For Suzy

[Guest guest]

Do try not to be soo nervous. That's sort of silly to say, becaue you

will be anxious about it all. But if it helps any to calm you down, I

can tell you that I had a 5-mm. lower advancement, and movement 3 mm

to the right, in June of 2002, at age 56. I had an easy recovery, not

wired, not banded, no numbness, and a fine result, which has held up

since. It can -- and probably will -- happen.

Not to say that things never go wrong, of course. There aren't any

guarantees, of course. But it is most likely that all will go

smoothly. In fact, the most risky part of the adventure, as I've said

before, is the trip by car to the hospital.

Best,

Cammie

> Hi Jay,

> Glad all went well for you, that's so great to hear for you and for

us waiting for similar procedure. Can you tell me how old you are? I

will be 34 when I do my lower advancement surgery and am trying to

talk myself out of being nervous for the next 8 mths or so whilst I

wait for the day.

> Suzy

[Guest guest]

My surgeon just didn't find it necessary, so, as he told me when I

told him I was nervous about that:

" You like to talk. A LOT. And I just hate to think about you

straining against the bands to speak. "

As it turned out, he was right -- it wasn't needed. (And I do talk. A

LOT!)

A few weeks later, the jaw was aching a bit. I told him that, and he

said, " Ok. Let's give it some support. " He screwed on two bits of

that big, twisty wire, on the top arch (I wailed when I saw it, and

he said, " Tell Dr. S. (my ortho) to give me more lugs to work with,

then " ) and put two elastics right up front. The pain stopped within

15 minutes. I may be the only person in recorded history who was

actually GLAD to be banded, after having been free-floating.

I do think the best approach is to be prepared to go with whatever

your surgeon has found gives him or her the best results, and figure

that whatever it is, even being wired, it is only for a brief moment

(although it seems like an eternity, I'm sure) when compared to the

rest of your lifetime.

And I'm so glad if you're relaxing a bit. I do know that it's never

any fun to have surgery, and I don't mean to sound the least bit glib

about it. It's always, always a serious undertaking. But truly, in

retrospect, I worried sooo much and the actual experience was nothing

compared to the fear I felt beforehand. And I certainly agree that

having an OS you can trust and work with is one key to success.

Cammie

> Dear Cammie,

> Thankyou so much for your words. I am not sure why I am so nervous

about this becuase I have had surgery before. I think for everyone

having an OS who is understanding, patient and easy to talk to is

important. I have changed my OS to one I relate to better and I feel

more comfortable. I read your post about age and I think you are spot

on by saying that it has no real bearing and that you need to be

otherwise healthy.

> You have made me feel better as do most of your postings over time.

> Can I just ask one question - why were you not banded, I thought

this was at least required to stay in place?

> Thanks again

> Suzy