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Hi !

Congrats on " surviving " so far after your surgery...Wow! An 8 pound weight loss!

I guess there are " immediate " benefits to consider after the OS.

It was good to hear from you as although I'm only in the beginning stages

(braces were put on a little less than 3 weeks ago), at 45 years of age (almost

46) I've also had second thoughts about why I am putting myself through this

expensive and intrusive ordeal (braces and upper jaw surgery)! I just keep

telling myself that I'll look better (although no one, including me, could tell

that there was anything wrong with my teeth).

Hang in there!

Debbie

jtdsign wrote:

Well, I was feeling like I was the only one in an older age bracket

at 47 so interesting to see your post. From looking at some photos,

i was amazed that this surgery is done so much on fairly young

patients in late teens and 20's. I have had my braces for just a

little over one year and just had my upper/lower surgery 2 weeks

ago. Yes - braces at first were very painful and with each

adjustment, it felt sometimes like my teeth were loose and I

wondered if my old bones would hold the teeth in place but it does

get better. after about 2 weeks in braces, i was just about back to

normal as far as eating, just took really long and there were many

foods, like sandwiches I could not eat and certainly could not bite

into. I started cutting everything up - hamburgers, sandwiches and

putting small bites in my mouth. After each adjustment, I would be

back at square one, not able to bite into much of anything.

Now after the surgery, cannot chew anything but after one week of

extense struggle of trying to eat - it's getting much better - all

in all I lost about 8 lbs after surgery. After the surgery, I had

several very low points where I was saying to myself --- I'm 47 I

have made it this far in my life with very crowded/mismatched

teeth, WHAT HAVE I DONE TO MYSELF? WILL I EVER GET BACK TO MYSELF??

but already in retrospect - i still have hopefully at least 40 or 50

more good years left, and my results so far are great per my OS.

So hang in there - it sounds like your's is a faster process than

mine was so time goes fast and you'll be done before you know it.

I've found sometimes it's hard to stay positive but that's your best

bet to get thru the entire process - Enjoy your wine now, I'm

looking forward to a nice glass of wine but am waiting till I'm

fully recovered from surgery. Good Luck!

karen

>

> Hi All!

>

> I am so glad that I found this support group! I am a 45 year old

> woman (I don't feel that old)and just got braces less than 1 1/2

> weeks ago. In July I am supposed to have Palatal Expansion Surgery

> (upper jaw only) and feel like I need a lot more information

> (regarding procedures, stay in hospital?, recovery period, etc.).

I

> have to admit that I am concerned as the adjustment to braces has

> been hard for me. In the first week my mouth was extremely sore (I

> couldn't concentrate on much of anything) and in this second week

I

> find myself depressed. Is this normal? Shouldn't I be happy that I

> will eventually look better (I am doing the brace/surgery thing as

> my back teeth are wearing down/I was also a thumb sucker for many

> years when I was young).

>

> My husband is tired of hearing me complain (and my twin children

who

> are almost 8 definitely don't need to hear it - especially since

my

> daughter will definitely need braces also). Has anyone else out

> there suffered the blues in the beginning of having braces and pre-

> surgery?

>

> Thanks for listening. Right now I'm drinking Chardonnay and

feeling

> sorry for myself..........

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