Guest guest Posted July 2, 2005 Report Share Posted July 2, 2005 sara, you still have stiches? mine are all gone (for about a week now). hrm. i guess i would rather have stiches than this damn splint though! -becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 3, 2005 Report Share Posted July 3, 2005 to be honest, the area on my palate that was closed (and bone grafted) feels really good and smooth. i can still tell there was two flaps of skin brought together...but it doesn't feel very " scar-like " . what's weird is that the area by my cheek doesn't feel quite as smooth. it feel sort of " bumpy " and still pretty swollen. i wish i could draw where the fistula area was - because it's pretty hard to explain. my cleft palate went along a line that would lead to the left-most " flat " tooth in the front of your mouth (hey - i'm an immunologist...not at dentist ). that tooth actually grew in the cleft area, and my canine was right behind it, so at a young age they removed that tooth and let the canine grow in. the canine sat to the immediate left of the cleft. when the fistula arose, it was a hole in the gum/cheek margin that connected both to my nose and to the cleft that reopened in my palate. so it was a sort of triangle of empty space. a month before the surgery, they removed that canine so they had enough soft tissue to close the fistula. i tell you all of this because the cheek/gum area where they closed the fistula is pretty " tight " and swollen - and feels the weirdest. as for the bone graft, the surgeon said if i made it to week three, the soft tissue pocket would be pretty healed (which i assume would be the same for many people on this site). with that healed - there is less of a chance of infection in the bone graft area. it still takes upwards of 8-12 weeks for the bone to harden though (the reason why i have to wear the damn splint for so long)...and we won't know if it worked until then. sigh. that was the worst part of my healing process...because it's so unknown. no one can tell me if it's going well or if it worked...we just have to wait for months and see. once it heals, they will put a dental implant into the newly bone grafted area (and i will again have a tooth in the front of my mouth!) as a word of caution for all, though - my surgeon could not stress highly enough to keep your tongue from trying to " feel " your stiches or the newly closed area. you don't want the stitches to fall out too fast, and you don't want saliva (which i guess has a bunch of bacteria) in the newly closed area. so keep your tongue away ) miss you much, sara-girl. hope you're having a great time with your honey ) -becky > > sara, > > > > you still have stiches? mine are all gone (for about a week now). > > hrm. i guess i would rather have stiches than this damn splint > though! > > > > -becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 3, 2005 Report Share Posted July 3, 2005 Sounds like you've been through a heckuva lot -- and I give thanks, myself, for the repairs that seem to be working well for you. I'm also in awe of what you know about immunology -- g-grafts, t-cells, d-lymph??? whatever! I don't know whether this is an offensive thing to say or not. Forgive me, if it is, please. But I would never have guessed that you had a cleft, having seen the photos you posted! You must have had a lot of help -- have not we all? -- and be a very strong person to have undergone so much medical procedure. You looked swell, to me, for what it's worth, even before you had this surgery. I hope that it will bring you even greater satisfactions and serve you well.. The damn splint is exactly that. I had mine wired in for seven weeks (after he'd promised six! " Big Evil Grin: Yes, but I lie! " He's sweet enough that I forgave him. And got smart enough to figure I wanted it in there for a year, if I needed it, after 16 months in braces at age 56.)... He took it out at seven. Hope yours goes, likewise. Cammie > to be honest, the area on my palate that was closed (and bone grafted) > feels really good and smooth. i can still tell there was two flaps of > skin brought together...but it doesn't feel very " scar-like " . what's > weird is that the area by my cheek doesn't feel quite as smooth. it > feel sort of " bumpy " and still pretty swollen. > > i wish i could draw where the fistula area was - because it's pretty > hard to explain. my cleft palate went along a line that would lead to > the left-most " flat " tooth in the front of your mouth (hey - i'm an > immunologist...not at dentist ). that tooth actually grew in the > cleft area, and my canine was right behind it, so at a young age they > removed that tooth and let the canine grow in. the canine sat to the > immediate left of the cleft. when the fistula arose, it was a hole in > the gum/cheek margin that connected both to my nose and to the cleft > that reopened in my palate. so it was a sort of triangle of empty > space. a month before the surgery, they removed that canine so they > had enough soft tissue to close the fistula. i tell you all of this > because the cheek/gum area where they closed the fistula is pretty > " tight " and swollen - and feels the weirdest. > > as for the bone graft, the surgeon said if i made it to week three, > the soft tissue pocket would be pretty healed (which i assume would be > the same for many people on this site). with that healed - there is > less of a chance of infection in the bone graft area. it still takes > upwards of 8-12 weeks for the bone to harden though (the reason why i > have to wear the damn splint for so long)...and we won't know if it > worked until then. sigh. that was the worst part of my healing > process...because it's so unknown. no one can tell me if it's going > well or if it worked...we just have to wait for months and see. once > it heals, they will put a dental implant into the newly bone grafted > area (and i will again have a tooth in the front of my mouth!) > > as a word of caution for all, though - my surgeon could not stress > highly enough to keep your tongue from trying to " feel " your stiches > or the newly closed area. you don't want the stitches to fall out too > fast, and you don't want saliva (which i guess has a bunch of > bacteria) in the newly closed area. so keep your tongue away ) > > miss you much, sara-girl. hope you're having a great time with your > honey ) > > -becky > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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