Guest guest Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 JT, It sounds like your surgery is similar to what I'm getting done in december. I'm supposed to have upper and lower and expand the top. Did they move your upper forward, if so do you know how far they moved it? Do you know how many mm your underbite was? I'm just curious because my OS is now telling me that he is debating whether I should do the upper because he would only move it foward about 3mm (and expand it also). He said it is up to me though, so I have been debating. I'm glad yours is turning out so well. I looked at your pics and your face looks great. Dan johntolena wrote: Hey all - It's been 15 days since my surgery. Yesterday was my first day back to work. I must say, it was nice being able to sleep in a little and not make the long commute in to the office, but it's also nice to get out of the house and back to a normal schedule. My surgery (upper jaw, lower jaw, upper jaw expansion/widening) went extremely well. My swelling has gone down a TON, especially during my second week off. My speech has improved a lot in the last 7 days too. I still am wearing a retainer-like splint on the top of my mouth but I can take it out as often as I want - just need to wear it most of the time. I've gotten used to it and my speech has improved with it in too (just a bit " lispy " ). My mid-line has drifted slightly so they are having my wear bands again for a few days to correct it. This has definitely been the worst part of it all but tolerable. I had my first orthodontist appt yesterday and he is really pleased with how everything looks. Swelling has gone down a lot. My gums on my upper jaw are almost completely numb to the touch. All other areas on the inside seem to have almost normal feeling. On my face, my lower jaw feels completely normal again. Upper jaw area, I have some numbness/tingling on half of my upper lip and a small area of my cheek. The bottom of my nose is also a little numb still. I have some jaw soreness but mostly from when I really try and push myself to eat tougher foods. My surgeon pretty much told me that I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want. He thinks a lot of people resist tougher foods because they're " gun shy " rather than experiencing true pain issue. I've taken that to heart and really progressed nicely. About 7 days after surgery, I managed to have Fish & Chips which was awesome. It took me about 3 times as long as usual to eat but worth every bit of effort. Since then, I've added a lot to my diet and this past Sunday (Day 13) I managed to eat a nice big cheeseburger with a fork and knife. My mouth opening has increased quite a bit but not enough to wrap my lips around something like that! I've posted Before/After pics under " JT " so you can see the swelling difference. I'll post some more soon. I've had a goatee for a long time because I wasn't happy with my appearance without it. I shaved it off the day before surgery to get a better idea of pre and post- op changes. So far, I'm happy enough with the changes that I've elected to go clean shaven for the first time in about 9 years. I'm excited to see how everything shapes up in the coming months. Hope everyone is recovering as well as I feel. Best of luck to anyone with a surgery date on the calendar! JT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 JT-- Where did you have your surgery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 2, 2005 Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 Hey Dan, My underbite was off by about 9 MM. My OS moved my lower jaw back 6 and brought the top forward 3. There was talk for quite a long time about only doing the upper and expansion because he thought my face could absorb the full 9 MM shift just on the top. But my lower midline was off so much that we decided it would be too much of a compromise to just do the upper so we elected to do both. I'm glad I did because my lower jaw feels great - practically normal. Most of the healing that still remains is all from the upper jaw surgery. Hope this helps. JT > Hey all - > > It's been 15 days since my surgery. Yesterday was my first day back > to work. I must say, it was nice being able to sleep in a little and > not make the long commute in to the office, but it's also nice to > get out of the house and back to a normal schedule. > > My surgery (upper jaw, lower jaw, upper jaw expansion/widening) went > extremely well. My swelling has gone down a TON, especially during > my second week off. My speech has improved a lot in the last 7 days > too. I still am wearing a retainer-like splint on the top of my > mouth but I can take it out as often as I want - just need to wear > it most of the time. I've gotten used to it and my speech has > improved with it in too (just a bit " lispy " ). > > My mid-line has drifted slightly so they are having my wear bands > again for a few days to correct it. This has definitely been the > worst part of it all but tolerable. I had my first orthodontist appt > yesterday and he is really pleased with how everything looks. > > Swelling has gone down a lot. My gums on my upper jaw are almost > completely numb to the touch. All other areas on the inside seem to > have almost normal feeling. On my face, my lower jaw feels > completely normal again. Upper jaw area, I have some > numbness/tingling on half of my upper lip and a small area of my > cheek. The bottom of my nose is also a little numb still. > > I have some jaw soreness but mostly from when I really try and push > myself to eat tougher foods. My surgeon pretty much told me that I > can eat whatever I want, whenever I want. He thinks a lot of people > resist tougher foods because they're " gun shy " rather than > experiencing true pain issue. I've taken that to heart and really > progressed nicely. About 7 days after surgery, I managed to have > Fish & Chips which was awesome. It took me about 3 times as long as > usual to eat but worth every bit of effort. Since then, I've > added a lot to my diet and this past Sunday (Day 13) I managed to > eat a nice big cheeseburger with a fork and knife. My mouth opening > has increased quite a bit but not enough to wrap my lips around > something like that! > > I've posted Before/After pics under " JT " so you can see the swelling > difference. I'll post some more soon. I've had a goatee for a long > time because I wasn't happy with my appearance without it. I shaved > it off the day before surgery to get a better idea of pre and post- > op changes. So far, I'm happy enough with the changes that I've > elected to go clean shaven for the first time in about 9 years. > I'm excited to see how everything shapes up in the coming months. > > Hope everyone is recovering as well as I feel. Best of luck to > anyone with a surgery date on the calendar! > > JT > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 2, 2005 Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 My OS was Dr. Feldman in Seattle. He's half of the Bloomquist- Feldman office located in Swedish Hosptial. He's extremely nice and very confident ... not a big ego, just comfortable with his own skills . After my surgery, I'm comfortable with his skills too. > > JT-- > Where did you have your surgery? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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