The wrong tooth!!

Have only just calmed down enough to write this......



Went to the hospital on 27th march for two appointments, one with the surgeon and one the ortho.



SURGEON:

It has become apparent that the wrong tooth was taken out, he didnt just forget to take out the tooth on the left side, he actually took the right one out instead. To say im anoyed is a understatement right now. So now im scheduled into have the tooth removed with a local anethsethic on the 11th April. Im crapping myself, as i have a real phobia of extractions (even after all ive been through, its still the thought of an extraction that gets me!) the surgeon tried to deny it too, which anoyed me more. He said perhaps id had the tooth taken out before and id forgotton ?????? but when i asked to see the xrays it was clear, that 3 weeks before the op the tooth was there, and 3 days after it was gone. And im doubting it just dropped out by itself lol.



The plate still needs removing, but the bone has not begun to heal as of yet. So it has to remain in for now (or ill need to be wired shut which me and the surgeon seem keen to avoid) have another app in few weeks, with strict instructions to return if it becomes any more swollen. And my orthos keeping an eye on it too.



Good news (yep there is some) is that the tight bands have been removed and now im in guiding elastics! Yippee!! Its a huge relief, tho im paranoid that the lower jaws moving back (at least i hope im paranoid)



ORTHODONTIC APPOINTMENT

Orthodontically things are still looking good, but my ROM (range of motion) in my jaw, is not as good as it was 2 weeks ago. App this is properly due to the swelling and being banded shut means i havent been able to use my jaw muscles much, so i have to practice this. Im still grinding and clenching very very badly, so i have to bring this up with my surgeon on the 11th as it looks likely i need either some sort of bite plate or something to calm me at night.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

My face is more swollen again today then it was yesterday, so the antibiotics have clearly done nothing at all. To add to this, hope its my imagination but my bite seems off and more back then after surgery, especially on the infected side. Id spent so much time thinking about the infection id almost forgotton why im banded so tightly-to prevent a possible relapse, so really hope thats not happening, as im ready to have the plates taken out but an entire relapse would be pretty much the last straw.

Gonna go and suck on some chocolate buttons now, to cheer myself up, well it is nearly easter!

How can they forget to take a tooth out??!!

Just been to see the ortho (the head of department no less!) and the good news is that my bites looking pretty good, i do have a couple of teeth that need working on. But braces wise things are looking good.

surgically tho, its been confirmed by the oral surgeon that the plate in the left hand side of my jaw has to be removed, tho it cant be taken out for another few weeks until the bone has had a chance of healing. So its back to antibiotics for me. Got to see the surgeon in another 2 weeks to book a date etc for removal.

The bit thats really peed me off, is that i found out today that the surgeon "forgot" to take out one of my back molars, so now i need that taken out too. Obviously im more concerned by the fact i have to have my jaw re opened but the fact that a highly qualified surgeon can forgot to take a tooth out is abit of a joke. (especially considering it was his idea, and he added it too the consent form minutes before the op) am still hoping that the op can be prefomed under a local anesethic as im now terrified of the thought of another general :( but i dont think there do it under a local, as i should imagine itll be uncomy so soon after 1st op, to have my mouth open whilst they do it.

Update to the pics...

Here are the progress pics of a month on...






This is the good side (the right ) and im really pleased with this pic as it shows the difference that the op has made to my jaw line and chin, compared with the next photo, which was taken before surgery. You can still see some swelling but alot of its gone down.



Pic taken 10th march 08 (4 weeks post op)












This is a pic i took before surgery, when you compare it too the above one, you can see that i have a much better profile now, so thats a good result.







pic taken 10th feb 2008 (pre op)










This picture is unfortanetly the left hand side (taken at the same time as the 1st pic) and you can see the swelling to my cheek and jaw area (it actually looks much worse than that in real life too!)


Pic taken 1oth March 08 (4 weeks post op)



Think that properly shows why they think theres an infection in there, really doesnt it!

Cant believe its a month

this time four weeks ago i was crapping myself, as it was surgery day now its four weeks on and its been a pretty rough ride at times but i have had some high points and learnt alot.



Things ive learnt:.....

*you can swallow quite alot of foods without them ever having to touch your teeth

*im actually alot braver than i ever realised

*if things get rough, you just cope and get through them, you have no choice

*the hospital staff in high dependancy are wonderful and i cant praise them enough

*being in hospital sucks-alot

*baby food is horrible, but baby cups are very useful!

*i have alot more people that are looking out for me than i realised


High Points

*morphine is fantastic and having a little pump of it attatched to you is the best lol

*wondering if im dead and then realising it would be unlikely id think that if i was!!

*realising that they knew i was bleeding and that once they packed my face i could go back to sleep!

*seeing my mum after surgery and knowing it was over

*persuading the doctor i was going home whether he liked it or not

*being abit spoilt by my mum, and feeling like a kid again

*discovering there was more i could eat than i thought

*having an excuse to plan a holiday for myself (to reward myself for all ive been through!)



Low Points

*freaking out as they were anethising me, i really was so scared

*waking up and having my mouth filling up with blood whilst being alone, and not being able to sit up to get it out

*The second night in hospital when i was exhausted and couldnt sleep

*Finding out i needed tight elastics 24 hours a day, due to my jaw showing signs of relapse

*The swelling getting worse rather than better and then discovering it looks like an infection is in my jaw/the plate.

Im sure theres other things, ill think of that i havent included.

4 WEEKS IN

*The right hand side of my face is doing really well, the swelling has pretty much gone. The right side however is a different matter and it still looks like i have an egg in my mouth! Theres also some bruising still on this side.

*The pains fine on the right side, tho i do still get muscle spasms and boney pains from time to time. Again the left side is still very sore and tender to touch.

*in myself, most of the time i feel pretty much ok, the infection is not helping tho, and i have a temperature at times.

another ortho app more news

just returned from the ortho and shes already put a powerchain on my teeth, this seems abit soon to me and abit cruel as im still in quite abit of pain from the op and the infection, but guess that she knows best at end of the day.

The infection is still there and in her words is "rumbling" in other words its not got any worse, but no better either. App its now up to me, how long im prepared to wait before they do something about it. (unless it gets worse than they will do something asap) in the hope that it still settles and gets better, tho app thats looking less and less likely now

They think tha either a small piece of bone has been left behind, and is floating about in there, which is exactly what they think caused me all the problems the 1st time round, as a piece of bone splintered off when i had an extraction, or one of the screws has loosened and the plate is moving slightly. worst case is that there is something wrong with my jaw bone itself such as an infection in the bone (hello weeks of antibiotics for the 2nd time in my life.)

The treatment options are that i can either be re-admitted to hospital and have a drain put into my cheek/neck to drain the pus out, along with a course of intervenous antibiotics or i can return to theatre and they reopen up my mouth and hunt around in the hope that they find something. Theres pros and cons to both, so would have to give it some thought. But im leaning towards the surgery option as if they give me antibiotics as if there is a loose screw (i have an excuse to have a screw loose!! lol) then presumably it would have to come out anyway at some point, and i may as well get it over with.

Good news is that im still continuing to keep my teeth very clean :D and that im managing to open my mouth very well so my roms good. So there is some good news in all the bad luck too

am going to book a holiday for when all this is over, at the moment im leaning towards either Las Vegas or disneyworld tho im unsure which yet. Gives me something to plan and look forward to tho, and think thats very important at the moment.

Getting fed up now....

23 days post op and i want everything back to normal, in alot of ways im doing fine now, and i know i should be happy with that.

But im fed up with not being able to eat or talk, itll be at least another 3 weeks before there loosen the bands, enabling me to talk clearly again and the same amount of time until they let me try chewing im dreaming of sinking my teeth into a pizza or a bread roll, even a sandwich would be excellent at the moment.

Ive always believed that the only thing that stops you doing anything in life is yourself, but it doesnt feel like that at the moment. There is a band playing locally tomorrow night ive waited ages to see and im not going as itll properly get abit rowdy and dont wanna get an elbow etc in the face just yet! and some of my friends are going to thorpe park on good friday, as there having an extreme sports day and the guys from tvs dirty sanchez are there. (im a big fan) and again no one thought to ask me as "no one thought youd want to go to a theme park so soon" ok i wouldnt have gone on the rides but couldve still come too.

At least im in a grumpy mood instead of a upset one, grumpys much more like me! lol

Ok its not funny anymore

woke up on thursday morning and the swelling was worse in my left cheek, i hoped this was just as i had slept abit lower.

Had an appointment with the ortho, so went along to that and mentioned the swelling to her, she had a look and felt it, then had a look inside my mouth and confirmed there was something oozing behind my back tooth still

she went to get my surgeon who just happened to be hanging around the department!! and he came in and looked and touched my face, app it now looks like i have an infection around the metal plate put into the left side of my jaw tho im suspecting that its always been this and i never had an infection in my cheek at all.

He said that the best thing to do is wait and see what happens as they cannot remove the plate for at least another 4 weeks. As i can taste the pus (again) this means it is draining out rather than acculamating in one place so the hope is it will clear itself naturally and not get any worse. Was just another kick in the teeth (so to speak!) but as ive had so many problems with infections in the past it didnt come as a huge shock either.

If it swells up even more i have to return to the hospital asap for treatment (tho not too sure what treatment is) and it seems to be getting bigger very very slowly at the moment. Main concern is having another general anesthetic of i need the plates removed as thats the bit that scares me the most, and im hoping if it comes to that they can do it under a local.

My ortho tho did compliment me on my cleaning which is always good to hear, and the elastics are doing there job so far in holding my teeth at the correct position, so there was def some good news too.