Past, current, and future Jaw Surgery patients Unite!
kscott
Member
Hey Jaw Breaker, I was indeed in for 8 hours, long day!
I had both the upper and lower jaw done and a new chin, I think they say about 3-4 hours for a jaw, so mine was doubled. The surgeon also tried in cheek implants (that he removed after, yay more swelling!) so that must of added some time too :)
2 Stone is 24 pounds :)
RachelM
Member
I was in for 8 hours too. Perfectly normal for bi-jaw surgery!
sarah1000
Moderator
I thought 2 stone was 28 pounds ;). It's 14 pounds to a stone x
JawBoneHamBone
Member
Hi Jayney,
I am only going to be wired for hopefully a few weeks but I'll give you my impressions on it so that you can be prepared.
The first day I came home completely wired shut I nearly had a panic attack. It's hard to explain but it's very claustrophobic not being able to open your mouth and I was very worried that I would have to vomit. This feeling goes away pretty quickly - within a day and you start to get used to it. Hopefully your nasal passages are clear as it will make it much more of a smooth transition.
Additionally, it has been very hard for me to eat anything thicker than a smoothie. A lot of creamy soups I can't even get through the wires. One thing I have been living on for the past few days is KFC mashed potatoes with gravy diluted with milk - it's a delicacy after having only "eaten" gatorade, milk and ensure for the past week.
Try to learn quickly how to use the syringe to eat. I guess because I have a smaller mouth, I have to stick the syringe to the back of my teeth and pull away to separate the cheek from the teeth in order to eat anything more than broth.
I also have a very hard time talking. I know some people can talk easily even when wired shut but for some reason, I can't. I can speak fine but the sound gets muffled trying to go through my splint and is very hard to understand. I use text-to-speech on my computer a lot to talk to family and friends.
All in all, it sounds terrible and it's not fun at all but I've gotten used to it pretty quickly and it will be over before you know it. Best of luck. Oh, and you'll get a nice diet out of it as well. I'm down about 25 pounds.
kscott
Member
@Sarah Totally right, I'm such a ditz today! Last week I was 24 pounds, this week I reweighed and it was 2 stone..
I'll blame the lack of food ;)
jayneylane
Member
Thanks everyone! I had to go for a pre-pre-op the other day and found out loads more they were really helpful.
I have been worrying about being sick, but she said they will give me wire-cutters that I will have to carry around with me for the 6 weeks just incase - so if the worst really happens I will be fine.
Food-wise all your tips have been great and I've been stocking up :)
I feel very lucky as my surgery is only 4 hours and only having my bottom jaw done. I asked if my wires could come off any sooner than 6 weeks and she said no as any bone takes 6 weeks to heal, when they come off I thought I could go straight onto normal food but I will have to eat soft food - at least it's better than an all-liquid diet!
And JawBoneHamBone - I really hope I lose that kind of weight - I have my wedding next March! One of the nurses told me to "bulk up" though on Tuesday in preperation for losing weight!
Thanks agian guys for your replies - really helpful and reasuring :)
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