Permanent Numbness and Life Going Back To Normal Forever After?????

[Guest guest]

To all discussing permanent numbness and life after surgery, another

perspective....

To be pragmatic, it doesn't matter what experiences others have had

regarding permanent numbness, because numbness IS a VERY REAL RISK to

each and every person that undergoes this surgery. If half the people

on this website reported that they didn't have permanent numbness,

that would be wonderful for them, but would not change the reality

that each person's body and response to the surgery is different.

Except for considering the supposed " odds " , people surviving through

the surgery without permanent numbness is irrelevant. There is still

the possiblity that the next person will have permanent numbness

regardless of all the others.That is the nature of the surgey and

it's accompanying risks. We just don't share bodies. We are stuck

with our own. Our own body will do its own thing... READ: if you

cannot live with the idea that you may sustain permanent numbness in

just a tiny spot or over half your face... then you should not

undergo the risk of the surgery. You have to be comfortable living

with that consequence. PERIOD. If you are not, then do not have the

surgery. That simply means that the possible costs outweigh the

possible benefits for that specific person. For those who decide to

have the surgery done, the possible benefits do outweigh the possible

costs (risks).

Most of us undergo the surgery because we have such compelling

motivations to make it worth it... Most are willing to trade a little

numbness or long recovery to live without pain or less pain, to be

able to eat, to save their teeth, and save their joints, to be able

to literaly stick out their chin and grin.... to feel that much

better about their appearance. The risks for those individuals are

worth it. I think it has been reiterated OVER AND OVER that the risks

have to be worth it to decide to have the surgery done- or you face a

different risk- Regret. Acutally, you face the risk of regret with

either decision. My surgeon told me point blank that if I cannot live

with the possible risks, then I should not have the surgery done.

That is regardless of his personal statistics that most of his

patients have recovered all of their feeling and numbness, bouncing

back to " normal " or better than prior " normal " .

With 4000+ total members (past and present),I doubt all jaw surgery

patients in the world are using this site. So, I would hardly

consider the members here representative of the overall demographic

of jaw surgery patients and/or candidates, nor would " statistics "

garnered from here be accurate. And that still wouldn't matter when

it comes back to the reality of the risks. The exception neither

creates a rule nor disproves the rule. And look at it the other way

around too... due to the nature of jaw surgery, there is always the

exception. Count on that if you count on anything. I'd wager that

most everyone here has not had the same experience as anyone else....

Each of us has a different case-mouth/bones/teeth.... and a different

surgery and a lot of different surgeons, and thus many, many

different experiences of recovery-from 2 days out to 12 years out.

That is the guarantee!

About life going back to normal after surgery. Most people undergo

surgery because they want the CHANGE!!!! I don't want my life to

return to what it was... back when I couldn't eat a lot of things,

more things I couldn't chew, grinding my teeth down, migraines,

drooling, not to mention I hated my appearance, had no self

confidence, and no pictures, please. THANK GOODNESS MY LIFE IS

DIFFERENT AFTER MY SURGERY!!!!!! I celebrate the change!! READ:

ELATION! Thank goodness my problem was fixable (and covered by

insurance!). I can't imagine those that live and suffer with problems

that cannot be fixed, for which there is no hope or cure, and for

those whose problems are that much more serious.

Furthermore, back to pragmatism. What choice is out there that

doesn't impact the course of your life? Most decisions,

particularly " major " decisions, mean inherently an alteration to life

as the decision maker knows it currently. In every decision.... by

deciding for something, you are deciding against other things....

There are always results and consequences. Most things have a

cost/benefit ratio. And there are consequences for inaction.... doing

nothing is also a decision. But, what doesn't change our lives? I am

constantly amazed and how much my life changes and how much I change,

and how different both can be from what I anticipated or planned.

Hard to predict everything. Anyway, I HOPE that my life isn't the

same as it is now for the rest of it. HOW BORING... If I didn't have

my surgery or braces, my life was still guaranteed to be different

regardless... just by the passage of time and circumstance, life

under goes change. We are animate beings and not static.... our

bodies will change too. Independent of what decisions we make about

our bodies, they age and do not remain that of a 25year old forever.

Time will change you regardless. With or without surgery, braces, or

anything.

Anyway, just adding a different perspective.

Katja