Getting Better

waking up now on the 7th day, and my face is beginning to feel like it belongs to a human, and that it may even be mine after all. My nose is still somewhere out there in space, as are my lips, but I have been getting tingles and other sensations in my checks that tell me the rest of my face is still alive. I feel much more energetic this morning than I did yesterday. I moped around as much as posible to avoid my lungs from failing. I knew my O2 was too low. Breathing was tough since it all had to come through my mouth--my sinus cavities had been run over by a tank during the surgery and were not easy to use. Even a little plodding round the house, on Doctor Todd's orders, made me feel much better.

OUCH!

It is now the 4th day post-op, and I had hoped the swelling would have subsided more than it has.

If I've understood it, "LeFort 1 osteotomy" is actually the name given to several surgical procedures in which only the tooth-bearing part of the mid-face is separated from the supporting structures and repositioned upwards, downwards, forwards or backwards.






This page describes it pretty well (and the second diagram above comes courtesy of the same page)

The term "segmental Lefort 1 osteotomy" describes a procedure similar to the above, but in which the maxilla is not only moved, but is also cut into two or three pieces. Now I think (and of course I may be wrong) that in one way of doing this the maxilla is separated into two parts such as to allow widening or the upper jaw. It's kinda "instant expansion". Check out this thread started by smile, as this is one of the procedures she had, as did smile2006 - take a look at this thread for her early post-op experiences.


"Mandibular osteotomy" simply means a surgery on the lower jaw bone. I think the most common are the BSSO (bilateral sagittal split osteotomy) which can be used either to advance the mandible (for Class II cases), or set it back futher (for Class III i.e. underbites) and the genioplasty (to move the chin forward or back). But other mandibular osteotomies are carried out.

a) Mandibular Sagittal Split Osteotomy

The back of the lower jaw is split bilaterally under general anaesthetic in the region of the wisdom teeth, which are generally removed in a separate operation at least 6 months prior to corrective surgery.

The procedure is carried out in about 1.5 hours and permits the lower jaw to be advanced or pushed back with adequate bone contact for healing.

The bone is fixed in its new position by screws which are inserted through tiny external skin incisions which are located at the angle of the jaw. These heal with minimal external scarring.

Day Zero

OK, it's 3AM and I'm wide wake and really thirsty. This surgery was the first thing on my mind when I awoke, so wnting to learn more about the procedure I came downstairs to do some research, which led to a blog or two, and now this blog, movemychin, which is my very first blog...no, really. So I am drinking a little water- it is 4AM now, and 5 hours before the surgery is scheduled, so I'm safe to drink.