Hi everyone! My name is Lindsey, I'm 27 and live in Nova Scotia, Canada. I've recently had corrective jaw surgery to treat my obstructive sleep apnea as well as my mid line and slight overbite. I'm on day 5 of recovery, and it's been pretty hard so far.
So, a little bit about my process. In April of 2008, I got braces. I went to the orthodontist originally because of a small gap in my front teeth, thinking I'd have braces for about 18 months or so. Well I was in for a surprise when the orthodontist said I would need to have my jaws broken. I found out shortly after my first consult with the surgeon that I had obstructive sleep apnea that could be fixed by jaw surgery. That is the reason why I decided to do the surgery, because my overbite was so slight and my profile was perfectly fine.
Anyways, almost two years of braces later, I get my surgery. Took about 2.5 hours and a bunch of new hardware. My surgeon put in eight plates, that cost approx $800 each, and moved my upper and lower jaw 5mm and 6mm, respectively. I forgot to ask how much my upper jaw was moved to correct my mid line, oops. A little side note,I read on this forum that a lot of patients had to have a catheter during the procedure, I did not have one.
I stayed in the hospital for 2 days and 2 nights. The ortho-surgeon residents were quite surprised that I could breathe through my nose perfectly fine. Thank God for that. My stay at the hospital was relatively uneventful, never vomited, no bleeding, and the shakes and my meds were taken easily. That quickly changed when I got home. I couldn't sleep well, I hated the "high" from the narcotics, and I started power puking. Not fun I tell ya. The narcotics were causing nausea. Its so cruel that the pain killers they prescribe to someone with their jaws wired shut cause one to vomit uncontrollably. So, I stopped taking them. The pain isn't too bad, and at least I'm not buzzed anymore. So, I've been off the pain meds for 2 days now, and....still vomiting, but not as often. And the pain has definitely increased. Whenever I take my normal prescriptions, I vomit. I have a condition call pseudo tumor cerebri, which basically means I don't have a physical brain tumor that they can remove, but all the side effects from having one, such as severely increased cerebral spinal fluid pressure in my head causing constant pressure headaches that feel like my head is literally going to explode. So I haven't been taking my meds for the tumor, since I just vomit them up, so, as one would imagine, I'm not a happy camper.
Since I've gotten the surgery, I've been questioning why the hell I did it everyday. I'm in a lot of pain tonight, because of the added pain of my tumor. And I'm starving. I've lost 10 pounds already and it's only been 5 days. I keep on focusing on the end, when I'll be able to sleep through a night without waking up a million times, but the end is so far away. This is really getting me down. I'm hoping it'll all be worth it in the end, but so far it really doesn't seem that way.
Well that's my story so far thus far. I go to see my surgeon on Feb 10th, so hopefully I'll have a good report by then.
Jaw Surgery Forums » Share Your Jaw Surgery Experience!
Day 5 after upper and lower jaw surgery
(12 posts)-
linzbyrd
MemberPosted 7 months ago # -
Brandon
Site AdministratorHi Lindsey,
First off, congrats on a successful surgery! I know it doesn't seem like much now, but just be thankful that the actual surgery went well.
We completely understand where you're coming from, and you're right in the heart of the toughest part right now. I promise that it definitely gets a lot easier pretty quickly, and it's a shame you have to deal with the added discomfort of your previous condition.
I never took the pain meds at all, because I was still so numb from the surgery that I just didn't need them, but I definitely remember those sleepless nights. They get better night by night, and you'll be sleeping soundly again in no time.
As for starving, try to find some high-quality, high-calorie full meal replacement shakes, instead of just Ensure's or shakes. They can help you feel more satiated and add a lot of needed calories.
Just try and make it through this first week, and it gets much easier from there. It will be over before you know it, and hopefully, you'll be able to enjoy your new apnea-free nights from here on.
I hope that helps, and please keep us updated.
I'm Brandon, the creator of JawSurgeryBlog.com. I personally had upper and lower jaw surgery on October 30, 2007. Thankfully, everything went beautifully, so I'm trying to make sure everyone else's surgery goes smoothly as well!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504962572Posted 7 months ago # -
linzbyrd
MemberSo, it's been a month today since my surgery, and I can now say I'm glad I went through with it. I was totally regretting it for the first 10 days or so, but I sleep like a baby now! The reason I was in so much pain, as I described in my first post, is because I had an infection. After 10 days of liquid antibiotics, I was much better. At my 2 week check up with my oral surgeon, he was so impressed with my healing, so he was able to take off the bands and replace only 3 which I could remove to eat, clean my teeth, and do jaw/mouth exercises. This was such a relief. At my 4 week check up, the surgeon removed that annoying plastic plate/splint/whatever it's called, and reduced the elastics to 2, which are to be worn at night and decreasingly throughout the day. Right after that appointment, I had to go to my orthodontist to get my braces fixed since my wires had to be cut during surgery. He decided to put on 2 more elastics on my molars, one on each side, which are to be worn all the time, except for eating, of course. Eating is pretty easy now, there are plenty of things that I can eat now. The surgeon wants me to concentrate on chewing and to not use my front teeth. Everything is going great except for my nose. My nose is huge, and turned up now, so my nostrils look a lot larger. I hope it will return to normal, otherwise it'll definitely have to be fixed.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Brandon
Site AdministratorCongrats, Linz!
You made it through, and now you're home free.
I've heard the same nose description from a number of people, and it always seems to return to normal as the last bit of swelling goes down, so just hang in there to wait and see what happens over the next few weeks.
Posted 6 months ago # -
milia11
MemberHi Lindsey!
Can you tell me how big was the gap, between your lower and upper jaw just before the surgery?Posted 6 months ago # -
linzbyrd
MemberI'm sorry but I'm not sure of the size of the gap between my jaws.
I just had my 6 week follow up appointment, and my surgeon said everything looked perfect. He doesn't need to see me until July, which is a bonus, since I live 2.5 hours away from my surgeon. I only have 2 elastics on now, at the orders of my orthodontist. Very happy with my jaw. But, I have had fluid build up in my Eustachian tube for the last 2 weeks. I figured it had something ro do with my jaw surgery. I was right. My surgeon checked out my ears and recommended some nasal spray. He said if I started to feel any pain to go to my family doctor asap because it meant infection. When I woke up this morning, I was in a lot of pain in my ear, so I hijacked my younger brother's appointment, since he already had one, lol. So, yeah, another infection. Has anyone else experienced this??
Posted 6 months ago # -
Roy
MemberHi Lindsey. I am a little over 5 weeks post op and had my upper jaw moved forward 5mm and they removed 9 mm worth of bone towards the back of my upper jaw to close my bite.
I also had an ear ache on my right ear and could not hear out of it for the last 5 weeks. Depending how I turned my head it would go in and out and I would hear weird noises sometimes. A few days ago I started to hear about 50% and now that I read this blog I realized it came back. Im pretty sure it was the same issue you had. Im not sure of the name but its the tube that goes from your sinus to your ear. My surgeon says because of the swelling and sinus it pretty much clogged it.
Upper Jaw Surgery Feb 04, 2010Posted 5 months ago # -
linzbyrd
MemberHi Roy. It sucks to lose your hearing eh? I just tell everyone it's payback for when they made me repeat everything when I was wired shut because they couldn't understand me. Now I make them repeat everything because I can't hear them. My hearing is especially bad in my right ear also. I really hope that the antibiotics and steroid nasal spray work. My surgeon told me it can take a month to clear up. The issue you have sounds the same as mine. I guess it happened because they had to put a tube through our nostril during surgery. The tube is called the Eustachian tube. I looked it up when I started to lose my hearing. I love google, lol. I hope your hearing returns quickly Roy!
Posted 5 months ago # -
yogaswim80
MemberGreat posts and I am glad to see that someone else had the ear problem on the right side. I am 4 weeks out of my jaw surgery lower and upper. I just got the ear problem 2 days ago. I went to my ear, nose, and throat doctor and he said it could last a month. I hope I am lucky and it's shorter. Much shorter.
How wide could you open your jaw at the end of week 4? I can only open mine a little more than one finger.
Posted 5 months ago # -
linzbyrd
MemberI wonder if it's a coincidence that it was the right ear for all of us or if it's an anatomical issue. I've finished my 10 days of antibiotics 2 days ago. I'm still using a steroid nasal spray. No recovery in my hearing yet but the pain is gone.
At the end of week four, I could open my jaw about an inch, i.e. an inch between the bottom of my top teeth and the top of my bottom teeth.
Posted 5 months ago #
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