2 more opinions on my crooked septum

Hey... just a quickie here... I saw 2 surgeon's this past week. A cranial-facial surgeon and another ENT. Both said my septum was probably too long since my jaw was moved up and shorted. Both thought it would be best to trim the septum and place it back into the nasal spine. [None of this 'I'll just remove your nasal spine, you don't need it anyway' bullpoop! Dr. Country Club is out... yeah!] I have to schedule a CT scan so the doc can see the full picture and come up with the best plan with no surprises. BTW, the cranial-facial guy is my brother-in-law; he's out of the city and out of network as far as our insurance goes. I'm going to the ENT who is excellent, she has done surgery on me and 2 of my kids in the past... and, I trust her! I think I'll call her Dr. I Care About My Patients or Dr. ICAMP for short.

pictures

Okay, I'm totally frustrated trying to move these pictures around and tell you what they are... but, it really doesn't matter. There's one with both of my dogs lying on me while I'm recovering. That was such a treat to have both of them 'glued' to me for a while, very comforting! Another one is of my new profile (obviously) and the other 2 are pictures of me with my Bichon, Riley. I still feel like my smile is a little forced and not natural, but I think time will fix that!

update on septum and such

Okay... I had my septum moved and it popped right back, out of place. Bummer. Then I went to the ENT (one I don't really care for - we went to him once before and I called him Dr. Country Club). I didn't really want to say anything to my OS because I thought this guy was going to do my OS a favor. Well, it wasn't really clear to me or to the ENT. I went in there and he looked at me and told me he would just take out my nasal spine (some bone in my nose that he said I don't really need). He was going to use a general anesthetic because there would be a lot of hammering and breaking the bone etc... He couldn't do it for about 4-6 weeks and he wanted my jaw to have more range of motion anyway. I questioned his choices especially because my understanding was my surgeon just needed some help getting the septum to stay once it is moved. All that to say, I was pretty frustrated.

I have a call into my surgeon. First, I need to know if this is something he's covering under my first surgery. Second, if I'm covering this through insurance, I'm going to the ENT I already know and like. She's done surgery on 2 of my kids and me and I trust her. Third, I think I'd like to see if he can try moving it again and maybe wearing a pack in my nose for a week or so (while it heals). I just don't want to lose that nasal bone unless another doctor agrees that it is the best thing to do.

I also saw my orthodontist yesterday. He put more bands on my braces and much tighter ones! My teeth were so sore last night while I was sleeping. But, the good news is he told me with as responsive as I've been to treatment, I might get my braces off this summer. That is on the early side of what is estimated, so that's potentially good news. I didn't think I would care about the braces part, but it's funny how you do want them off when the surgery is over.

The ladies at the ortho office were so wonderful, they kept saying how great I looked. Between that office and the oral surgeon's office, I'm beginning to feel like a celebrity! Around here, people have jaw surgery, but having upper and lower both, is a little unusual. Everyone has been so kind and caring. Except Dr. Country Club... I just have this invisible button and I don't like it if I feel like someone isn't listening or is looking past me! I really wanted a different option and he was just like, "no, you don't need your nasal spine anyway"! Whatever...

Sorry it's been so long and I haven't posted recently. Thanks to those of you wondering and asking how I'm doing. Next thing I need to do is to post some photos! The swelling is gone and I'm looking more like Elaine again!

septum to be moved... next week...

Just a quick update. Yesterday I was supposed to have a small procedure to try to move my septum (which is crooked due to swelling post surgery). I ended up with the achy, nauseated, diarrhea, stomach cramps (please God, I don't want to throw up - and I didn't), sleep all day between the pain. Needless to say, they rescheduled for today but I still feel pretty crummy, so I'm going in Tuesday. I'll let you know what happens...

5 weeks post-op

I can't believe it's been 5 weeks since surgery! I'm feeling fairly normal. I'm still numb inside my mouth; roof, upper teeth. A little stiff around my nose and mouth, but it seems to loosen up during the day. And, it's still laborious to chew. I'm wearing my bands about 16 hours a day. I've been allowed to blow my nose since the surgery (softly, but still allowed).

I guess the biggest bummer is a lisp I've developed during healing. I'm hoping it will go away. I haven't noticed it today. But, when I talk a lot (almost always), I find myself apologizing for the lisp, saying it's only temporary, due to surgery.

That's pretty much it physically... emotionally, I'm feeling a little down. As I think about it, I think after so much time focused on surgery and healing, I need a new focus.

My son's girlfriend broke up with him Sunday night and we're all feeling pretty badly for him. She's been so wonderful for him and for our whole family. We already miss her. Maybe that's why I'm down. Also feeling a little misunderstood for my son, I think her family thinks he broke up with her and they might be mad at him. It was her decision and it came totally out of the blue. Not that any of this has to do with my blog. I guess I just wanted to vent a little.

Thanks for listening. I'll post after my doctor tries to move my septum (Thursday at 2:00).

day 30 ... crooked septum to be straightened

Not too much to report. Dr. G took out my last stitches that were driving me nuts. I have a lot of feeling everywhere. Even little 'tickles' in the roof of my mouth. Some of my teeth are still numb.

So, when I saw Dr. G, he tried to straighten out my septum manually. It's a lot of pressure and he didn't want to try too hard. So, the next step is IV sedation, he'll take a blunt instrument and try to move the septum back to the midline (where he placed it after surgery!... apparently the swelling pushed it to the right and it hasn't gone back). Hopefully, it will continue to heal in its new proper position and nothing further will be needed. If not, I guess septoplasy. Whatever...

Yesterday, I ran into a woman I've known for years. We've traveling in similar circles and know many of the same people but haven't spent much time together ourselves. Anyway, once at lunch, then later while I was out shopping. We said hi and moved on. A little while later (in the evening shopping time), she says, "Elaine?". And I say, "Yeah"... It was so funny because I thought she knew the whole time, but she couldn't place me. We had a fun conversation on why I look like me, but different and it was pretty funny!!!

People who know me well are pretty open about me looking a lot different but it's fun to run into a situation like that. Here I thought she knew, but she was really searching her mind to figure out who I was and then later, took a chance by asking!! It was fun.

My daughter's friend keeps saying how 'creepy' it is that I look so different. She's funny. I'm not having a hard time with it, just wondering if I'll think I look better, or if I'll miss the old me. Right now, the only things bothering me are my lack of a smile and my midface swelling. I really feel like Richard Nixon, but mostly I think it's exaggerated in my own mind!

What a process!!! Sleep is good, though, and I'm so glad for that!

day 22... reactions from friends

Well, I've been out now several times in big groups of people. I went to church, to Bible study, and to a super bowl party. Besides being tired, which I already wrote about, it has been good to be out seeing friends.

Today, one of my friends' moms came up to me and said she had noticed my profile in church Sunday and it reminded her of profiles she had seen and copied from magazines as a child! Wow, that was so nice!!! Other people just kept looking at me and telling me how different I look. "Sorry for staring, I just have to get used to your new face." I've been so open about the surgery and how I'm feeling, I think people feel open with me, too. Nothing was said that bothered me. It's a process for everyone. I was reading that it takes 6 months for the soft-tissue to settle into it's new place, so there's still a lot of changing to occur. Frustrating in ways but I'll just have to learn patience. Next time someone asks me how long recovery takes (what a complicated question... so many aspects of recovery!) at least I can answer about the changes in my face. "Don't get too used to this face, it may look entirely different next time you see me!"

Let's see... other areas of healing?
Feeling? gradually comes back over how long? 6 weeks - 6 months?
Eating? almost normal by...? I'm not sure
Range of motion? how long does that take?
Feeling pretty normal by...? 6 weeks?

I don't know any of the answers to these questions? It's probably different for everyone but there has to be a range. Anyone know a link or have the answers to some or all of these questions?

Anyway, I still feel self-conscious going out, knowing I look a little strange and this isn't the final face. But, I must say, I'm glad I'm pretty open about all this stuff. It's allowed me to talk about it with people who care about me, and it's allowed them to talk about it, too. Everyone is excited for me. I'm still getting lots of prayer and encouragement.

Still looking forward to feeling normal again. My airway has almost doubled in size. There was 7mm of bone advancement and 5mm of soft tissue advancement. I don't know if more soft tissue will move over time. If not, that still changes my airway from 6mm to 11mm! HUGE CHANGE!! I haven't been snoring and I haven't been waking up groggy. Although, I must say I'm very tired this week. I have noticed quite a lot of change in the feeling in my mouth and face so maybe I'm healing at a rapid rate and that is causing fatigue??? I mean, who really knows?

Anyway, still very glad to have done this. Also, glad to be on the post surgery side of this. Biggest complaint at this point is the stiffness in my face. I still can't wait to have a natural smile again.