orthognathic surgery

Day 5 and Day 6: Worse to Better

Day 5: I am going to be brutally honest. Day 5 was miserable. I shed quite a few tears and questioned my decision to go through this surgery? Just be prepared for the emotions on Day 5. It all goes up from there though! 🙂

My husband has been so loving and caring during this journey. He hugs me right when I need a hug, he grabs my hand when I need his touch and he reassures me that I am beautiful. I wrote this note to him last night and he replied right under it. Love him!

The swelling was obviously at peak on Day 5. I couldn’t hardly even mutter a word and my face felt like an elephant was sitting on it. I felt claustrophobic and could hardly swallow. Concern was weighing heavy on my heart whether I should go to the ER or not.

Thankfully my wonderful orthodontist text and reassured me that Day 5 is usually the worst. She said tomorrow will be better. I fell asleep praying that she would be right.

My sleep at night is not too good. I can’t quite get comfortable since I am use to sleeping on my stomach and side. Hoping I will readjust so I can get some decent sleep. My mouth gets really dry too, so my orthodontist suggested Biotene. My husband went to Walgreens at 10:00 at night to get me some. He is such a trooper. It helped with my dry mouth. I am going to continue to use it.

Day 6: Praise the Lord. MUCH better day. I woke up less swollen and just a better overall attitude.

Isn’t that picture amazing? I am so happy with the outcome of my jaw already! It’s going to help alleviate so many pain problems, sleep problems and eating issues once recovery is complete.

I feel like Jen once again. The light has been noticed at the end of the tunnel. Eating is getting somewhat easier today even though it is very hard to eat. It tires me out but I push through because I know my body needs the calories for healing. Here is a snapshot of what my table looks like when I sit down to eat.

This happens every six hours as I have to take all my medicines every six hours. Hubby graciously is there with me every step making sure I get the right dosages, prepares my warm salt water rinse, prepares my peroxide solution for my nose, washes my jaw wrap, and puts the ointment on the incision at my ear. It is usually a 45 minute routine but does it so graciously for me every time. He has been a blessing for sure.

I still do not have any feeling in my chin so I am still drooling a lot. Thank goodness for towels. One is toting around with me 24/7. Drinking is still a challenge but thankfully my oldest daughter M fixed a sippy cup for me so I can get smaller drinks. It really is helping. My left ear has been very painful since the feeling has came back there where they cut out the condyle bone. I’m going to ask the surgeon tomorrow if that is normal?

Yes, speaking of surgeon, we head three hours to Raleigh tomorrow for my one-week check-up. Can’t wait to let you know how it goes.

Thank you ALL for praying and your encouraging words. It truly makes this journey so much more tolerable. Today has just been a wonderful day. I hope each day continues to be better like this :).

Surgery Update Day 1 to 4

Orthognathic Surgery Updates Day 1 to Day 4

I am finally going to start my updates. I am almost 96 hours out from surgery. I had read many other surgery stories, but I still didn’t think recovery would be like this, sadly.

I like to be up providing care for my family and they are the ones that are taking care of me.

As we were driving to the hospital Wednesday morning (26th), my phone rang. It was the hospital and they wanted me to come on in as they were ready for me. I let them know we were in the parking lot and would be in there ASAP. I really do think this was a total God sign, as I did not have to wait at the hospital at all. I told my Mom, Dad, and my brother that I loved them very much. The girls were with one of my bestie’s. My husband Scott, walked with me and I hugged him so tight. He took this picture of me:

They put my IV in and wheeled me to the operating room. The last thing I remember is breathe through this mask. The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery. I kept hearing my name. Jen, Jen, Jen, you need to wake up. I guess it took me a really long time to wake-up. Surgery started around 1 and I was finished around 7:15. I was finally able to get to my room around 9:30 where my family greeted me. So much happiness when I was able to see them. I kept saying, God is good…God is good! As soon as I saw my Dad, I said I did it!!

M did so great with seeing me. I kept hugging on her. L was so scared because I had a hard time with my oxygen so I had all these tubes coming out and blood was everywhere. No pictures! I don’t want to remember that scene. My step-daughter, M and my husband all did great with settling down L. I remember my brother crying too. I’m sure it was a scary sight.

Around midnight, Dr. Turvey’s residents came in to see me. I was still so sleepy. He was helping me learn how to take my elastics off and on. This is not an easy feat. Hopefully when the swelling goes down, it will be better. This suction became my best friend in the hospital.

I miss this so much at home. I drool everywhere and I cannot feel it, so it is quite embarrassing.

The morning after surgery, the Residents came in and had me transported over to the clinic. They were able to clean me up and do x-rays. As I looked at myself, I couldn’t believe it. Hardly no swelling and such a straight jaw.

Check out this x-ray. You can see the screws and plates that were placed during surgery.

Day 2, I tried to eat and it just wasn’t feasible. They did keep bringing me chicken broth and it would go down but no pureed food. The swelling was really getting bigger on Day 2. I was able to walk around the hospital with my family several times that day. The pain wasn’t too bad either.

On Day 3, I was determined to go home. I somehow got down some pureed eggs and a bit of mashed potatoes. The Residents all said I was doing great and they would let me go home.

We had about a three hour drive home and fortunately, I slept most of the way with the help of pain medicine. Came home and was greeted by my wonderful Bestie Cindy and her Husband. They had delivered dinner for Hubby and the girls, and also brought me lots of BOOST. That is what I had for supper. We settled in for the night. I was able to sleep about 3 hour stretches at a time.

Day 4, I woke up so swollen. Do I even look like Jen? The pressure is so intense. I will not lie. To drink or eat, it takes so much effort and I get so tired.

It is so hard to swallow but I try so hard because my mouth keeps getting so dry. Applesauce has been my friend to get my pain medicine down. All other medications are liquids. I am on an antiobiotic, sinus congestion medicine, nasal spray and two kinds of pain medications.

I did get up and do some walking and take a sponge bath since I can’t wash my hair till Tuesday when I go back for my 1 week check-up. Amazing what a sponge bath can do for your attitude. The pain where they took my condyle bone out at my ear is more intense this day that it has been in the previous days.

Ice packs are very frequent as it feels like it takes some pressure off of my face. My face feels like it weighs about 100 pounds.

M and my Hubby are doing great by providing care for me. Hoping for a better day 5!

8 Days Until My Multiple Orthognathic (Jaw) Surgery

The winter is continuing to make it’s presence here in NC. I love snow so I don’t really get tired of seeing the beautiful winter scenery. I feel like the snow has been helping to keep my mind from concentrating on my jaw surgery 100% of the time.

There will be times that I will just get quiet and my mind will drift off thinking about the surgeries. Last week was my final pre-op appointment.

My bone scan came back showing that my condyle bone was still actively growing. The bone will have to come out in order to prevent the bone to push my jaw over to the side once again. Also, it was determined that my upper jaw would have to be cut multiple times in order to properly widen the jaw to the measurement needed and correctly align with the bottom jaw. The bottom jaw should only have to be cut one time.

I had to sign papers to let them do a bone graft from the top of my skull if needed. They will take that bone to help with my cheek bones. All the paperwork that I had to sign was so overwhelming. As always, there are risks to surgeries. I just wish that I could escape from hearing all those risks, but the doctors want to ensure you know everything.

The surgery could take anywhere from 6 to 8 hours. It just depends once they get in there and begin the surgeries.

The biggest thing with the condylectomy is they have to be very careful because the bone is only 2cm away from the nerve that controls all the movements on your face. One of the worst case scenarios is that I would have to tape my eyes shut to go to sleep at night for about two months. Also, I wouldn’t be able to smile or frown. When the surgeon told me that, I started tearing up. That is a worst case scenario though, I just have to continue to trust in the Lord that everything is going to be just fine. He is going to guide the surgeon’s hands and perform the surgery successfully.

It’s going to be amazing to see the results after surgery. No more pain, no more jaw locking, no more trying to bite into a hamburger and can’t.

Right now, I am just trying to get my family prepared and things bought that I will need after surgery. My husband is online now researching the best water pik. I want to get a good cup to drink my protein shakes and etc. without drink going all over my chin and neck. The surgeon told me to show the girls pictures so they can be prepared and not shocked. I know M will do fine but I am worried how L will accept how I look. We will just pray for her to be understanding.

8 more days! Hard to believe the time is almost here!

My surgery is a month from today!

Lots of appointments have been on my itinerary lately. It is hard to believe that a month from today, I will be having my jaw (orthognathic) surgery.

This beautiful crooked smile will be turned into just a beautiful smile. Ever since I started my job outside the house, I am having to talk a lot during the day. In the evenings, there will be times I just want to curl up under my blankets with my heating pad or a warm washcloth. The pain can get so intense at times. I am very much looking forward to the outcome and no pain. My jaw has started locking up on me on occasions but I am able to do massages and it loosens up usually within about 30 minutes.

The four surgeries that I will be having are:

Lefort 1 1 piece with bone grafts
Mandibular split with int RGD Fixj
Genioplasty sliding osteotomy single piece
Condylectomy

Every time I think to hard about the surgery, tears begin streaming down my face. I am very excited to have the surgery but very anxious as well. A splint will be placed in my mouth and it will be hard to talk and mainly liquids only for eating. I have heard several people will blend up main meals in a blender such as lasagna to have varieties. I am sure there will be lots of creativity on hand once I am able to begin doing things for myself. My husband will be a huge help to me, I am sure. He is not a cook at all but at least he can put things in the blender. It is the girls that I worry about for meals. Hmmm? We will figure out a plan.

My hospital stay should only be about 48 hours and then I am sent home to recover. It is a very hard recovery but from what I am reading, if I can get through the first two weeks, I will be smooth sailing the rest of the four weeks until I am able to get the splint out of my mouth. At that time, I should be able to begin moving and exercising my mouth.

The girls and I have been watching videos because there will be lots of swelling and bruising. I do not want them to be scared when they first see me, so I am hoping the videos will help give them an idea of how I will look. No one is sugar coating the surgeries at all. They said you really do look rough until the swelling and bruising goes down. They will send me home with a jaw bra. This will indeed be interesting.

I will be blogging and sharing videos of the entire journey. I hope you all will stay along for the journey and send prayers for the surgery and recovery. Also, pray for Scott and the girls. I keep this family running with schedules and sorts, so this will definitely be a huge change to have Scott take care of the household for the first couple of weeks. We shall succeed. God will get us through it along with my amazing support system of my family and friends.

Stay tuned….

The journey begins…. orthognathic surgery {Video #1}

The journey is beginning and as any social media person would do, I am going to share the journey with my readers. You just never know who I could help by sharing the journey.

Let’s take a stroll down memory lane. When I was in the 8th grade, the headaches and pain were increasing and becoming very worrisome to my parents and I. My parents took me to see an oral surgeon as suggested by my dentist at the time. The oral surgeon immediately took x-rays and measurements. Without skipping a beat, said I would need surgery. It appears that I have a canted occlusal plane and deviated prognathic mandible. My teeth only meet in one area of my mouth. You can see how this makes it difficult for eating. At one point, I just stopped eating. I was so tired of the pain and knew if I ate less food, the pain would be minimal. My weight reached dangerous low levels. Any news like this could hit a teenager like a ton of bricks. I tried splints, hot compresses… you name it. I feel like I have tried it. Nothing has ever worked. I even was in braces for 6 years awaiting surgery, nothing. Insurance failed me and denied the insurance even despite numerous letters and medical records from my surgeon.

Let’s advance several years, I am starting the journey once again. Follow along with my first vlog about the surgery journey.

I’m excited, nervous, worried but ready to have it done and behind me.

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