Hi there, my name is Audrey and I'm Kellie's mum. I just wanted to share some things with you as your child/partner/relative/friend goes through jaw surgery.
Our experience might not be the same as yours but I think it will be similar enough to be relevent.
Firstly Kellie had her surgery for bimaxillory osteotomy genioplasty. In laymans terms thats both jaws and a shiny new chin.
She had her op on August 30th so today we are day 12. She will be fully banded for 6 weeks.
Surgery day was quite traumatic for me (sure kel wasnt having a blast either). She didnt go down to theatre til 12.30pm and she came out at 8.30pm. I eventually got to see her around 10.00pm and I have to say seeing her was a mixture of relief and upset. She was understandibly very woozy from the anesthetic and very panicky about breathing as her jaws were banded shut! She kept writing down why had she had this done, OMG i can't believe I've done this. I gave her lots of hugs and reasurance and when I left her I cried all the way home!
She came home 2 days later and I think we both felt better to be together.
Whome ever you are going to be looking after I would urge you to take at least the first week off work and be with them 24-7.
The first 7 days are tough. I dont think it matters if you're 17 or 27, they need lots of support.
We both make the living room our base and the sofa our bed. Kellie at one end and me at the other. She was proped up with pillows and cushions. They will need to be upright as it helps to breath and helps with the swelling.
There were lots of hand holding in the small hours and talking her through difficult 5 minutes of thinking she couldnt breath. We got through it and you will to.
We got a large fan whirring in the night which psycologically helped as she 'felt' like she wasnt getting enough air and the fan blowing on her gave her the feeling that there was more air in the room. Also a friend who's daughter had gone through this surgery 3 years ago ago said was in invest in McDonalds straws! Sounds crazy but it really helped Kellie. She would push a straw up to the back of her mouth and breathe in and out of it. In those small hours Kellie couldnt hear herself breathe and would ask me (well write to me) 'can you hear me breathing'? This is where the straw helped and she could hear herself breathing through the straw and it sounded like she was scuba diving which was a great tonic for helping her to get to sleep! By the way McDonalds have the best straws as they are quite rigid and best of all are free!
Hey, whatever gets you through!!
I wrote down every time she took her meds. There were lots of meds in the first week (painkillers, antibiotics etc) and it's impossible to remember what you've given and when. Write it down!
There's nothing like a bath and having your hair washed! Even you guys ;)
It makes everyone feel better!
