Upper jaw surgery experiences and Deidra

January 4, 2005

I feel that I have to comment on this because I too had a very

difficult and painful recovery and I think it's important to know

that although it's rare, difficult and painful recoveries do exist.

I'd hate for people to feel like this site excludes or dismisses

peoples pain when they say they had a lot of pain during recovery

just because most people did not experience pain. I went into this

with a positive outlook (although I was nervous of course), but I

was one of the few that had unforseen complications. It's a great

thing for everyone to list their experience whether good or bad,

because it allows people to see that nobody can give you a guarantee

of anything. If you're worried about doing this surgery, know that

overall, I still believe the positive experiences outweigh the bad.

But I will say that my recovery was the worst experience of my 27

years thus far. ( I have yet to give birth though, so we'll see how

that goes) I was not prepared for my expreience due to the fact

that so many people on this site and doctors emphasise that there is

no real pain with this surgery, only discomfort, and any pain you

would have is camoflauged by numbness. Well, let's just say that I

had upper and lower jaw surgery and was horrified to wake up and

find that I had no numbness from below my eyes, down through my

cheeks and lower jaw. I woke up in recovery writhing in pain and

could tell from the pain exactly where each cut and screw was placed

in my jaw. My nose, upper jaw and chin were numb, but the area in

the lower jaw where cuts were made to move it forward as well as my

cheeks near my nose and below my eyes where the screws and plates

where placed for the upper jaw were not numb at all. The pain was

intense and the morphine and ice hardly minimized the pain. I

literally didn't sleep for even a minute that night in the

hospital. Now, the bright side would be that I would most

definitely not have to worry about long term permanent numbness, but

short term, the pain was excruciating. (My orhto saw me at my 4

week check up and was amazed at how much feeling I had. He said at

4 weeks, I was where many people would be at 3 to 6 months. So, of

course it can be viewed as a positive thing now, but it wasn't

pleasant or positive at the time) Needless, to say, I never even

fathomed this scenario because everybody harps on the fact that

there is no pain, only uncomfortable numbness. Well, I would have

rather been uncomfortably numb than deal with that pain, but alas,

it was beyond my control. I can't blame anybody because there is no

way to know when or if this would happen. I then had allergic

reactions to medications and a severe reaction called 's

Syndrome due to the stress of the surgery combined with

medication, which sent me to the ER 4 times- once by ambulance.

It's a long story that I may elaborate more on once I get off my

procrastinating arse and sit down and write my entire experience and

post pictures. (A New Year's Resolution perhaps?) Anyhow, I was

scheduled for 4 weeks off of work, which had to be entended to 6

weeks and finally 8 weeks and there is no way in hell I could have

gone back to work any earlier. (I wasn't able to even walk on my

own until the fourth week because of the 's thing)

Anyhow, there are some positive changes since surgery like increased

airflow and breathing through my nose, and there are some negative

ones like worse TMJ pain on the right side and more limited opening

than before surgery, but I'm hopeful that those things will resolve

in time. Anyhow, I just wanted to say to Deidra, that you're not

alone in your experience. I am not a point yet where I can say this

is the best thing I've ever done, because I have to wait a while to

see all of the results. ( I go back in 3 months to do a sleep study

to see if it surgery " cured " my sleep apnea, which is the main

reason I did this) But I also would never tell anyone to avoid doing

the surgery because of my experience. I am unfortunately the one

who people know as " If something is going to happen, it'll happen to

" , so I am not the norm. Anyhow, just thought I'd post and

say that pain can be a factor with this surgery, but this too shall

pass. I am not bitter about my experience. I wouldn't wish it on

anybody and I wouldn't want to experience it agian, but at least it

makes for some good stories.

--

> > I had upper jaw surgery Sept 2nd, they also put my upper in

three

> part and widen and expanded it. I was told I would eventually

lose

> my teeth too. So I went through it. I know everyone is trying to

> be positive about the surgery. But I was upset because my OS said

I

> would be back to work in two weeks and by December my swelling

would

> be gone. I was back to work in seven weeks because my jobs md

said

> I was two weak to go any sooner. I am 31 and it was worse than

> having my two children. It is a long healing process and you will

> need a lot of help from family and friends. My husband had to

stay

> home from work to care for me because I lost a lot of blood and

was

> weak from that. The pain last around 3 weeks for me and its gone

> now. I can still feel the screws under my nose where they screwed

> it together. Everyone I know so far are happy with there bite. I

> have'n't reached that point yet but its getting better. I hope to

> get my braces off in a few months. I hope my swelling in

> > my nose goes alll the way done. Which in time it should. I do

> regret having the surgery because I fear not looking the same and

> they healing process is sooo long for me. But time does fly and

> maybe by next year and I will be able to say. I love it!

January 4, 2005