I'm sitting here at my computer and it just hit me that I am on day 39 of my recovery. No I am not a recovering alcoholic or drug addict. I am a recovering patient that for the last 22 years suffered with abnormal teeth and an underbite and although I am only just under halfway through my recovery the concept of not having an underbite anymore fascinates me. I want to share my experience to anybody that is interested whether you be going through the same situation or not.
Pre Operation
Like the large majority of people these days I was unfortunate to develop wonky adult teeth that had gaps and twists in all sorts of places. At age 11 I was taken to the Beautiful Smiles orthodontic clinic and was fitted with my first pink glitter retainer. It is now 11 years later and I have gone through two operations to attach gold chains to my teeth in order to bring them into position, 4 different types of retainer and one set of fixed braces (train tracks) that have more than likely had every type of funky elastic or wire attached to them to finally attempt to straighten out my stubborn teeth. I originally suffered with only a small underbite and crossbite which was enlarged during the run up to my surgery to help to achieve the perfect symmetry to my face once operated. I wore underbite enhancing elastics for about 9 - 10 months before I was told my teeth were finally ready for surgery (a surgery which was spoke about for 3 - 4 years before it actually happened). Living with an underbite is probably one of the most self esteem draining things I have been through, I absolutely hated the way I looked in person and would avoid having my photograph taken at most opportunities. Oh and my top lip pretty much didn't exist which made my whole face look sunken in. But to be honest with you it wasn't just the vanity side of a underbite that was draining I couldn't even bite into a sandwich without struggle, chewing was an absolute mission and it made me feel abnormal in comparison to all of my friends.
My Mum received a phone call around May time confirming the date of my operation to be October 6th 2014 and obviously she accepted without any hesitation. From then it was the countdown and mental preparation for one of the most important days in my life and it came around quicker then I ever could have imagined.
Monday 6th October 2014 - The Operation Day
My operation was held at Kings College Hospital in Denmark Hill, London. We were told to arrive at the hospital for 6:30am as the surgery list isn't organised until the day of the operation. Getting up a 4:00am wasn't the most fun experience especially when you're not allowed to eat on the day of the operation and sitting in the waiting room for 2 hours until you get given your hospital bed when you feel weak was even worse. I finally got settled into my bed around 9:00am and was told that I would be the first to be operated on in the afternoon surgery list, this again meant hours of waiting around with my nerves creeping up higher and higher. At 12:30pm I was told to get into my surgical gown and stockings and before I even blinked I was suddenly being wheeled down to the anaesthesia room leaving my dear Mum and boyfriend Jack waiting anxiously behind. Being pushed down to the anaesthesia room I was crying and shaking like an absolute baby the poor nurse felt so sorry for me, yet I just felt embarrassed. Before being taken into the anaesthesia room you are put into a pre assessment room where four different sets of people make you repeat the same mundane questions over and over again just to make sure that you are the correct patient receiving the correct treatment. Then they push you into the anaesthesia room in which there must have been about twelve different people just staring at you, asking you questions and prepping you for surgery. I'm not sure if its the same for every patient but in my case they put this numbing spray into my nose that I had to sniff up at every squirt, it was honestly the most vile thing I've ever tasted. Then all I can really remember is feeling the aesthetic move up my veins and up into my head then I was gone... I woke up hearing voices in recovery like any patient having surgery would and to be honest I don't remember a great deal as I was high as a kite on morphine which was provided to kill the pain, but what I can remember is having this plastic blanket covering me that hot air was being pumped into to keep me warm.
The next thing I know I was being taken back to the ward with my Mum and Jack waiting for my return. I was apparently away from the ward for just over 5 hours! The surgery being 2 and a half hours and the rest of the time spent in recovery. My nose was bleeding pretty heavily so the nurses attached a gauze to help to control the blood flow. I had just the upper jaw moved to correct my underbite and crossbite but because upper jaw surgery cuts through the sinuses this leads them to fill up with blood which is the cause of the continuing nose bleeds. I was only in the ward for about 15 minutes before I started to feel odd. I began to heat up into a sweaty hot flush and found it extremely difficult to breathe as this rash began to appear on my chest. My Mum alerted the nurses straight away and my blood pressure was taken which showed that my blood pressure had dropped rapidly and there was speculation of a possible morphine reaction. I was put onto what I believe was an IV. drip and given steroids to provide fluids to increase my rapidly dropping blood pressure.
Once I had finally settled I was keen to have a drink as I hadn't had any fluids in almost 9 hours and was dying of thirst which could clearly be seen with my low blood pressure. I was provided with apple juice and a straw but obviously couldn't use the straw so my lovely boyfriend fed me apple juice with a syringe. My Mum and boyfriend left around 9pm and I just fell asleep for the rest of the evening.
Post Operation - Recovery
Week 1:
After a long second day at the hospital I was finally allowed home at around 9pm and this is where the real recovery began. The first 2 - 4 days were the worst, the swelling reached it's peak and I could just about breathe through my swollen lips. I was tired, emotional, sore my nose would not stop bleeding and kept thinking about cheese burgers (the cheese burger I still can't eat yet!) I spent the first two days in bed drinking warm soup and apple juice from a special hospital cup and took all my medicine through a syringe. I was taking liquid paracetamol (twice a day), ibuprofen (twice a day) and prescription antibiotics (3 times a day). My face was completely numb from under my eyelids to my top lip. It was a tough week both mentally and physically but knowing that the worst was over really helped me to push through.
Week 2:
Week 2 was my lowest week in terms of self esteem. As if having a face that made me look like a Who from the Grinch wasn't enough to deal with my skin erupted in spots and was so oily that you could fry an egg on it. I was tired, erratic and cried into my soup one too many times. I didn't want to get out of bed and could happily just lay in a dark room all day feeling sorry for myself. It was tough. However, aside from the self esteem issues my pain was next to nothing and I was coping without any painkillers at all. I went out for my first trip that week which was not a visit to the hospital for a check up but a nice evening stroll around the block with my boyfriend to boost my confidence which was the only thing that helped with the way I was feeling - low. Another improvement in my health that week was that my nose finally stopped bleeding and began to unblock more making it easier to breathe. I must admit pulling giant blood clot boogers out of your nose with a cotton bud to clear the air passage isn't the most fun thing to experience but reaching the end of week 2 felt like a giant milestone to this long recovery process.
Week 3 - Week 4:
During week 3 and 4 the recovery felt pretty much the same although my swelling finally began to decrease step by step and I moved onto eating soft foods such as macaroni cheese and mash potato (which may I add was the best meal I've had in my life!) I was very rollercoaster emotion wise feeling positive and happy one minute and then in floods of tears the next, but to be honest I was and still am recovering from major surgery and sometimes you forget these things. In terms of numbness I had gained most feeling back in all areas of my face apart from my top lip, tip of my nose and the area of skin between my top lip and nose. It can take up to 6 months to gain full feeling in your face so that is not of great concern to me. During week 3 and 4 my skin continued to get worse and more oily especially around my nose area, but I was again assured that this is all common so I tried my best to ignore it. Overall, my energy had begun to improve and I was feeling stronger and stronger everyday.
I am just over halfway through week 5. I finally felt ready enough to go back to work this week but am only doing short shifts as I am terrified of not having enough energy as I am still only eating soft food (pasta, mash potato, fish). I would say the swelling is still 20% there in my cheek area as the muscle tissue feels hard. I have numbness in the tip of my nose and top lip area although I have been experiencing a some tingling sensations which is always a good sign that there is feeling coming back. My skin has cleared up a lot and the super greasy skin seems to have calmed down which makes me very happy. Talking is easy but restricted due to the three different elastics that I need to have in place at all times, but that isn't a major problem. I am sick to death of pasta even more than soup but next week is the 6 week mark so I hope that means I can eat that god damn burger at last but I don't want to push my luck or break my face!
Overall, sitting here and reviewing everything I realise that I am extremely happy with my progress and look forward to seeing the final result. I am keen to update further as my recovery moves forward and can't thank the nurses, my dentists and the surgeons enough. They have changed my life and to be honest I feel like a completely different person.
