fortunate ones in that I had an easy go of it. Surgery went well

> (3.5 hours) with little loss of blood . . . no nausea or pain post

> op . . . didn't have or need the morphine pump . . . I was prescribed

> Toradol in the hospital and Lortab at home (ironically, I am told,

> the Lortab is stronger than the Toradol) . . . all tubes were removed

> in recovery - which I have no memory of . . . I was neither wired or

> banded, but I did have a splint (it was removed 5 wks post op) . . .

> I drank loads of apple juice and water in the hospital . . . I was

> able to walk to the bathroom unaided and was not dizzy in the

> least . . . one night in the hospital . . . days three and four were

> the worse for me . . . from then on it was all uphill . . . I did

> have a not so good experience with constipation brought on from the

> Lortab . . . I was on a no chew diet for 5 wks . . . consumed lots of

> water, juices, soups, mashed potatoes with butter, cheese and sour

> cream, cream

y red and white beans, Boost, pudding, ice cream . . . my

> favorite for breakfast was about 12 ozs of milk, 1 pack of chocolate

> Carnation Instant Breakfast, 1 scoop of vanilla flavored whey

> protein, and 1 banana (sometimes I would add 1-2 tablespoons of

> peanut butter) all blended together in a 2 cup measuring cup with my

> Braun handheld blender. Ten days post op my OS put bands on, which I

> wore twenty-four seven for about three weeks. I was back at work two

> weeks to the day after my surgery. My splint was removed 5 wks post

> op and I given the nod to begin a " soft chew " diet. I saw my OD the

> very next day after my splint was removed. The surgical wires and

> hooks came off and I was back in regular wires and rubber bands

> (which are being used to bring my back teeth together). I have very

> little numbness and some slight residual swelling. I saw my OS today

> and he is happy with the way things are proceeding and gave me the

> okay to chew and eat whatever I want, of course, with in reason. I

> can open my mouth pretty much and have no trouble yawning. He would

> like to see me be able to open my mouth another 5 mm, so he gave me

> an exercise to do. The next time he wants to see me is when my ortho

> treatment is complete. I have my second appointment with my OD next

> week and I will also have my teeth cleaned the next day.

>

> I want to say that I am very happy with my results and I am glad that

> I had the surgery. However, I do want to say that it wasn't a

> decision that was made lightly. I've known for years that I needed

> the surgery and just kept pushing it out of my mind. So after lots

> of pondering, at 50 years of age (I will be 52 years " young " in

> August), I decided to have it done. Once again, I thank God, because

> I was blessed with a terrific dentist, a great orthodontist and a

> wonderful oral surgeon (which my dentist recommended) and just as

> wonderful oral surgeon that assisted. Of course, I am so very

> thankful to these two boards. Both boards made doing my " homework "

> easy. From reading all the messages, I was as prepared as I could be

> going into surgery. I would especially like to thank Cammie and

> for all the good advice and support. I also want to thank and

> wish the best to my surgery buddies on the June'04 surgery and hats

> off to the man that kept us all in the loop . . . Thom (aka Dammit).

>

> I do have one thing I would like to comment on. After the many

> months of reading the many post on both boards, a number of times I

> have read that how much easier and quicker recovery is for the

> younger person that has this surgery. This is so far from the

> truth. There have been many in their 40's and 50's that have had

> this type of surgery and from what I have read here, all have done

> quite well with little, if any, complaint. I guess age and treachery

> does overcome youth and skill . . . LOL! So if you are a person in

> your 40's or 50's and considering this type of surgery, don't let

> your age be a deciding factor. Everything needs to be taken into

> consideration and weighed out. With that said, whatever age you are

> and if you do decide to have this type of surgery, one of the most

> important things to remember is . . . PATIENCE!

>

> Best wishes and God speed to all post and pre ops out there.

>

> With regards,

> Dale