2 1/2 weeks after surgery
I'm back to give an update on my Total Joint Replacement surgery of my jaw. It has been a little over 2 weeks. It seems like it was so long ago, but I'm much more coherent now to be able to discuss how it went.The night before surgery I enjoyed a nice night out with my best friends. I would not be able to make it through life without these girls!
Before Surgery-
As you can see, I do not have much of a chin or any jaw definition. My jaw was extremely recessed back. This is because the joints of my jaw were not functioning properly. The discs in my joint were found to be almost entirely worn away. Bone was rubbing on bone. Without this joint properly cushioned, my jaw was sliding back further and further to compensate to support itself.
Surgery-
July 26th I received a Total Joint Replacement surgery for the joints in my jaw. They were replaced with prosthetic joints that were custom made. I also received a nasal turbinectomy, my bottom jaw was moved forward, chin moved forward, fat was grafted from my abdomen to my jaw, and my upper row of teeth were lowered and moved forward.
Stitches-
I had several IV's and an internal blood pressure monitor, which gave me a lot of bruises. I had stitches in my bellybutton, my ears, in my mouth, and under my chin. The ones in my mouth are dissolving slowly. The sutures in my ears, under my jaw and bellybutton were removed in the office about 2 weeks later.Hospital Stay-
I was in the ICU for 3 or 4 days and then moved to a regular hospital room for 2-3 more days. I had some great nurses and some terrible ones. I think it was a pretty typical hospital stay. You need someone there to watch everything. I had one male nurse who was great and always came to check on me when he was supposed to and gave me great meds. I had another girl who was late every single time. My pain would return with a vengeance and she was nowhere to be found to give me my next dose. My Dr went out of town for several days so he never came by. I had to text him several times for extra help (he had given me his number).Office Visits-
The first week I had to go into the Dr's office every day. They would clean out my mouth and stick a tube up my nose to suction it out. That was VERY uncomfortable, but I was not allowed to brush my teeth or blow my nose for quite a while.Airway-
The technicians were super excited about sucking out my nose. My Dr. is also really excited about my new airway. He said he wished he had an airway like mine now. I told him I can already breathe a lot better and he said, "Just wait until the swelling goes down. You won't even believe!" I had been telling Doctors for years that I couldn't breathe out of my nose when I ran or when I laid down. I always had to have nasal strips on to breathe. They always assured me my airway looked fine. It was nice to have this surgeon actually believe me and fix it. A lot of the problem was my jaw being so recessed. With my jaw sliding back further and further, it was putting pressure on my neck and decreasing the airway through my throat.After Photos-
You'll see my nose arch changed and my chin and jawline are there now. My mouth is a little sideways for a while because I have little muscle control.July 28 (2 days after) |
July 31 (5 days after) |
August 1 (6 days after) |
August 2 (1 week) |
August 7th Before and After side by side |
Swelling-
There is still a lot of swelling in my cheeks and under my jaw. Some swelling may last up 12 months.Muscle Control-
Numbness-
There is still quite a bit of numbness. I can feel my forehead and my temples but everything else is pretty much numb. Even the skin directly under my eyes have no feeling. This could be permanent or temporary. I can't feel the roof of my mouth either.
Pain-
I had a couple really bad days in the hospital. After that it has been pretty manageable. I was taking pain medication every 3 hours around the clock for the whole first week. After 2 weeks I'm able to have a few long stretches of time without medication. I have good days where I have energy and feel I can walk around and do some chores, and I have bad days where I need to lay in bed all day. I get dizzy and have vertigo a lot. They said this was to be expected because of how much blood I lost and the medications. I'm supposed to be taking short walks, eating small meals every few hours, and not lifting or bending. I've been overexerting myself though. It's very hard with a child. He wants picked up and he wants me to play with him. It's hard to ignore him but he's already popped me pretty good in the jaw, which I hope didn't mess anything up. My belly wounds were not bothering me in the beginning, but I think the jaw pain just overshadowed it. My belly is starting to feel really sore now.Showering-
I didn't get to shower at the hospital. I had one nurse come in to help me clean up. I asked another to do it again and she acted like she had never been through this before and was really unhelpful. At home I had to keep all my stitches out of the water so I had to have someone else wash my hair for me. I still have to sit in the shower in case I fall. Just a few days ago I finally got to take a real shower where I didn't have to worry about stitches.Eating-
Eating has been a challenge. I can't chew at all because I don't have enough strength to get my teeth to hit together. I was supposed to be on protein drinks for the first two weeks. I found I couldn't handle the Ensures after a while. I can actually open my mouth a lot further than most can after surgery so I've been trying other foods and probably pushed my jaw a little too far. So I'm eating mostly mashed up things like banana, mashed potatoes, and avocados. We've had some amazing people from church bring by meals and some I can actually eat which is amazing!Overall-
I'm doing remarkably well. I have very little bruising. The only problem I've had is a bit of wheezing that came on the 2nd week so I had to get on another antibiotic. I still have some dizziness but I'm pretty much able to care for myself now, just not my son. My pain is improving. I'm still on heavy medications so I can't drive and I can only walk short distances. I still can't tell how affective the surgery was. It's still too soon to say. I'm very hopeful about the future and can't wait until I'm healed up. I can't wait to run and be able to breathe out of my nose. I can't wait to see if my migraines decrease. I have a lot to look forward to.I'll report again when I know more about the results of this surgery.
Thanks for reading!
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