So, the plan is to get a lower splint to wear at night for a few months and to wait and see if things change any more from how they are now. I believe the splint is to help protect the joints and to make it easier to track any tooth movement. I will then most likely have to wear braces again and/or some sort of appliance to correct things. Honestly the idea of braces (for a 3rd time!) doesn't bother me too much (I'm definitely beyond any embarrassment related to braces, haha), I just want things to be fixed! I'm really worried that my bite will never feel comfortable and that my joints and bite will never be stable. I'm also (maybe irrationally) afraid that there will come a point when my OD says there's nothing that can be done to improve the situation and I'll just have to live with it. I've been failing miserably at keeping a positive attitude lately with all the uncertainty. :(
On a happier note, I'm rather pleased with the aesthetic results of surgery. I'm still struggling to fully accept my face (it doesn't help that my bite keeps changing) and I'm still overly critical of certain features, but it's definitely a big improvement! I don't think I've posted side-by-side before and after pictures yet so here are a few in celebration of being one year post-op!
 |
| BEFORE |
 |
| AFTER |
 |
| BEFORE |
 |
| AFTER |
 |
| BEFORE |
 |
| AFTER |
 |
| BEFORE |
 |
| AFTER |
Hi Lindsay, sorry to hear of your woes following your surgery - I can understand that you'd be dissapointed. I hope that your Drs find a solution for you soon. Your photos show a remarkable difference, which I think looks great! I like your new 'do' too :)
ReplyDeleteHang in there....
Thanks so much for the encouragement!
DeleteCongratulations on your anniversary!!! You have made it through a lot this last year! I'm so proud of you! You are beautiful Lindsay, as always!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Erika! That means a lot to me. Thanks for being such a great and supportive friend!
DeleteLooking great! Too bad about the complications, but it's good to hear that you're still in good spirits. I love your haircut!
ReplyDeleteThanks Naomi! Fingers crossed that they figure it out and fix me up. :)
DeleteLindsay, I'm so sorry to read this. This is all of our worst nightmare. I hope the splint helps and they are able to correct it. I'm glad another surgery is not in the horizon, but I'm sorry they don't really know what is happening! You do look AMAZING. Good luck, sending lots of good vibes.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Amanda! Yeah, it's been hard to wrap my head around the fact that things aren't going as perfectly as I'd hoped they would. :( I guess things could be much worse though so I need to stay positive! Easier said than done, haha.
DeleteI'm glad to hear from your last post that your bite is coming along great and you're getting close to the finish line!
How does it feel to put this behind you?! I bet it's super wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI'm only 13 days post-op...getting there!
Actually I've been having some trouble with my teeth and bite so not everything's behind me just yet. I might need to have braces put on again to fix things. It's very frustrating because I just want to move on with life! I'm sick of thinking and worrying about my teeth. It does feel good to have the surgery behind me though and to be able to eat anything I want!
DeleteGood luck with the rest of your recovery!
Ugh, that's frustrating. I hope things work out for the best and whatever the treatment plan it's short and it works. Take care!
DeleteThanks! You too!
DeleteLindsay! I tried looking for a contact email for you but couldn't find one. Would you be open to doing an interview about your jaw surgery journey? If you are open to it...please shoot me an email at camillajstone @ gmail . com. Would love to hear from you!
Deleteyou look great! I am about to undergo upper/lower jaw surgery with bilateral tmj replacement and genioplasty! My profile looks pretty identical to your before pictures. I can not wait to see my outcome after surgery. Hope it looks as good as yours!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliments! Wow, your surgery sounds intense! I hope everything goes perfectly for you and that you have a speedy recovery!
DeleteHey Lindsay i will be getting my surgery in less than 2 weeks, time sure goes fast!! how are you doing? you havent updated for a long time hope everything is still well with your teeth?? i dont know what to expect from my surgery, i still have to meet Dr. Gotaas one final time to find out whether i m getting top or both jaws done so i m quite nervous i've been reading your blog for the 100th time now yikess ... : S
ReplyDeleteWow 2 weeks until surgery!! That's exciting and terrifying! In my case Dr. Gotaas didn't completely decide on doing both jaws until he was in the OR, but he was pretty sure it was going to be both from the start.
DeleteMy jaw joints are feeling much better lately! My teeth are not. :( Dr. Major is still waiting for things to stabilize though before resuming treatment. He says I'm a "special case" haha. :P Possibly braces again some time next year, but I'm not sure. I have another appointment at the end of December so I'll do another update after that once I know a little more.
Hopefully everything goes well with your surgery!! Try not to worry, it'll be fine! And soon it'll be a distant memory. :) Let me know if you have any questions and I can try to help!
Oh no has your teeth open up alot? did dr. major say what cause the opening? it really sucks to go back to braces after such a long journey, you are a very optimistic person i dont think i could be nearly as positive as you but i m sure everything will work out for you in the end other wise like the saying goes..its not the end.
ReplyDeleteYes its very exciting and terrifying!! it finally hit me when i changed into the hospital gown at the pre admission clinic how scared i am ! i am worrying about every little thing now like ...putting in the IV does it hurt when you move you hands? how long does the catheter stay in? does it hurt to take it out? does the 2 nights at the hospital feel like its forever? were you in alot of pain/discomfort to sleep at night? did you sleep thru most of the day during the first 2 weeks? lol i have so many questions :p
Thanks for the encouragement! I think I'm much more optimistic about things in public than in private for sure haha. Dr. Major doesn't seem to know why things are shifting/opening but he thinks it's mostly a tooth movement issue rather than a jaw issue so hopefully that means it's easily fixable!
DeleteThe pre-admission clinic is a rude awakening isn't it? I remember my nervousness increasing quite a bit after that too. I had the IV put in my forearm rather than in my hand. This was the only place that the nurse seemed to be able to find a vein since I was so nervous! I actually preferred it there rather than in my hand because then it didn't interfere so much with hand movement and didn't make me as queasy when looking at it (I'm not very good when it comes to needles or IVs haha). I'm assuming you could request a preferred spot for your IV and see if the nurse can make it work? The catheter is only in during surgery. They put it in after you're under anesthetic and take it out before you wake up so you don't feel anything. I noticed some discomfort while going to the bathroom for a couple of days after but not enough to worry about. I wasn't in too much pain in the hospital, more so once I got home and the swelling peaked. For the first day or two your face is mostly numb anyways so the pain is minimal. Definitely use the pain medication button if you need it! I was given morphine and it was wonderful. :) I was trying to be conservative with it and trying not to push the button too much, only when I felt I really needed it, but the nurse was encouraging me to use it more if I was uncomfortable. No use suffering!
I didn't find the hospital stay too terrible, but I was definitely ready to go home after 2 nights. You get very little uninterrupted sleep since they're always checking your blood pressure, changing your ice, checking your medication, bringing you food, etc. I found I didn't have very much energy for anything besides sleeping, eating, and going to the bathroom, so time passed pretty quickly I thought. Once I got home I had a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep so I tried not to sleep during the day so that I was exhausted enough to sleep at night. This didn't usually work though haha. I finally slept through the night and felt much more energetic after about 2 weeks. This is also around the same time I could finally lay flat at night without my face throbbing and swelling up. I found drinking warm milk really helped me too. I would recommend listening to your body and sleeping whenever you feel you need to, day or night. Sleep is the best medicine. :)
Hopefully this helps a little bit!
Hi Lindsay I had my surgery on Monday so now is day 5! I wanted to tell you earlier how I m doing but I haven't had the energy to do so until now. Actually I tried to write something Tuesday at the hospital but my phone froze and I had used all of my energy to type the first time so I didn't retype. The first night was deft the hardest I couldn't breathe or open my eyes from nausea actually didn't even know what happened on the first night. The 2nd night on I felt a lot better but every night since I have been having trouble breathing at night!! It feels exhausting to breathe I read that u had better breathing after surgery n I was hoping I would too... Anyways I have a few questions to ask you 1) where do u place ur tongue is it behind the splint, it feels like there's not enough room in my mouth for my tongue so my tongue keeps pushing the splint unconsciously.. 2) is it normal to have light nose bleeds? 3) there is a patch by my hip (not sure who or when it was put on) do u know what it's for and when I can take it off? 4) I feel like my eye sight got worse did ur eyesight get back to normal?
DeleteI think that's it for now I m getting tired lol sry for all the questions hope to hear from you soon! :D
Congrats on making it to the other side!! Glad to hear things are going well!
DeleteIf you have a humidifier definitely use it! The air is so dry here. I had two running at night for the first week and I found it helped a lot with the stuffiness. Also sleeping upright helped. It lessened the pressure and swelling in my face and made it easier to breathe. I think the main reason I could breathe better after surgery is because my nose is so narrow that moving the upper jaw forward helped to open the airway a bit. My nose is a bit wider now and it feels less constricted when breathing.
I'll do my best to answer your questions!
1) I actually had a hard time figuring out where to put my tongue too, plus I had bad tongue habits to begin with, likely because of the open bite. I think resting the tip of your tongue on the ridge behind your upper front teeth is supposed to be the "normal" position, but I still struggle with this.
2) It's definitely normal to have some nose bleeds. I found that if looked down or leaned over that my nose tended to bleed a little. I think this was less actual bleeding and rather blood draining from the sinuses after collecting there during surgery. Gross eh?
3) Not sure what the patch is for...I didn't have one. Maybe they gave you an anti-nausea or steroid shot in the hip? I was given a steroid shot before leaving the hospital and they got me to hold some gauze over it until the bleeding stopped. Maybe they just put a patch on yours instead?
4) My eyesight was terrible after surgery! It went back to normal after a couple of weeks. I asked my eye doctor about this later and he said the anesthetic causes blurry vision, especially after longer surgeries.
I hope each day is better and better for you! Take things slowly and get lots of rest. :)
Thanks! it definitely feels good to be on the other side :)
Deletemy breathing has gotten a lot better in the past couple days, i have been putting vapour rub around the nose area and sleeping with 3 pillows. i only had 4 hours of sleep each night in the past week so hopefully this week it gets better!
i think i have bad tongue habits too i think when i sleep my tongue pushes on the splint :s i m getting light bleeding in the mouth everytime i sleep, not sure if my tongue have anything to do with it or just that i m clenching too hard. when did your bleeding stop?
i find so gross with my saliva accumlating in my mouth i cant get rid off. its making my mouth so slimy and uncomfortable, i want to rinse my mouth every 5 mins did you have the same problem?
Glad your breathing is better! I think my bleeding stopped pretty quickly from what I can remember, within the first 10 days. Once you can get all the gunk out of your nose it helps too, since most of it is dried blood and clots that tend to "leak" down the back of your throat when your nose gets runny, etc. Yuck! :P I found the salt water rinses really helped to speed healing of the incisions too and stop them from bleeding, plus it makes things feel much cleaner! I rinsed for a good 5 minutes after everything I ate haha. I had the same gross mouth feeling. You'll love it when the bands come off and you can brush your tongue! It feels wonderful!
Delete