you are my surgical hero..to Shiloh

[Guest guest]

Hi Shiloh!

> Wow that is what I thought distraction meant but I didn't think

they

> did that often because of visible scars?

Actually with the first distraction, everything was internal so

there were no scars on the outside. This time, the surgeon had to

make a 2 cm incision just under my jawline but injected steroids

around it and used Dermabond (a form of Superglue) to close it

instead of stitches to minimize scarring. Hopefully it will barely

be noticeable by the time it heals.

>

> My daughter has an overbite - thanks to her grandmother's 5 dollar

a

> day don't bother brushing your teeth summer....

Oh no! Did she lose teeth or how did it give her an overbite? I need

ammo to convince my husband (who never gets cavities despite only

brushing his teeth once a day) to brush our 3 year old's ()

teeth no matter how much she protests. The 2 year old, Lexi, loves

to brush her teeth and would do it all day long if we gave her

enough toothpaste which figures since she seems to have my husband's

great teeth. has mine.

>

> I thought with my surgical hooks I looked like 7of9, but did

people

> get a little freaked out by the frankenstien bolts?

> How did the distractor affect your teeth or was it too far back?

It is behind my teeth so they're not affected at all.

People tend not to notice unless they look closely. I think if

people just take a quick look at me, they just assume they're

earrings, like one of my surgeon's office techs who told me to take

my jewelry off for an x-ray. When I told her the doctor probably

wouldn't appreciate it, she realized what my " jewelry " was and

laughed.

Actually they came in handy tonight. Our whole family went out to

dinner and it turned out there was absolutely nothing on the menu I

could eat. I can open but I have strict instructions not to even

attempt to chew anything and potentially damage the distractors. We

asked the waitress if they could put some spaghetti in the blender

for me since I can't chew anything. At first she hemmed and hawed

and said they probably couldn't but they did have chicken vegetable

soup. My husband then finally said " Look, she's got screws in her

face. She can't chew anything. " She immediately brought over the

manager and five minutes later I had a bowl full of blended

spaghetti. Voila! It worked.

>

>

>

> Two months post-partum? No, you are the hero here.

> =oh did I mention my surgeon refused to give me a script for pain

> killers or steriods....funny enough I didn't need more than

straight

> tylenol.

OMG! I bow down before you. My surgeon gave me enough pain killers

to keep me comatome for weeks had I chosed to. They were the same

ones my OB gave me after a c-section. I don't know why he wouldn't

at least give you pain meds. They don't make c-section moms go

without pain meds even if they are breastfeeding. They didn't make

the baby any sleepier (but that would have been nice :-). Lexi had

just had her first birthday after surgery #1 so I still to

breasfeed. I stopped for the first two weeks post-op. By the time I

nursed her again, I was off everything except the antibiotics. Poor

thing did have an allergic reaction to those (even through

breastmilk!) and went on steroids herself. That ended my

breastfeeding days for good :-( .

>

> How did you ever take of your baby and yourself after surgery?

> =actually the two month old well they are pretty much still baby

> potatoes then, not grabbing too hard or trying to swat your face.

Too true but still the sleepless nights and endless diaper changes.

>

> My two year is too young to understand and she kept wanting to

climb

> and jump all over me and touch my face. She is very attached to

> Mommy and still wants to be held 90% of the time.

> =yeah I have a mama's boy this time. He's a 'insomniac' not

really

> but compared to the nine year old who still sleeps 11 hours a

night,

> mister 8 hours in total all day drives me batty - his father only

> does 4 on a regular day......

It is kind of nice to have a child that is all lovey, though.

has always been Miss Independent but Lexi wants to love and hug

everybody including the stranger waiting for his table next to us at

dinner tonight. Funny but Lexi is the one who sleeps less, too. Not

as little as your son and husband but she would stay up half the

night if we gave her the choice.

>

> =actually I think we all are, I've been watching the cnn faces,

> partly because half of them have invested in their faces and most

of

> them are a little wonky.

It's funny. I do, too but I do get jealous of the ones with perfect

teeth and bites. Someday that'll be us, too!

>

> Yeah I feel like I have my vet status in oral surgery. The purple

> jaw? I am alot more prepared for the next one(s).

>

> Ha-ha! But seriously, why is your opening still so limited? Was

your

> open bite present immediately after your BSSO or did it develop

over

> time? Are you having any problems with the TMJ's? Did you have them

> evaluated to see if that is contributing to your open bite now or

> your limited opening?

> =open bite there right after but I ignored it! I also over babied

> my jaw. So I went from surgery 1 to braces off and surgery 2 boom.

> So the adjustment to full function was never expected to be made,

> then I started to get a little worried thinking it was a relapse.

> But realised it really wasn't. The second ortho (fiddlesticks')

> said that the open bite brought my back teeth together so like a

> wedge once they touched they can't open more...

Whew! I was worried there but they did address it. Not that I

doubted your surgeon and ortho.

>I delivered the easter turkey (ten and a half

> pounds and 23 inches) not a diabetic either!

That's not a baby. That's a toddler! You are the hero and a

goddess!!! I couldn't even push out a 6 pounder.

I realised how many

> women who claimed to be 200 were probably closer to three. My

brief

> pit stop at fat.

Yeah but you had an excellent excuse and an even better weight loss

plan!

So having breastfed for 44 months of my life...and

> yes the pouch...however I have plans for that when I am all done

> with the Bate family breeding programme...then I am going to have

> the leaky bladder lifted, the tubes tied, a tummy tuck complete

with

> those muscles sewn up tight and a pani ;)And since the breasts are

> no longer needed for production then a full lift and reduction

right

> beside my thyriod up touching my neck

>

> Ah the wish list...once the skin is gone its gone.

If only all that didn't involve pain! I'm such a wimp. Did I mention

that when I went into the OR for my c-section, I looked at all the

instruments and immediately threw up? The OR staff all laughed at me

but it was my first time being the patient instead of the doctor and

I didn't like it one bit. All of a sudden, all those instruments

look a whole lot different when they're being used on you!

>

Speaking of insomniacs, I need to get some sleep myself before I

hear Lexi shouting " Mommy, WAKE UP! " at the crack of dawn.