Checkup on broken jaw

[Guest guest]

First of all, I just want to say thank you to all of you who sent me

warm wishes and caring thoughts. Thank you Dennis, , Diane,

Cammie, Cori (my surgery bud) and of course Katja. If I've left

anyone out I apologize. And Reni, don't be scared. My substitute OS

(my actual OS won't be back until next week. The OS I am currently

seeing was an assistant during my actual surgery so I already knew

him), said this is fairly common and called it a " green stick. " He

said the fracture does not go all the way through the thickness of

my jaw bone (thank goodness) and that it should heal up just by

being careful to still eat softer foods. He did not put me down to

a non chew diet, just told me to only chew soft things, pastas, eggs

and such. Evidently, when they do the main break of your jaw during

surgery it can trigger smaller breaks that run side to side. For

the most part, these heal at the same time as the rest of your jaw

and there isn't a problem. My OS was extremely careful, more strict

with me than most. I was on an absolutely no chew deiet for 6 full

weeks, and I didn't cheat even though I wanted to. Even at 7 weeks

postop I still have my splint in, and will not be released to my OD

until 8 weeks. So I don't think he jumped the gun. I'm wondering

if the infection I had when I was a couple weeks postop may have

delayed some of the healing and so allowed this to happen. He was

optimistic that this fracture would heal itself, and said that it

wasn't displaced, so everything is still lined up. I go back in to

my regular OS Friday of next week where they will do x-rays and

check everything again. I'm on muscle relaxants to help with the

added neck pain, and back on pain pills once again. I have to say

though, it's not as bad as you would think. It is painful, but I'm

not as disappointed as you might imagine. I think it's because I'm

used to a restricted diet, and that's okay. This too shall pass.

Thanks again to all of you. Your concern gave me a smile and helped

me get a more positive outlook on this situation.

Connie