Hi! I'm new here and could use a little support before surgery.

July 31, 2004

I am 37 years old and have braces 4 times. I am now going to have

surgery to raise my upper teeth up for lack of the technical term!

They throw so much at you at the surgeons office it's hard to

remember! I think I lucked out as my bottom jaw will only have a

little slice/wedge removed from my chin to " push it back " and make

my profile aligned. Truthfully I'm scared to death to be " put

under " as I've never had any surgery before. Natural child birth

twice and the third time I went for the epidural~what I was thinking

the first two times without it was crazy! My babies are now 8,5, &

3. Anyhow, I'm not sure what to expect after the surgery (pain,

bleeding etc). Any advice will be truly appreciated! The surgeon

said some people have a worse time with wisdom teeth being removed.

I'd like the truth good and bad! Anxious to meet you all!

Jody

July 31, 2004

Jody,

I had surgery 3 weeks ago at the age of 36. I had upper advanced and

lower moved back. I did not have a lot of pain. The swelling and

congestion is frustrating, the diet can be tough as well depending on

if you are banded or wired. All in all it was easier than I thought.

Take some time to go back a month or 2 in the posts and skim through

them. You will learn all you need to know. I went through about 6

months of old posts pre-op and it really helped me to know what to

expect.

Marsha

> I am 37 years old and have braces 4 times. I am now going to have

> surgery to raise my upper teeth up for lack of the technical term!

> They throw so much at you at the surgeons office it's hard to

> remember! I think I lucked out as my bottom jaw will only have a

> little slice/wedge removed from my chin to " push it back " and make

> my profile aligned. Truthfully I'm scared to death to be " put

> under " as I've never had any surgery before. Natural child birth

> twice and the third time I went for the epidural~what I was

thinking

> the first two times without it was crazy! My babies are now 8,5, &

> 3. Anyhow, I'm not sure what to expect after the surgery (pain,

> bleeding etc). Any advice will be truly appreciated! The surgeon

> said some people have a worse time with wisdom teeth being

removed.

> I'd like the truth good and bad! Anxious to meet you all!

> Jody

August 1, 2004

--- Hi Jody,

I just went through upper and lower jaw surgery with genio July

6th. I'm 34 yrs old with a 2, 3, and 5 yr old. My parents came

from out of town and are helping for 6 wks. They have been a God-

send. It was my first major surgery also. It was nervewracking but

I knew it had to be done. The first week was awful then slowly

everything started improving. At this point I have no bruises,

minimal swelling, numbness cheeks, sides of nose, upper and lower

lip, chin area. I'm very pleased with the results. In my case I was

banded on the sides for 4 wks, next wk I get the bands off for

several hrs a day then I'm done the following wk!!!! I was on

liquid diet without any solids until next wk. The hardest part was

the first week with the swelling, bruising, phlegm choking me, and

nasal congestion. I had minimal pain and used Tylenol. Also the

first week sleeping was difficult. I definitely go through the

site, its offers alot of great information and will get you

prepared. I wasn't allowed to lift for 5 weeks so getting help with

the kids was imperative. Also I'm off work for 5 weeks. I was told

some people can return in 2 wks. I talk alot at my job along with

walking thus it was recommended I take 5 wks off. I'm glad I finally

got over my anxiety and had the surgery. Like you I went through

braces twice before but I needed the surgery to make things really

work out ( should have had it done at age 18!!). Hope all works out

for you. Take Care,

In orthognathicsurgerysupport , " jodypaints "

wrote:

> I am 37 years old and have braces 4 times. I am now going to have

> surgery to raise my upper teeth up for lack of the technical

term!

> They throw so much at you at the surgeons office it's hard to

> remember! I think I lucked out as my bottom jaw will only have a

> little slice/wedge removed from my chin to " push it back " and make

> my profile aligned. Truthfully I'm scared to death to be " put

> under " as I've never had any surgery before. Natural child birth

> twice and the third time I went for the epidural~what I was

thinking

> the first two times without it was crazy! My babies are now 8,5,

&

> 3. Anyhow, I'm not sure what to expect after the surgery (pain,

> bleeding etc). Any advice will be truly appreciated! The surgeon

> said some people have a worse time with wisdom teeth being

removed.

> I'd like the truth good and bad! Anxious to meet you all!

> Jody

August 1, 2004

I hope this will resolve all your troubles for once and for all...

That's why I undertook it at age 56.

Yes. General anesthesia is something to take seriously. I was very

concerned to let both my surgeon and my anesthesiologist know that if

something went wrong, I did not want to survive " in a vegetative

state. " Not to be scary (and I was, to my surgeon: His parting

comment, at 6:30 p.m. the night before surgery at 7 a.m. was, " Please

don't die on me, Cammie. " ) but you would indeed be wise to have

documents in order before you go in.

That said, it was a breeze, for me. No nausea. No pain beyond the

control of the most excellent painkillers they gave me. No problems,

whatever. I was weary for at least a month post op. But not a big

deal, otherwise.

If you have other questions, and a chance to ask them, take along a

tape recorder, and ask your surgeon's permission to record his

answers. I did, and it was consoling to me to listen to the tape as

surgery approached.

I did have way worse trouble with wisdom teeth -- I developed a dry

socket, which hurt like heck! (That's not a strong enough word, but I

don't wanna be offensive.)

And as for the anesthesia, I got sort of panicky, until it occurred

to me that if I needed lifesaving surgery, from a car accident or

stroke or heart attack, I wouldn't hesitate a minute, nor would my

docs...

Cammie