Day 1 Post Op

Day 1

Day 1 was Saturday. I spent the night in the High Dependency Unit with another patient in the bed across from me. He sounded really sick, like something was wrong with his breathing or his throat. I wondered if he'd had his tonsils out and was bleeding as a result.
So there were 2 patients and 1 nurse.

I was given an apricot yoghurt (the first of many) for breakfast. I had also taken in 2 Oats So Simple porridge pots with me. The nurse made one up for me but I couldn't manage the lumps in it. So yoghurt it was. And water, plenty of water! I'm not normally a plain water drinker but the last thing I wanted to do was end up with a headache because I wasn't drinking enough. I also knew that the more I drank, the quicker the IV would come down.

I managed to use the commode a couple of times; all that water and IV made me pee. I felt like I was constantly peeing LOL!
I was helped up from my bed and transferred to a chair, given a basin of water and my toiletries so I could have a wash. I changed out of my theatre gown and into my pyjamas.

I don't really remember much about that day other than that I managed to sit in the chair until about 11am before needing to go back to bed. I thought I did really well.
Doctors came to see me again and my morphine was stopped after lunch time.

My biggest concern of that day was the patient in the other bed. Once I was washed and 'dressed' they pulled the curtains back and I got to meet my room mate. He was an elderly man, who did indeed have something wrong with his throat (but not tonsils). But he didn't know where he was. He wanted to go home. He wanted to phone his sister. He kept trying to get up even though he couldn't walk, he kept pulling his wires, etc off. He was very confused. He really needed someone watching him every minute. Poor man :-(
But of course there was only 1 nurse and she had 2 patients to look after. So I ended up watching him whilst the nurse was busy doing something and shouting on her when he kept trying to get up.
On the one hand, I wasn't getting the care I should have (for example, my pain killers at 2pm weren't given to me until 3pm) and really I shouldn't have been watching out for him but on the other hand, I felt so sorry for this man. I hope, he is ok.

I spent the afternoon in bed, but I texted my husband and told him not to take the kids with him to see me in the afternoon, I wasn't fit for them.
When my husband came to visit, I told him that my vision was blurry and my eyes felt gunky. He did wipe some gunk from my right eye but put my blurry vision down the anaesthetic. I wasn't convinced but nothing else I could do.
My day 1 photo was taken

The swelling was beginning.
I had apricot yoghurt and ice cream and loads of water at lunch. I also got some scotch broth but that is 1 of 2 soups that I just can not abide so I didn't even try it. I think I tried a cup of tea but couldn't have it hot because I couldn't tell the temperature and didn't want to burn myself. But cold tea isn't very nice.

This was the day that I began to drown in tissues with all the drooling.

I was told by the doctor to start using corsodyl mouthwash 4 times a day. Since I couldn't clean my teeth, then just to let the mouthwash sit either side of my mouth to keep my wounds clean.

Later in the afternoon, I was transferred back to the ward.
I got some very salty vegetable soup for supper. There was also some jelly (which I couldn't manage, I had established that anything I consumed needed to be runny and smooth and water was the best thing to drink).
My husband came to visit again, this time with the kids who had brought me flowers and cards :-)
Struggling to think what else happened, the rest of the day passed in a blur of taking painkillers (paracetamol, ibuprofen and codeine all in liquid form), going to the loo and just resting with as much ice packs as I could get.

I got a second injection of drugs to thin my blood. This was my third injection, although I don't remember when I had the second. The nurse who gave me the injection this time told me it would be less sore if I got the injection either in my leg or my stomach. I didn't fancy a needle going into my stomach so leg it was. It still hurt!

Surgery Day

At 7.30am on Friday 5th September, my husband and both my kids sent me texts to wish me good morning and the tears started again!
At 8am I got into my theatre gown and was given a premed whilst I watched the clock tick round to 9am.
I was pleased I was first on the list so I could get it all over and done with and not spend the day feeling starving and waiting.

They came to take me to theatre at 9.25am. I was wheeled down in my bed and taken to the anaesthetic room. The anaesthetist told me that they were just going to put me to sleep the usual way, no need for fibre optic stuff. The nurses were still attaching me to wires and stuff and the anaethetist said something about my hand feeling strange and then the next thing, that was me alseep.
This anaesthetic guy was good...No counting backwards from 10, no I'm going under feeling and I didn't even feel the anaesthetic going up the veins in my arms.

I woke up in recovery, well kind of, I remember being really desperate for a pee and somehow balancing on a bedpan and peeing for Scotland! I also didn't wake up feeling groggy or in pain, just one minute I was put to sleep, the next I was waking up. I think I was in recovery a long time. I also remember seeing an ex boyfriend of mine working in recovery! He didn't speak, but either I had broken his heart when I dumped him all those years ago, or he decided that the circumstances really weren't appropriate for a 'hey long time no see' conversation :D
Whilst in recovery I do remember a nurse telling me that she thought I had beautiful hair and asking me if it was naturally curly.
Now anyone who knows me, knows I *HATE* my hair so to have someone ask me in recovery about it just seemed pure madness!

As far as I'm aware, I was transferred to the High Dependency Unit about 4pm.
I was on oxygen (through nasal cannula), and now had 2 cannulas in my hand, one for an IV of Hartman's Solution and one for my morphine PCA.
 
I know my husband and kids came to see me and I remember chatting to them, I think I was more out of it than I thought I was. My husband did tell me that he had phoned the ward at 11am to ask if I was ok to be told I was still in theatre. That was ok, he knew I was first on the list but that the op would take 1.5hrs - 2hrs. He was told to phone back at 2pm. He phoned at 2pm to be told that I was still in theatre! The poor man was starting to panic now. He was told to phone back about 4pm.
Finally he phoned about 4.30pm and was told I was back on the ward. I can only imagine what that must have been like for him, having his wife 'still in theatre' for 6 hours' when the op was supposed to only take 2 hours max.

Here is my first post surgery photo, taken about 6 or 7 hours post-op (excuse the ice cream splodge, was the first thing I got to eat)

The surgeon came to see me and said that everything went well and was looking good.
After I saw the photo my husband took, I was amazed at how I was looking; the difference in my face shape was amazing! I could feel tears again. But there's a funny thing about jaw surgery, you can't cry properly because you can't open your mouth properly.

I had been worried about the morphine because I'd had a morphine injection when I was a lot younger for a migraine headache and I hallucinated with it. But fortunately this time, the morphine did it's job, no hallucinations and I think I had a comfortable night.

I wasn't in too much pain. I kept saying that it was a cold sore and the nurses and doctors were thinking I was yabbering about a cold sore as in what you get on your lips, but what I meant was that the pain was like the pain you get when something is freezing cold.

I know at one point during the night they had to stop the morphine because I was only taking 10 breaths a minute.

I was surprised at how little pain I was in, I was expecting it to be really painful, like worst pain ever. But it really wasn't.
 

Week Prior to BSSO + Wisdom Tooth Removal.

Hey guys! I made it through! I actually made it through :)

I guess my story begins on Monday 1st September when I woke up with a sore throat. Cue absolute panic that I was going to have my surgery cancelled. And I mean panic! Tears and everything. The last time I had a sore throat was back in April. I didn't go to the doctors because, well, what can a doctor do for a sore throat? Eventually by the end of the week, my husband took me to the doctors where I was diagnosed as having a throat infection and a chest infection. I also lost my voice completely for 11 days.
So to wake up with a sore throat the Monday before my surgery, was just bordering on devastating.

I phoned the ward who told me that no matter what, to just come in for admission on Thursday as planned.
I went to see my GP, I got the worst GP to see ever, who had a quick look at my throat with the help from light from the window because his otoscope wasn't working. He proclaimed my throat was a bit red, prescribed me antibiotics and told me that if the hospital got wind of this, they'd be cancelling my operation.
Nice.

With hindsight, really it would have been much better if he had prescribed me something to ease my anxiety. After all, this was big surgery I was facing and I had even said to him 'I'm scared'. But hey ho.

I didn't know if I actually had a sore throat or if it was just anxiety with my upcoming surgery. So I spent Mon, Tues and Weds frantically taking anything and everything to get rid of this throat and 'cold'.
The orthodontist removed my false tooth on the Monday afternoon.
All I could do was wait until I saw the anaesthetist who would tell me if the surgery would go ahead or not; it would be his call.

I honestly couldn't decide what was worse, my surgery being cancelled or my surgery going ahead. If it was postponed, it would impact on work, money, appointments, getting my tooth put back in. If it went ahead, I was faced with the possibility of not making it through. My husband assured me, if I didn't make it through he'd give me a good send off and make egg sandwiches :D :D


Thursday 4th September rolled round. Admission day.
My suitcase was all packed with the following:
2 pairs of pyjamas
4 pairs of knickers
4 pairs of socks
toiletries (including travel size shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste (free sample from the dentist), a soft, small headed toothbrush, hair stuff and a tub of aloe vera Vaseline)
tissues
2 magazines
1 puzzle book
a spare carrier bag for dirty washing
2 porridge pots and a tub of strawberry custard for post-op eating.
clothes for 2 days
slippers
dressing gown was carried as extra
my kindle fire
my mobile phone.

I removed most of my jewelry before heading to hospital.
I also took some photos before I went in.

Surprise surprise, my sore throat disappeared along with 4lbs in weight from stressing!
I was due to arrive on the ward at 2pm. I had previously decided that I was going to take my wee suitcase on wheels and trundle up to the hospital by bus. But the state I was in, my husband took me up to the hospital during his lunch break. He left me sobbing in the day room whilst I had to wait for a be (he wasn't being cruel, he had to go back to work!). I REALLY wasn't sure if I could do this whole surgery thing at all.

At 2pm, I was shown to my bed in a 6 bed area of the ward, overlooking the carpark, and then followed the usual questions from nursing staff. Then the doctor came to do the routine check over. The doctor decided to put a cannula into the back of my hand. There was one doctor and one medical student. The medical student (final year) got his turn first...it HURT! I felt so bad, poor guy. The doctor got round 2 and thankfully got the cannula in. Not pleasant. I am a wuss when it comes to pain. And I hate cannulas, I don't know if I have particularly thin skin or my veins are so close to the skin surface, but once I have one in my hand, I can't use that hand without it hurting.

Once the cannula was in, it was time to take blood. I'm pretty sure they took all the blood from my hand LOL. My poor hand turned blue, it took a while but they got the blood they needed.

Supper time and my last meal arrived. Mince, tatties and sweetcorn and peas followed by apple crumble and custard. Wasn't the best food in the world by any means but ate it because I knew it was going to be the last decent food I could manage.
If you are wondering what I had as my last meal before going to hospital, I had chicken parmesan and spaghetti one night and then a platter of ribs, chicken dippers, garlic bread, dips, nachos, etc the night before that. But because of all my stressing, I didn't actually enjoy any of it.

After supper time, the anaesthetist came to see me. The man I needed to see to tell me that my surgery was still going to go ahead. He was LOVELY! He explained that unless I was coughing stuff up, had a temperature or if I wouldn't go to work in my current condition then everything would be just fine for surgery to go ahead.
He also explained that because of my Pierre Robin Syndrome, he would have to talk to his superior to find out if they would put me to sleep in the usual way or if they would have to intubate me whilst I was still awake using fibre optic intubation. He explained that if they did do fibre optic intubation then I would be given lots of local anaesthetic up my nose and sedation. It didn't sound pleasant but it did sound safe.
I was told that I was first on the list for theatre in the morning.


I was seen by the surgeon who did something with plastic plates??? and I signed the consent form.

I also had to get more blood taken because something went wrong with one of the blood samples from earlier.

In the evening my husband and kids came to visit. I had stopped crying previously but when the time came for them to go, I started crying again. This was going to be a hard bit, seeing them go and me having to stay by myself knowing that I wouldn't see them again until after my surgery; if I got through the surgery that was. I was pretty convinced I wasn't going to make it through. I also thought this was going to be the hardest part of the whole thing, I didn't know if I was strong enough to get through this time.

At about 10pm I had a cup of tea and a slice of toast. I had got my pyjamas on and my TED stockings on. I had also been given a very painful injection in my arm to thin my blood. I was given a sleeping tablet and eventually nodded off.
I woke in the early hours of the morning, as I had been doing for about the past 2 weeks. I kept waking up about 4am in panic....I've now called the hours of 4am - 6am the Hours of Doom.
I was nil by mouth from midnight.

One Week Today Until Operation New Face

Yesterday I had my pre-op appointment. Spent a total of 2 hours in the hospital.

The surgeon was surprised to find that it has taken 6 years (and 3 months) to be ready for surgery. But I couldn't answer his question as to why it has taken so long, because I'm not an orthodontist.
But anyways, we are now just 7 days away from surgery, well actually, this time next Friday it should all be over with.

My false tooth will be removed on Monday 1st September :( The orthodontist was going to take it out yesterday but I fought for it to be kept in until I was back for another appointment on Monday anyway.

I will be admitted to hospital on Thursday 4th September. I had asked if I would be able to go home that night after all the checking in work had been done but apparently they will be giving me an injection of some kind of drug to thin my blood. I'm not sure that's wise but hey ho. I also have to sign a consent form for a blood transfusion if it is required.
So my last meal will be hospital food bleurgh!

My surgery will take place on the morning of Friday 5th September. It should take 1.5 - 2 hours.
I will be having my lower right wisdom tooth removed and then my jaw will be cut on both sides like in this picture:
 

My jaw will be moved backwards and to the right. It will be moved 5mm which will naturally move my chin 4mm so it will be more in the centre of my face.
I have been told to expect my bottom lip and chin to be numb, and could be for months afterwards. If they cut the nerve(s) that supply my lower lip and chin, then new nervous tissue grows at a rate of 1mm per week so it could be a very long time before feeling comes back. Hopefully they won't cut the nerve(s).

My midlines will not be perfect, they will be about 1-2mm out but it will give me a better bite position than if they were lined up exactly.

After surgery I will be moved to the high dependency unit for the first 24 hours; this is routine because of the swelling being so close to the airway. It actually made me feel better to know I'd be going to HDU and won't be left in a bed pressing a buzzer for a nurse that doesn't come whilst I bleed out all over the place.

I will have pca morphine so I imagine I'm going to be well out of it. Last time I had a morphine injection for a migraine I was hallucinating LOL.

I should get home on Sunday all being well.

I may sound very calm but believe me, I am very scared. I keep waking up at 4am in sweating panics about it. Although I feel a little better knowing more information now.
I'm scared, especially scared of just how awful I'm going to feel, how swollen I'll be, how sore I'll be and how I'm not going to be able to eat proper food.
I'm also feeling tearful at the thought of having to say goodbye to my husband and kids and not see them immediately before I go to theatre or once I come out of recovery. They will be visiting of course but it's in those moments, I'm missing them already.
Then I have other times where I think, well Fay, you were the one who decided to have the operation, you decided so you'll just have to get on with it.

I'll try and update as soon as I can. If I remember, I'll post some day before surgery pictures. They won't be pretty but they will be better than immediate post op ones :)

5 Weeks Yesterday

I *FINALLY* have a date for surgery!

On 5th September 2014 I will be having my jaw surgery.

I will be having my wisdom tooth removed and my lower jaw broken moved backwards and to the right.

Sometimes I am scared. Sometimes I'm more pragmatic about it all.

Sometimes I am scared that I'm not going to make it through the op and other times I'm scared that I will make it through the op :)

Just now trying to prepare myself, making a list of foods I can eat, I have a sweet list and a savoury list. I'm worried about the protein intake.
I'll be no chew for 6 weeks. Will the pain or the diet be the worst?

Been told that healing time is 6- 8 weeks so have told work I should be back after week 4; I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things go.
Reading other blogs, some people have went back to work after 2 weeks, others after 11.

Now trying to decide what my last supper will be. I'm to be admitted to hospital the afternoon before my surgery so I'm hoping that once all the paper work is done, I can come home for the night and get one last good meal and one last good night's sleep.

I'm prepared for the whole of September to disappear for me.

Six Years And Counting *sigh*

Yep, I've now been in braces for 6 years and 10 days.
And guess what....I still have no date for surgery.

I'm not sure if this is due to my orthodontist's skills or my teeth have just taken a very long time to move. But seriously, *WHO* has to be in braces for this length of time?

I do however have an appointment to see the surgeon on 10 July 2014. So not long to wait now...hopefully....

To be honest, it was 6 years ago that I decided to start this process after researching heaps online. Now it's been so long that surgery just doesn't seem real any more; like it's not going to happen.
I think it's going to be a shock.
And now I'm getting scared.
Now I'm wishing I just hadn't started this whole thing. If I had known it would have been six years in braces, I think I would have chosen one of the easier options.

I'm scared about what it's going to be like post op and scared that I'm not going to make it through surgery.

I can't remember when I got it, but I now have a bite plate appliance for my lower teeth because I refused to have any more molar buildups. It makes me look a bit like hannibal lecter.
I have hot pink and sapphire blue ligs with powerchain on the top.

See pic below :)

Hopefully next update will have a surgery date attached to it

Still here...

Well help me Bob I'm still in braces and STILL no sign of a surgery date!
Come May it will be 5 years, yes FIVE years that I will have had braces!

It's been a while since I last updated, mainly because I'm wondering if I'm actually talking to myself now, is anyone REALLY still following after all this time?
What has happened since my last update? Well not a lot. I think the most exciting thing that has happened teeth-wise is my mother inlaw fed me a brandy snap basket for pudding last year and I broke a tooth! I felt very sorry for myself and I now have 2 fillings instead of just the one :(

I've had wires changed, still on the silver ligs because there's so much powerchain. I've no elastics any more.
I've had molar buildups built up, ground down, put on again and then off. Getting them off the last time was awful...I remember looking up at the light and thinking 'This is like something out of a bad 80's horror movie'. Through all the work I've had with these braces, I have never cried but the day I got molar buildups off, I sobbed my heart out, tears running down my face on to the floor sobbing. I swore then I'd NEVER have them put on again. I think if the ortho had stopped mid way through to give me a breather for a minute I'd have been fine. But she's a bit gung ho. And know how usually if you go to the dentist, they say raise your left hand if you need us to stop, well with my ortho, you can raise your left hand and make it dance and wave about and she still ignores it!

So. At one point just 2 months ago, 2 teeth went in the wrong direction because of my 'fierce bite' and the words 'molar buildups' were uttered. I refused, well the ortho said either cement or an appliance. I chose appliance. So now I have a bite blocker lump of plastic appliance in my mouth instead.
The first week, it was hard to get used to, I couldn't speak without thounding thupid and it was tricky to eat the first few days. Everything eating (well almost everything, crisps are still a problem, but I only want those cause I can't eat them) and talking wise is pretty much 'normal' now. But I am waking up most mornings with my teeth clamped so tight together. I don't know if I naturally bite my teeth so hard together or if it's because of the appliance. I also find I get to about mid afternoon and I want to gnaw my teeth out my mouth. It's not sore, just an urge to gnaw badly.

About this time last year, May 2012, 4 years in,  I finally plucked up the courage to ask when surgery might be done. It's hanging over my head, I can't even book a summer holiday, I've put off post graduate study, applying for full time work all because I know this surgery is going to happen and I know I'll need time to recover and proper time to recover not a rush job. May 2012 and the ortho said end of 2012 or beginning of 2013. I sat in the cleft clinic with my son May/June 2012 and saw my maxfax surgeon who was asking how I was getting on. I remember him saying if I saw him relatively soon, it'd be a 2 month wait for surgery. At that time. But those days have come and gone.
I will admit, I am ready now for getting these braces OFF! Five years is just too long, and certainly not what I signed up for! I even have some moments where I wish I hadn't said yes. But then I'd be walking round looking a witch with no top front left incisor. What can I do *shrug*. Not much.

I'll do some pics tomorrow so you can see where I am at.