Re: Any old people in this group

[Guest guest]

Hi, kidlet... I had surgery at age 56 last June, and am now 57. I had

lower only, and had really a pretty easy recovery, although I stayed

tired for a long time. I got hit with shingles as i was at the end of

the recovery, and that was no fun. But by and large, I gave myself

plenty of time, took it easy, and bounced back pretty well, if I do

say so myself.

I did take off work a month. And yes, I have used an assortment of

things for sleep. Most recently, Klonopin in a very small dose. As

well as a bit of Permax (i have some neuropathies and consequent

muscle spasms to deal with).

I got the braces off early in October. Go look at the pix if you

wanna see some old, old teeth that are struggling to survive but are

much healthier after this process than they were to begin with.

Cammie

> Hi gang. I am 50 and just had lower jaw surgery Nov. 22. I put it

off

> for a long, long time but things kept getting worse so I decided to

> go ahead with braces and the surgery. I have had the braces on for

a

> year a half. What is the recovery period like for us older folks? I

> am very healthy and usually heal from lesser injuries very quickly

> but have never had surgery like this. I am also having a lot of

> trouble sleepping. Does anyone use sleep aids?

>

> Thanks for your help.

>

> Larry

[Guest guest]

Thanks for getting back to me Cammie. I had shingles once a long time

ago. I must have been in my twenties. Not a lot of fun. Hopefully I

won't get anything like that as a result of my surgery. My recovery

also has been decent so far and gets easier every day. Main problems

are eating and sleeping which I am sure is not uncommon. I am

planning on being off work for two weeks and then going back half

days for a 3 or 4 days. I need to talk a lot a work so that could be

a problem. How long until you get back to " normal " eating steaks, raw

vegetibles etc. It seems a long way off.

Larry

> > Hi gang. I am 50 and just had lower jaw surgery Nov. 22. I put it

> off

> > for a long, long time but things kept getting worse so I decided

to

> > go ahead with braces and the surgery. I have had the braces on

for

> a

> > year a half. What is the recovery period like for us older folks?

I

> > am very healthy and usually heal from lesser injuries very

quickly

> > but have never had surgery like this. I am also having a lot of

> > trouble sleepping. Does anyone use sleep aids?

> >

> > Thanks for your help.

> >

> > Larry

[Guest guest]

Hi Larry,

I'm 45 and do not consider myself old. Old starts when you let it and I'm

fighting old until I can't breathe anymore.

I am in braces since 3/01. I find out this morning how close I am to

surgery. I also heal very quickly and can expect to be out of work 6-8

weeks. I have been told no heavy lifting for a while afterwards, no

pressure on the jaw at all. I'll be having upper/lower/genio done.

I have obstructive sleep apnea and the amount of oxygen in the blood

(saturation rate) isn't high enough for the CPAP machine, so I have nights

like last night where I do not sleep, I just toss and turn.

I am very much looking forward to surgery so I feel better and finally get a

good night's sleep!

Carin

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[Guest guest]

Hi Carin. I did sleep better last night. I proped myself up on the

couch and was able to dose for 3 or 4 hours. I think I was trying to

lay down to much and was putting too much pressure on my TMJ which

was very uncomfortable. I think having my mouth banded together is

putting extra preasure on the joint. I have been avoiding lifting

much over 10 pounds. I lifted a case of sprite the other day and I

think that was too much. Hopefully they will get your surgery

scheduled soon and it will fix your problems.

Good luck with your surgery and thanks for getting back to me.

Larry

> Hi Larry,

>

> I'm 45 and do not consider myself old. Old starts when you let it

and I'm

> fighting old until I can't breathe anymore.

>

> I am in braces since 3/01. I find out this morning how close I am

to

> surgery. I also heal very quickly and can expect to be out of work

6-8

> weeks. I have been told no heavy lifting for a while afterwards,

no

> pressure on the jaw at all. I'll be having upper/lower/genio done.

>

> I have obstructive sleep apnea and the amount of oxygen in the

blood

> (saturation rate) isn't high enough for the CPAP machine, so I have

nights

> like last night where I do not sleep, I just toss and turn.

>

> I am very much looking forward to surgery so I feel better and

finally get a

> good night's sleep!

>

> Carin

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> _________________________________________________________________

> Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.

> http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail

[Guest guest]

Well, I'm still a cautious eater, although I have done popcorn, and

am sure I could manage a tender steak just fine. Best I recall, I had

my first soft-scrambled egg at about two weeks, and it was wonderful!

I haven't tried crunchy carrots or broccoli yet, although I can do

salads. I do find that it takes me a while to deal with anything

chewy, but not the least of my troubles is that, unless I have the

retainers in, I bite my cheeks and tongue, as the result of a

renegade lower back molar that's really a wisdom tooth, and some scar

tissue on my cheek. We'll see what the eventual resolution of that

one is. I'm also still waiting for my teeth to settle in totally for

the final equilibration, or grinding of the crown surfaces to make

the bite just so.

It all takes a while.

As for the shingles, I don't know that they had anything to do with

surgery. I think my general system was weakened, and I certainly had

some other stresses going on in my life. I also had spent some hours

with a friend in two busy eent offices, and who knows how many cases

of chicken pox I may have been exposed to with all those germy kids!

I do find that a lot of talking can still make my inner tissues

swell, still. It's manageable, but unpleasant.

Cammie

> > > Hi gang. I am 50 and just had lower jaw surgery Nov. 22. I put

it

> > off

> > > for a long, long time but things kept getting worse so I

decided

> to

> > > go ahead with braces and the surgery. I have had the braces on

> for

> > a

> > > year a half. What is the recovery period like for us older

folks?

> I

> > > am very healthy and usually heal from lesser injuries very

> quickly

> > > but have never had surgery like this. I am also having a lot of

> > > trouble sleepping. Does anyone use sleep aids?

> > >

> > > Thanks for your help.

> > >

> > > Larry

[Guest guest]

Hi Larry, welcome aboard!

Is 55 old?? I had my surgery in June (26th) and am doing great.

Don't think my recovery was any different that that of the youngsters

I've been reading about on this site... My surgeon says he wishes all

his patients were doing as well as me post op.. I really sailed thru

with no complications at all. However, having said that I still can

say that the recovery is much slower than I had anticipated. I was

off work for 6 weeks and then for weeks after I had a lot of really

uncomfortable burning sensations in my lower lip area which made all

the talking I had to do at work a giant pain.... That has subsided

now and the only thing that's really bothering me is the darned bands

I have to wear to close the gap in my molars on one side. I find it

really uncomfortable to wear those things which I think are actually

torture devices... I guess I'm pretty lucky if that's all I have to

complain about.

I had trouble sleeping during the first weeks after surgery but never

took anything but the occasional pain pill. I am so sensitive to

those things that they totally knock me out. I've actually never

taken a sleeping pill , I usually just stay up if I can't sleep &

work on my website or something...(I'm really a night owl anyway ).

I can pretty much eat most anything now,but still don't have normal

strength for biting really hard things yet. I do have some joint

pain ( in my jaws) still but it is very minor... When did you have

your surgery??? Your email said NOVEMBER 22 ?????

Keep us posted on your recovery... wishing you well,

k

-- In orthognathicsurgerysupport@y..., " Larry " <larryweiler@h...>

wrote:

> Hi gang. I am 50 and just had lower jaw surgery Nov. 22. I put it

off

> for a long, long time but things kept getting worse so I decided to

> go ahead with braces and the surgery. I have had the braces on for

a

> year a half. What is the recovery period like for us older folks? I

> am very healthy and usually heal from lesser injuries very quickly

> but have never had surgery like this. I am also having a lot of

> trouble sleepping. Does anyone use sleep aids?

>

> Thanks for your help.

>

> Larry

[Guest guest]

Thanks for getting back with me . My surgery was on November

12th not the 22nd. You were off from work for six weeks? Why were you

off so long? I am planning on being back two weeks after surgery but

wonder if I am going to make it. I feel fine but don't know what it

would be like at work with my mouth still banded shut. What do you do

for a living? I am an accountant and have to do some talking at work

but nothing like someone who is a teacher or salesman would have to.

When did your doctor tell you that you could start eating anything

that you wanted? I guess I was naive and assumed at six weeks I would

be good to go. Apparently that is not the case. Not being able to eat

has been a hard part for me. I am a major snacker and not being able

to constantly chomp on junk food has been a struggle but I am getting

used to it. Maybe it will improve my eating habits after rehab? OK

maybe it won't but it would be nice if it did.

There were a lot of questions that I should have asked prior to

surgery but didn't. I think once I finally decided to get this done,

18 months ago, I didn't want to know too much or I might chicken out

so I just put the blinders on and forged ahead. I trusted my ortho

and surgeon and left it in their hands.

I did sleep much better last night. Before, no matter how I laid the

left side of my face hurt. I tried about 100 different sleeping

positions last night and finally found one that worked and didn't put

any pressure on my face.

Glad to hear that your recovery has gone so well. Talk to you later.

Larry

> > Hi gang. I am 50 and just had lower jaw surgery Nov. 22. I put it

> off

> > for a long, long time but things kept getting worse so I decided

to

> > go ahead with braces and the surgery. I have had the braces on

for

> a

> > year a half. What is the recovery period like for us older folks?

I

> > am very healthy and usually heal from lesser injuries very

quickly

> > but have never had surgery like this. I am also having a lot of

> > trouble sleepping. Does anyone use sleep aids?

> >

> > Thanks for your help.

> >

> > Larry

[Guest guest]

Hi Larry,

Sorry to jump in here, but you mentioned you were an accountant. So

am I - actually an accounting supervisor. I had upper/lower/genio 12

weeks ago. I took 5 weeks off work (was approved by insurance for 6,

but had to return for quarter end at end of Sept). I probably could

have gone back sooner, but I was really glad I didn't. You'll find

that you aren't taking enough food in early on, and your body is kind

of redirecting energy towards healing. So where you might normally

have lots of energy to do things, as soon as you try, you'll start

fading. I slept a lot for those first two weeks.

I was banded for about 6.5 weeks. One of my surgical posts broke and

I was released by my surgeon - I was supposed to be banded for the

full 8 weeks - he's pretty conservative in that respect.

I could talk, but found that I got pretty sore in the facial muscles

pretty quick. I would start to slur and slow down, and would have to

rest a lot. Eating was the same thing, not to mention the additional

amount of time required to eat (1st bowl of soup took one hour at 2

weeks postop) and then clean up.

I think I was released to eat anything I was comfortable with at 8

weeks. At 12 weeks, I can do most things now - soft buns, had cashews

in my chinese food lunch today, chicken, even did the stir-fried beef

(although that was more chewing effort, and my jaw muscles got pretty

sore). The main restriction now is mouth opening - I can only open

about 26.5 mm or two fingers worth. And occasionally things fall out!

Glad to hear you are sleeping better, though.

Happy healing!

[Guest guest]

Hi . I picked my surgery time to coincide with my slow time at

work, right after the third quarter close. There is usually a lull

during this time. Unfortunatly, another lady in the department also

scheduled foot surgery during the same period, unknown by me, and

will be out at least 4 weeks. What are the chances? I do hope to get

back after a couple of weeks. If I have to I can take off the three

days of Thanksgiving week and go back the following Monday. I think

that would be the longest that I would stay off unless I have some

kind of a setback.

It sounds like bands come off at a wide variety of times. I don't

know if the fact that I am older, 50, will make any difference or if

it is just the suregeons preference. I will talk to him about that

tomorrow. I am actually getting kind of used to them tho they are

still a pain.

What kind of accounting do you do? I am in the tax area. I am

responsible for federal tax compliance, research, accounting, etc. At

least at our jobs we don't have to do a lot of talking. In the past I

have tended to go talk to people as opposed to sending never ending

emails back and forth. I may have to get more used to the email route.

Thanks for getting back to me. Talk to you later.

Larry

> Hi Larry,

>

> Sorry to jump in here, but you mentioned you were an accountant. So

> am I - actually an accounting supervisor. I had upper/lower/genio

12

> weeks ago. I took 5 weeks off work (was approved by insurance for

6,

> but had to return for quarter end at end of Sept). I probably could

> have gone back sooner, but I was really glad I didn't. You'll find

> that you aren't taking enough food in early on, and your body is

kind

> of redirecting energy towards healing. So where you might normally

> have lots of energy to do things, as soon as you try, you'll start

> fading. I slept a lot for those first two weeks.

>

> I was banded for about 6.5 weeks. One of my surgical posts broke

and

> I was released by my surgeon - I was supposed to be banded for the

> full 8 weeks - he's pretty conservative in that respect.

>

> I could talk, but found that I got pretty sore in the facial

muscles

> pretty quick. I would start to slur and slow down, and would have

to

> rest a lot. Eating was the same thing, not to mention the

additional

> amount of time required to eat (1st bowl of soup took one hour at 2

> weeks postop) and then clean up.

>

> I think I was released to eat anything I was comfortable with at 8

> weeks. At 12 weeks, I can do most things now - soft buns, had

cashews

> in my chinese food lunch today, chicken, even did the stir-fried

beef

> (although that was more chewing effort, and my jaw muscles got

pretty

> sore). The main restriction now is mouth opening - I can only open

> about 26.5 mm or two fingers worth. And occasionally things fall

out!

>

> Glad to hear you are sleeping better, though.

>

> Happy healing!

>