Re: JUST HAD MY SURGERY TODAY! Description of it

[Guest guest]

--- Malleys wrote:

Wow, it's just luscious to hear from someone who had

the surgery and it went OK

Yay!

---------------------------------

Hey everyone! (it's the new girl, jessica from

montreal, canada).

So i just had my upper palete expansion osteotomy

surgery today and it went super well from what i can

tell so far. Sorry, i'm only writing now. I wanted to

write like much earlier like a few hrs after i got

back from the hospital so you can all feel encouraged

with how quick you can feel fine after, but my mother

was at my place and then my sisters came so i didn't

get a chance to sit at the computer cuz we were eating

together and watching t.v. and then i napped a bit.

So yeah, for those who are having their surgery coming

up, do not worry! things can go super well. Mine was

apparently done in an hour even, and it was

day-surgery so i left a couple hrs after.

so here's a recap of how it went down, for those

who've never had surgery like me, and are curious:

so since last nite, i was super nervous and up till

then hadn't been cuz i didn't let myself think about

it...i had to get up at 6 am. cuz teh surgery was at

7:30 and i wanted to get there at 7:00. the hospital

is just ten minutes away so i went by bus and metro

and my mother met me there. so all nite though i

couldnt' sleep and kept waking up by the hr pretty

much..then in the morning i had to take a shower and

use the special sponge they give you to clean which

has special soap in it. i also had to fill up a small

vile of my urine and bring it with me.

so i get to the hospital, go up to the 5th floor where

the day surgeries are, and i had to drop my medicare

card (canada's gov't health insurance card) at the

prep room and then go wait in the day-surgery

patients' waiting room. my mother joined me

there...then they called my name (and i coudlnt'

understand it cuz it was a nurse with a really heavy

haitian accent, haha, but i went to check with someone

else who also thought she heard her name, and it was

mine). anyway, so there i was in the day-surgery

patients' prep room..so the nurses took my blood

pressure and temperature and asked some more medical

questions and then told me to go to bed no. 10 at teh

end which..the room was like a big hospital room with

beds lined up with curtains that can be drawn aroudn

it and beside each bed there was a locker and a

chair.i was told to get into the hospital gown and get

into bed and wait...then soon my surgeon came to talk

to me and ask if i had any last questions..i

did...about the meds,

icing, etc and genenal nervousness.

then soon i was ready to be wheeled into the surgery

room..i had taken off my glasses (i wear contacts

normally and have horrible nearsightedness) so i

couldnt' see anything and was laughing with the guy

that i felt like i was in a funhouse/amusement part in

the scary house where you're in that car in the dark

hallways and things come at

you..haha..anywayz..sidetracking..

before going into the room, the anasthesiologist

approached me and first asked if i speak enlish or

french (they all did this) and i said english although

at times i just felt like practicing my french so

spoke both at times..anyway, i spoke of my crazy fears

of not being fully asleep or waking up during (i've

watched 20/20 wayy too much, haha) but she answered

really nicely and didn't belittle me, but said that's

been extremely rare and it depends on teh type of

surgery and jaw surgery is not the type where that

could happen..plus, you don't just ever just wake up

during..you slowly emerge, so baiscally the

anasthesiologist would notice on the monitors if that

were to start to happen before you actually woke up.

anyway, then once wheeled into the actual room, there

were several nurses and my surgeon..for some reason i

got super nervous i think also from the lack of sleep,

as they were about to transfer me onto the stretcher

of the surgery and i sstarted saying how nervous i was

feeling and i actually started crying cuz i was saying

i'm worried i won't be able to be put to sleep cuz am

nervous, etc...haha, sounds ridiculous now..but

anyway, they were really sweet and calming me

down..anyway, then i was lying on teh stretcher and

they always explained what they were gonna do..take

the blood pressure again (they do this a lot..before,

during and after the surgery at differetn times)..and

put on the tapes on the upper chest for the monitoring

stuff...

then they put the IV in first to attach the saline

solution that they'll use to prevent hydration..then

she said she'll put meds to calm me..and then the

general..so as they did the calming meds they also

gave me oxygen thru a mask and then took it off..i

started coughing a bit and they said " yes, it's noraml

to cough a bit..it's the medication taking effect.. "

then here's where things get hazy..actually that part

is a bit too, cuz the meds right away took effect and

you just feel super tired and aren't thinking

anymore..there's no real " out of it'ness " cuz boom,

i'm gone....

then i wake up in the OR room still, and they tell me

they told me everything went very well..and i asked

" so it's over? and it all went well? " haha..and he

goes " it went VERY well " ..and i think they said it

only lasted half an hr but i could be wrong on that

one cuz still a bit out of it..anyway, then i guess

they monitored me a bit and soon (don't remember much)

...and oh yeah, they asked if i was feeling any pain

and to try to rate it from a scale of 1 - 10, and i

don' tremember what number i gave..maybe 5 or 6..and

they said, k they'll be administering some

morphine..and they did that, and then after a while

(probably longer than i realized) asked again how it

was and i said i felt a littel pain but wasn't sure

where to rate it..so she put a little more..and then i

said i was fine..

and then i was brought back to the day surgery patient

prep room to my spot and i was totally fine..i told

them to call my mother and she came and we were talkin

ga lot and she was veyr surprised i was talking and

everything and was worried i shouldn't strain myself

but it was fine..and for some reason i had a bunch of

energy to talk and talk, but then suddenly i got tired

and had to sleep a bit..oh yeah, also they put this

ice pack that's filled with ice on two sides and wraps

aroudn your face and is held with velcro...pretty

cool..i bought several of those resusable gel icepacks

tho and use those with the strap at home..anyway..so i

think i was there for like an hr and a half and then i

was gonna go home but the nurse asked if the pain was

fine and i said actually it was starting to hurt a bit

so she gave me a shot of codeine and said i'd get

really sleepy, but i didn't for some reason but the

pain went away..anyway, then my surgeon came by again

to check up and i said i was

leaving soon..and yeah, soon after that, i was told i

could go so we went home by taxi (my mother doesn't

drive)..

anyway so that's it...today was pretty cool..i slept a

bit and ate soem chicken noodle soup and apple sauce

and the pain has been pretty manageable with the pain

meds and stuff and i'm not taking them too often

though. oh yeah one thing i have been sorta dealing

with: nosebleeding..nto a lot but still sorta

annoying..it's a mixture i think of eithe rthe surgery

and the tubing they had put down the nose into the

windpipe durin gthe surgery..they told me abou tit but

again i forgot what they said..haha.

ok enough rambling for now..

good luck and i'll write back soon!

---------------------------------

Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in

one click.

[Guest guest]

,

Glad to hear your surgery went so well. Also thank you for giving such

a great explanation of our process. It really helps, expecially since

I too have a fear of not being put under all the way.

Hope your week goes by quick and you feel better.

Beth

[Guest guest]

, congrats on getting through the surgery. So happy to hear it

went well. And my compliments are the very vivid and good description

of the surgery. I'm sure it will be very insightful and reassuring to

all pre-opers. I particularly identified with the part where you said

that because you had no contacts of glasses on you felt like you were

in some strange amusement park. I'm blind as a bat too without my

contacts and on the day of my surgery a nurse had to accompany me at

all times otherwise I would keep going into the wrong room when what

I really meant to do was go to the bathroom (i had to pee every 5

minutes from how nervous I was). At one point when the nurse

accompanied me into the OR room I kept on thinking to myself " what if

she takes me onto the wrong OR?? I wouldn't even know the

difference! " Of course that didn't happen and now I can laugh about

it.

Rest up and remember to take it easy.

Sara

Surgery June 6th, 2005

>

> Hey everyone! (it's the new girl, jessica from montreal, canada).

>

> So i just had my upper palete expansion osteotomy surgery today and

it went super well from what i can tell so far. Sorry, i'm only

writing now. I wanted to write like much earlier like a few hrs after

i got back from the hospital so you can all feel encouraged with how

quick you can feel fine after, but my mother was at my place and then

my sisters came so i didn't get a chance to sit at the computer cuz

we were eating together and watching t.v. and then i napped a bit.

>

> So yeah, for those who are having their surgery coming up, do not

worry! things can go super well. Mine was apparently done in an hour

even, and it was day-surgery so i left a couple hrs after.

>

> so here's a recap of how it went down, for those who've never had

surgery like me, and are curious:

>

> so since last nite, i was super nervous and up till then hadn't

been cuz i didn't let myself think about it...i had to get up at 6

am. cuz teh surgery was at 7:30 and i wanted to get there at 7:00.

the hospital is just ten minutes away so i went by bus and metro and

my mother met me there. so all nite though i couldnt' sleep and kept

waking up by the hr pretty much..then in the morning i had to take a

shower and use the special sponge they give you to clean which has

special soap in it. i also had to fill up a small vile of my urine

and bring it with me.

>

> so i get to the hospital, go up to the 5th floor where the day

surgeries are, and i had to drop my medicare card (canada's gov't

health insurance card) at the prep room and then go wait in the day-

surgery patients' waiting room. my mother joined me there...then they

called my name (and i coudlnt' understand it cuz it was a nurse with

a really heavy haitian accent, haha, but i went to check with someone

else who also thought she heard her name, and it was mine). anyway,

so there i was in the day-surgery patients' prep room..so the nurses

took my blood pressure and temperature and asked some more medical

questions and then told me to go to bed no. 10 at teh end which..the

room was like a big hospital room with beds lined up with curtains

that can be drawn aroudn it and beside each bed there was a locker

and a chair.i was told to get into the hospital gown and get into bed

and wait...then soon my surgeon came to talk to me and ask if i had

any last questions..i did...about the meds,

> icing, etc and genenal nervousness.

>

> then soon i was ready to be wheeled into the surgery room..i had

taken off my glasses (i wear contacts normally and have horrible

nearsightedness) so i couldnt' see anything and was laughing with the

guy that i felt like i was in a funhouse/amusement part in the scary

house where you're in that car in the dark hallways and things come

at you..haha..anywayz..sidetracking..

>

> before going into the room, the anasthesiologist approached me and

first asked if i speak enlish or french (they all did this) and i

said english although at times i just felt like practicing my french

so spoke both at times..anyway, i spoke of my crazy fears of not

being fully asleep or waking up during (i've watched 20/20 wayy too

much, haha) but she answered really nicely and didn't belittle me,

but said that's been extremely rare and it depends on teh type of

surgery and jaw surgery is not the type where that could

happen..plus, you don't just ever just wake up during..you slowly

emerge, so baiscally the anasthesiologist would notice on the

monitors if that were to start to happen before you actually woke up.

>

> anyway, then once wheeled into the actual room, there were several

nurses and my surgeon..for some reason i got super nervous i think

also from the lack of sleep, as they were about to transfer me onto

the stretcher of the surgery and i sstarted saying how nervous i was

feeling and i actually started crying cuz i was saying i'm worried i

won't be able to be put to sleep cuz am nervous, etc...haha, sounds

ridiculous now..but anyway, they were really sweet and calming me

down..anyway, then i was lying on teh stretcher and they always

explained what they were gonna do..take the blood pressure again

(they do this a lot..before, during and after the surgery at

differetn times)..and put on the tapes on the upper chest for the

monitoring stuff...

>

> then they put the IV in first to attach the saline solution that

they'll use to prevent hydration..then she said she'll put meds to

calm me..and then the general..so as they did the calming meds they

also gave me oxygen thru a mask and then took it off..i started

coughing a bit and they said " yes, it's noraml to cough a bit..it's

the medication taking effect.. " then here's where things get

hazy..actually that part is a bit too, cuz the meds right away took

effect and you just feel super tired and aren't thinking

anymore..there's no real " out of it'ness " cuz boom, i'm gone....

>

> then i wake up in the OR room still, and they tell me they told me

everything went very well..and i asked " so it's over? and it all went

well? " haha..and he goes " it went VERY well " ..and i think they said

it only lasted half an hr but i could be wrong on that one cuz still

a bit out of it..anyway, then i guess they monitored me a bit and

soon (don't remember much) ..and oh yeah, they asked if i was feeling

any pain and to try to rate it from a scale of 1 - 10, and i don'

tremember what number i gave..maybe 5 or 6..and they said, k they'll

be administering some morphine..and they did that, and then after a

while (probably longer than i realized) asked again how it was and i

said i felt a littel pain but wasn't sure where to rate it..so she

put a little more..and then i said i was fine..

>

> and then i was brought back to the day surgery patient prep room to

my spot and i was totally fine..i told them to call my mother and she

came and we were talkin ga lot and she was veyr surprised i was

talking and everything and was worried i shouldn't strain myself but

it was fine..and for some reason i had a bunch of energy to talk and

talk, but then suddenly i got tired and had to sleep a bit..oh yeah,

also they put this ice pack that's filled with ice on two sides and

wraps aroudn your face and is held with velcro...pretty cool..i

bought several of those resusable gel icepacks tho and use those with

the strap at home..anyway..so i think i was there for like an hr and

a half and then i was gonna go home but the nurse asked if the pain

was fine and i said actually it was starting to hurt a bit so she

gave me a shot of codeine and said i'd get really sleepy, but i

didn't for some reason but the pain went away..anyway, then my

surgeon came by again to check up and i said i was

> leaving soon..and yeah, soon after that, i was told i could go so

we went home by taxi (my mother doesn't drive)..

>

> anyway so that's it...today was pretty cool..i slept a bit and ate

soem chicken noodle soup and apple sauce and the pain has been pretty

manageable with the pain meds and stuff and i'm not taking them too

often though. oh yeah one thing i have been sorta dealing with:

nosebleeding..nto a lot but still sorta annoying..it's a mixture i

think of eithe rthe surgery and the tubing they had put down the nose

into the windpipe durin gthe surgery..they told me abou tit but again

i forgot what they said..haha.

>

> ok enough rambling for now..

>

> good luck and i'll write back soon!

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

What a great detailed post. It really feels like being there. I am

thinking this will really help people who have never had any surgery

before in getting a glimpse of what it is generally like. I have

had several surgeries (unrelated to this one), and they pretty much

go in the same fashion as what you describe.

I am glad you are doing so well. Take it easy, and thanks for a

great post!

Hugs,

Fran

>

> Hey everyone! (it's the new girl, jessica from montreal, canada).

>

> So i just had my upper palete expansion osteotomy surgery today

and it went super well from what i can tell so far. Sorry, i'm only

writing now. I wanted to write like much earlier like a few hrs

after i got back from the hospital so you can all feel encouraged

with how quick you can feel fine after, but my mother was at my

place and then my sisters came so i didn't get a chance to sit at

the computer cuz we were eating together and watching t.v. and then

i napped a bit.

>

> So yeah, for those who are having their surgery coming up, do not

worry! things can go super well. Mine was apparently done in an hour

even, and it was day-surgery so i left a couple hrs after.

>

> so here's a recap of how it went down, for those who've never had

surgery like me, and are curious:

>

> so since last nite, i was super nervous and up till then hadn't

been cuz i didn't let myself think about it...i had to get up at 6

am. cuz teh surgery was at 7:30 and i wanted to get there at 7:00.

the hospital is just ten minutes away so i went by bus and metro

and my mother met me there. so all nite though i couldnt' sleep and

kept waking up by the hr pretty much..then in the morning i had to

take a shower and use the special sponge they give you to clean

which has special soap in it. i also had to fill up a small vile of

my urine and bring it with me.

>

> so i get to the hospital, go up to the 5th floor where the day

surgeries are, and i had to drop my medicare card (canada's gov't

health insurance card) at the prep room and then go wait in the day-

surgery patients' waiting room. my mother joined me there...then

they called my name (and i coudlnt' understand it cuz it was a nurse

with a really heavy haitian accent, haha, but i went to check with

someone else who also thought she heard her name, and it was mine).

anyway, so there i was in the day-surgery patients' prep room..so

the nurses took my blood pressure and temperature and asked some

more medical questions and then told me to go to bed no. 10 at teh

end which..the room was like a big hospital room with beds lined up

with curtains that can be drawn aroudn it and beside each bed there

was a locker and a chair.i was told to get into the hospital gown

and get into bed and wait...then soon my surgeon came to talk to me

and ask if i had any last questions..i did...about the meds,

> icing, etc and genenal nervousness.

>

> then soon i was ready to be wheeled into the surgery room..i had

taken off my glasses (i wear contacts normally and have horrible

nearsightedness) so i couldnt' see anything and was laughing with

the guy that i felt like i was in a funhouse/amusement part in the

scary house where you're in that car in the dark hallways and things

come at you..haha..anywayz..sidetracking..

>

> before going into the room, the anasthesiologist approached me and

first asked if i speak enlish or french (they all did this) and i

said english although at times i just felt like practicing my french

so spoke both at times..anyway, i spoke of my crazy fears of not

being fully asleep or waking up during (i've watched 20/20 wayy too

much, haha) but she answered really nicely and didn't belittle me,

but said that's been extremely rare and it depends on teh type of

surgery and jaw surgery is not the type where that could

happen..plus, you don't just ever just wake up during..you slowly

emerge, so baiscally the anasthesiologist would notice on the

monitors if that were to start to happen before you actually woke up.

>

> anyway, then once wheeled into the actual room, there were several

nurses and my surgeon..for some reason i got super nervous i think

also from the lack of sleep, as they were about to transfer me onto

the stretcher of the surgery and i sstarted saying how nervous i was

feeling and i actually started crying cuz i was saying i'm worried i

won't be able to be put to sleep cuz am nervous, etc...haha, sounds

ridiculous now..but anyway, they were really sweet and calming me

down..anyway, then i was lying on teh stretcher and they always

explained what they were gonna do..take the blood pressure again

(they do this a lot..before, during and after the surgery at

differetn times)..and put on the tapes on the upper chest for the

monitoring stuff...

>

> then they put the IV in first to attach the saline solution that

they'll use to prevent hydration..then she said she'll put meds to

calm me..and then the general..so as they did the calming meds they

also gave me oxygen thru a mask and then took it off..i started

coughing a bit and they said " yes, it's noraml to cough a bit..it's

the medication taking effect.. " then here's where things get

hazy..actually that part is a bit too, cuz the meds right away took

effect and you just feel super tired and aren't thinking

anymore..there's no real " out of it'ness " cuz boom, i'm gone....

>

> then i wake up in the OR room still, and they tell me they told me

everything went very well..and i asked " so it's over? and it all

went well? " haha..and he goes " it went VERY well " ..and i think they

said it only lasted half an hr but i could be wrong on that one cuz

still a bit out of it..anyway, then i guess they monitored me a bit

and soon (don't remember much) ..and oh yeah, they asked if i was

feeling any pain and to try to rate it from a scale of 1 - 10, and i

don' tremember what number i gave..maybe 5 or 6..and they said, k

they'll be administering some morphine..and they did that, and then

after a while (probably longer than i realized) asked again how it

was and i said i felt a littel pain but wasn't sure where to rate

it..so she put a little more..and then i said i was fine..

>

> and then i was brought back to the day surgery patient prep room

to my spot and i was totally fine..i told them to call my mother and

she came and we were talkin ga lot and she was veyr surprised i was

talking and everything and was worried i shouldn't strain myself but

it was fine..and for some reason i had a bunch of energy to talk and

talk, but then suddenly i got tired and had to sleep a bit..oh

yeah, also they put this ice pack that's filled with ice on two

sides and wraps aroudn your face and is held with velcro...pretty

cool..i bought several of those resusable gel icepacks tho and use

those with the strap at home..anyway..so i think i was there for

like an hr and a half and then i was gonna go home but the nurse

asked if the pain was fine and i said actually it was starting to

hurt a bit so she gave me a shot of codeine and said i'd get really

sleepy, but i didn't for some reason but the pain went away..anyway,

then my surgeon came by again to check up and i said i was

> leaving soon..and yeah, soon after that, i was told i could go so

we went home by taxi (my mother doesn't drive)..

>

> anyway so that's it...today was pretty cool..i slept a bit and ate

soem chicken noodle soup and apple sauce and the pain has been

pretty manageable with the pain meds and stuff and i'm not taking

them too often though. oh yeah one thing i have been sorta dealing

with: nosebleeding..nto a lot but still sorta annoying..it's a

mixture i think of eithe rthe surgery and the tubing they had put

down the nose into the windpipe durin gthe surgery..they told me

abou tit but again i forgot what they said..haha.

>

> ok enough rambling for now..

>

> good luck and i'll write back soon!

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click.

>

>

[Guest guest]

dear beth,

i'm glad to hear i'm not th eonly one who had that " crazy " fear..but yeah, do

not worry...it will not happen..you will be completely and utterly gone for

it..hehe

i'm doing ok so far..very swollen though and some soreness..weird thing is i

don't have any numbing except for my upper teeth..the pain is ok but i feel like

it was less painful before acutally righta after teh surgery, rather than now a

few days later..but i know it'll go away soon and actually even just tylenol is

very helpful.

Beth wrote:

,

Glad to hear your surgery went so well. Also thank you for giving such

a great explanation of our process. It really helps, expecially since

I too have a fear of not being put under all the way.

Hope your week goes by quick and you feel better.

Beth

[Guest guest]

hey sara,

thanks for the msg..i'm doing pretty well now though am dealing with pain and

soreness and swelling now..the good news is i can eat a lot of stuff and don't

have to stick to a liquid or milkshake diet..basically anything that is soft, i

can eat..so even french toast made on super soft white bread which was very

soaked in batter, soggy frosted flakes cereal (haha, as gross as that might

sound to some, i don't mind it), mashed potatos, tuna, soups, etc.

but yeah, i too at one point had the thought pop into my head (ohmigod, imagine

i'm wheeled somewhere else into a diff. surgery??) but right away told myself to

shut up and that that was ridiculous..plus, once in the OR room, my surgeon was

there so i knew i was in the right place having the right operation done to

me..haha, it's crazy how nervous we can get especially cuz as i've said before

i've watched too many bad news shows before where they tell you these horror

stories..

and on teh subject of peeing, actually it's so strange cuz i couldn't pee the

whole day when coming back from my surgery..i felt the urge but nothing would

come out..i think from not having eaten or dranken anything sinc emidnite

before...but soon it went back to normal..

anyway, what did you have done and how is everything going with it?

sazymania <no_reply > wrote:

, congrats on getting through the surgery. So happy to hear it

went well. And my compliments are the very vivid and good description

of the surgery. I'm sure it will be very insightful and reassuring to

all pre-opers. I particularly identified with the part where you said

that because you had no contacts of glasses on you felt like you were

in some strange amusement park. I'm blind as a bat too without my

contacts and on the day of my surgery a nurse had to accompany me at

all times otherwise I would keep going into the wrong room when what

I really meant to do was go to the bathroom (i had to pee every 5

minutes from how nervous I was). At one point when the nurse

accompanied me into the OR room I kept on thinking to myself " what if

she takes me onto the wrong OR?? I wouldn't even know the

difference! " Of course that didn't happen and now I can laugh about

it.

Rest up and remember to take it easy.

Sara

Surgery June 6th, 2005

>

> Hey everyone! (it's the new girl, jessica from montreal, canada).

>

> So i just had my upper palete expansion osteotomy surgery today and

it went super well from what i can tell so far. Sorry, i'm only

writing now. I wanted to write like much earlier like a few hrs after

i got back from the hospital so you can all feel encouraged with how

quick you can feel fine after, but my mother was at my place and then

my sisters came so i didn't get a chance to sit at the computer cuz

we were eating together and watching t.v. and then i napped a bit.

>

> So yeah, for those who are having their surgery coming up, do not

worry! things can go super well. Mine was apparently done in an hour

even, and it was day-surgery so i left a couple hrs after.

>

> so here's a recap of how it went down, for those who've never had

surgery like me, and are curious:

>

> so since last nite, i was super nervous and up till then hadn't

been cuz i didn't let myself think about it...i had to get up at 6

am. cuz teh surgery was at 7:30 and i wanted to get there at 7:00.

the hospital is just ten minutes away so i went by bus and metro and

my mother met me there. so all nite though i couldnt' sleep and kept

waking up by the hr pretty much..then in the morning i had to take a

shower and use the special sponge they give you to clean which has

special soap in it. i also had to fill up a small vile of my urine

and bring it with me.

>

> so i get to the hospital, go up to the 5th floor where the day

surgeries are, and i had to drop my medicare card (canada's gov't

health insurance card) at the prep room and then go wait in the day-

surgery patients' waiting room. my mother joined me there...then they

called my name (and i coudlnt' understand it cuz it was a nurse with

a really heavy haitian accent, haha, but i went to check with someone

else who also thought she heard her name, and it was mine). anyway,

so there i was in the day-surgery patients' prep room..so the nurses

took my blood pressure and temperature and asked some more medical

questions and then told me to go to bed no. 10 at teh end which..the

room was like a big hospital room with beds lined up with curtains

that can be drawn aroudn it and beside each bed there was a locker

and a chair.i was told to get into the hospital gown and get into bed

and wait...then soon my surgeon came to talk to me and ask if i had

any last questions..i did...about the meds,

> icing, etc and genenal nervousness.

>

> then soon i was ready to be wheeled into the surgery room..i had

taken off my glasses (i wear contacts normally and have horrible

nearsightedness) so i couldnt' see anything and was laughing with the

guy that i felt like i was in a funhouse/amusement part in the scary

house where you're in that car in the dark hallways and things come

at you..haha..anywayz..sidetracking..

>

> before going into the room, the anasthesiologist approached me and

first asked if i speak enlish or french (they all did this) and i

said english although at times i just felt like practicing my french

so spoke both at times..anyway, i spoke of my crazy fears of not

being fully asleep or waking up during (i've watched 20/20 wayy too

much, haha) but she answered really nicely and didn't belittle me,

but said that's been extremely rare and it depends on teh type of

surgery and jaw surgery is not the type where that could

happen..plus, you don't just ever just wake up during..you slowly

emerge, so baiscally the anasthesiologist would notice on the

monitors if that were to start to happen before you actually woke up.

>

> anyway, then once wheeled into the actual room, there were several

nurses and my surgeon..for some reason i got super nervous i think

also from the lack of sleep, as they were about to transfer me onto

the stretcher of the surgery and i sstarted saying how nervous i was

feeling and i actually started crying cuz i was saying i'm worried i

won't be able to be put to sleep cuz am nervous, etc...haha, sounds

ridiculous now..but anyway, they were really sweet and calming me

down..anyway, then i was lying on teh stretcher and they always

explained what they were gonna do..take the blood pressure again

(they do this a lot..before, during and after the surgery at

differetn times)..and put on the tapes on the upper chest for the

monitoring stuff...

>

> then they put the IV in first to attach the saline solution that

they'll use to prevent hydration..then she said she'll put meds to

calm me..and then the general..so as they did the calming meds they

also gave me oxygen thru a mask and then took it off..i started

coughing a bit and they said " yes, it's noraml to cough a bit..it's

the medication taking effect.. " then here's where things get

hazy..actually that part is a bit too, cuz the meds right away took

effect and you just feel super tired and aren't thinking

anymore..there's no real " out of it'ness " cuz boom, i'm gone....

>

> then i wake up in the OR room still, and they tell me they told me

everything went very well..and i asked " so it's over? and it all went

well? " haha..and he goes " it went VERY well " ..and i think they said

it only lasted half an hr but i could be wrong on that one cuz still

a bit out of it..anyway, then i guess they monitored me a bit and

soon (don't remember much) ..and oh yeah, they asked if i was feeling

any pain and to try to rate it from a scale of 1 - 10, and i don'

tremember what number i gave..maybe 5 or 6..and they said, k they'll

be administering some morphine..and they did that, and then after a

while (probably longer than i realized) asked again how it was and i

said i felt a littel pain but wasn't sure where to rate it..so she

put a little more..and then i said i was fine..

>

> and then i was brought back to the day surgery patient prep room to

my spot and i was totally fine..i told them to call my mother and she

came and we were talkin ga lot and she was veyr surprised i was

talking and everything and was worried i shouldn't strain myself but

it was fine..and for some reason i had a bunch of energy to talk and

talk, but then suddenly i got tired and had to sleep a bit..oh yeah,

also they put this ice pack that's filled with ice on two sides and

wraps aroudn your face and is held with velcro...pretty cool..i

bought several of those resusable gel icepacks tho and use those with

the strap at home..anyway..so i think i was there for like an hr and

a half and then i was gonna go home but the nurse asked if the pain

was fine and i said actually it was starting to hurt a bit so she

gave me a shot of codeine and said i'd get really sleepy, but i

didn't for some reason but the pain went away..anyway, then my

surgeon came by again to check up and i said i was

> leaving soon..and yeah, soon after that, i was told i could go so

we went home by taxi (my mother doesn't drive)..

>

> anyway so that's it...today was pretty cool..i slept a bit and ate

soem chicken noodle soup and apple sauce and the pain has been pretty

manageable with the pain meds and stuff and i'm not taking them too

often though. oh yeah one thing i have been sorta dealing with:

nosebleeding..nto a lot but still sorta annoying..it's a mixture i

think of eithe rthe surgery and the tubing they had put down the nose

into the windpipe durin gthe surgery..they told me abou tit but again

i forgot what they said..haha.

>

> ok enough rambling for now..

>

> good luck and i'll write back soon!

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click.

>

>

[Guest guest]

hey fran,

thanks for your msg too.

yeah, i really wanted to write a lot so i could give a very vivid description of

what happens cuz i hadn't had surgery before and i know it really helped when i

read someone's post who did something similar on some other site i read..

unfortunately, i will most likely need another surgery too since this one is

just to expand my upper jaw and work with a palate expander..originally i was

gonna have a major surgery done where they were gonna do that and also raise the

upper jaw and do lower jaw surgery as well possibly, but the surgeon decided it

was better to actually wait and see how the upper expansion goes cuz then lower

may not even be necessary after and also how much they raise the upper jaw cld

be different...it sounds crazy when i say that, but i'm sure as anyone going

thru this knows, no one can understand how important these things are to us,

unless they too had the same problem with their smile/jaw, etc.

-jessica

fran wrote:

Hi ,

What a great detailed post. It really feels like being there. I am

thinking this will really help people who have never had any surgery

before in getting a glimpse of what it is generally like. I have

had several surgeries (unrelated to this one), and they pretty much

go in the same fashion as what you describe.

I am glad you are doing so well. Take it easy, and thanks for a

great post!

Hugs,

Fran

>

> Hey everyone! (it's the new girl, jessica from montreal, canada).

>

> So i just had my upper palete expansion osteotomy surgery today

and it went super well from what i can tell so far. Sorry, i'm only

writing now. I wanted to write like much earlier like a few hrs

after i got back from the hospital so you can all feel encouraged

with how quick you can feel fine after, but my mother was at my

place and then my sisters came so i didn't get a chance to sit at

the computer cuz we were eating together and watching t.v. and then

i napped a bit.

>

> So yeah, for those who are having their surgery coming up, do not

worry! things can go super well. Mine was apparently done in an hour

even, and it was day-surgery so i left a couple hrs after.

>

> so here's a recap of how it went down, for those who've never had

surgery like me, and are curious:

>

> so since last nite, i was super nervous and up till then hadn't

been cuz i didn't let myself think about it...i had to get up at 6

am. cuz teh surgery was at 7:30 and i wanted to get there at 7:00.

the hospital is just ten minutes away so i went by bus and metro

and my mother met me there. so all nite though i couldnt' sleep and

kept waking up by the hr pretty much..then in the morning i had to

take a shower and use the special sponge they give you to clean

which has special soap in it. i also had to fill up a small vile of

my urine and bring it with me.

>

> so i get to the hospital, go up to the 5th floor where the day

surgeries are, and i had to drop my medicare card (canada's gov't

health insurance card) at the prep room and then go wait in the day-

surgery patients' waiting room. my mother joined me there...then

they called my name (and i coudlnt' understand it cuz it was a nurse

with a really heavy haitian accent, haha, but i went to check with

someone else who also thought she heard her name, and it was mine).

anyway, so there i was in the day-surgery patients' prep room..so

the nurses took my blood pressure and temperature and asked some

more medical questions and then told me to go to bed no. 10 at teh

end which..the room was like a big hospital room with beds lined up

with curtains that can be drawn aroudn it and beside each bed there

was a locker and a chair.i was told to get into the hospital gown

and get into bed and wait...then soon my surgeon came to talk to me

and ask if i had any last questions..i did...about the meds,

> icing, etc and genenal nervousness.

>

> then soon i was ready to be wheeled into the surgery room..i had

taken off my glasses (i wear contacts normally and have horrible

nearsightedness) so i couldnt' see anything and was laughing with

the guy that i felt like i was in a funhouse/amusement part in the

scary house where you're in that car in the dark hallways and things

come at you..haha..anywayz..sidetracking..

>

> before going into the room, the anasthesiologist approached me and

first asked if i speak enlish or french (they all did this) and i

said english although at times i just felt like practicing my french

so spoke both at times..anyway, i spoke of my crazy fears of not

being fully asleep or waking up during (i've watched 20/20 wayy too

much, haha) but she answered really nicely and didn't belittle me,

but said that's been extremely rare and it depends on teh type of

surgery and jaw surgery is not the type where that could

happen..plus, you don't just ever just wake up during..you slowly

emerge, so baiscally the anasthesiologist would notice on the

monitors if that were to start to happen before you actually woke up.

>

> anyway, then once wheeled into the actual room, there were several

nurses and my surgeon..for some reason i got super nervous i think

also from the lack of sleep, as they were about to transfer me onto

the stretcher of the surgery and i sstarted saying how nervous i was

feeling and i actually started crying cuz i was saying i'm worried i

won't be able to be put to sleep cuz am nervous, etc...haha, sounds

ridiculous now..but anyway, they were really sweet and calming me

down..anyway, then i was lying on teh stretcher and they always

explained what they were gonna do..take the blood pressure again

(they do this a lot..before, during and after the surgery at

differetn times)..and put on the tapes on the upper chest for the

monitoring stuff...

>

> then they put the IV in first to attach the saline solution that

they'll use to prevent hydration..then she said she'll put meds to

calm me..and then the general..so as they did the calming meds they

also gave me oxygen thru a mask and then took it off..i started

coughing a bit and they said " yes, it's noraml to cough a bit..it's

the medication taking effect.. " then here's where things get

hazy..actually that part is a bit too, cuz the meds right away took

effect and you just feel super tired and aren't thinking

anymore..there's no real " out of it'ness " cuz boom, i'm gone....

>

> then i wake up in the OR room still, and they tell me they told me

everything went very well..and i asked " so it's over? and it all

went well? " haha..and he goes " it went VERY well " ..and i think they

said it only lasted half an hr but i could be wrong on that one cuz

still a bit out of it..anyway, then i guess they monitored me a bit

and soon (don't remember much) ..and oh yeah, they asked if i was

feeling any pain and to try to rate it from a scale of 1 - 10, and i

don' tremember what number i gave..maybe 5 or 6..and they said, k

they'll be administering some morphine..and they did that, and then

after a while (probably longer than i realized) asked again how it

was and i said i felt a littel pain but wasn't sure where to rate

it..so she put a little more..and then i said i was fine..

>

> and then i was brought back to the day surgery patient prep room

to my spot and i was totally fine..i told them to call my mother and

she came and we were talkin ga lot and she was veyr surprised i was

talking and everything and was worried i shouldn't strain myself but

it was fine..and for some reason i had a bunch of energy to talk and

talk, but then suddenly i got tired and had to sleep a bit..oh

yeah, also they put this ice pack that's filled with ice on two

sides and wraps aroudn your face and is held with velcro...pretty

cool..i bought several of those resusable gel icepacks tho and use

those with the strap at home..anyway..so i think i was there for

like an hr and a half and then i was gonna go home but the nurse

asked if the pain was fine and i said actually it was starting to

hurt a bit so she gave me a shot of codeine and said i'd get really

sleepy, but i didn't for some reason but the pain went away..anyway,

then my surgeon came by again to check up and i said i was

> leaving soon..and yeah, soon after that, i was told i could go so

we went home by taxi (my mother doesn't drive)..

>

> anyway so that's it...today was pretty cool..i slept a bit and ate

soem chicken noodle soup and apple sauce and the pain has been

pretty manageable with the pain meds and stuff and i'm not taking

them too often though. oh yeah one thing i have been sorta dealing

with: nosebleeding..nto a lot but still sorta annoying..it's a

mixture i think of eithe rthe surgery and the tubing they had put

down the nose into the windpipe durin gthe surgery..they told me

abou tit but again i forgot what they said..haha.

>

> ok enough rambling for now..

>

> good luck and i'll write back soon!

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click.

>

>

[Guest guest]

,

soggy corn flakes and soft french toast sounds delish! make sure you

eat enough as that helps the recovery. sorry to hear about the pain

though. I'm sure that especially with a palet expansion like the one

you had it must be pretty bad but hold on tight, it will pass soon.

I had an upper 3 piece le forte where they basically segmented my

upper jaw in three pieces to then move it up and back allowing my

lower jaw to swing up into its proper position. I also had a palet

expansion performed at the same time but much less minor than yours

as it was only expanded 4mm but I was glad to get that done all at

once. It's funny how only 4mm can really make a difference because

now my tongue is like " wow! look at all this space i have now to

swallow!! " . I also had my two upper bicuspids removed which

essentially meant that immediately after surgery I had two small gaps

on each side of my mouth and then when the orthodontist closed them I

got a gap in between my two front teeth. SO I was sporting a gap for

a few months but that's all gone now. I'm due to get my braces off in

a few weeks but I'm not putting my hopes up too much just in case it

doesn't happen. But I am definitely hoping that everything will be

off by Xmas. It will have been 11 years that I have been trying to

sort out this jaw and bite business. I have to say, I'm already so

pleased with the results and the surgery was SO MUCH LESS WORSE than

I ever expected. I was so glad to see your honest but refreshing

account as I'm sure it will provide other pre-oppers with

encouragement.

If you like bananas try a banana milkshake too. I always found it

very yummy and filling after my surgery but I didn't have the luxury

of french toast for the first few months so I'm sure that beats a

milkshake any day. When are you due for your second surgery?

Sara