I couldn't help but think over the past couple of weeks that it has been a whole YEAR now since my jaw surgery (3 piece Lefort osteomy on the top and BSSO on the bottom)! A year ago today, my diet was getting a bit better, but I could not really handle much more than a milkshake!
What a year it has been though....my first-born was born in August of last year, roughly three weeks prior to my braces coming off for good! Needless to say time has flown by!
I thought I would document any remaining symptoms I have from the surgery given that it is now one year later. Happy to report: NONE. At first, everything in or around my mouth (i.e. cheeks, nose, chin) was numbed, but the feeling came back gradually (some areas took longer than others). Today, the roof of my mouth is still a bit sensitive, but I wouldn't call it numb. Everything else is normal as far as I can tell! I have full range of motion with my mouth, meaning that I don't feel like my mouth is being restricted in any way when I try to open it as wide as possible.
Again, my braces came off around five months after the surgery. I was given a permanently fixed retainer on the inside of my upper six and lower six teeth (essentially just a piece of wire glued along those teeth to help keep them straight). I was also issued a removable retainer which I had to wear 24/7 with the exception of meals.....which, after nearly four years with metal in my mouth, was FINE by me! Soon, the retainer will be for night time only, and then by this time next year, I'm expecting I won't be needing it at all!
I do have a before-and-after picture below. I realize I have not been posting my immediate post-op pictures, and I'm not sure I want to. Seeing those pictures on other blogs did nothing but scare the hell out of me, and while you WILL look like a wreck, you won't feel nearly as bad as you'll look! And by the way, I was back to working from home after one week, and back to the office after two. After the swelling peaks on day 3 or 4, you'll see a RAPID decrease in swelling to the point where you feel like you can go out in public!
Not much else to report on!
Best of luck for anyone currently or thinking about undergoing the treatment. Any time you have a question, please let me know.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Before and After picture
Hi everyone,
For those out there who are thinking about whether or not this surgery is the right idea for you, here is my before-and-after comparison.
The "before" was back in April 2009 - the night before my SARPE (which is why you can probably make out a little bit of metal in my mouth; that's the expander). Incidentally, this is a picture that has already been posted in my 2009 entries (I used to put up many more pictures, so feel free to go back there and see!).
The "after" was taken yesterday, March 13th, 2013 - almost four years later. Yeah, got a little less hair now, some new glasses as well (with one other pair inbetween actually!), but I suspect that isn't the part of my head that will draw your attention!
Is it really a debate whether or not I should have invested four years into this? Didn't think so.
For those out there who are thinking about whether or not this surgery is the right idea for you, here is my before-and-after comparison.
The "before" was back in April 2009 - the night before my SARPE (which is why you can probably make out a little bit of metal in my mouth; that's the expander). Incidentally, this is a picture that has already been posted in my 2009 entries (I used to put up many more pictures, so feel free to go back there and see!).
The "after" was taken yesterday, March 13th, 2013 - almost four years later. Yeah, got a little less hair now, some new glasses as well (with one other pair inbetween actually!), but I suspect that isn't the part of my head that will draw your attention!
Is it really a debate whether or not I should have invested four years into this? Didn't think so.
Friday, February 8, 2013
1,107 Days and....DONE!
This post is almost five months in the making, but I finally have the opportunity to announce that MY BRACES ARE OFF! All over with! This happened back on September 21, which was my 1,107th day with braces. Unreal. Just over three years with them on, plus the six months of SARPE, plus the three months of wearing the expander PRIOR to the SARPE surgery, plus all the prep, etc etc. In total, the entire process was four years and four months long. That was the first time I visited the private clinic and the orthodontist - Dr. Metaxas - told me to come down to the U of T clinic, something I will always be extremely grateful for!
Anyway, it was a whirlwind summer! My wife and I are the proud parents of our first-born, a boy named Owen. I couldn't be a happier Dad....it is actually difficult to imagine what life was like before he was around! He's happy and healthy, so you can't ask for much else. His Mom is completely fine as well - she's off this year with him. I'm jealous some of the time, because I have been putting in some long hours at the office recently. When I'm away from him even for a day, he looks bigger the next time I see him! Not only is he our first child, he is also both our parents' first grandchild, her grandparents' first great-grandchild (would have been the same case for mine as well had they been alive!), first niece/nephew for our siblings....I'm probably going to have to keep this kid grounded, because he's going to be one spoiled bugger! And yes, we have already given some thought to how his teeth will turn out! Hahahaha!
He was born August 29th, roughly two weeks after I visited the surgeon for the last time. My bite had been progressing perfectly; I had no range-of-motion problems with my jaw, I wasn't in any pain, I could eat everything.....so I was discharged! I had been seeing the surgeon - Dr. Holmes - since the SARPE, so it was definitely one of those "parting is such sweet sorrow" type of moments. He's an excellent surgeon, but I'm happy I'll never have to see him again - at least in my capacity as a patient.
Then two weeks AFTER Owen was born, I visited the clinic for my regular appointment. My teeth were aligned exactly as they wanted. My orthodontic student - Dr. Ford - was pretty sure I was done with the braces. I was cautiously optimistic that was the case (if you have read my blog, you know that I have some stories in regards to 'timing'!). But sure enough, when Drs. Marko and Metaxas came over to take a look at me, they said I was done!! They signed off on the paperwork and my braces were coming off three days later! For some reason, I thought they were maybe going to come off right then and there, but three days after waiting over 1,100 was nothing!
I went in on that third day, and got the braces off! Unreal feeling. I didn't have much time to take it all in though. As soon as they were off, I went down for x-rays, and then went back up for photos.
X-rays were taken, photos were done.....and so was I! They fitted me with the retainer that will be a major part of my life for the next few months, in addition to the permanent retainer they fixed to the back of my front and bottom teeth, but the retainer is REMOVABLE, so for meals, presentations, etc., I have to say - my teeth look like a million bucks!
Soon after, I had a full examination done with my regular dentist (who first recommended me to Dr. Metaxas over four years earlier!). He was amazed. My braces had caused NO DECALCIFICATION STAINS! None. In fact, he said that he normally recommends a whitening for his patients after braces, but said it was not really needed in my case unless I wanted it because the teeth were in such great shape. We had a look at my x-rays from 5 years ago to now, and he was amazed with how far it has come!
And that's pretty much that! It's been a long while, but I can honestly say it was completely worth it. The surgery - for those of you considering it - is a scary proposition. And I'm not going to lie, the first few days are rough, but at no point was in unbearable! And once the swelling comes down, I have no doubt you are going to be extremely happy with your result, as I am with mine, and as most bloggers who have had this surgery will tell you! As of today, which is almost 10 months since the surgery, feeling has almost completely returned. The roof of my mouth is still a little sensitive, but I have noticed progress, and have no doubt it will be completely back to normal soon enough. Besides, you don't really notice it anyway!
If you have any questions for me, feel free to drop me a line anytime at paulkennedy1982@hotmail.com.
Take care!
Anyway, it was a whirlwind summer! My wife and I are the proud parents of our first-born, a boy named Owen. I couldn't be a happier Dad....it is actually difficult to imagine what life was like before he was around! He's happy and healthy, so you can't ask for much else. His Mom is completely fine as well - she's off this year with him. I'm jealous some of the time, because I have been putting in some long hours at the office recently. When I'm away from him even for a day, he looks bigger the next time I see him! Not only is he our first child, he is also both our parents' first grandchild, her grandparents' first great-grandchild (would have been the same case for mine as well had they been alive!), first niece/nephew for our siblings....I'm probably going to have to keep this kid grounded, because he's going to be one spoiled bugger! And yes, we have already given some thought to how his teeth will turn out! Hahahaha!
He was born August 29th, roughly two weeks after I visited the surgeon for the last time. My bite had been progressing perfectly; I had no range-of-motion problems with my jaw, I wasn't in any pain, I could eat everything.....so I was discharged! I had been seeing the surgeon - Dr. Holmes - since the SARPE, so it was definitely one of those "parting is such sweet sorrow" type of moments. He's an excellent surgeon, but I'm happy I'll never have to see him again - at least in my capacity as a patient.
Then two weeks AFTER Owen was born, I visited the clinic for my regular appointment. My teeth were aligned exactly as they wanted. My orthodontic student - Dr. Ford - was pretty sure I was done with the braces. I was cautiously optimistic that was the case (if you have read my blog, you know that I have some stories in regards to 'timing'!). But sure enough, when Drs. Marko and Metaxas came over to take a look at me, they said I was done!! They signed off on the paperwork and my braces were coming off three days later! For some reason, I thought they were maybe going to come off right then and there, but three days after waiting over 1,100 was nothing!
I went in on that third day, and got the braces off! Unreal feeling. I didn't have much time to take it all in though. As soon as they were off, I went down for x-rays, and then went back up for photos.
X-rays were taken, photos were done.....and so was I! They fitted me with the retainer that will be a major part of my life for the next few months, in addition to the permanent retainer they fixed to the back of my front and bottom teeth, but the retainer is REMOVABLE, so for meals, presentations, etc., I have to say - my teeth look like a million bucks!
Soon after, I had a full examination done with my regular dentist (who first recommended me to Dr. Metaxas over four years earlier!). He was amazed. My braces had caused NO DECALCIFICATION STAINS! None. In fact, he said that he normally recommends a whitening for his patients after braces, but said it was not really needed in my case unless I wanted it because the teeth were in such great shape. We had a look at my x-rays from 5 years ago to now, and he was amazed with how far it has come!
And that's pretty much that! It's been a long while, but I can honestly say it was completely worth it. The surgery - for those of you considering it - is a scary proposition. And I'm not going to lie, the first few days are rough, but at no point was in unbearable! And once the swelling comes down, I have no doubt you are going to be extremely happy with your result, as I am with mine, and as most bloggers who have had this surgery will tell you! As of today, which is almost 10 months since the surgery, feeling has almost completely returned. The roof of my mouth is still a little sensitive, but I have noticed progress, and have no doubt it will be completely back to normal soon enough. Besides, you don't really notice it anyway!
If you have any questions for me, feel free to drop me a line anytime at paulkennedy1982@hotmail.com.
Take care!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Day 987 - 27 Days Post-Op
It's been 27 days?!? They're going by fast now!
I woke up this morning thinking about how I was one month ago today. In short - I was a wreck! The surgery was only three days away, I was scrambling around at work to finish stuff up, and I was nervous about what I was about to go through. Very nervous.
But, here I am a month later, a month later and feeling better and better each day. I'm pretty much eating everything now - even things that require a SMALL amount of chewing (i.e. last night I had a hamburger for the first time.....no bun obviously!.....the hamburger meat falls apart easily enough with some light chewing, so it was all good!). There is still a good amount of swelling inside the mouth, but I don't think the swelling is noticable any longer to an outsider. The numbness is still there - I've accepted the fact it will probably be like that for a few more months at least.
The one new thing I've noticed is a little discomfort in my left cheek when I bite into the splint. I'm going to ask about this the next time I go in for an appointment, but I'm speculating that I'm feeling this discomfort because I'm working some muscles in that cheek that simply have never been worked before! The left side of the jaw - as you know from my pre-op photos - has never been functional, and now all of a sudden it is theoretically perfectly functional.....so the muscles that control my bite are getting a workout they have never had before. Again, this is just me speculating! As long as it's nothing seriously WRONG with me, I'm sure it's fine whatever it is!
Nothing much else to report on. I do not see the surgeon again until next Wednesday. And the Wednesday after that is the day the splint is removed! Needless to say that I am looking forward to this!
I'm sorry about the pics. I will get these online very shortly.
Take care all,
Paul
I woke up this morning thinking about how I was one month ago today. In short - I was a wreck! The surgery was only three days away, I was scrambling around at work to finish stuff up, and I was nervous about what I was about to go through. Very nervous.
But, here I am a month later, a month later and feeling better and better each day. I'm pretty much eating everything now - even things that require a SMALL amount of chewing (i.e. last night I had a hamburger for the first time.....no bun obviously!.....the hamburger meat falls apart easily enough with some light chewing, so it was all good!). There is still a good amount of swelling inside the mouth, but I don't think the swelling is noticable any longer to an outsider. The numbness is still there - I've accepted the fact it will probably be like that for a few more months at least.
The one new thing I've noticed is a little discomfort in my left cheek when I bite into the splint. I'm going to ask about this the next time I go in for an appointment, but I'm speculating that I'm feeling this discomfort because I'm working some muscles in that cheek that simply have never been worked before! The left side of the jaw - as you know from my pre-op photos - has never been functional, and now all of a sudden it is theoretically perfectly functional.....so the muscles that control my bite are getting a workout they have never had before. Again, this is just me speculating! As long as it's nothing seriously WRONG with me, I'm sure it's fine whatever it is!
Nothing much else to report on. I do not see the surgeon again until next Wednesday. And the Wednesday after that is the day the splint is removed! Needless to say that I am looking forward to this!
I'm sorry about the pics. I will get these online very shortly.
Take care all,
Paul
Monday, May 14, 2012
Day 979 - 19 Days Post-Op
I am probably the worst patient to wear a splint! I'm eating EVERYTHING I can get my hands on as long as it's small enough to fit! Hahaha. Eating so many solids means that things are no doubt getting lodged in that splint, but right now, I don't care! I'm loving the food! In just the past three days, I've had spaghetti and meat sauce three times, several bowls of meatball soup, chili, pancakes, toast, scrambled eggs, chicken, french fries (made soggy with gravy!), etc. Holy. I may weigh MORE now than I did three weeks ago! Hahaha. I definitely bought too many Boost's and Ensure's!
So my tone should convey that I'm in good spirits, which is kind of strange considering I'm going back to the office tomorrow! Honestly, my work has been very understanding and supportive of this process. I have been working from home for the last week and a half, and never once did I hear a complaint or anything in regards to the time away from work I was taking.
I'm still swollen, but it's going down. Stitches are starting to fall out of my mouth...kinda gross, but whatever! I also shaved my goatee off. I hated that thing. It was a weird feeling to shave an area of your face that's completely numb, but I felt MUCH better after. Ugh, how did I once have a goatee for five years????
Now that the swelling is fairly minimal, I can really get a good look at the actual teeth. Wow. They line up! Left side and right side line up with each other! No gaps. However, I'm still concerned I have a crossbite. The surgical hooks between my two front and bottom teeth do line up perfectly, but I'm concerned that the hooks themselves are not QUITE in the middle of the teeth. In fact, I think the top hook is skewed a little to the left, while the bottom is skewed a little to the right, creating a crossbite. That would SUCK if this was the case, but at this point, I can't do anything about it. I'm going to ask Dr Holmes about it again this week.
I spent the weekend away from home this weekend and went to see my parents for Mother's Day. It will be the last Mother's Day before my wife becomes a Mother herself, so I figured it would be a good opportunity to see her. I also got to spend time with my brother and sister. My sister's off to university next year. Hard to believe. I feel it wasn't THAT long ago that I went off to school. But it has been 11 years. We're all getting older. It's starting to get scary.
Anyway, I promise to post the post-op pics in the next couple of days. Twenty-two days left with this splint!! Woohoo!
Take care,
Paul
So my tone should convey that I'm in good spirits, which is kind of strange considering I'm going back to the office tomorrow! Honestly, my work has been very understanding and supportive of this process. I have been working from home for the last week and a half, and never once did I hear a complaint or anything in regards to the time away from work I was taking.
I'm still swollen, but it's going down. Stitches are starting to fall out of my mouth...kinda gross, but whatever! I also shaved my goatee off. I hated that thing. It was a weird feeling to shave an area of your face that's completely numb, but I felt MUCH better after. Ugh, how did I once have a goatee for five years????
Now that the swelling is fairly minimal, I can really get a good look at the actual teeth. Wow. They line up! Left side and right side line up with each other! No gaps. However, I'm still concerned I have a crossbite. The surgical hooks between my two front and bottom teeth do line up perfectly, but I'm concerned that the hooks themselves are not QUITE in the middle of the teeth. In fact, I think the top hook is skewed a little to the left, while the bottom is skewed a little to the right, creating a crossbite. That would SUCK if this was the case, but at this point, I can't do anything about it. I'm going to ask Dr Holmes about it again this week.
I spent the weekend away from home this weekend and went to see my parents for Mother's Day. It will be the last Mother's Day before my wife becomes a Mother herself, so I figured it would be a good opportunity to see her. I also got to spend time with my brother and sister. My sister's off to university next year. Hard to believe. I feel it wasn't THAT long ago that I went off to school. But it has been 11 years. We're all getting older. It's starting to get scary.
Anyway, I promise to post the post-op pics in the next couple of days. Twenty-two days left with this splint!! Woohoo!
Take care,
Paul
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Day 973 - 13 Days Post-Op
So today marks the second post-op appointment with the surgeon. I have no reason to think things will go bad – I can tell I’m healing up day by day. Things are still more uncomfortable than comfortable, but there have been a few breakthroughs in the last few days. First, I’m off the morphine. I decided I didn’t really need it anymore. Instead, I’m just taking Advil when needed. Advil’s a good drug to have because it acts as an anti-inflammatory in addition to a painkiller, so be sure to have Advil if this is a surgery you’re going through! Second, I’m eating FOOD again. Okay, not all foods. Not even close to all foods. But I’m managing to eat soft foods such as pasta. As long as the pieces are small enough for me to swallow them whole, then that’s good enough for me! Most of the time, a small piece of pasta may get lodged in the splint, which is kind of annoying, but I have so far been successful at flushing out the splint after eating.
Cleaning my teeth is getting easier and easier. It generally takes up to 10 minutes to do, and every time I eat, I have to do it, so it takes a good portion of my day, but the food is worth it! I use a baby toothbrush with toothpaste, and then again with baking soda. I use the baking soda because a side-effect of the medicated mouthwash is stained teeth. My teeth are definitely not as clean as I normally would keep them – I use an electric toothbrush usually – but I’d say I’m doing a pretty good job so far.
Reintroducing food into my diet also means that the weight loss is probably going to stagnate for a while. Right now, I am at 12 pounds lost – which isn’t nearly as high as I thought it would be (good thing!). Still, those 12 pounds make me the lightest I’ve been since my third year of university (that was a bad year for me!). In the three years since having the SARPE, I am down nearly 45 pounds.
My pain has been managed pretty well. Like I mentioned, I am off the morphine, but continue with the Advil as needed. I will probably take a couple of them before leaving for the hospital for today’s appointment (I am on my own for today!). My left cheek, chin, upper jaw, and area of my nose between the two nostrils are the numb areas on my face. The left side of my face is still pretty swollen, but I think it’s going down every day. Overall, I think the recovery is going very well. So well in fact that I decided I was well enough to start working again. Luckily, my work affords me the ability to work from home – so I have been doing just that since this past Thursday. My plan is to continue to work from home this week, and then return to the office on Monday. Also, I did some socializing this past weekend. A friend of mine who I used to work with stopped by on Friday. She brought some soup with her, and I managed to talk for a few hours without being in too much pain. The day after, we went up to see my wife’s family (who I had already seen the week before, but still) for lunch. And finally, I capped off the night by seeing another friend of mine to watch the Mayweather/Cotto fight. While it is important to allow yourself adequate time to recover, I think it is important to try to get back to your normal daily activities as soon as you are able to, or at least some subset of those daily activities. I think it can help speed along the recovery process.
Anyway, again, I’m sure everything will go fine today, but I’ll be certain to update the blog again after today’s appointment! Four more weeks with this damn splint!!!
Take care,
Paul
Cleaning my teeth is getting easier and easier. It generally takes up to 10 minutes to do, and every time I eat, I have to do it, so it takes a good portion of my day, but the food is worth it! I use a baby toothbrush with toothpaste, and then again with baking soda. I use the baking soda because a side-effect of the medicated mouthwash is stained teeth. My teeth are definitely not as clean as I normally would keep them – I use an electric toothbrush usually – but I’d say I’m doing a pretty good job so far.
Reintroducing food into my diet also means that the weight loss is probably going to stagnate for a while. Right now, I am at 12 pounds lost – which isn’t nearly as high as I thought it would be (good thing!). Still, those 12 pounds make me the lightest I’ve been since my third year of university (that was a bad year for me!). In the three years since having the SARPE, I am down nearly 45 pounds.
My pain has been managed pretty well. Like I mentioned, I am off the morphine, but continue with the Advil as needed. I will probably take a couple of them before leaving for the hospital for today’s appointment (I am on my own for today!). My left cheek, chin, upper jaw, and area of my nose between the two nostrils are the numb areas on my face. The left side of my face is still pretty swollen, but I think it’s going down every day. Overall, I think the recovery is going very well. So well in fact that I decided I was well enough to start working again. Luckily, my work affords me the ability to work from home – so I have been doing just that since this past Thursday. My plan is to continue to work from home this week, and then return to the office on Monday. Also, I did some socializing this past weekend. A friend of mine who I used to work with stopped by on Friday. She brought some soup with her, and I managed to talk for a few hours without being in too much pain. The day after, we went up to see my wife’s family (who I had already seen the week before, but still) for lunch. And finally, I capped off the night by seeing another friend of mine to watch the Mayweather/Cotto fight. While it is important to allow yourself adequate time to recover, I think it is important to try to get back to your normal daily activities as soon as you are able to, or at least some subset of those daily activities. I think it can help speed along the recovery process.
Anyway, again, I’m sure everything will go fine today, but I’ll be certain to update the blog again after today’s appointment! Four more weeks with this damn splint!!!
Take care,
Paul
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Day 968 - 8 Days Post-Op
The first week post-op is done!
Now that it is, I can officially tell everyone that, overall, the week BEFORE the surgery was actually worse than the week AFTER the surgery. I was suffering from the anxiety of the surgery for the week leading up to it, and that takes a toll. Note that I'm comparing the WEEK before and after surgery. Had I been comparing, say, the two days before and after surgery, the post-op was worse since those first couple of days were rough.
I had one of the worst sleeps last night. I kept coughing and coughing....but it's hard to really let the coughs loose because of the broken jaw. I think I was just very very phlegmy (gross, I know), and I spent a good portion of the night coughing and coughing. Luckily, the movie Vertical Limit was on TV. I saw that movie in the theatres when I was in high school (one of my fonder high school memories actually!), and it's a great flick. Finally got to sleep around 3:30am, but was able to stay asleep until 9:00am.
I also decided that I'm now well enough to do some work from home. I have an office job, so it's not like I'm doing anything physically strenuous. I basically spent the morning catching up on my emails (not done yet actually), and letting people know I'd be working from home for the next little while. If the recovery keeps going this well, I think I'll be able ot get back into the office a week from Monday. I'm still fairly weak, which is keeping me away from the office right now. The weakness was re-confimed yesterday when I decided to take a walk to a Starbucks for a coffee. It's just over a kilometer away. I didn't even make it to the half-way point before turning around and walking home. Too much. Ah well. I'm going to go for another walk today, but only to get some air. I'm not going to try to make it all the way to that Starbucks just yet!
Not much else to update on. The swelling still persists but is receding and I THINK the bruising may be receding as well (tough to tell - it could be just starting!). Hopefully this recedes a bit more by Monday.
I finally took a look at my post-op pictures....they ain't too pretty. In fact, I'm not too sure I want to post them. When I saw other people's pics, I'm not going to lie, they freaked me out a little bit....probably unnecessarily so. I certainly did not FEEL as bad as I looked, but still. I'll probably still post them, but I want to be clear that EVERYONE'S experience is different, and again, I didn't feel nearly as bad as it looks.
Take care all!
Paul
Now that it is, I can officially tell everyone that, overall, the week BEFORE the surgery was actually worse than the week AFTER the surgery. I was suffering from the anxiety of the surgery for the week leading up to it, and that takes a toll. Note that I'm comparing the WEEK before and after surgery. Had I been comparing, say, the two days before and after surgery, the post-op was worse since those first couple of days were rough.
I had one of the worst sleeps last night. I kept coughing and coughing....but it's hard to really let the coughs loose because of the broken jaw. I think I was just very very phlegmy (gross, I know), and I spent a good portion of the night coughing and coughing. Luckily, the movie Vertical Limit was on TV. I saw that movie in the theatres when I was in high school (one of my fonder high school memories actually!), and it's a great flick. Finally got to sleep around 3:30am, but was able to stay asleep until 9:00am.
I also decided that I'm now well enough to do some work from home. I have an office job, so it's not like I'm doing anything physically strenuous. I basically spent the morning catching up on my emails (not done yet actually), and letting people know I'd be working from home for the next little while. If the recovery keeps going this well, I think I'll be able ot get back into the office a week from Monday. I'm still fairly weak, which is keeping me away from the office right now. The weakness was re-confimed yesterday when I decided to take a walk to a Starbucks for a coffee. It's just over a kilometer away. I didn't even make it to the half-way point before turning around and walking home. Too much. Ah well. I'm going to go for another walk today, but only to get some air. I'm not going to try to make it all the way to that Starbucks just yet!
Not much else to update on. The swelling still persists but is receding and I THINK the bruising may be receding as well (tough to tell - it could be just starting!). Hopefully this recedes a bit more by Monday.
I finally took a look at my post-op pictures....they ain't too pretty. In fact, I'm not too sure I want to post them. When I saw other people's pics, I'm not going to lie, they freaked me out a little bit....probably unnecessarily so. I certainly did not FEEL as bad as I looked, but still. I'll probably still post them, but I want to be clear that EVERYONE'S experience is different, and again, I didn't feel nearly as bad as it looks.
Take care all!
Paul
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Day 966 - 6 Days Post-Op
Today is my first follow-up appointment with the surgeon. I think everything should check out fine. I have no signs of infection, been keeping up on my meds like clockwork, and generally LOOK a heck of a lot better. I'm still quite swollen (although the swelling in my lips has come way down), am experiencing some degree of pain (especially I approach my morphine dosage time!), am numb from pretty much under my eyes to my chin, am quite exhausted (probably lack of substance....still on clear liquids until hopefully after today's appointment; the Boost is chilling in the fridge already! Haha!), and the bruising is beginning to appear underneath the eyes, but I can tell I'm on the mend.
I guess the biggest milestone yesterday was being able to drink from a cup instead of using the syringe. It is probably faster for me to just use the syringe, but I figure that I may as well get back into the habits of daily functions as soon as possible. I was having a look at my old posts from after my SARPE, and it seems like I couldn't drink very efficiently for the first week there either. So far, I would say that the recoveries from SARPE and this jaw surgery have been quite similar. Again, I think I benefited mentally from having the SARPE. I had some idea of what to expect post-op.
Today's milestone, aside from hopefully graduating from clear liquids, is that I shaved for the first time since the surgery. Weird feeling since the face is mostly numb. In fact, I didn't even want to touch the area around my mouth, so I'm rocking a goatee right now for the first time in several years! Hahaha. We'll see what the wife thinks about it when she gets home from work.
A few other updates:
- Sleeping last night went GREAT. I slept all the way through from midnight until 6:00am (I take my meds on the 12's and 6's). Looking forward to much of the same tonight!
- Weight loss is now at 10 pounds. This should slow down if I can have other non-clear liquids.
- My mother-in-law brought me a chicken broth last night. When it's pretty much all you can have, you can REALLY tell the immense difference in taste between the Campbell's stuff and something that is homemade. It was very tasty.
So I guess that's about it until the appointment happens this afternoon. I will be sure to update the blog again then!
Take care,
Paul
UPDATE:
I just got back from the appointment with Dr. Holmes. He said everything looked great, and also gave the ok to start with pureed foods! Yes! This outing also served as a reminder of how fragile my jaw still is however. I slightly tripped over my feet on my way into the hospital (common occurrence for people who are 6'7"!) and felt the shock in my upper jaw. Later, as I was waiting for my appointment, my nose started to bleed! I'm not sure if the two events are related or not, but I have not had any nosebleeds all week while at home, and then all a sudden when I go out for the first time, I do. I think I just need to remind myself that I'm nowhere near 100% yet, and need to take things slower when I do go out.
My next appointment is in a week from now. Will update again then!
I guess the biggest milestone yesterday was being able to drink from a cup instead of using the syringe. It is probably faster for me to just use the syringe, but I figure that I may as well get back into the habits of daily functions as soon as possible. I was having a look at my old posts from after my SARPE, and it seems like I couldn't drink very efficiently for the first week there either. So far, I would say that the recoveries from SARPE and this jaw surgery have been quite similar. Again, I think I benefited mentally from having the SARPE. I had some idea of what to expect post-op.
Today's milestone, aside from hopefully graduating from clear liquids, is that I shaved for the first time since the surgery. Weird feeling since the face is mostly numb. In fact, I didn't even want to touch the area around my mouth, so I'm rocking a goatee right now for the first time in several years! Hahaha. We'll see what the wife thinks about it when she gets home from work.
A few other updates:
- Sleeping last night went GREAT. I slept all the way through from midnight until 6:00am (I take my meds on the 12's and 6's). Looking forward to much of the same tonight!
- Weight loss is now at 10 pounds. This should slow down if I can have other non-clear liquids.
- My mother-in-law brought me a chicken broth last night. When it's pretty much all you can have, you can REALLY tell the immense difference in taste between the Campbell's stuff and something that is homemade. It was very tasty.
So I guess that's about it until the appointment happens this afternoon. I will be sure to update the blog again then!
Take care,
Paul
UPDATE:
I just got back from the appointment with Dr. Holmes. He said everything looked great, and also gave the ok to start with pureed foods! Yes! This outing also served as a reminder of how fragile my jaw still is however. I slightly tripped over my feet on my way into the hospital (common occurrence for people who are 6'7"!) and felt the shock in my upper jaw. Later, as I was waiting for my appointment, my nose started to bleed! I'm not sure if the two events are related or not, but I have not had any nosebleeds all week while at home, and then all a sudden when I go out for the first time, I do. I think I just need to remind myself that I'm nowhere near 100% yet, and need to take things slower when I do go out.
My next appointment is in a week from now. Will update again then!
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Day 964 - 97 Hours Post-Op (+ PHOTOS!!!!)
Well, I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but I think the swelling may have peaked. I was a little upset when it clearly did not peak last night. The swelling had in fact advanced under my eyes yesterday, making me wonder if this swelling would ever stop! I think it MAYBE has.....we'll see.
On a positive note, the nosebleeding has pretty much stopped. The annoying part is waiting for the clots to make their way down (I know that's gross). No signs of infection or anything like that.
Not a lot of sleep again last night, but I'm finding that I can get a few hours in during the day which has been helpful. I think I'm almost a little afraid to sleep at night time in case my airway is blocked, which I understand makes no sense (the swelling does not affect your airway....remember that the swelling pushes you OUTWARDS, not INWARDS).
Weight loss is pretty good still. It has now been nearly five days without eating anything, and I've only dropped five pounds (keep in mind that I weighed in at 235lbs pre-op....I'm 6'7"). On Tuesday, I will hopefully be given the green light for the non-clear liquids like purees and meal supplements. So I think the majority of whatever weight loss I incur will be over today and tomorrow.
Anyway, this post is long overdue, but I thought I would maybe share some of the pre-op photos. I am not yet looking at my post-op photos, so those will have to wait a few days yet, but I wanted to give you an idea of WHY I needed jaw surgery:
PROCESS START PHOTOS
These photos were taken three years ago prior to my SARPE:
http://paulsjawmakeover.blogspot.ca/2009/05/picture-post-1-prior-to-sarpe.html
Probably two immediate observations:
a. My teeth were crooked! Probably enough said. Not one straight tooth.
b. My upper jaw was narrow! The SARPE helped to correct that, but did not expand it completely obviously, because I underwent some further expansion in last week's surgery.
After SARPE, I have been wearing braces for the last 2.5 years to straighten the teeth out before the orthognathic surgery. To be perfectly honest, I was quite happy with my results prior to surgery, but obviously the way my jaw was aligned would still create problems for me down the line.
PRE-OPERATIVE PHOTOS
Here are some of these photos (taken the night before surgery):
Photo #1: Smile
Again, I was pretty happy with this, especially when you compare this to the photo from three years ago!! However, when you look a little bit closer, you will see the reasons the surgery was needed.
Photo #2: Closeup of Teeth
There were three main issues here that needed to be addressed. The first is the crossbite. As you can see, the upper midline is almost half a tooth right of my lower midline. The second is the 'gummy' smile. Again, this is not nearly as bad as I have seen in other cases, and I could have lived with it, but there is definitely some upper gum exposed. The third is how the upper law looks like it's kind of slanted down to the right. The mandibular (BSSO) part of the surgery would rotate my lower jaw in order to meet the upper. Because of how this was before, the teeth on the left side of my jaw never made contact with each other (see Photo #5 below).
By the way, if you are wondering what those hooks attached to the wires are, they are for the elastics used to hold your jaws together post-op and also to help the surgeons stabilize your jaw in a certain position during the surgery.
Photo #3: Roof of Mouth
This pic is included to show you how much expansion the SARPE achieved. Compared to three years ago, that's a LOT of expansion, but again, a little bit more was needed.
Photo #4: Profile
Again, this is a profile I could have very easily lived with, but you can see the need for that maxilla to be moved forward a little bit.
Photo #5: Left Jaws
This is a photo of the left side of my jaw. As you can see, none of those teeth make contact with each other when I bite down. In fact, only two teeth on my right side made contact. This could mean big trouble down the line in terms of decay of the teeth and all that due to over/under utilization.
Photo #6: Pre-Op
Just for kicks, here is a photo of me waiting in the recovery room prior to being called into the OR for surgery. I thought the headdress thing was kind of funny. At the very least, it helped to distract me!
Anyway, I am now at 97 hours post-op.....still not feeling great, but with each passing day now, I know things are going to start to feel a whole lot for the better.
Thanks for reading everyone. I will try my best to respond to any questions you have.
Take care,
Paul
On a positive note, the nosebleeding has pretty much stopped. The annoying part is waiting for the clots to make their way down (I know that's gross). No signs of infection or anything like that.
Not a lot of sleep again last night, but I'm finding that I can get a few hours in during the day which has been helpful. I think I'm almost a little afraid to sleep at night time in case my airway is blocked, which I understand makes no sense (the swelling does not affect your airway....remember that the swelling pushes you OUTWARDS, not INWARDS).
Weight loss is pretty good still. It has now been nearly five days without eating anything, and I've only dropped five pounds (keep in mind that I weighed in at 235lbs pre-op....I'm 6'7"). On Tuesday, I will hopefully be given the green light for the non-clear liquids like purees and meal supplements. So I think the majority of whatever weight loss I incur will be over today and tomorrow.
Anyway, this post is long overdue, but I thought I would maybe share some of the pre-op photos. I am not yet looking at my post-op photos, so those will have to wait a few days yet, but I wanted to give you an idea of WHY I needed jaw surgery:
PROCESS START PHOTOS
These photos were taken three years ago prior to my SARPE:
http://paulsjawmakeover.blogspot.ca/2009/05/picture-post-1-prior-to-sarpe.html
Probably two immediate observations:
a. My teeth were crooked! Probably enough said. Not one straight tooth.
b. My upper jaw was narrow! The SARPE helped to correct that, but did not expand it completely obviously, because I underwent some further expansion in last week's surgery.
After SARPE, I have been wearing braces for the last 2.5 years to straighten the teeth out before the orthognathic surgery. To be perfectly honest, I was quite happy with my results prior to surgery, but obviously the way my jaw was aligned would still create problems for me down the line.
PRE-OPERATIVE PHOTOS
Here are some of these photos (taken the night before surgery):
Photo #1: Smile
Again, I was pretty happy with this, especially when you compare this to the photo from three years ago!! However, when you look a little bit closer, you will see the reasons the surgery was needed.
Photo #2: Closeup of Teeth
There were three main issues here that needed to be addressed. The first is the crossbite. As you can see, the upper midline is almost half a tooth right of my lower midline. The second is the 'gummy' smile. Again, this is not nearly as bad as I have seen in other cases, and I could have lived with it, but there is definitely some upper gum exposed. The third is how the upper law looks like it's kind of slanted down to the right. The mandibular (BSSO) part of the surgery would rotate my lower jaw in order to meet the upper. Because of how this was before, the teeth on the left side of my jaw never made contact with each other (see Photo #5 below).
By the way, if you are wondering what those hooks attached to the wires are, they are for the elastics used to hold your jaws together post-op and also to help the surgeons stabilize your jaw in a certain position during the surgery.
Photo #3: Roof of Mouth
This pic is included to show you how much expansion the SARPE achieved. Compared to three years ago, that's a LOT of expansion, but again, a little bit more was needed.
Photo #4: Profile
Again, this is a profile I could have very easily lived with, but you can see the need for that maxilla to be moved forward a little bit.
Photo #5: Left Jaws
This is a photo of the left side of my jaw. As you can see, none of those teeth make contact with each other when I bite down. In fact, only two teeth on my right side made contact. This could mean big trouble down the line in terms of decay of the teeth and all that due to over/under utilization.
Photo #6: Pre-Op
Just for kicks, here is a photo of me waiting in the recovery room prior to being called into the OR for surgery. I thought the headdress thing was kind of funny. At the very least, it helped to distract me!
Anyway, I am now at 97 hours post-op.....still not feeling great, but with each passing day now, I know things are going to start to feel a whole lot for the better.
Thanks for reading everyone. I will try my best to respond to any questions you have.
Take care,
Paul
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Day 963 - 75 Hours Post-Op
Hi everyone,
Well, I'm on the other side of the operation! I knew these first few days would be rough, and I'm really hoping today is the peak of the discomfort. Consistent with other people's experiences, I'm not sure "pain" is the right word to describe what this is like. It's just extremely tight right now.
Anyway, while the pain meds are allowing me to sit here for a few minutes without the need to get up and move around, I figured I may as well start from this past Tuesday!
Tuesday, April 24 (day before surgery)
I went into the clinic for a 4:00pm appointment where they essentially told me everything they were going to do with me. In my particular case, it was a 3-piece Lefort 1 osteotomy for the maxilla, and a bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO) for the mandible. The maxilla was going to be moved UPWARDS a few millimeters, OUTWARDS a few millimeters and EXPANDED a few millimeters. The mandible was basically going to be ROTATED in order to meet the maxilla (my pre-op pics will show that the left side of my jaws did not meet), and brought BACK a couple of millimeters. There was also some talk about having a genioplasty due to the mandible going backwards, but after they did all their projections on my jaw, they determined it was not necessary. The last thing was for a couple of cheek implants. I never thought I needed this, but my cheeks are fairly flat, and the movement of the jaws would accentuate this flatness. The doc said something along the lines of, "You may not need them, but if you do, we may as well just put them in there." Turns out I didn't get them....more on that later.
Anyway, I went into this appointment extremely apprehensive - what am I about to put my body through? - but honestly, the resident surgeon who did this 'info session' did a very good job at explaining everything clearly, laying out the potential complications and expectations honestly. I felt much better leaving that appointment than I did going into it. In fact, I even managed to sleep that night. I was one day away from having a functional jaw for the first time in my life.
Wednesday, April 25 (day of surgery)
My wife and I woke up around 5:00am. There's something weird about your alarm going off on "big days". I was mentally ready to go and pretty much in a, "Lets get this over with," state of mind.
We arrived at the hospital for 6:00am. I was brought immediately into the OR waiting room for my 8:00am surgery. Aside from having to change into the gown and all that, I required a tightly taped towel around my head. The normal old operating room headdress would simply not do for this surgery.
After meeting with a couple of nurses, and the two resident surgeons who prepped me, I met with the anesthetist . I have a history of coming out nauseous from anesthesia, and being sick after jaw surgery is not an appetizing prospect. However, when I had my SARPE three years ago, I was completely fine coming out of it. The anesthetist had a look at my chart from that SARPE and said that I was pumped so full of anti-nausea's during the procedure that there was no way I'd be sick. Makes sense! He said they'd be doing the same thing again. Made me feel a bit better.
Then came the call. The OR was ready for me. I walked towards the OR with one of the nurses after saying a quick bye and I love you to my wife and baby-on-the-way. First thing I noticed: Same OR as the SARPE - Operating Room #10. This must be the OR used for all jaw surgeries. I walked in, and started shaking right away. It is nerve wracking, but hey, if you aren't even a little scared about being put under for invasive operations, I don't think that's normal!! I lied down on the table, and the team quickly got my IV going. While this was happening, Dr. Holmes came into the room. I was still shaking at this point. One of the nurses told me to just pretend I was lying on a beach in Florida. That actually helped a bit! What helped even more however was when the anti-anxiety meds did their magic and calmed me right down! After this, they put the mask on me. I knew this would be it. I recall falling asleep. It took a good two or three good breaths, with my eyes getting heavier and heavier after each one. I was out.....
.....and then before you know it, I wasn't! It's 4:00pm, and I'm now in the recovery room. I remember thinking, "Ok, it's over. You did it." right away, but not much else after that. My wife came down to recovery because I had to stay for four hours. My jaw has cause some mild sleep apnea issues, and such patients are required to be monitored a little bit longer in the recovery room. In addition however, I lost quite a bit of blood in the OR - 1600 cc's! I did NOT require a blood transfusion, but the loss meant that my blood pressure and heart rate were quite elevated following the surgery. I also recall that my oxygen levels were down, so they put an oxygen mask over my nose and mouth which apparently helped out.
My head and cheeks were completely wrapped in a pressure bandage. That night, I could tell I looked kind of like a mummy through my reflection in the window, but I refused to look at myself in a mirror. I was afraid to see what was on the other side!
Around 9:00pm, I was wheeled up to the room. My only bout with nausea was when I shifted from the stretcher into my bed. They quickly administered Gravol however, and I was fine.
The first night, as expected, was rough. My famous bloody nose from last time couldn't stay away, and was draining pretty much all night. Moustache dressings - which would catch the blood drip from my nose - were applied pretty much on the hour. I was also bleeding/drooling heavily from the mouth. Not to mention that I had to wear that oxygen mask the entire time!! It was annoying to say the least. However, my wife was there the whole time.....something I am so grateful for. Also, we had a great overnight nurse who came quickly with every ring. But overall, that first night was bad. There's not much you can do aside from count the minutes until the sun comes up. Night seemed to last forever. At one point, I think I was slept for 25-30 minutes continuously, but it didn't get better than that.
Luckily, the sun always comes up.....eventually!!!
Thursday, April 26 (1 day post-op)
The junior resident stopped by at 7:00am to tell us that everything went great and as expected. This was a huge relief. The pressure bandage was then removed a couple hours later when the senior resident stopped by to pretty much tell me the same thing.
I managed to get onto my feet and walk around a little bit, which is big since the movement has the dual benefit of helping with the after-effects of the anesthesia, and also with minimizing the swelling (although right now, I can't imagine myself much MORE swollened!).
I went down to the clinic in the afternoon for my panoramic x-ray. I caught a glimpse of it on my way out.....lots of metal in there! Hahaha. When I have the exact hardware they put in there, I'll let you know, but for sure there are four plates in the maxilla and two in the mandible. Again, the residents said that everything looked great!
Due to the blood loss during the procedure, they had to monitor my hemoglobin throughout the day via blood tests. The bad news about the amount of blood loss is more swelling. However, one day post-op, I was still doing ok in this regard - the steroids they give you help with that! He mentioned that my scarring from the SARPE contributed to the bleeding. I guess things were just that much tougher to move around.
And that brings me to the cheek implants. The surgeon decided that due to the blood loss, and the fact that it was decided I didn't absolutely NEED them, he just wanted to end the surgery and leave it at that. I can't really argue with that - whatever he thought is good with me!
I didn't get much sleep on this night again (and not only because the Ottawa Senators had just lost game #7! Grrrrr.....ah well, they played an exciting game), but I would walk back and forth to the ice machine, get back into bed, try watching a little TV, maybe drowse off for a bit, then do it again. Again, you end up just waiting for the sun to come up. My wife went home on this night to get some real uninterrupted sleep in our own bed. She came back early though - right at 6:00am.
At this point, I still had not looked at myself in the mirror. My parents were scheduled to come down on Friday, and I wasn't sure what their reaction would be. The swelling has definitely been in a constant state of growth since coming out of the procedure. I'm told that it generally peaks at around 72 hours post-op, and I came out at 4:00pm on Wednesday, so I'm counting the hours from there. As I sit here, I'm at 75 hours.....and I really hope it has peaked!!
Friday, April 27 (2 days post-op)
My parents and sister arrived at around 10:00am. We needed my parents on this day because my wife had an appointment with her OBGYN RE: baby. So her plan was to pick up my prescriptions (since I would probably be going home on this day), go home and have a nap, go to her appointment, and then come back to bring me home. Apparently, getting the prescriptions was a little adventurous, but she got all four of them (antibiotics, painkiller, mouth rinse, another painkiller). Her adventures cost her some precious nap time though.
My painkillers were running good while my parents were there. And again, my swelling was not yet peaked, so they generally understood what I was saying! Overall, they were expecting me to be much much worse than I was (probably because I made this clear with them beforehand.....I wasn't going to be a pretty site!).
I was discharged at around 5:00pm, before my wife's appointment was done, so my parents brought me home in the joy of a Toronto Friday-afternoon rush hour. They stayed another hour or two after my wife got home, and then took off.
My nosebleeds had finally begun to clot on this night. It's still annoying though. I can't breathe anything through my nostrils because of how plugged they are. Hopefully this clears out soon! We also bought a cold-air humidifier which is supposed to help with this. It does, although I'm not sure it helped any more than marginally.
It was also my best night of sleeping. I probably got a total of five hours in, off and on. I think half of this is just due to exhaustion.
My diet is limited to strictly clear liquids until my next appointment on Tuesday afternoon, at which point I can hopefully graduate to some more 'full' liquids like Ensure or Boost. There's only some many combinations of beef broth, chicken broth, tea (no milk though!), fruit punch, apple juice, and water that you can have! However, it's not like I'm FEELING hungry, you know? When your body physically can't eat, it will hold off on that feeling of starvation for as long as possible. Because I've been good on the liquid intake so far, my weight loss has not been dramatic. I'm anticipating that to change over the next couple of days as the swelling goes down but diet stays the same.
Oy, I can feel that I'm getting kind of tired writing this, so I think I may stop for the night. Again, I am past that 72-hour post-op mark, which supposedly is the peak of the swelling. I'm really hoping so!
If I'm up to it, I will post the pre-op pics tonight.
Take care everyone,
Paul
Well, I'm on the other side of the operation! I knew these first few days would be rough, and I'm really hoping today is the peak of the discomfort. Consistent with other people's experiences, I'm not sure "pain" is the right word to describe what this is like. It's just extremely tight right now.
Anyway, while the pain meds are allowing me to sit here for a few minutes without the need to get up and move around, I figured I may as well start from this past Tuesday!
Tuesday, April 24 (day before surgery)
I went into the clinic for a 4:00pm appointment where they essentially told me everything they were going to do with me. In my particular case, it was a 3-piece Lefort 1 osteotomy for the maxilla, and a bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO) for the mandible. The maxilla was going to be moved UPWARDS a few millimeters, OUTWARDS a few millimeters and EXPANDED a few millimeters. The mandible was basically going to be ROTATED in order to meet the maxilla (my pre-op pics will show that the left side of my jaws did not meet), and brought BACK a couple of millimeters. There was also some talk about having a genioplasty due to the mandible going backwards, but after they did all their projections on my jaw, they determined it was not necessary. The last thing was for a couple of cheek implants. I never thought I needed this, but my cheeks are fairly flat, and the movement of the jaws would accentuate this flatness. The doc said something along the lines of, "You may not need them, but if you do, we may as well just put them in there." Turns out I didn't get them....more on that later.
Anyway, I went into this appointment extremely apprehensive - what am I about to put my body through? - but honestly, the resident surgeon who did this 'info session' did a very good job at explaining everything clearly, laying out the potential complications and expectations honestly. I felt much better leaving that appointment than I did going into it. In fact, I even managed to sleep that night. I was one day away from having a functional jaw for the first time in my life.
Wednesday, April 25 (day of surgery)
My wife and I woke up around 5:00am. There's something weird about your alarm going off on "big days". I was mentally ready to go and pretty much in a, "Lets get this over with," state of mind.
We arrived at the hospital for 6:00am. I was brought immediately into the OR waiting room for my 8:00am surgery. Aside from having to change into the gown and all that, I required a tightly taped towel around my head. The normal old operating room headdress would simply not do for this surgery.
After meeting with a couple of nurses, and the two resident surgeons who prepped me, I met with the anesthetist . I have a history of coming out nauseous from anesthesia, and being sick after jaw surgery is not an appetizing prospect. However, when I had my SARPE three years ago, I was completely fine coming out of it. The anesthetist had a look at my chart from that SARPE and said that I was pumped so full of anti-nausea's during the procedure that there was no way I'd be sick. Makes sense! He said they'd be doing the same thing again. Made me feel a bit better.
Then came the call. The OR was ready for me. I walked towards the OR with one of the nurses after saying a quick bye and I love you to my wife and baby-on-the-way. First thing I noticed: Same OR as the SARPE - Operating Room #10. This must be the OR used for all jaw surgeries. I walked in, and started shaking right away. It is nerve wracking, but hey, if you aren't even a little scared about being put under for invasive operations, I don't think that's normal!! I lied down on the table, and the team quickly got my IV going. While this was happening, Dr. Holmes came into the room. I was still shaking at this point. One of the nurses told me to just pretend I was lying on a beach in Florida. That actually helped a bit! What helped even more however was when the anti-anxiety meds did their magic and calmed me right down! After this, they put the mask on me. I knew this would be it. I recall falling asleep. It took a good two or three good breaths, with my eyes getting heavier and heavier after each one. I was out.....
.....and then before you know it, I wasn't! It's 4:00pm, and I'm now in the recovery room. I remember thinking, "Ok, it's over. You did it." right away, but not much else after that. My wife came down to recovery because I had to stay for four hours. My jaw has cause some mild sleep apnea issues, and such patients are required to be monitored a little bit longer in the recovery room. In addition however, I lost quite a bit of blood in the OR - 1600 cc's! I did NOT require a blood transfusion, but the loss meant that my blood pressure and heart rate were quite elevated following the surgery. I also recall that my oxygen levels were down, so they put an oxygen mask over my nose and mouth which apparently helped out.
My head and cheeks were completely wrapped in a pressure bandage. That night, I could tell I looked kind of like a mummy through my reflection in the window, but I refused to look at myself in a mirror. I was afraid to see what was on the other side!
Around 9:00pm, I was wheeled up to the room. My only bout with nausea was when I shifted from the stretcher into my bed. They quickly administered Gravol however, and I was fine.
The first night, as expected, was rough. My famous bloody nose from last time couldn't stay away, and was draining pretty much all night. Moustache dressings - which would catch the blood drip from my nose - were applied pretty much on the hour. I was also bleeding/drooling heavily from the mouth. Not to mention that I had to wear that oxygen mask the entire time!! It was annoying to say the least. However, my wife was there the whole time.....something I am so grateful for. Also, we had a great overnight nurse who came quickly with every ring. But overall, that first night was bad. There's not much you can do aside from count the minutes until the sun comes up. Night seemed to last forever. At one point, I think I was slept for 25-30 minutes continuously, but it didn't get better than that.
Luckily, the sun always comes up.....eventually!!!
Thursday, April 26 (1 day post-op)
The junior resident stopped by at 7:00am to tell us that everything went great and as expected. This was a huge relief. The pressure bandage was then removed a couple hours later when the senior resident stopped by to pretty much tell me the same thing.
I managed to get onto my feet and walk around a little bit, which is big since the movement has the dual benefit of helping with the after-effects of the anesthesia, and also with minimizing the swelling (although right now, I can't imagine myself much MORE swollened!).
I went down to the clinic in the afternoon for my panoramic x-ray. I caught a glimpse of it on my way out.....lots of metal in there! Hahaha. When I have the exact hardware they put in there, I'll let you know, but for sure there are four plates in the maxilla and two in the mandible. Again, the residents said that everything looked great!
Due to the blood loss during the procedure, they had to monitor my hemoglobin throughout the day via blood tests. The bad news about the amount of blood loss is more swelling. However, one day post-op, I was still doing ok in this regard - the steroids they give you help with that! He mentioned that my scarring from the SARPE contributed to the bleeding. I guess things were just that much tougher to move around.
And that brings me to the cheek implants. The surgeon decided that due to the blood loss, and the fact that it was decided I didn't absolutely NEED them, he just wanted to end the surgery and leave it at that. I can't really argue with that - whatever he thought is good with me!
I didn't get much sleep on this night again (and not only because the Ottawa Senators had just lost game #7! Grrrrr.....ah well, they played an exciting game), but I would walk back and forth to the ice machine, get back into bed, try watching a little TV, maybe drowse off for a bit, then do it again. Again, you end up just waiting for the sun to come up. My wife went home on this night to get some real uninterrupted sleep in our own bed. She came back early though - right at 6:00am.
At this point, I still had not looked at myself in the mirror. My parents were scheduled to come down on Friday, and I wasn't sure what their reaction would be. The swelling has definitely been in a constant state of growth since coming out of the procedure. I'm told that it generally peaks at around 72 hours post-op, and I came out at 4:00pm on Wednesday, so I'm counting the hours from there. As I sit here, I'm at 75 hours.....and I really hope it has peaked!!
Friday, April 27 (2 days post-op)
My parents and sister arrived at around 10:00am. We needed my parents on this day because my wife had an appointment with her OBGYN RE: baby. So her plan was to pick up my prescriptions (since I would probably be going home on this day), go home and have a nap, go to her appointment, and then come back to bring me home. Apparently, getting the prescriptions was a little adventurous, but she got all four of them (antibiotics, painkiller, mouth rinse, another painkiller). Her adventures cost her some precious nap time though.
My painkillers were running good while my parents were there. And again, my swelling was not yet peaked, so they generally understood what I was saying! Overall, they were expecting me to be much much worse than I was (probably because I made this clear with them beforehand.....I wasn't going to be a pretty site!).
I was discharged at around 5:00pm, before my wife's appointment was done, so my parents brought me home in the joy of a Toronto Friday-afternoon rush hour. They stayed another hour or two after my wife got home, and then took off.
My nosebleeds had finally begun to clot on this night. It's still annoying though. I can't breathe anything through my nostrils because of how plugged they are. Hopefully this clears out soon! We also bought a cold-air humidifier which is supposed to help with this. It does, although I'm not sure it helped any more than marginally.
It was also my best night of sleeping. I probably got a total of five hours in, off and on. I think half of this is just due to exhaustion.
My diet is limited to strictly clear liquids until my next appointment on Tuesday afternoon, at which point I can hopefully graduate to some more 'full' liquids like Ensure or Boost. There's only some many combinations of beef broth, chicken broth, tea (no milk though!), fruit punch, apple juice, and water that you can have! However, it's not like I'm FEELING hungry, you know? When your body physically can't eat, it will hold off on that feeling of starvation for as long as possible. Because I've been good on the liquid intake so far, my weight loss has not been dramatic. I'm anticipating that to change over the next couple of days as the swelling goes down but diet stays the same.
Oy, I can feel that I'm getting kind of tired writing this, so I think I may stop for the night. Again, I am past that 72-hour post-op mark, which supposedly is the peak of the swelling. I'm really hoping so!
If I'm up to it, I will post the pre-op pics tonight.
Take care everyone,
Paul
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Day 957 - Clock is Ticking.......
I'm not so sure I've ever been more afraid than I am right now.
I have spent the last couple of days searching around the net, and wow, I am realizing this surgery is quite invasive and serious. My latest concern now is BREATHING. I hear that breathing is a challenge, which makes me feel claustrophobic. I'm a pretty heavy-breather already.
The common string amongst everything I have read is to expect a week of hell.
I'm really trying to keep the end-goal in mind here, but today am questioning if it's worth it.
I have spent the last couple of days searching around the net, and wow, I am realizing this surgery is quite invasive and serious. My latest concern now is BREATHING. I hear that breathing is a challenge, which makes me feel claustrophobic. I'm a pretty heavy-breather already.
The common string amongst everything I have read is to expect a week of hell.
I'm really trying to keep the end-goal in mind here, but today am questioning if it's worth it.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Day 952 - The Day Has Arrived
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the MAIN EVENT of the evening. Introducing first, the challenger. Hailing from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, this man went in for an orthodontic consult in June 2008, and now, after six tooth extractions, a SARPE that required a half-inch of expansion, a retainer, and three years of braces, he is finally ready for the final fight. PAULLLLLLL KENNEDYYYYYYY!
Ok, so apparently the stress is getting to me a little bit! Hahaha!
But seriously, I am going in for my orthognathic surgery next Wednesday, April 25; just over 3 years since my SARPE. I didn't know how I would react when I was told I was booked. To be honest, I thought I'd be scared like I was with SARPE, but as serious as this one is (more on that in a minute!) compared to SARPE, I was more EXCITED that anything to get the news. I am still apprehensive of course, but am excited to finally have this over with.
The timing could not have been any better, literally. Had the surgery not been able to happen this month, I made it clear I wouldn't go through with it. Not because I'm sick of the wait, I mean, teeth are teeth and it takes time to move them. It is because my wife is pregnant with our first child! She is due in early September, and so I wanted to make sure she would not be dealing with a jaw surgery patient so late in the pregnancy. Wouldn't be fair on her. I let my intentions be knows to my new orthodontic student at the clinic (Joanie had graduated last spring), Heather Ford, and I think she really went to bat for me and got me in there. The program held up its end by getting me in for April, and now I will be holding up mine!
The baby news has really just capped what has been a CRAZY three year period since the SARPE. In between the SARPE and the orthognathic surgery next week, we have bought our first home, I have switched jobs (twice), gotten married (once! Hahaha!), received my Fellowship in the Society of Actuaries (a seven year process which is the topic of my other blog FYI!), and have a baby on the way! Wow. But I digress.....
The surgery itself sounds....intense to say the least. Although I have not officially been briefed yet (they leave this until the night before surgery!), I know this will involve a 3-piece Le Fort maxillary expansion - because obviously the 16.75mm SARPE wasn't enough!!!! - a lift of the maxilla a little bit to show a little less gum when smiling, and some slicing and dicing of the mandible to fix the crossbite and get the jaws lined up properly. Oy. All in all, the procedure is supposed to last 6-8 hours. I report to the hospital at 6:00am the day of, and will be put out at around 8:00am. I kind of like the idea actually - no one wants to wait around all day for their surgery to start.
So I've been spending the last few days pigging out. Based on the fact that I lost 30lbs with SARPE, I'm expecting to lose at least 40lbs with this one. The good news is that I am overweight by about 20lbs (I am 6'7", 240lbs currently), but the additional 20 would put me at a weight I haven't been since being a scrawny basketball player in high school!
I am thinking I am more comfortable (at least so far) with the idea of this surgery because I have done SARPE already. I realize this surgery is SO much more serious than SARPE, but do I realize I will be a bloody, swollen wreck? Yes. Do I realize I will be eating with a syringe? Yes. Do I realize the weight loss will be significant? Yes. Barring any complications, I do have some idea how this will go down.
Anyway, as I did before, I will post some photos of my "before" surgery, and will keep a close eye on my progress post-op. And since I will be off of work, with not much else to do, I'm sure I'll be updating the blog regularly over the next little while. My plan right now is to partially return to work after two weeks by working from home a few hours a day, and then return to the office after the third week. I think it's a realistic goal, but I understand that everyone's situation is different. We'll see!
If anyone out there has undergone the 3-piece Le Fort, drop me a line. I'd love to read about your experience with it!
I'm definitely a wreck right now, but again, it's exciting to being so close to having this over with!
Wish me luck!
Take care everyone!!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Day 828 - Surgery Time
Sobering news today - it is surgery time.
I have seriously been contemplating not going through with the surgery. I am extremely satisfied with my results thus far. My bite is definitely not ideal (I have a crossbite, my midline is off, my maxilla - believe this or not - is not quite wide enough, etc.), but my teeth have come so far, so dramatically, that I was thinking, "Hey, why put myself through this surgery?"
I met with the surgeon, Dr. Holmes (the same guy who performed my SARPE), yesterday, and he answered that question very simply: If I do NOT do the surgery, there is a high chance of relapse. After investing over three years of my life now (hard to believe my expander first went in over three years ago!), the last thing I would want is to take steps backwards and undo what has taken so long to accomplish. I trust Dr. Holmes' word very much. He is a very experienced surgeon who has this gift - at least with me - of relieving any anxiety related to these procedures.
Therefore, I'm sitting here today almost positive that there will be maxillofacial surgery in my near future. As to the exact timing, I am obviously not quite sure, but likely late March/early April.
Dr. Holmes brought me through some of the details of this surgery. Does not sound fun.
As I pointed out before, my maxilla has to be expanded even a little further than it is now. For those who have read my blog, you will know already how far my maxilla has been expanded. As a quick recap, there were 67 activations of the expander, for a total of 16.75mm of expansion - well over half an inch. In fact, the maxilla had to be expanded so much that they had to switch expanders half way through because the screw in the first expander was not long enough! Unreal to think on those days again.
I think the rest of the plan for the maxilla is to bring it a little forward and push it a little upwards. Everything then gets screwed into place, which is different than SARPE where my upper jaw was left to 'naturally' heal, and therefore was loose and "wobbly" whenever I would do something as trivial as lightly brushing my teeth.
The surgery also involves work on the mandible. *Sigh* I think basically they will be looking to rotate it a little to fix the crossbite and bring my bite together. This damn bone sounds like the trickier part.
He also said that my jaw will not be wired shut. There will be some elastics to ensure I do not move the jaw too much, but no wires. I guess that's good. I'm taking any good news I can get right now!
We then spoke a little about how long a surgery like this will typically last. He said, "At least 5 hours, likely closer to 6 or 7." …… that floored me. I have never been under the knife for so long.
How long is the recovery? The first 2-3 days are in the hospital. Then home. Liquid diet for a MONTH (to compare - the liquid diet with SARPE lasted just under a couple of weeks), likely 2-3 weeks at least on short-term disability from work, all the joys of that swelling and bleeding that I missed so much from SARPE. Hahaha. Oh, did I mention that I would then still be in braces for probably another year? Hahaha. Man. What am I doing? Someone talk me into this or talk me out of it! Please!
Anyway, now that the ball is rolling again, I will be back on this blog, pictures and all.
If I am not back on again, Merry Christmas and all the best for a healthy and happy 2012!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Day 448 - Update
Wow, 448 days with braces. This is crazy.
Just thought I'd post a quick update. Basically, my teeth are now aligned. The spaces are more-or-less closed up. The one time-consuming item is that they had to push my upper molars UP, as they were kind of sticking out a bit. My orthodontist said that because my molars had never lined up with my bottom teeth, they grew out a little sideways. If they left them as they were, there would be a risk I'd be chomping down on my cheek once the maxilla is advanced in the surgery. My molars have now been pushed upwards, and look in-line with the other teeth, so basically I'm ready to go!
The only thing I have to wait for is the actual surgery date. The surgeons are going to see me next week and will hopefully confirm that I am indeed ready to go. I just want to get this over with. 448 days of braces + 60-something SARPE activations + SARPE surgery + living with an expander in my mouth for over a full year has been daunting. In Ontario, because I think this is considered more of an elective procedure, the wait time for surgery can be long. The last time, for SARPE, I had waited 2 months and then got a call saying, "We have you booked for this Thursday." Hahaha. I have a feeling someone cancelled or something and so they called me. Hopefully it won't be a long wait. February or March would be PERFECT for me, just incase I flunked the exam I wrote on November 4. If I failed that exam, I'll be writing again next November, which means I'd have to start studying in June/July. So if the surgery is in Feb/March, then by June/July, I should be close to 100% back to normal I would think.
I'm a little nervous to find out what the game plan is for the surgery. It would be AWESOME if they only have to work with the maxilla and leave the mandible completely out of it. If I want the 'perfect' bite, the mandible will probably definitely have to come into play I think due to the crossbite I have, but if hacking apart my mandible ends up only serving the purpose of fixing the crossbite, then it may not be worth it.
Anyway, I will keep you posted once I see the surgeons next week. Now that the surgery is upcoming, I plan on posting here much more frequently!
Take care,
Paul
Just thought I'd post a quick update. Basically, my teeth are now aligned. The spaces are more-or-less closed up. The one time-consuming item is that they had to push my upper molars UP, as they were kind of sticking out a bit. My orthodontist said that because my molars had never lined up with my bottom teeth, they grew out a little sideways. If they left them as they were, there would be a risk I'd be chomping down on my cheek once the maxilla is advanced in the surgery. My molars have now been pushed upwards, and look in-line with the other teeth, so basically I'm ready to go!
The only thing I have to wait for is the actual surgery date. The surgeons are going to see me next week and will hopefully confirm that I am indeed ready to go. I just want to get this over with. 448 days of braces + 60-something SARPE activations + SARPE surgery + living with an expander in my mouth for over a full year has been daunting. In Ontario, because I think this is considered more of an elective procedure, the wait time for surgery can be long. The last time, for SARPE, I had waited 2 months and then got a call saying, "We have you booked for this Thursday." Hahaha. I have a feeling someone cancelled or something and so they called me. Hopefully it won't be a long wait. February or March would be PERFECT for me, just incase I flunked the exam I wrote on November 4. If I failed that exam, I'll be writing again next November, which means I'd have to start studying in June/July. So if the surgery is in Feb/March, then by June/July, I should be close to 100% back to normal I would think.
I'm a little nervous to find out what the game plan is for the surgery. It would be AWESOME if they only have to work with the maxilla and leave the mandible completely out of it. If I want the 'perfect' bite, the mandible will probably definitely have to come into play I think due to the crossbite I have, but if hacking apart my mandible ends up only serving the purpose of fixing the crossbite, then it may not be worth it.
Anyway, I will keep you posted once I see the surgeons next week. Now that the surgery is upcoming, I plan on posting here much more frequently!
Take care,
Paul
Monday, September 13, 2010
Day 370 - First Year with Braces DONE
One whole freaking year! And what a year it has been!......got married, changed careers, passed one of my final two actuarial exams, went to Europe......wow!
But bring my jaw blog, I'll stick to the teeth.
Seriously, when I look back at the Day 1 blog pictures, my teeth have come light years in one single Earth year! My teeth are now straight, believe that or not! I no longer wear the upper palate retainer, and there has been a little relapse up there (I can tell because that retainer does not fit very snug at all when I try to get it in there), but for the most part everything is looking great! I am currently in the process of closing the gaps caused by the extraction of the lower 4's back in the spring of 2009.
Once that is done, the real fun starts, and my return to this blog will be assured. Impressions of my teeth are going to be taken, and the surgical team is going to figure out the appropriate course of treatment for the impending surgery. It makes me nervous just to think about it. I guess I can take solace in the fact that once THAT'S over, then this whole process is going to be over as well.
I am going in to see Joanie once every 3-4 weeks now since the wire used to close the gaps is only good for that amount of time. I also still have a problem with the upper molars, which have not quite aligned with the rest of the teeth yet. They protrude slightly to the outside, which could be a problem if they move my maxilla forward during the surgery....I may be chomping down on my cheeks. So they are trying to push these molars UP as far as I'm aware. It has made for a couple of uncomfortable days since my last adjustment, and the bracket wire is once again slicing into my cheek.....which has not happened in months!
I will keep everyone up to date.
So given that it has been a year now, I think these are my top observations of life with braces:
1. Carrying a toothbrush with you is a must. Something from every meal is going to get stuck in the brackets, and can be quite disgusting. Lettuce or any kind of leafy vegetable gets stuck in there every time I eat it.
2. Flossing is annoying, but is pretty important. I would recommend at the very least using a waterpik if flossing is as annoying for you as it is for me.
3. Electric toothbrush is a must. The OralB Triumph has special heads for people with braces. I use the pick-like head to clean the brackets, and then the regular head to clean the teeth.
4. Go to your dentist as often as possible for cleanings. The bottom line is that your teeth are not going to be kept as clean with braces as they would be without, so going for cleanings as often as possible is strongly urged! I currently go every four months. Once this is all over, I may pull back to every 6 months.
5. Keep your eyes on the prize. After it's all over, your teeth are going to look great. Besides, adults with braces is becoming more and more common.
I will update this again once I start hearing about the surgery.
Take care!
Paul
But bring my jaw blog, I'll stick to the teeth.
Seriously, when I look back at the Day 1 blog pictures, my teeth have come light years in one single Earth year! My teeth are now straight, believe that or not! I no longer wear the upper palate retainer, and there has been a little relapse up there (I can tell because that retainer does not fit very snug at all when I try to get it in there), but for the most part everything is looking great! I am currently in the process of closing the gaps caused by the extraction of the lower 4's back in the spring of 2009.
Once that is done, the real fun starts, and my return to this blog will be assured. Impressions of my teeth are going to be taken, and the surgical team is going to figure out the appropriate course of treatment for the impending surgery. It makes me nervous just to think about it. I guess I can take solace in the fact that once THAT'S over, then this whole process is going to be over as well.
I am going in to see Joanie once every 3-4 weeks now since the wire used to close the gaps is only good for that amount of time. I also still have a problem with the upper molars, which have not quite aligned with the rest of the teeth yet. They protrude slightly to the outside, which could be a problem if they move my maxilla forward during the surgery....I may be chomping down on my cheeks. So they are trying to push these molars UP as far as I'm aware. It has made for a couple of uncomfortable days since my last adjustment, and the bracket wire is once again slicing into my cheek.....which has not happened in months!
I will keep everyone up to date.
So given that it has been a year now, I think these are my top observations of life with braces:
1. Carrying a toothbrush with you is a must. Something from every meal is going to get stuck in the brackets, and can be quite disgusting. Lettuce or any kind of leafy vegetable gets stuck in there every time I eat it.
2. Flossing is annoying, but is pretty important. I would recommend at the very least using a waterpik if flossing is as annoying for you as it is for me.
3. Electric toothbrush is a must. The OralB Triumph has special heads for people with braces. I use the pick-like head to clean the brackets, and then the regular head to clean the teeth.
4. Go to your dentist as often as possible for cleanings. The bottom line is that your teeth are not going to be kept as clean with braces as they would be without, so going for cleanings as often as possible is strongly urged! I currently go every four months. Once this is all over, I may pull back to every 6 months.
5. Keep your eyes on the prize. After it's all over, your teeth are going to look great. Besides, adults with braces is becoming more and more common.
I will update this again once I start hearing about the surgery.
Take care!
Paul
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Day 274 - Apologies
Holy crap - I've been terrible about updating this blog. Forget about the pictures, which I have also been bad at, I can't seem to update this BLOG!
That's maybe because there's not much to report. I really want to post some of the pictures that I've taken. The teeth look great. The ortho has stated that they are pretty much aligned now. Pretty soon, they're just going to be closing the gaps in the bottom jaw caused by the teeth they removed last year.
Speaking of 'year' - on June 30 it will be one year since the SARPE expansions stopped. So this means that one year ago, I was sporting a HUGE gap in between my teeth. It's crazy to think about how far everything has come since then!
My surgery was tentatively scheduled for late this summer/early fall, but I think my orthodontist, who is a student still, maybe got a little ahead of herself because now they are saying no surgery until next year! This is what I was assuming initially when this whole thing started over a year ago, but given how well my teeth have been coming along, I was really hoping for this year. Oh well.
The other significant event that occurred was the removal of the expander! This happened at some point in March - about 13 months after it was initially placed up there. The expander was replaced with a removable retainer to ensure the relapse of my jaw is held to a minimum. The retainer was something else I had to get used to, but now it's fine. Holy crap though - when they removed the expander, my palate was very sensitive, it felt weird even when AIR would touch it! My mouth's palate was like a cathedral!! Of course, I'm used to it now. Oh, when I got home, I took a picture of my expander when the process started versus the expander when it was all over. I think you'll be as shocked as I was at the difference (yet another picture I have to put up here!).
My orthodontist is about to go on her summer break. I have an appt next week, and one in July right after my WEDDING actually. It's going to be a busy summer.
Finally, the orthodontic works is nearly paid-in-full!! Next month will be the final payment. Again, I have been very lucky to get this work done through the university. I have a great job and pretty good benefits, but even with all that, I just don't know how I could justify the price tag of this work done through a private clinic.
Anyway, I'm going to try to update this blog a little more regularly. I'll put some pictures up here really soon.
Take care,
Paul
That's maybe because there's not much to report. I really want to post some of the pictures that I've taken. The teeth look great. The ortho has stated that they are pretty much aligned now. Pretty soon, they're just going to be closing the gaps in the bottom jaw caused by the teeth they removed last year.
Speaking of 'year' - on June 30 it will be one year since the SARPE expansions stopped. So this means that one year ago, I was sporting a HUGE gap in between my teeth. It's crazy to think about how far everything has come since then!
My surgery was tentatively scheduled for late this summer/early fall, but I think my orthodontist, who is a student still, maybe got a little ahead of herself because now they are saying no surgery until next year! This is what I was assuming initially when this whole thing started over a year ago, but given how well my teeth have been coming along, I was really hoping for this year. Oh well.
The other significant event that occurred was the removal of the expander! This happened at some point in March - about 13 months after it was initially placed up there. The expander was replaced with a removable retainer to ensure the relapse of my jaw is held to a minimum. The retainer was something else I had to get used to, but now it's fine. Holy crap though - when they removed the expander, my palate was very sensitive, it felt weird even when AIR would touch it! My mouth's palate was like a cathedral!! Of course, I'm used to it now. Oh, when I got home, I took a picture of my expander when the process started versus the expander when it was all over. I think you'll be as shocked as I was at the difference (yet another picture I have to put up here!).
My orthodontist is about to go on her summer break. I have an appt next week, and one in July right after my WEDDING actually. It's going to be a busy summer.
Finally, the orthodontic works is nearly paid-in-full!! Next month will be the final payment. Again, I have been very lucky to get this work done through the university. I have a great job and pretty good benefits, but even with all that, I just don't know how I could justify the price tag of this work done through a private clinic.
Anyway, I'm going to try to update this blog a little more regularly. I'll put some pictures up here really soon.
Take care,
Paul
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Day 163 - Happy Anniversary to my Expander!
Happy February all (only one more month of winter!....unless you're following me from the Southern Hemisphere)!
Just thought I'd take the opportunity to acknowledge that I've now been living with an expander (not "the" expander as they were forced to switch expanders at one point during my expansion since my jaw was initially so narrow) glue to my upper jaw for a FULL YEAR!
The first day I had it in my mouth was interesting. I had a very difficult time saying a lot of words, especially those with a sound rhyming with the letter "e". I think my tongue would keep getting caught on the back of the expander which is why I had so much difficulty. This next part's gross, but also the first couple of weeks produced a lot of saliva! I don't really have a good explanation for this one, but there was a lot. But both of those quickly went away. Talking became like normal again and the saliva situation was under control! Eating without getting crap caught all in the expander is STILL difficult to avoid, and it is still occassionally uncomfortable (not in a painful way though!), but you know what? I am completely used to it now....which is going to make its removal so much sweeter!
I have an appointment next week to get sized up for a removable retainer thing that I can take out when I eat. I think they want me to have the retainer to ensure that the relapse is minimal. It has been nearly 8 months now since expansion has stopped and almost 10 months since the surgery itself, so it's probably ready to come out, but again, the expansion was so severe that they want to make sure...and I don't blame them!
Anyway, I will update everyone on the appointment once I have the chance. Take care!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Day 140 - Expander nearly done with?
Happy 2010 everyone!
It's been a while! It's late, but hopefully everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's! It's a little weird posting on here once the braces are on. I feel that a lot of great stuff is happening to my teeth, but it happens so gradually that I don't feel like I need to post every week like I did back in the Spring of 2009 when I had my SARPE surgery. I mean, when I look at my teeth today compared with day 1 with my braces, the changes are HUGE I think, but it's happened so gradually that I haven't felt the need to post! I apologize for this, but even if that habit continues, my next surgery is going to get me to start posting again!
I had an appointment almost two weeks ago with Dr. Roy. She's pleased with the progress so far. They took an x-ray of my front teeth, and enough bone had formed between them that they were able to activate the brackets on my front teeth finally! The bottom wire's gauge was ramped up a couple of notches as well. So all in all, my bottom teeth and two front teeth were in some pain for a couple of days. But again, it's really peanuts compared to what I've experienced already!
The best news of the appointment was that my expander is almost ready to come out! It has now been almost 7 months since expansions have stopped, and almost a full YEAR since the expanded was first fitted into my mouth. The expander is going to be replaced by a type of retainer at my next appointment, which will be in late February (or almost EIGHT months post-expansion!!). This retainer will allow me to remove the appliance when I eat. I know I'm going to love the feel of the roof of my mouth so much that I'm not going to want to wear the retainer. I'd actually almost prefer to keep the expander in until they are 100% sure it can be removed with little to no relapse.
For those who don't know and would like to, I'm told the expanders for SARPE generally are removed six months after expansions are stopped. They have to leave the expander in as the palate's suture that gets broken in SARPE re-solidifies. If the expander is removed prematurely, then the two sides of the jaw will collapse on each other again, which would render a surgery and subsequent hideousness worthless. However, given that my expansions were so extreme (almost 70 activations, which is nearly three-quarters of an inch!.....in fact, two expanders were needed to complete the job because the screw on the first one was only long enough to go 40 activations on its own), they wanted to leave it in there for a while longer. Again, I'll be close to eight months once my next appointment comes. Maybe that's long enough? Who knows. If they're not sure though, I'd rather just keep it in to be safe rather than sorry.
Finally, the impending orthognathic surgery seems to be on track. Dr. Roy said that she may even have me prepped for it by the time her summer vacation comes along. Sounds great, this is ahead of schedule, but any summer surgery that happens will have to be after the wedding in July.
So I guess I'll update you again when the next appointment comes along. Maybe I'll be able to take a picture of the ROOF of my mouth sans-expander for the very first time in a year.
Take care,
Paul
It's been a while! It's late, but hopefully everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's! It's a little weird posting on here once the braces are on. I feel that a lot of great stuff is happening to my teeth, but it happens so gradually that I don't feel like I need to post every week like I did back in the Spring of 2009 when I had my SARPE surgery. I mean, when I look at my teeth today compared with day 1 with my braces, the changes are HUGE I think, but it's happened so gradually that I haven't felt the need to post! I apologize for this, but even if that habit continues, my next surgery is going to get me to start posting again!
I had an appointment almost two weeks ago with Dr. Roy. She's pleased with the progress so far. They took an x-ray of my front teeth, and enough bone had formed between them that they were able to activate the brackets on my front teeth finally! The bottom wire's gauge was ramped up a couple of notches as well. So all in all, my bottom teeth and two front teeth were in some pain for a couple of days. But again, it's really peanuts compared to what I've experienced already!
The best news of the appointment was that my expander is almost ready to come out! It has now been almost 7 months since expansions have stopped, and almost a full YEAR since the expanded was first fitted into my mouth. The expander is going to be replaced by a type of retainer at my next appointment, which will be in late February (or almost EIGHT months post-expansion!!). This retainer will allow me to remove the appliance when I eat. I know I'm going to love the feel of the roof of my mouth so much that I'm not going to want to wear the retainer. I'd actually almost prefer to keep the expander in until they are 100% sure it can be removed with little to no relapse.
For those who don't know and would like to, I'm told the expanders for SARPE generally are removed six months after expansions are stopped. They have to leave the expander in as the palate's suture that gets broken in SARPE re-solidifies. If the expander is removed prematurely, then the two sides of the jaw will collapse on each other again, which would render a surgery and subsequent hideousness worthless. However, given that my expansions were so extreme (almost 70 activations, which is nearly three-quarters of an inch!.....in fact, two expanders were needed to complete the job because the screw on the first one was only long enough to go 40 activations on its own), they wanted to leave it in there for a while longer. Again, I'll be close to eight months once my next appointment comes. Maybe that's long enough? Who knows. If they're not sure though, I'd rather just keep it in to be safe rather than sorry.
Finally, the impending orthognathic surgery seems to be on track. Dr. Roy said that she may even have me prepped for it by the time her summer vacation comes along. Sounds great, this is ahead of schedule, but any summer surgery that happens will have to be after the wedding in July.
So I guess I'll update you again when the next appointment comes along. Maybe I'll be able to take a picture of the ROOF of my mouth sans-expander for the very first time in a year.
Take care,
Paul
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Day 103 - Happy Holidays!!
Over 100 days with braces now! Not so bad! The differences I'm noticing are crazy!
As 2009 draws to an end, I started thinking about all the stuff that's happened this year:
1. My upper jaw is 50% bigger than it was at the start of this year.
2. My teeth, top and bottom, are much straighter than at the start of this year.
3. My fiancee and I bought our first home - a condo in downtown Toronto.
4. This is new news, but I recently accepted a position at a new firm! It was a very difficult and surprisingly emotional decision, but I decided to try something a little different for the next little while and see where it leads me!
So new job, new home, new MOUTH, it's been a great year overall!!! I'm not positive I've had such an eventful year before!
Who knows what 2010 will hold! At the very least, our wedding is in July, so that's huge. The jaw surgery is still tentatively slated for the fall, so that's big news too. So in all honesty, barring any major setbacks, 2010 is shaping up to live up to 2009. The other thing is passing my last two professional actuarial exams. That's #1 on my priority list for 2010. I have one in May and hopefully the last one in November. We'll see!!
I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2010!! I'll talk to you again then!
As 2009 draws to an end, I started thinking about all the stuff that's happened this year:
1. My upper jaw is 50% bigger than it was at the start of this year.
2. My teeth, top and bottom, are much straighter than at the start of this year.
3. My fiancee and I bought our first home - a condo in downtown Toronto.
4. This is new news, but I recently accepted a position at a new firm! It was a very difficult and surprisingly emotional decision, but I decided to try something a little different for the next little while and see where it leads me!
So new job, new home, new MOUTH, it's been a great year overall!!! I'm not positive I've had such an eventful year before!
Who knows what 2010 will hold! At the very least, our wedding is in July, so that's huge. The jaw surgery is still tentatively slated for the fall, so that's big news too. So in all honesty, barring any major setbacks, 2010 is shaping up to live up to 2009. The other thing is passing my last two professional actuarial exams. That's #1 on my priority list for 2010. I have one in May and hopefully the last one in November. We'll see!!
I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2010!! I'll talk to you again then!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Braces - Day 84 (my political rant)
Hi everyone!
I found myself just combing through some of my old posts, especially those with pictures. Yikes that gap was big wasn't it?!?! Unbelievable. I can't believe we're really starting to come to the close of 2009 now. This year has gone by so quickly. I feel I've been saying that for a few years now, and I fear I'll be saying that every year.
My teeth are good. I went in last week to see Dr. Roy, who changed the wire, but not to a different gauge. She said that the teeth still have to move a little bit! I'm really starting to wonder if the timing of this whole process is going to be a little bit longer than anticipated.
When I was there, I also put a huge payment down on the braces, meaning that this whole process is nearly paid for in full! I think I have about $700 to go. Again, I'm very grateful to the University for taking my case. I have a pretty good job with decent benefits, but there's no way I could afford to do this privately. I don't know how some families can cope with this burden. I realize that orthodontics can be perceived as a cosmetic "luxury", but in my case, this has really helped me out physically. I snore less (so my fiancee now sleeps more!), my sleep apnea episodes have decreased dramatically, I even don't drool (sorry, I know that's gross) nearly I much as I used to which has led to less gum irritation which once led to bleeding when I went for cleanings.
And forget about orthodontics, only those with benefits from an employer are the ones lucky enough to go to a dentist on a regular basis. That's unbelievable. I would not say for a second that I am a liberal or democrat or left-wing or whatever you call it, but I am a big believer in public health when regulated properly, and in the interest of preventative medicine (as we all know, oral health is a big indicator of overall health), basic dental benefits really ought to be covered by this Province.
I'm sorry for the political rant there. It does not happen very often, but I think often about how lucky I am to have found this University program for my teeth that some other deserving individuals will not have the opportunity to partake in.
Once again, my apologies for no pictures. They're coming soon!
Take care. If I don't post again before Christmas, I wish everyone a very safe and happy holiday season, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy 2010!!!
I found myself just combing through some of my old posts, especially those with pictures. Yikes that gap was big wasn't it?!?! Unbelievable. I can't believe we're really starting to come to the close of 2009 now. This year has gone by so quickly. I feel I've been saying that for a few years now, and I fear I'll be saying that every year.
My teeth are good. I went in last week to see Dr. Roy, who changed the wire, but not to a different gauge. She said that the teeth still have to move a little bit! I'm really starting to wonder if the timing of this whole process is going to be a little bit longer than anticipated.
When I was there, I also put a huge payment down on the braces, meaning that this whole process is nearly paid for in full! I think I have about $700 to go. Again, I'm very grateful to the University for taking my case. I have a pretty good job with decent benefits, but there's no way I could afford to do this privately. I don't know how some families can cope with this burden. I realize that orthodontics can be perceived as a cosmetic "luxury", but in my case, this has really helped me out physically. I snore less (so my fiancee now sleeps more!), my sleep apnea episodes have decreased dramatically, I even don't drool (sorry, I know that's gross) nearly I much as I used to which has led to less gum irritation which once led to bleeding when I went for cleanings.
And forget about orthodontics, only those with benefits from an employer are the ones lucky enough to go to a dentist on a regular basis. That's unbelievable. I would not say for a second that I am a liberal or democrat or left-wing or whatever you call it, but I am a big believer in public health when regulated properly, and in the interest of preventative medicine (as we all know, oral health is a big indicator of overall health), basic dental benefits really ought to be covered by this Province.
I'm sorry for the political rant there. It does not happen very often, but I think often about how lucky I am to have found this University program for my teeth that some other deserving individuals will not have the opportunity to partake in.
Once again, my apologies for no pictures. They're coming soon!
Take care. If I don't post again before Christmas, I wish everyone a very safe and happy holiday season, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy 2010!!!
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