Re: Recovery time

[Guest guest]

Minor swelling can last a long time... The majority of scary/ ugly

looking swelling seems to go away by 2 weeks... my experience and my

impressions from what I've read. I was back at work in a week but I'm

apparently a trooper.

Tova

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> Whats the normal recovery time? The doctor told me I could go back to

> school after 2 weeks, but from some of the stories I've heard here,

> there was mentioning of swolling in week 4 and stuff like that.

> Anyways, I just want to get you opinions.

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>                                                      Thanks, Mikey

>                                               (Operation on June 7th)

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[Guest guest]

Hey Derrick,

You'll likely get mixed responses here, but that's a good thing in

this case. This whole process is different for everyone, one way or

another.

I had the roof of my mouth split into 4 pieces, lower jaw

advancement, and genioplasty.

> how long is the recovery process?

Depends what you mean by " recovery " . The first 4 days are generally

the worst. In my experience, they were hellish. I wanted to die

and kept telling myself " there's NO way I'd ever recommend this to

anyone " . My doctor told me the same thing after surgery: " right

now, you're probably wishing you hadn't done this, but it'll get

better. Give it 4 days and you'll see. " This forum also gave me

strength to get through the worst time.

Day 5 was much better. Symptoms became tolerable and I could finally

realize I had made the right decision to go ahead with the surgery.

Even moreso now, on day 14.

> what type of drugs will i be on? and for how long?

I was on tylenol with codeine, but it made me hallucinate (despite

being a tylenol addict for my weekly headaches), so I immediately

switched to a 400mg Advil every 4 hours and just recently stopped

taking them. I get constant throbbing in my lower jaw, but it's

somewhere between pain and tickling. It drives me crazy and nothing

makes it go away! I just have to keep myself busy.

There was actually more discomfort than actual pain, so I honestly

don't know if the pain medication was even necessary. I remember

the nightmares, hallucinations, and trouble breathing more than the

pain itself. By day 3 (apparently the worst for most), I went to

emergency and came back with lorazepam to help me sleep. It seemed

to help.

> when will most of the swelling go down?

I was lucky enough not to swell much, despite being an extreme

case. I'm down to chipmunk cheeks now. Your cheeks will stay puffy

for a long time, but the rest is different for everyone. I wore ice

packs 24 hours a day for the first 3-4 days.

> when will i be able to resume physical activities like walking or

> running?

My doctor kept telling me to get out of bed asap and get back to

normal activities (within limits). I don't think running is a good

idea, but I found a short walk around the block followed by a nap

felt good. I was told to push myself and not get lazy if I wanted

to heal quickly. That seemed to work out for me. Definitely ask

your surgeon what you can and can't do though.

> will i be able to work? (i work with children)

Two things to remember: 1) Don't chew, 2) Don't get hit in the

face. I'd be afraid to work with children the first month.

> how did you cope with the recovery experience?

TONS of patience. I started brushing my teeth with a baby

toothbrush on day 2, which felt refreshing during sleepless nights.

Eat and drink constantly, starting with healthy soups (potato leek

soup, blended campbell chunky chicken soup, corn soup, etc.) and

moving on to healthy purrée as soon as you can open your mouth. I

watch my vitamin C, protein, and calcium intake. When you get

hungry, kick yourself out of bed and eat/drink something. If your

stomach is empty, the medication will make you nauseous. I saved

myself with liquid gravol a few times.

Yann