Re: lefort cancelled

[Guest guest]

Hi Cammie,

Thanks for your unending support. Now I just can't wait to get it

all over with. This should be it for me. I did read on the TMJ

Concepts website (the ones who make the joints) that orthognathic

surgery is sometimes necessary after the joint replacement so I'm

not discounting it completely. Then again, I don't think my surgeon

would touch me again with a ten foot pole unless there was a huge

problem. I'll settle for a less than perfect bite as long as it's

functional.

And yes, you had my story right. Five jaw surgeries so far (the only

other surgeries I had were c-sections which were a breeze in

comparison) and nine years in braces this time around. Working in

the ER though always keeps things in perspective for me. I see

patients on an almost daily basis that make my issues look minor. At

least none of this is life-threatening or even permanently life-

altering.

Most importantly, I do have a wonderful family - husband, parents,

sister, in-laws and friends - who have been there every step of the

way for me. I'll get through this. Maybe we'll make it down to

Alabama while I'm still off work so I can enjoy some she-crab soup

again. And Beau's steaks taste just as good after going through the

blender.

> > Hi everyone,

> > I haven't been here in a while. I've been working a lot of extra

> > shifts to make up for the time I was supposed to have off post-

op.

> I

> > was scheduled for upper jaw surgery (surgery #6) on May 11 to

> > correct the open bite that remained after my TMJ joint

> > reconstruction. Well, I started having increased pain in my

joints

> > about a month ago which I tried to tell myself was stress about

> the

> > upcoming surgery and work. Then last week, my bite started to

open

> > up even more. Within days, my open bite went from 5 mm to 7 mm

and

> > is getting bigger every day.

> >

> > Last Tuesday, I went for my pre-op appointment and my surgeon

took

> > one look at my bite and cancelled the surgery. X-rays confirmed

my

> > worst fears. All the new bone that had been created using

> > distraction to reconstruct the condyles is gone. The arthritis

has

> > come back and is causing the bone in my lower jaw to rapidly

> > deteriorate. There's no other option now but artificial joints.

I

> > knew I would probably need them eventually but we all thought

that

> > would be years from now.

> >

> > It came as a big shock for me at first. Now, I'm kind of

relieved

> > because there won't be any bone left to disintegrate. Artificial

> > joints only last 5-15 years but even 5 years without jaw surgery

> > sounds good to me at this point.

> >

> > My surgeon is putting a rush order on the custom made joints so

we

> > can do this as soon as possible. We're trying for a surgery date

> in

> > early June. After a year of being able to eat a soft diet, it's

> back

> > to a liquid/non-chew diet for me.

> >