! Re: Back again for another round

[Guest guest]

Hi Irish!

Thanks for the well wishes. I remember you having to go through

everything a second time and you had a great attitude, too. You've

been (and continue to be)a great inspiration to all of us. How's

your bite holding up? Still perfect, I hope.

> > Hi all!

> > I haven't been here in awhile, been too busy working a lot of

hours

> > to make up for the two months I'll be off post-op. I hope all of

> you

> > post-oppers are doing well and wish lots of luck and smooth

> > recoveries to those of you with upcoming surgeries.

> >

> > I'll be going through surgery #4 on January 14. To make a long

> story

> > short, I've had TMJ problems almost all my life because of a

small

> > mandible. I had surgery to correct a severe overbite and open

bite.

> > The surgery was done in two stages to minimize stress on my

already

> > arthritic TMJ's. First the lower jaw was advanced 17 mm using

> > distraction and then my upper jaw was moved 5 mm. My bite was

then

> > perfect but unfortunately instead of making the TMJ better, it

got

> > much worse. The joints deteriorated rapidly and six months

later,

> my

> > lower jaw was deviated 7 mm to the left and the overbite was

coming

> > back. I then had a temporalis muscle graft placed in the left

joint

> > and arthroscopic surgery on the right. For a few months,

everything

> > went well and then the problems started again. I still have a

very

> > limited opening (about 15 mm) and a lot of pain. I've been on a

> > liquid/ mushy diet since my first surgery in Sept 2002.

> >

> > My lower jaw has noticeably regressed again and once again, I

have

> > an open and overbite. The left condyle is pretty much gone and

the

> > right condyle has avascular necrosis and the joint is ankylosed

> > (fused). This time, the surgeon is going to remove what is left

of

> > the condyles and coronoids and put a muscle graft into the right

> > joint to replace the missing cartilage. We are going to regrow

the

> > condyles using distraction osteogenesis again. He is going to

place

> > distractors in the healthy bone in the back of the mandible and

> make

> > a cut through the bone. Twice daily for 10-15 days my husband

will

> > have to turn the screws to lengthen the bone. The screws will

come

> > out through my cheeks near my earlobes. Rebuilding the condyles

> will

> > advance my lower jaw again and close the bite. After everything

has

> > healed, I'll have another minor procedure to remove the

distractors

> > and have plates put in to reinforce everything.

> >

> > The only other option was to use prosthetic joints but they

> > typically don't last as long. Hopefully since we are using my

own

> > healthy native bone, the new condyles should last a lifetime.

> >

> > I hope I haven't scared anyone. My case was very unusual and

most

> > people do have relief from the TMJ symptoms from the

orthognathic

> > surgery. good luck to everyone going through surgery soon.

> >

> > Any January 14 surgery buddies?

> >