Re: Upper jaw surgery experiences and Deidra

[Guest guest]

Deidra, I feel sure you will -- and that everybody else will, too.

It is quite true that some folks, for one reason or six, have

troubled, painful recoveries. (One of the one's I've seen the most

comes from an allergic reaction ot the painkillers.) And a few people

are indeed miserable. Matter of fact, many folks are miserable for at

least the first week of recovery, although congestion, frustration

and desire to eat something solid are more usual causes, as is

weakness.

And no -- no experience should be either dismissed or excluded. I'm a

believer in knowing the possibilities and being fully informed before

agreeing to any surgery.

I just have trouble imagining that this surgery is more difficult

than childbirth, but then, as I noted, I've never borne a baby! Any

time any experience is easier than expected, I think that's a bonus.

And any time one is more difficult, that's hard to get through.

I'm surprised, , that the docs at the hospital couldn't come up

with something to relieve your pain, which must indeed have been

awful. I guess there are just some things that even modern medicine

hasn't figured out yet.

Cammie

>

> 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.

>

> --

[Guest guest]

I wasn't critiquing... I was just surprised to see the comparison. Of

course there are some similarities -- you go to the hospital to do

both, for example (or at least many people do; I don't know of anyone

who's had home orthognathic surgery! <;~>)

It's also possible, of course, that I have an exaggerated view of the

difficulties of childbirth. After all, lots of people do that, too,

repeatedly!

And I hope the happiness day comes soon for you.

cammie

> Well, I will just leave that alone, I didn't think the comparison

to having children would have been critiqued.

>

> I look forward to hearing the next " happy with my results " post op

>