Re: Shirley - My update at 4 weeks post op

[Guest guest]

Hi Shirley,

I'm really sorry this reply is coming so late. You probably thought

by now I wasn't going to reply. I've just had one of 'those' weeks

unfortunately; and am behind in my reply to you and others.

Anyway - I think the sinus infection is going away, because my eyes

are not so sore and tired, and the headaches have eased up a little.

My ears still feel the same unfortunately; the feel full of fluid

and I still have lots of pressure in there. I will take the

antibiotics until they're gone, but if I don't notice any

improvement in my ears by next week, I will have to make an

appointment with an ENT. I'm even wondering now about the

possibility that I may need ear tubes to drain all the fluid I've

got in my ears.

I have another problem going on too, and I hate to even write about

it because I've already complained enough. My bite is changing, and

it's for the worse! I'm not sure if it's due to the surgery itself,

the jaw wiring, or the elastic bands. I'm thinking it's the bands. I

had straight teeth starting out with all this; having had braces

when I was a teenager. Because I was happy with the alignment of my

teeth prior to going through this jaw surgery, I opted to not get

braces again. The teeth that are bound by the elastic bands are

turning; and those teeth are actually a little loose! I don't know

if this is normal or not but I'm thinking it shouldn't be. I've been

too sore and swollen to be able to open my mouth very wide to get

any kind of a decent look inside. But with all the issues I'm having

with the pain, swelling and irritation - I thought it was time I

forced myself to get a better look at the inside of my mouth.

My bite appears to have changed a lot. I now have an open-over-bite

and none of my teeth line up straight.

I noticed this a couple days ago, and was so upset that I avoided

thinking about it or talking about it until today. I kept myself

very busy doing various errands and things around the house, until

today when my husband asked me why I've been so quiet and unable to

sit still. I showed him my mouth, told him my teeth and bite look

horrible now. I then proceeded to cry like a baby while totally

reorganizing the linen closet...with my husband standng there saying

over and over " we'll just get you braces to fix everything " . As much

as he was trying to help me feel better, it just made me cry even

harder, because this just shouldn't all be happening.

The way my teeth are shifting in my mouth, is impacting my ability

to swallow and to talk. It is SO painful to talk, so I'm just trying

not to.

The left side of my face, which is the side with the bad ear

infection, and also the side with more swelling, including that

lumpy spot between my ear and chin (lower jaw area) - hurts so much

that I ended up putting a lidocaine patch on it today to numb it up.

(I was using those lidocaine patches after I herniated three discs

in 2003).

I could say several more things about how I'm feeling internally

about all everything at this point...but I don't think I need to; as

I'm sure you probably have a pretty good idea about my general mood.

I'm honestly not sure what, if anything, to do next. Should I call

an make an appt. with an ENT, or should I call my OS and bug them

again about my problems...I just don't know.

If I do nothing and just wait, then I'm waiting until August 3rd -

leaving things as they are; not knowing what's going to happen with

these issues, or whether they'll get better or worse on their own.

I really have no idea how long I'll be wired at this point.

Initially I was told 6 weeks. At my last visit, that went up to 8-12

weeks. With my teeth shifting and moving the way they are now, I

don't know what impact that may or may not have on these wires.

I wish I knew how far they moved my upper and lower jaw, and my

chin. But I don't. When I asked at my last visit, my OS simply

said " We moved everything out quite a ways " , and then he moved on to

the next thing. (You may remember reading that my visit was really

rushed/hurried because my OS was SO far behind due to an emergency

surgery case he had to deal with...I'm lucky I was able to see him

at all because he was so delayed - so many of my questions were

either answered too quickly or briefly - some of them didn't get

addressed at all).

Thanks for the hugs - I'm trying to hang in there, but right now I

am struggling with that a bit.

I'm glad things have improved with you, and that you're getting

better. You really had a rough time right after surgery, and you

deserve to be getting better each week :-)

Take care and again, thanks.

Judy