Re: My update at 4 weeks post op - to Judy

[Guest guest]

Hi Judy,

I hope you feel better now that you're on the antibiotics. I've had

fluid in my ears since my joint replacements three weeks ago (but

thankfully no ear or sinus infections since I'm still on

antibiotics) so I know how uncomfortable that can be.

I really feel for your son. I've had that procedure (distraction

osteogenesis) done on my lower jaw twice. The first was to lengthen

it 17 mm and the second to build up the condyles 15 mm - a total of

32 mm on each side. It was extremely painful and I can't even

imagine having it done on my leg.

I hope you and Jordan have quick and uneventful recoveries now and

that you're through the worst of it.

> Hi Angel

> I don't know that I was especially brave to go through everything

I

> did during my surgery. I had the surgery done because I had sleep

> apnea and was tired of always being tired. My upper and lower jaw

> and my chin needed to be brought forward to open up my airway to

> correct not only the sleep apnea I've suffered with for so long,

but

> also to stop me from choking on food sometimes when I would

swallow.

> It's not like I would choke on a daily basis, but when it did

> happen, it was pretty bad and scared me everytime.

> There are lots of different reasons why people have this surgery.

I

> think anyone who goes through this type of surgery is pretty

brave,

> for whatever their reasons are. It's a big surgery.

> My sleep apnea already seems to be gone after just 4 weeks; and I

> still have some swelling left, so the surgery has worked for the

> main reasons I needed it to. I've been up at night a bit more this

> last week or two, because I needed Motrin or Tylenol for the pain

in

> my ears and jaw. Now I know though that this is going to get

better

> and better for me now that I've got the antibiotics.

> Your surgery is coming up soon, but you said you're having serious

> second thoughts about it. In some ways the cure may be worse than

> the problem as you said - but I think most people get through

their

> surgeries without too many problems, so when you say the cure may

be

> worse than the problem; right after surgery it may very well seem

> that way. With time and healing though, things should get better

and

> better.

> I honestly have to say that yes, I think in the end it's worth it -

> even though I've felt pretty miserable lately. I suspected I might

> have an infection or something going on - but kept telling myself

> that it was highly unlikely a month after surgery! Stupid me is

all

> I have to say now, because I should have gone with my gut feeling

on

> it, and I wouldn't have needed to put up with this as long as I

did.

> In looking back on things now, I wish I would have known that with

> upper jaw surgery, ear and sinus infections can occur so that I

> could have looked for it sooner, rather than later.

> Regarding your dilema of whether to have the surgery on the 8th,

or

> put it off until later, or even not to have it at all. I'll just

say

> that there is never a 'good' time to have surgery - especially

major

> surgery. When I had my surgery last month, it wasn't a 'good' time

> for me to have it either. I haven't said much, if anything about

> this to the group, but figure now's a good time to mention some of

> the other issues I've been dealing with besides recovering from

> this. I'm married, with 3 kids, a dog and a big 5-bedroom home to

> keep up with. My middle son, Jordan had to have major surgery on

his

> right leg the end of March and we're still dealing with a lot of

> issues with him and what he had done. Jordan had surgery to

correct

> a leg length difference, and what he had to have done was have his

> right femur bone/upper thigh area surgically broken during the

> surgery, then have a fixator attached to his leg so we could

> lengthen it over the next couple of months; turning the 'screws'

in

> his bone every 6 hours (even in the middle of the night!) for two

> months. Jordan's right leg was shorter than his left leg due to a

> sports injury few years ago. What happened from that injury was it

> stunted one of the growth plates in that leg and it stopped

growing

> altogether. As Jordan got older and grew taller, his right leg

> didn't keep up the same rate of growth as his 'good' leg. He had

> nearly a 3 inch leg length difference which was enough to cause

him

> chronic low back pain. We had to do the surgery for him; which

meant

> putting him through several months of torture basically, to get

rid

> of the back pain he had, and level out his walking. We're all done

> with the lengthening part, and the past couple of months the

broken

> bone has been left to heal. We've dealt with numerous problems

> throughout Jordan's ordeal though, infections, muscle tightening

> which caused an additional two surgeries for him over the past

> couple months. He's due to get the fixator off very soon, but

we're

> again dealing with another infection in his leg for the past 10

> days. Infections are notorious with this procedure, and so we just

> have to put up with this until the fixator can be surgically

removed

> which should be within the next two weeks. He's got a follow up

> appointment next week and we'll find out then when we can schedule

> surgery to remove it. I have to help Jordan do physical therapy

> twice every day to keep the muscles strong and limber, plus I have

> to clean his leg and fixator everyday to keep it as clean as

> possible too...all while recovering from what I've gone through.

> The reason I told you all this, is simple really. When others say

> you can get through whatever is facing you ahead, believe it. You

> can do it. There are many ways of working around this problem, or

> that problem...you just have to set your mind to do it, and take

> each day as it comes.

> I remember how nervous I was once I got my surgery date too. I was

> pretty scared to be honest, because I'd never been through such a

> drastic surgery. Plus I did wonder how we'd get through everything

> as a family with this surgery for me and everything Jordan's been

> dealing with too.

> The hardest thing truly is making your mind up about whether or

not

> to have the surgery to begin with. Once you do that, you get

> through the rest of it all day by day. I put my faith in God, and

I

> just prayed a lot throughout everything.

> I hope you can settle your worries about whether to have surgery

or

> not. It makes it much harder to go through - I think anyway - if

> you don't feel like it's truly the right thing for you to do. For

> me, I knew I had to do this to cure my sleep apnea problem, so I

> knew it was the right choice because my health was at stake.

> Once this infection is gone, I'm pretty sure I'm going to feel a

lot

> better about everything.

> Take care and keep us posted on what you decide to do :-)

> Judy