Monday, February 25, 2008

2 weeks post op-hmm

Doesnt seem poss its been two whole weeks, the swelling is still as bad tho, so thats peeing me off a little. Tho the swelling in the inside is beginning to go so hopefully thats a good sign. Brows

Since having the tight bands on, things have been rough, i keep clenching my teeth really hard and this causes me quite alot of pain when i try to relax them. Im also getting alot of muscle spasms and nerves jumping-which even wake me up in night sometimes Crazy the clenching is completely out of my control, but it feels like im making a bad situation worse for myself

As soon as i take thh bands off, i can feel the pull of my naughty jaw muscles trying to get there own way and pull my teeth back to the old position, so im abit nervous when i go to the ortho this week she'll put me in even tighter bands, or worse still tell me i cant take them off to eat and ill literally be back to square one food wise.

Im eating pretty well and finding new things to swallow everyday!! As im still not allowed to chew. I ate very well cooked,mushed up pasta with bolognase sauce earlier and ive discovered chocolate buttons and steamed cakes-chocolate really can make anything better!

Still not got the energy to get out very much, tho im making myself take a little trip everyday Thumbs Up

In some ways im really really pleased with my progress, especially on the eating and talking front, then in other ways progress has been a little disappointing. Im still sleeping quite high up, but i figure my body will let me know when its time to go lower.

The infection seems to be clearing up tho great news, and ive not had the horrible taste, or pus at all today and only once yesterday.

Will definately update some new pics very very soon Pink

Friday, February 22, 2008

Meeting with surgeon-good news and bad

Had my first proper meeting with the surgeon who preformed my op yday.

Good news: Woohoo
The infection is actually in my cheek and not my op site, app ive bitten a chunk of as its numb, and its got infected and icky.
Im managing to keep my teeth and mouth pretty clean, considering im still to swallon to brush anything like properly.
In myself im doing well.

Bad news: Indifference
My jaw muscles are pulling my bite back out of line, i now have a small openbite and overjet back again, that were not there immediately after surgery
Due to the above i am now in tight bands that mean i cant open my mouth at all, whilst wearing them.
Im now in more pain then i was before attending the appointment.

I saw my xray and the difference from before is amazing (in a good way) tho it was abit freaky to see my jaw with big gaps in the bone. (13mm advancement) it was also surprising to me how big the plates were.

My ortho app was also yday and that went fine, she just went over with me how to change the bands, how to clean my teeth and the operation sites etc. I have to go back next thursday to check on my progress.

Felt abit down when i got home, and had a few tears, but soon picked myself up and figured i had to get on with it, as its better to be banded shut for a few weeks then face a complete relapse. Guess it just feels like ive taken a step backwards in my recovery and thats whats getting me down. Also tired all the time still, and thats not helping as i want to be doing abit more now, and just dont have the energy yet.

Feel slightly happier today, but the bands are still hurting and feel abit like they are pulling my teeth out Buggin im hoping tho its like anything on this journey and itll just take a few days to get used to it, and then itll be fine.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

9 days post op

Cant believe its been a week since i came home from hospital. In myself im feeling abit better, im able to do most things, ive been out to the shop a couple of times, tho im still very very tired. Im getting my sense of humour back to, tho i cant smile or laugh really as it causes me quite alot of pain.

Had a major scare yesterday, when i bent over and suddenly had all this liquid in my mouth, when i spat it into a hanky it was horrible smelling yellowly ooze, coming i think from one of the wisdom teeth extraction sites Shock 2 its continued to ooze on and off a little but nearly stopped now.

I called the hospital, but as i have an appointment with my surgeon tomorrow morning (hes not there today) and no raised temperature, its been decided unless it gets any worse ill keep to that appointment.

Pain wise, its still pretty bad, and i keep getting itches and nerves jumping at night which is anoying but all obviously good signs at the same time. The swelling is still about the same as it was, and the bruising is still getting worse (and more multi coloured!! ) i will take some more pics later and update.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

6 days post op

Not such a good day today, am getting abit fed up. Think its a combination of finding it quite hard to sleep, as i have a mountain of pillows to contend with, and keep waking myself up trying to roll onto my side and generally being in pain and discomfort. Dismay




Pain wise-i get:


* the occasional nervey shooting pain, in my jaw, which is pretty bad but short lasting.
* a dull aching pain in my jaw
* a weird pins and needles type pain in my lips and mouth
* strange itching sensations that i cant get rid of, as i cant feel myself scratch them!!
* My neck is one of the worst parts as this is where most of the swelling and bruising is, i have a permantly stiff neck that hurts to move my head




Eating im doing pretty well:
* ready break (like porridge)
* weetabix squashed into lots of milk
* yoghurts
* mousses
* lots of soups
* mashed potato, with gravy and cheese (not at the same time!!)
* i even managed a shepherds pie, with lots of extra gravy, as i could just swallow it, if mashed down enough :)

So im pretty pleased with my progress on that front so far. Way To Go


Feels in a way that its been longer ago, then 6 days, tho i feel like my progress has been very slow, tho i guess this hasnt been helped by the unexpected happenings in the hospital.





Looking good!! The swelling is actually getting worse, along with the bruising. I look abit like hamster with a severly bad double chin at the moment Lol. The worst of the bruising is under my chin, and as it hurts so much to move my head up, im unable to get a good photo of it yet.
This pic shows how i seem to have developed a pretty impressive double chin in less than a week. Under the hanging down bit is a pretty impressive bruise, looking just like ive tried to hang myself!!-marvellous!!

Friday, February 15, 2008

CONT from 11th feb 2008

Obviously i didnt know anything was goin on after this point for a few hours. . . .


The next thing i remember was waking up in a very light room and wondering why i was all on my own, i wasnt scared just confused, then i heard someone comment that i was awake and i realised i must be in recovery. I must have slipped back out of conciousness for a time, then i woke up to a very strange feeling in my mouth. I was very confused and disorientated but soon realised that my mouth was full of blood. I didnt freak out but knew that as no one else had noticed i needed to get it out myself, i was still too groggy to sit up, and just sort of spat it out, this kept happening and i still wasnt scared just getting a bit bored of spitting out the blood! Someone came running over at this point and sat me up slightly, i realised at this point how much id been bleeding as the whole of the night gown was soaked Nervous someone from the maxillo department came and packed gauze into my mouth, as one of the wisdom teeth id had removed was hemorraging badly. (this is quite uncommon but can happen to anyone, even from a routine extraction, and was just bad luck)


Then i laid there for a hour or so until the bleeding had stopped and i was able to go to the high dependancy ward. I didnt realise it at the time, but by now my family were panicing as they had been told the surgey would take 3 hours ish, and by the time i got back to them id been gone nearly 6 hours.

I was transferred to high dependancy for one to one nursing care, with a very nice little morphine pump to administer my own drugs Dizzy my family and boyfriend came into see me, and i settled down for the night.


Unfortanetly my body had other ideas, and as the night progressed i became wheezy and my asthma got bad, so i had to be put on a nebuliser. Then the medication id been given caused my blood pressure to drop too. The night wasnt a good one, as i had 2 drips, a blood pressure cuff, my morphine pump, oxygen tubes up my nose etc etc. and as the night wore on i kept needing to go the loo, as the drips did there thing!


The next morning i was woken for my medication, and sat up in bed, helped to wash and some breakfast of porridge was laid in front of me, along with a great cup of tea. Obviously i couldnt and didnt try to chew, but i ate as much as possible.


It was decided i was well enough to be transferred to a normal ward at this point, so off i went via xray to have pics taken of my jaw. I felt really dizzy at this point and the swelling was already pretty bad, and i even had alot of bruising less than 24 hours after the surgery.


As my blood pressure had dropped from the painkillers i spent day 2 only being able to take paracetamol, which quite frankly were no use at all. That evening when the doctor came round, he said he was going to risk giving me some codeine again, as in his opinion it was cruel to expect me to only have paracetamol.


That night was aweful, and i vowed to be home the next day. There was also more good and bad news to come. The good news was that the operation itself had gone well, the surgeon was 100% confident there had been no permanent nerve damage, and the xrays were looking very good. The bad news was that i was holding my jaw very very badly, and although my teeth met fine, i was increasing my chances of a re lapse by continuely holding it at a very funny angle. Bands were placed on, and at one point it looked like i would be completely banded shut, but im still waiting to find out what will happen next Bug Eyed

The docs werent too happy to send me home as id had so many issues along the way, but i pleaded with them and eventually they relented and discharged me wednesday evening. It was actually quite scary to be at home, especially as they had wanted to keep me in another night. But i was glad to see my own bed, even if it was hard to see under all the pillows i needed to sleep!!


Here are before photos taken on the night before surgery (10th feb 2008)







This is obviously me from the front view!!











This is my profile on the 10th feb 08, its not too bad although you can see my chin is abit far back. Tho im not having any of this done for cosmetic reasons, a better profile is a bonus.






















Right: this is my teeth in profile, you can see my overjet quite clearly, at this moment it stands at 13mm.











These are photos taken on the 15th February 2008 (4 days after surgery)


















Looking good! This is taken on the morning of the 4th day after op. The swelling was much worse on days 2 and 3.













Right: this shows the swelling on the left side and also the bruise which gets bigger with every passing minute.

Much worse than i expected

Had my op on monday the 11th and it was much much worse than i expected it to be.

Here goes: (sorry if this scares anyone, i can only tell it as it is.) Shocked

Monday 11th feb 2008

Got to the hopsital at 730am with already a few tears in my eyes, so not the best of starts. Was taken to a ward, where we basically sat for ages. Then the anethetist came and introduced himself to me, and it became apparant that one of the medication i take for anxiety was going to be a problem as it contradicted with alot of other medications Shock 2 add on to this that i have a alergy to ibuprofen type drugs and we had a large problem.

I was anoyed at this, as i had made sure the hospital knew of these problems, way in advance and they had done nothing about it, till the morning of the surgery. Grrr I was told i would be going to theatre in the afternoon, and went down at about 2 pm (so had been sitting in the hospital for 5 hours!!)

So off i was wheeled to the pre op area, where i was asked a million questions again, such as if i had any jewerlly on etc. Then i was taken through into a room containing the anethetist. At this point i started to feel weird and disconnected from what was being done, the needle thingy was put into the back of my hand and i didnt even flinch, then the local anesethic went up my nose, and they all commented on how brave i was being.

Suddenly tho, everything changed, and as the drugs were injected into the back of my hand, i freaked out completely, i remember trying to push the aneaetist away and telling him to stop as i didnt like it, at that point i lost it completely and tryed to push my way up, the last thing i remember is them holding me down, whilst putting the mask over my face. as tramatic as this was, it had to be done and im just glad they got me under the anesthic as quickly as possible.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Surgical hooks on



So ive had the surgical hooks put on today, 14 of them! Wasnt expecting that many, but hey ho. App its better to get loads on at this stage, as if they have to add any after surgery its very painful, and they use them for elastics afterwards.


You can just about see the hooks inbetween my teeth on this photo.

There not as bad as i was expecting, tho they are digging in abit and arent exactly pleasent, there not aweful either.

Having them fitted was actually the worse part, as my teeth are abit sensitive at the moment and the archwire had to keep going in and out as they were fitted to the right places on it. Wasnt actually painful but there was alot of pressure and pulling involved.

But its over now, so now its a case of enjoy the weekend and be as prepared as possible for monday (eek!) unfortanetly im not very prepared.

Moods are all over the place at the moment, one minute im taking it well and the next im thinking ahhhhhhhh!

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

5 days ahhhhhh!

Cant quite beleive that the op is so close, and that im getting my surgical hooks tomorrow.

The stress is starting to get to me, i keep getting a stiff neck from tensing my muscles and ive got a whole bunch of ulcers-which is great timing as im sure the hooks tommorrow are gonna have fun cutting into them!

Think im all prepared tho, which is something, ive got a baby toothbrush, and soem baby spoons as there much smaller than the adult versions. Ive also stocked up on soup and food that can be swallowed rather than chewed. Fortanetly as ive had previous smaller ops im well knowledged in what food can be swallows whole and what cannot!

Will update with some new pics of the before surgery views and the hooks soon.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Magic Healing teeth and surgery news

Had the final meeting with my surgeon on Thursday (31st January) so now i know all the lovely details of my op!


Here goes:

  • Lower jaw only-yippee, apparently his assistant got it wrong at the pre-op and although originally the upper was on the cards, it has not been since September and she should not have told me this-hmm.

  • Its an 13mm advancement of the lower jaw that is needed.

  • I will need the lower wisdom teeth taken out definitely as from the xrays they will be in the way of the operation site and are impacted anyway. He may also “whip out” (his words!) the top wisdoms while he's in there, and i also need my back upper molar taken out, as when my jaw is advanced all it will do is bite onto the fleshy part at the back of my mouth-so a possibility of loosing 5 teeth then-nice! Tho im not concerned by the wisdom teeth, am a little sad about the molar as its a perfectly healthy tooth-but hey if its gotta go its gotta go! Lol.

  • He hopes to not have to wire my teeth, but (why is there always a but?) as i have had 2 previous surgery's on my jaw bone in the same area and my jaw bone is known to be weak from a previous infection, there is a concern that the jaw will not break favourably for him, and then the internal fixation may need to be supported by wiring off my teeth-fingers crossed this doesn't happen. Apparently he has never had this happen to him in the 10 years he's been preforming this surgery, so im sure he doest want me to spoil his perfect record either!

  • I need to be at the hospital at 7am on the 11th February, and will go into theatre at some point in the morning, then onto intensive care or high dependency for one to one nursing. Then the next morning will be transferred to a normal ward, where he will come and see me. If by that point i am drinking and going to the loo, by myself he will discharge me. He likes to discharge the next morning if he can, but sometimes an extra day is required, but apparently you have to help yourself at this point and drink etc if you want to go home.

  • Puréed food for a couple of weeks, then onto soft chew/fork smash able, tho the exact details depend on how well my surgery goes.


I have been one of the very very lucky ones, so far tho. As originally i was scheduled for upper surgery to correct an open bite and narrow palette (which has somehow managed to correct itself after 28 years) he thinks this is down to the amazing work of my ortho, i like to think i have magic self healing teeth! Lol ;) a bone graft, 4 wisdom teeth removal and lower jaw surgery. So i have managed to nearly half the amount of work needed-thanks teeth, and ok ill admit the ortho may have a little to do with it!


So that's that i guess. Next appointment is on Thursday 7th February to have the surgical hooks on, and then its surgery on the 11th.


Am starting to get anxious, part of me wants it over with now and part of me wants the next 9 days to go very very slowly!


Am eating everything hard i can find! Yesterday i had gingerbread, bread with seeds in it, hard crisps and a chocolate bar.