and doctors that are fools

[Guest guest]

,

Well I have been going up and down Mt. Everest since yesterday like

there was no tomorrow! Honestly the exercise has been doing me good.

The only thing that happens to me as I go down the stairs is that I

suddenly have visions of me falling flat on my face and having to

redo the surgery and we don't want that! I know, I have a morbid

imagination.

Now as per your first surgeon's letter. He is a class A FOOL! I know

this because I've had a few of my own fool doctors to contend with.

My first one was when I was 9 years old. He told my mother that my

tongue was too big for my mouth and needed to be cut to make it

smaller. I think not said my mother! I don't know why some doctors

feel so compelled to get you to spend all this money on them and then

don't think twice about chasing down your dreams of fixing your

problems, problems that cause a lot of pain. I think on this message

board there is evidence of all sorts of people who have been through

hell and back and were able to sort out their jaw problems. I am

confident that you will soon join these ranks:-)

As for the time dragging part, I know what you mean! I felt exactly

the same way 3 weeks pre-op. Then about 10 days pre-op time started

flying by very quickly!

Hold on, you're almost there!

Sara

> > Hi all, this is my first post post-op. Well I survived surgery

amd

> made

> > it back home in record time! Surgery started at 1pm yesterday and

> ended

> > at 6:30pm and I was back home today by 2:30pm. Thank god because

I

> had

> > to spend the whole night in the recovering unit as there were no

> beds

> > left in LIJ hospital. What's more they put me in the mens section

> in

> > the recovering unit which wouldn't have been so bad if the guy

next

> > door to me hadn't insisted on telling jokes all night, ones that

I

> did

> > not find amusing:-( On the plus side it meant that I had a nurse

> > checking in one me pretty much every hour which was reassuring.

> >

> > Surgery details: I had an upper leforte 1. My palet was dissected

> into

> > three pieces and expanded. I can feel a little cut in the middle

of

> my

> > palet from where they cut it but it has already started healing

> which

> > is good news. They removed only my two upper bicuspids and not my

> three

> > wisdom teeth as my doctors claimed I would have been in major

pain

> > today. My upper jaw was moved up and they removed a piece of bone

> above

> > my gum line to allow for this. My lower jaw swung right into

place

> > perfectly. My mouth is now banded shut with only two VERY tight

> elastic

> > bands which actually feel like four bands because they are

wrapped

> > around my hooks in a box shape. I have a splint which by the

looks

> of

> > it is not that big but boy does it feel clunky. Eating, or rather

> > getting liquids in, as well as talking is proving a nightmare but

I

> am

> > confident I will get there eventually.

> >

> > When I woke up post-surgery I still had the nasal gastric tube in

> my

> > nose. Let me tell all you pre-oppers this. This tube is your

friend

> > even if it looks grosse! I had a lot of blood in my stomach and

> thanks

> > to this tube I was able to get all the blood out of my stomach

and

> not

> > vomit once. It also helped me breathe very well. Surprisingly

when

> I

> > woke up I was breathing totally from my nose without struggling.

A

> > first for me as I am a mouth breather. When they removed the tube

> it

> > hurt a little but nothing major. Unfortunately my sinuses are

very

> sore

> > right now. I am using ice packs to desensitize them and it seems

to

> be

> > working. What else. Ah yes, the catherer. Well I had two. One in

my

> arm

> > and one for down there, you know where. The 'toilet' catherer I

was

> > very thankful for because there is no way I would have been able

to

> get

> > up to go to the bathroom until this morning. I was already asleep

> when

> > they put the catherer in so no embarassment there. When they took

> out

> > the catherer it took less than 3 seconds and didn't hurt at all.

It

> > also did not hurt after to go the the bathroom. Sorry about the

> details.

> >

> > The catherer in my arm on the other hand hurt like hell.

> Unfortunately

> > this catherer is essential because this is where they

administered

> my

> > IV. I know from previous operations that this catherer has always

> hurt

> > me at times but today it really hurt bad! Unfortunately it was

the

> > first time my mother left me on my own for 30 mins post-surgery.

> She

> > left me in the recovering unit under the supposed watchful eye of

> the

> > nurses. The problem was that suddenly the catherer and IV started

> to

> > really hurt. SO much so that I started crying. A first throughout

> the

> > whole surgery procedure. NO ONE NOTICED or they chose to ignore

me

> > which got me even more frustrated and I suspect worsened the pain

> in my

> > mind. I had to start waving my other arm and bang the side of the

> bed

> > with my wipe-board to get someones attention. Eventually a nurse

> came

> > over and said, " there's no reason it should be hurting you, " and

> > promptly went back to her desk to gossip with her colleague. Such

> was

> > my first encounter with not being able to talk back clearly and

> tell

> > someone to shove it up you know where. Eventually my nurse showed

> up

> > and blocked the IV.

> >

> > That I have to say was my only bad surgery experience. I was up

and

> > walking as of this morning at 8am. I had my last morphine shot at

> 5am

> > this morning. The next pain killer dose I took was this evening

at

> 6pm

> > once I was at home. This was tylenol and codene which put me

nicely

> to

> > sleep. I've not in major pain. More than anything it's my sinuses

> and

> > my joints feel really stiff, as if they are being forced into

their

> new

> > position which is exactly what's happening. As soon as I woke up

> this

> > mroning I remembered to do my breathing exercises and to cough as

> much

> > as possible. I had quite a bit of phlem built up in my lungs from

> the

> > anesthesia but nothing to worry about. I have to say, taking deep

> > breaths and walking around the ward, as well as going to the

> bathroom

> > did a lot for me not just physically in terms of getting the

> anethesia

> > out of my system but also in terms of my mental state. I felt

> better

> > and positive about my recovery.

> >

> > Doctor Scwartz came in to see me this morning at 8am and removed

my

> > bandages that were wrapped around my head. He was amazed by how

> little

> > swelling I had. In fact, Dr Sachs who came in to see right before

I

> was

> > discharged at 1:30pm and all the nurses kept on saying that I

> looked

> > amazing for someone who just had a leforte. I put it down to the

> arnica

> > pills I took on Sunday night and the MLD massage I had. I still

> think I

> > look swollen and I'm sure it will get worse over the next 48

hours

> but

> > at least I haven't bruised badly immediately. I'll post a post-op

> 24

> > hour picture for all of you.

> >

> > The weirdest part has been getting used to the new me. First of

all

> I

> > hav a chin, which is really weird. My lips are wider and my nose

is

> > also slightly wider. I'm still not sure I like what I see but

I've

> > decided not to make any final judgements for at least 3 weeks.

> >

> > Well, that's enough of my rambling for now. Throughout the whole

> > procedure I kept on saying to myself, oh I need to tell the group

> about

> > this. It was a huge comfort. And I can honestly say now from the

> other

> > side that while not one of the most enjoyable activities I have

> ever

> > been through, the surgery is not that bad. The best part was

> getting it

> > over with. Now I'm going to go through the other posts to see how

> > Shiloh and Jae did and to see how Jen and Becky are getting along

> in

> > preparing for their surgery.

> >

> > It's good to be back.

> >

> > Sara