Saturday 14 September 2013

Discharge Day - Friday 12.7.2013



:)



The next morning i was woken up by a nurse who came in to give me more meds and a cup full of mouthwash and to also tell me that my surgeon would be round to check on me within the next hour. 

When my surgeon came round, he quickly checked my jaw/mouth over and said everything looked fine and then asked his assistant to book me in at the Maxillo Facial Unit downstairs with my Orthodontist for a quick X-ray before being discharged early afternoon. He also told me that underneath my chin is all soft tissue at the moment from the way my jaw used to be and that if he does decide to go ahead with a Genioplasty when the swelling goes down that it should just all stretch out. 

I then managed to call my dad wishing him a Happy 50th Birthday! How, i don't know! 

Within the hour i was being wheeled down to X-ray. After having the X-rays done My Orthodontist said i had such a perfect bite that he was going to wait until my ortho appt on Monday to fit class 2 elastics. He also gave me a copy of the side X-ray i had done before starting treatment, a copy of the side X-ray he'd just taken after surgery and a front view X-ray of the plates. 





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Before X-ray 2011




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After Side X-ray 12.7.2013



^ ^
After Front X-ray 12.7.2013



I was then taken back to my room on the ward where i was given milky porridge to try. I managed only a few mouthfuls and just carried on drinking lots of water instead. 

Another few hours passed and at 12pm they started serving lunch to which i was given tomato soup, this was a lot easier and managed most of it.


 :) 




^^ 
I think at this point Craig came in with a Cadbury's chocolate bar, so i was none too happy! 




^^ 
Swelling staring to get get bigger.







My mum and Craig arrived shortly after i'd finished the soup and my mum was told i would be discharged by 3pm now instead as they was just waiting on the medication from pharmacy to be ready for me to take home. In the end i wasn't discharged until just after 6pm as the medication had to come in from another hospital. 

Going home was a long journey, with a heat wave starting and having to be in a car all hot, swollen and uncomfortable for over an hour, this was probably the worst part so far.  


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Jaw Surgery Day - 11.7.2013



So the morning of my jaw surgery arrived and my boyfriend and i left at 7am to get to the hospital for my admission time of 7:30am. 

Walking into the hospital heading toward the Admissions Lounge it was all starting to hit me that i was finally having my jaw surgery! 
When we finally reached the department, a nurse took my name, admission letter and the name of my surgeon and then told us that they had moved the department my op was taking place in from the Main Theaters to the Day Surgery Theaters instead as the ward i'd be going to after recovery is the floor up from the Day Surgery Unit. I think this calmed my nerves a bit in a weird way as i knew my way around that department as it was the same place id previously had my teeth out. 

When we got to the Day Surgery Unit a nurse confirmed that i was 4th on the operating list and due to go into theater around 11.30am - 12pm. I was then shown to a bed on the ward where i had my wristbands put on each wrist and  then given a gown and of course those lovely stockings to change into. After i finally managed to get those horrible stockings on, the nurse came over to do my blood pressure and double check with me what operation i was having and all the information i had provided when i attended the pre-op a couple of days before was correct. I then had my surgeons assistant come round to double check with me what was going to happen so she could confirm it with my surgeon, why i don't know as throughout the morning whilst waiting to go into theater my surgeon came to see me a few times, once to confirm how he was doing the surgery and what would happen and twice after that to check on me, telling me that i'd be fine, which i thought was really nice of him :)

My mum and step-dad arrived just after 9am.


My mum also took LOTS of last min overbite pictures whilst waiting to go in, but i'l just upload a few... 



Awful gown and stockings!






Last overbite picture!





At around 12.30pm a nurse came down to get me and at that moment my eyes just started streaming with tears! Up until that point i thought i was surprisingly calm. 

Walking round to the operating theater with my mum and the nurse, the doors opened towards me and in front of me was a little side room with more double doors at the other end opening up into another white, big room with all these machines beeping and making noises, which freaked me out and i asked to be put out in the side room instead as there was no way i could of been put out in that room with all those machines going. All i remember after i laid down on the bed was the nurse and my mum talking to me about holidays whilst the anesthetist was doing the anesthetic.


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Next thing i know i was waking up in recovery with all these nurses around me. Looking at the clock in front of me i remember it being 4.45pm. 

My whole lower face felt tight and numb, as i was waking up i remember feeling sick for only a few minutes in the end, as one of the nurses that was with me told me 10mins before hand they had just given me anti sickness injection. She then stuck a suction tubes down each side of my mouth for a few seconds every 5 minutes or so to get all the blood out that was filling up in my mouth, which i was told would happen for the first 24 hours. The only bad experience i had in the hospital stay was while i was in recovery a nurse that had just started her shift came over to check on me and said 'i'm just going to clean up the blood in your mouth' and i remember nodding and closing my eyes thinking yay! the suction tube! only to open my eyes a few seconds later to see that she had just rolled up a big bandage type thing and then tried to push it into my mouth to soak up the blood! luckily the previous nurse came over and stopped her from putting it in any further to explain to her that i'd just had JAW SURGERY, that i couldn't open my mouth and to carry on with the suction tubes instead. Around 10mins later they then got some tube like cotton pads (like the ones you get at the dentist sometimes) and put one into each side of my cheeks to soak up the blood whilst they moved me onto the ward. 

Waiting for me on the ward was my mum, step-dad Mick and Craig, where they all stayed with me for 2 hours before leaving :)  

When back on the ward all i remember was constantly spitting blood every 10mins which lasted for just over 12 hours in the end. I also remember my mum and Mick commenting on my nose quite a few times saying that they couldn't believe it looked half the size it was, too which i remember giving them a thumbs up! :) 

After my mum and Mick left, Craig stayed with me for another hour and my surgeon came to check on me, where he said the op went fine and that he moved one side of my jaw 9mm and the other side 7mm.  

I had a nice comfortable private room on the ward with a side bathroom which i wasn't expecting at all. 





My bottom lip starting to swell up.








Ice packs were amazing! After this i constantly used these for 4 days!



I was quite nervous before hand about staying in overnight as i'd never been in hospital overnight. But once everyone left i was so drowsy and knocked out by all the medication that it just didn't bother me one bit. I was able to sleep most of the night only waking up to press my nurse button to have someone change my ice pack and to have more pain meds when pain kicked in. 


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Updates...LOTS of updates!




Hi everyone! 


So sorry about not updating in SO LONG! I was recovering back at my house with my mum instead of my boyfriends, so i didn't have my laptop with me, just my mum's ipad, which is difficult to update on, especially when you have so much to type! My recovery has been fine with only one little ongoing issue, 4 orthodontists appointments and 1 surgeon appointment since surgery, all of which i will tell you about in the posts as i go... 

So happy with the results so far :) 


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Tuesday 16 July 2013

Quick Post op update :)

Hi everyone

:) 


So pleased I can finally say that I've had my op!

It's been 5 days since my op, which I'm pleased to say went really well. 
 I will be doing day by day updates towards the end of the week, as I still feel quite exhausted! Especially with the heat wave that's going on here at the moment, which is making it impossible to sleep along with the swelling, bruising and all the meds I have be to take, which are making me quite drowsy. 
Which I really hate!

It's feels so weird now that my overbite has gone and I can't wait to see my full results when my swelling and bruising has all dissapeared.

I will also upload the copies of my before and after X-rays soon :) 


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Tuesday 9 July 2013

Lower Jaw Advancement



An animated clip of what i will be having done on Thursday.  





:)



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My last Surgeon appointment and my Pre-op :)



Today i had a day off to attend my LAST surgeon appt and A pre-op before my op on Thursday. 

On Monday morning i had a call from the hospital to tell me that my Surgeon said i can just turn up the Max Fax Unit at 10.30am without having an appt booked and he would just see me for my 'Wafer try in' :) 

The receptionist was fine about me not having an appt and let the nurse know that i had arrived. 

My surgeon said my Wafer that they will be using during the surgery to guide my jaw and teeth into their new position fitted perfectly! 

I then asked a couple of questions and he again warned me about the numbness of my bottom jaw for when i wake up and to be prepared for some of the feeling not to come back. I asked if it was normal that when he asked me to slide my jaw forward which he did earlier on in the appt after he made sure the wafer fitted, if it was normal not to have all my teeth touching together, to which he explained that when i wake up apart from being banded shut, i will notice that only my upper and lower very front teeth with be touching and not any of the back ones and that the next 6 months of braces post-op will move my teeth again into another position where they will all finally all touch together before finally having my braces taken off. 

I also asked about relapse as i was given a high chance of relapse before all my treatment started as i was considered a 'challenging case'. Thinking about it I wasn't sure how a relapse would happen if my jaw was all plated and screwed together? 

He explained that its the muscles under the tongue and around the top of the neck pull the lower jaw back and that relapse could happen at either 2 stages. It could either happen within the first 18 months of being post-op or it could be years to come down the line, and that if it were to happen it would only be a slight gap that would reappear, it wouldn't go back to the same size gap i have now. He then reassured me that when doing my op on Thursday they are going to do all the necessary movements when moving my jaw forward to hopefully stop this from occurring.


I did ask him about not having my top jaw done and he reassured me that it was the right thing to do.

I'm also going to have my top wisdom teeth taken out during the op as my surgeon said if he were to leave them in that they could end up constantly catching both sides of my cheeks so it would be best just to take them out there and then.

After i left my surgeon appt i had a few hours to kill before my Pre-op at 2.30pm, so My boyfriend (Craig) and i went to wonder around a few shops for a few hours :) 

I got to my pre-op appt at 2.15pm and had to fill out a questionnaire about my health whilst i was waiting for the nurse to call my name. I was called in around 5 minutes later where the nurse went through my questionnaire with me to double check all the information was correct. She then did my blood pressure, weight and height, MRSA swabs (under my arms and up my nose! which i have never heard of!) and then i had to have a blood test where she took 3 tubes of blood for a few different things. At this point i thought Craig looked a bit pale! I was told not to be alarmed on Thursday morning as they will be doing another blood test when i arrive for admission. I was then talked through that after the op and when in recovery that i will have to have an injection that they do for every patient that has an op over an hour long as it reduces the risk of blood clot.

My pre-op nurse then gave me LOTS of leaflets about the procedure i'm having, the anesthetic, pre-meds (if i want one), signing consent forms, and where i have to go on the day and what ward i will be on after coming out of recovery. I then asked on my way out where i was on my surgeons operating list and i'm 4th in which should roughly be around 11ish. 


GETTING CLOSER! AND GETTING MORE NERVOUS! 


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Shopping for Jaw Surgery supplies!






I've finally done my shopping for everything i need for my op on Thursday! 



I managed to get everything i could think of including;

* x2 boxes of Complan (1 box of chocolate and 1 box of strawberry  - x4 sachets per box )
* Baby toothbrush
* Baby Spoons
* Tub of Vaseline
* 3 packs of face wipes
* Box of Straws 
* Plastic Cup 
* x2 boxes of tissues 
* V-Shaped pillow 
* Pyjamas and a pair of Slippers for the hospital stay


I wasn't sure how many Complan boxes to buy, so my mum suggested buying just the 2 for now and then if needed she can just pop out and buy a few more for me next week :) 


I'm hoping i haven't forgot anything important!  


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Thursday 4 July 2013

Big change of plan..


:)


Very excited AND VERY NERVOUS right now!


So...I had a call today on my lunch break from the hospital to say that my surgeon had a free space on his list for Thursday next week and did i want to move my surgery forward? 

And of course i said YES!! 

1 week today i will have no more overbite! 
(something i just can't imagine!)


I'm so excited but my heart has not stopped pounding since lunch time, where i'm just so nervous about the whole thing now.

I have also been booked in for a pre op assessment for this coming Tuesday
(9th July) and i need to some how sort out another work up appt with my surgeon before having the surgery on Thursday (how i go about that i don't know as his secretary is off this week!) as i originally had one last work up appt 2 days before my original surgery to double check everything over one last time and make sure the 'wafer' fits.

So i will be out shopping for jaw surgery bits and pieces with my mum on Saturday as i have lots of things to get. So far i only have a pack of baby spoons. 

Will keep you all updated! 

:) 


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Thursday 27 June 2013

surgical hook pictures and next update :)

Finally!

 I have some pictures of my surgical hooks, which have been on just over a month now :)




On Tuesday 25th June i had my first work up appointment with my surgeon where he did more impressions and i had to bite down on a bit of rubber that they will use as a 'wafer' to guide my bite into its new position during the operation. 

I was also given a date for my surgery!! :D 

3 weeks today...the 18th July!! 

Cant wait!

 Although i'm now also very nervous! I was told by my surgeon that i will be in hospital overnight and discharged on the Friday afternoon and the operation will only be around 2 hours or so as i'm only having my lower jaw done. 

I've been booked in for Monday 15th July for my next ortho appt (and last ortho appt before surgery) and then back again the next day on 16th July to meet again with my surgeon one last time before surgery on the Thursday. I'm also just waiting for what he called my 'MOT date' (pre-op assessment) to come through which i need to have before surgery.

Now i don't know if i have left this a bit late, but i kind of regret not double checking with my surgeon on Tuesday during my work up appt about not having my top jaw done and i don't know if it will be too late to still ask him just 2 days before my surgery which will be the next time i see him? The thing that's making me wonder again about my top jaw is this picture below....


Would my smile look fine with just my lower jaw coming forward?
I don't know if it would still look a bit 'gummy' ? 
My ortho said that i just have an 'active' smile?
I'm really not sure if i have left it too late to bring it up or not? 


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Wednesday 15 May 2013

BIG update


Hi everyone! 

:)

Sorry if this post is really long, i have alot to try and remember, and i'm sorry again if i ramble on...

Where to start...


I've had a few appointments which i need to update you all on. Starting with the ortho appointment i attended on the 12th march which was only a quick one. This was just to get everything ready for my surgeon appointment i had booked for 23rd April.  
I had more molds of my teeth done and some pictures taken of the inside of my mouth.  

:)

After a few more weeks of waiting i finally headed to my surgeon appointment with my mum. My appt was a 20min slot booked in for 2pm. In the waiting room i was getting so nervous! I haven't been that nervous since my driving test last November. Every time i heard the door that the nurses come out of to call a patient in i was constantly looking up waiting for my name to be called. This went on for another 30mins. Finally at just gone 2.30pm i was called in and taken into a side room with my Orthodontist Mr. Dibiase, my surgeon Mr. Mckenzie and another surgeon i had never met until now, Ms Coutts. As i sat down it was clear why i had gone in a bit late as they were debating if they should operate on my top jaw or not. I sat on the dentist chair in the middle of the room, all three consultants watching my every expression deciding on what to do. My surgeon Mr.Mckenzie got up and moved the dentist chair down so he could have a proper look at my jaw where he felt around the top jaw deciding if he were to operate, how much would he move my top jaw by. About a minute later he put the chair back up and sat on the desk opposite me and next to my mum, with Ms.Coutts to the left of me and Mr.Dibiase to my right. They all decided after that, that operating on my top jaw could possibly age me a bit, as they would only move it  by less than 2mm and there could be a chance that my top lip could sag. Ms.Coutts explained to us that when someones talking you should be able to  see their top teeth and that if they moved my top jaw by 2mm and my top lip was to sag then you wouldn't be able to see my top teeth at all. So it was agreed that they wouldn't be doing my top jaw. We then decided that they would be moving the lower jaw forward as planned and get me back a year later to do a Genioplasty. Then they all  looked over at each other double checking that i was 'ready to go' and this was the moment when my surgeon turns to my mum and i and told us that it will all be done in roughly 4-5 (at this point i expected him to say months being on an NHS waiting list) weeks!!!!!


 SO HAPPY! 


They then wanted me to have another new side x ray taken and told me that i just need to get booked in with him again for what they call a 'work up clinic' which his secretary will arrange
  for me,where he will go into more depth about the op with me and take lots of measurements. My next ortho appt was already booked in for 14th may and Mr.dibiase said he would write in my notes for hayley (who usually deals with my braces) to put on my surgical hooks at that same appt.  

My mum and i headed down the corridor of the max fax unit so i could have the x ray done. When i came out  of x ray room, Mr.dibiase caught up with me and told me not to wear my elastics that i'v been wearing 24/7 and just to wear them at night from now on. He then said 'i'll you after surgery'. At that point it hit me. Im actually doing this! I turned around to my mum and we were both so excited and i had the biggest smile on my face but then all of a sudden tears rolled down my face as it hit me again and i realized i'm actually quite scared at the same time. Such a weird feeling being really excited but scared at the same time, but i cant wait to see my results!! 

:)  

Yesterday i had my appointment to have my surgical hooks put on (i will be uploading a picture as soon as i'v taken one) which i'm finding quite uncomfortable at the moment. I'v been booked back in for another ortho check up with hayley on the 15th july 'regardless' of if i'v had my surgery or not. Hayley also put in a reminder to my surgeon's secretary to book me in for my 'work up clinic' appt as this is something she will have to do. So now its just a case of waiting for that appointment to come through which i'm hoping wont be too long. 

*crosses fingers with a HUGE smile*  


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Monday 13 May 2013

Just a quick post...

   Hi everyone! 

I know i haven't posted in 5 months or so as i've only had a couple of orthodontist appointments since the last update which has just been getting me ready for my surgeon appointment, which was almost 2 weeks ago now. I now have another ortho appointment tomorrow morning.

                            As soon as i've had this appointment i will be posting a very BIG update! :)

excited to tell you all :) 

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