bone graft...diane

[Guest guest]

Hey Diane )

First off, don't freak out...it's really not that bad. I promise )

That said - I suppose you already read that I had an upper advancement

(lefort I) and a bone graft to close my cleft palate/fistula. I had

put off the bone graft in my teens because I was afraid of the pain

and also the scarring. What's kind of funny is that I was so stressed

about the advancement (which I had never heard suggested before) that

I kind of forgot that I was even having the graft.

As for what it was like, I woke up out of surgery to what felt like a

" crampy soreness " in what I thought was my lower left ab. Picture

pretty bad PMS cramps...or maybe doing too hard a lower ab work out.

It would hurt if I coughed or moved the wrong way...but that's pretty

much it. It also was mildly uncomfortable when I would stand up and

start walking...but once I was going it was OK. I would say the worst

part (which really wasn't pain but soreness) lasted about 3 or 4 days.

They suggest that you walk frequently - that it promotes the

healing...and that's what I did. It remained sore for the better part

of two weeks...not terrible but I could feel it was there. Sometimes

if I walked around a bit, it would hurt a little more - but it was

never overwhelming. My fiance would say if I got tired I seemed to

limp a little...but I never noticed this.

They did use a fairly new, less invasive technique for obtaining the

bone marrow out of my hip. There was an incision (about 1.5 inches

long) right on my bikini line (actually angled the same as a bikini or

swimsuit would lie). I had a little tan line...but I'm sure they knew

where to place the incision. Anyway, the new method consisted of

using a syringe/needle combo to actually enter the hip bone and

extract the bone marrow. I'm not sure how much they took out (I was

kind of sleeping at the time )...but I'm still functioning now so I

suppose not too much. This is suppose to be much less invasive and

painful than the old technique (which I think includes more brunt

force to get the marrow). I would ask your dr if he knows about

it...and I would be happy to email you my surgeon's number if that

would help.

The waterproof dressing stayed on for two weeks - and when it came off

there was a little scar that looked like a scratch. There were no

surface stiches, and after he removed the dressing he said I didn't

need to do anything else with it. After another week, the area became

a little dry (I typically had dry skin), so I put some aquaphor on it

(hey...I didn't use all of it for my lips and it was around the house)

and that seemed to help. By three weeks I barely noticed it was there

at all - only if I had been walking around a bunch was it sore.

It's not as bad as you probably think (or as I thought). The muscles

somehow feel sore around the incision area for a bit...but they come

back. The scar is amazingly small and very discretely placed. I

wouldn't worry at all )

Good luck - and feel free to ask me questions anytime!

-becky

[Guest guest]

Becky,

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions regarding the

bone graft. I'm such a ditz...I thought they were carving off a piece of

bone and placing it in my jaw. Good grief.

I'm sure as I get closer to early fall, I'll have a lot more questions. I

appreciate your continued willingness to help answer my questions.

Best of luck for a speedy recovery.

Diane, Oregon

>

>Reply-To: orthognathicsurgerysupport

>To: orthognathicsurgerysupport

>Subject: [Orthognathic Surgery Support ] bone graft...diane

>Date: Thu, 07 Jul 2005 22:03:25 -0000

>

[Guest guest]

Diane,

Ditz you are not ) I've heard the older method described in many

terms...some of the descriptions sound pretty bad. I think the main

gist is that they would " open " the hip bone and " scoop out " the

cancellous marrow. I googled searched it a year or two ago and there

was a picture (if I can find it again I'll post it). I think this

method is much harder on the healing process.

One of the major limitations in my healing is waiting for the bone

graft to harden into bone. It takes 8-12 weeks...the surgeon

described it like waiting for an arm break to heal back up.

Keep up the questions ) It makes me feel useful!

-becky