Home: Days 1-4

Hello everyone. I'm home now. Days 1-4 were spent in a haze in the hospital so I will try to get as much detail down as possible.

The procedure was supposed to last from 6-8 hours, but for me it lasted 13.5! My jaw was aslo not supposed to be wired shut but when Dr. A unwired me mid-surgery My jaw fractured in three places (other than the ones planned obviously). I shouldn't be too surprised as I ad mentioned years of degeneration being a fear of mine, but I can't pretend that this wiring bit is any fun.

I checked into surgery around 7:15 thursday morning and by about 8 I was in the OR. Boy is that room cold! The anesthesiologist was awesome. He'd worked on my sister and grandfather in the past and when I mentioned a deep loathing for IV's he allowed me to be induced with gas - cool!

I woke up sometime saturday morning in in the ICU, as they kept me there post-op. Things went kinda wonky in the OR, and I ended up with three hairline fractures as well as a break to one of my condyles. They had to intubate because of this and kept me in a propofol-induced sleep from thursday evening to saturday morning/afternoon. I had a tube down my nose and a catheter that made me feel the uncomfortable urge to pee the whole time.

I hated ICU, at one point a nurse had cuffed a pressure cuff on me. It was one of those machine-inflating ones. I started to cry that it hurt badly and asked her to please stop, but she just stared at me like I had two heads. The IV of course blew and they had to start another. Trust me when I say I am one of the worst people for getting an IV started. I was positively miserable. Another time I rang for pain meds and the mean lady outside my door just looked at me and did nothing. I was very angry with the nurses there.

The intubation tube and catheter came out without a problem - no pain at all. Whee!

Thank God that Sunday they let me out of ICU and into the Children's Hospital. Night and day, I'll tell you that much. They were very sweet there and understanding of my discomfort. Dr A came to see me and explained to procedure. As I said it lasted a full 13.5 hours what with all the fracturing and having to re-do stuff. I have a few hairline fractures in the upper left jaw as well as a nice break in one of the condyles. This can be good though because it may surprisingly relieve some of my tmj pain without the need for the second surgery until I'm a little older. That would be nice.

Ok back from a shower break. You people weren't kidding. That was one of the best showers in the world! All the hospital ick down the drain where it belongs. Back to my update.

Functionally and aesthetically my jaws are in a much better place. Because of the way that my orthodontist tried to get my bite to work made it so that my surgeon had to choose between a gap in the front or on the side. He of course chose the side. Everything meets up beautifully except for my left side. There is a gap of about 1 mm between the upper and lower jaws. My surgeon said that I shouldn't worry as this was planned and will correct itself over time. If not, then braces will certainly remedy this in as little as 6 months. Yay functionality!

Wanna hear a cool number? 11 mm. That's how far forward my chin has been moved. My lower jaw was advanced about 7 mm and my chin a further 4. So that's 11 mm from where it started. I thought that was cool. My upper jaw has been impacted by 3 mm so I show less gum and as for advancement, the upper jaw was moved forward about 4 mm (I think)I forgot the exact number. I'm super excited to see how all of this looks when the swelling goes down.

As for swelling and all that grossness, I'm still pretty puffy. Dr A seem impressed with how fast the swelling has been going down, though. He kept showing me off like a prize to his residents. It was funny. Gunky teeth? Yeah. I don't even want to know what that junk is, I just want it off. Dr A said I can start gently brushing the outside of my teeth tomorrow and rinse with peridex on thursday. Can't wait cause right now that is the grossest thing. Boogers belong in noses and tissues, not surgical sites!

I think that's all I'm going to write for now. all of the meds are making me feel stupid (and they taste sooooo bad!). I'm going to post the few pics I have of my in the hospital and then I should be all caught up. If I missed anything or if you guys have any questions, just ask. I'm sure I forgot plenty of info here that I will be adding in the next couple days. Right now I want mashed potatoes...

Again, I just want to thank all of you for being so wonderful and supportive. It's really helping a lot. I just keep thinking of all of you that have been through this and it reminds me that I can be strong if I have to you. You guys are such an inspiration and positive force in my life right now!

Pics coming in like 6 minutes.