Out of Surgery

Josh posted on my FB page from the hospital:

"Virginia is still in the hospital. Looking to be released at noonish today. She had some problems with the nausea probably due to the anesthesia, but is now able to hold down liquid pain meds. Everything went well in surgery except they had to move her jaw more than expected (9-10mm instead of the 6-7mm they expected)."

The problems he mentions were that I felt like I couldn't breathe when I woke up and that I was vomiting for two days. Minor things really, except when you can't open your mouth. The nurses said that my blood oxygen level was fine post-op, but that I just _felt_ like I couldn't breathe. Regardless, they admitted me to the hospital and I was wheeled off to a private room on the 3rd floor north wing - great staff up there! The vomiting sucked - I was throwing up blood for two days, which was not fun, but I didn't drown or anything. They tried to give me anti-nausea meds orally, but I threw them up, so it was all IVs for the first day. The second day, I was finally able to switch to the syringe, so they released me and I was home by around 6 PM. Total time in hospital was about 36 hours.

Fun part was being wheeled from 3North to the College of Dentistry for x-rays on Tuesday morning - lots of people did that double-take they do when they see something unpleasant but are trying not to stare. I was too drugged to care.

Advice - I got a pillow wedge and changed my sheets the weekend before surgery, so my bed was perfect to come home to. The wedge helped me sleep comfortably, even on my side, from the first night and the sheets felt like home. Great change from the hospital bed. I have two dogs and four cats as well and several of them came to snuggle with me when I got home - petting an animal is super-comforting when you feel like sh*t.

So, surgery Monday, home Tuesday night, acupuncture on Wednesday and Thursday. Acupuncture is a gift from the gods. It really helped reduce the swelling and I felt so good while I was getting it. Plus, getting up and walking around to the appointments was good. I had to shower and get dressed and that helped as well. I highly recommend post-op acupuncture. The swelling was noticeably less the nights after each treatment and I have two more scheduled for next week. (I also have an appointment for lymph drainage massage for 3 weeks post-op. One of the other bloggers suggested it, so I'm giving it a shot too.)

Pre-surgery

So lead up to jaw surgery.... I got my braces on mid July-2008. I wanted to have my surgery over the summer because I work and go to school at the same time and this was the best time to take a break. I had several meetings with the oral surgeon to take molds and go over my treatment plan. They originally thought they would have to move me 8-10 mm, but on the day of surgery, theyhad changed the plan to a 6 mm movement forward with a 6 mm sliding genio. Here's my post from Facebook from the night before surgery:

"As some of you already know, I'm having oral surgery at 7:30 AM at UK Hospital on Monday, May 11. I'm having a bilateral sagittal split osteotomy to correct the alignment of my bottom jaw so my teeth will meet properly. I was supposed to do this 16 years ago, but I wussed out. Better late than never, I suppose.

The surgery involves cutting through my jaw in several places, moving it around, and then reattaching it with titanium plates and screws. I asked for adamantium, but they were fresh out. :( The surgery will cause massive swelling and general pain and discomfort, most of which hopefully won't bother me because I'm getting good drugs for a few days at least. I will be off work for three weeks, the first of which I'll be on a liquid diet. Luckily, they don't wire your jaw shut anymore, at least not here, but I will have rubber bands holding my jaws together and a split. No gaff tape, though, so I'm not sure it's all going to hold....
Since this procedure is designed to move your jaw around, it's probably going to change the way I look, hopefully for the better, but you never know. I will post some pictures after I cease to look like the swamp thing. There's also a chance of permanent nerve damage, which I'm hoping to avoid because it would suck. I have an excellent surgeon, Dr Joseph Van Sickels, so I think my odds are good.
Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know what's up with me, since this is probably the most major thing I've done in years. I'm a little scared about it, but Nathan assures me that the nurses at UK are very good and that they will take good care of me. I've also got Josh looking after me when I get home, so I probably won't starve to death even though I won't be able to eat much. I will have lots of free time to post on FB in the next few weeks, if I'm coherent, so I'll write a follow up in a few days.

Be well and wish me luck!"

So that was me being optimistic and happy. Going to the hospital was a little scary, but Josh (my SO) came with me and that helped. All the nurses and staff were really nice and the doctors came to see me before the surgery to go over it one more time with me. Weirdest thing - I found out that I couldn't wear my underwear into the surgery room under my gown because the cauterizing gun they use might set the elastic on fire. Who knew? I also discovered that when they say they're going to bring you some "warm blankets" what they mean is "warmed" blankets. They felt like they'd just come out of the dryer - it was lovely.

I remember going into the surgery room and everything being fuzzy (no glasses). There were lots of lights and people and they asked me to scoot myself off the gurney and onto the very narrow operating table. That's about the last thing I remember, though. No counting or anything. I do vaguely remember waking up and not being able to breathe... but that's the next post.

My story

Hi everyone! To start with, a little of my backstory. I am 31 and live in Kentucky. I had braces for a couple years as a teenager, but didn't go through with jaw surgery even though it was recommended. It was too scary at age 15 and there were too many possible side effects. So when my braces came off, I had straight teeth, but still had an overbite. I also didn't wear my retainers regularly or replace them when they broke, so my teeth naturally shifted out of alignment over time.

Fifteen years, several crowns, and many migraines later, I decided to do something about that fact that I was unhappy with my appearance. I started looking into invisalign, just hoping to get the teeth straight again, but, as happens with many people, ended up going down the rabbit hole of metal braces and orthognathic surgery. The turning point was when my orthodontist-to-be showed me a picture of his oldest daughter - who has similar bone structure and perfect teeth - and told me he could help me look like that, but it would take more than plastic trays.

In the end, I figured that I could afford it with my good health plan at work and I would have the support of my significant other during the rough patches, so why not just go ahead and do it. I have two-thirds of my life left to be happy, so I plunked down my deposit and we were off!

The original plan was 18-20 months in braces (Time brackets), with surgery at about the halfway point. The orthodontist (OD) and oral surgeon (OS) both first thought I'd need upper and lower surgery, but the orthodontic correction on the top was enough to not need the LeForte, so I was BSSO only. Less than a week before the surgery, the OS decided that due to the angle of my bottom teeth, I'd need a genioplasty as well to get the profile I wanted, so we did that too.

I kept meaning to start this blog earlier, but didn't get around to it with all the surgery prep, so I'm starting now, 5 days out. I've posted a few times on Facebook about this, so I will just copy my posts from there over to here for continuity. As of today, I'm 5 days post-op.

I did a lot of research before my surgery, both on PubMed/MedLine reading medical research papers and on bloggers' sites, and I am so appreciative of all the personal information out there that helped me make my decision and know what was coming. I'm not sure I would have done it without this online community that certainly wasn't around 15 years ago when I declined to do this the first time. I hope this blog will provide someone else with the same kind of help I got and I encourage comments and questions. I plan to keep this going until my braces are off and everything is done!