Day 53: Filling in the Blanks #1

Considering that things are starting to plateau now in my recovery, there are continually larger gaps between appointments and therefore between blog updates. Although, I know there is so much more to tell you all! This is why I have decide to start a slightly different sort of entry, not an update but a "fill in". These posts will be to inform you of rather important things that I somehow forgot to mention, so feel free to suggest any topic you're curious about! As the first fill in, this is about something so basic that I simply looked it over: what did they DO during my surgery?

As I've said before, I was initially scheduled for a double jaw surgery, but then was subjected to only single upper. How the surgeon and his team actually got to my jaw is through the gum line. They made incisions from virtually one side to the other, and then they proceeded to cut the bone. It's a little hard for a visual learner like myself to explain this next step, so I've included a diagram at the bottom for the other visual people out there (and just incase I don't describe it clearly). What the surgeons did after cutting the bone is move the jaw upward. After that, the lower jaw then sort of slid up in to place as well. To keep the upper jaw connected the surgical team used plates and screws to hold it all together cozily, like little metal blankets for bones. The hardware is titanium because it is a mental that isn't commonly allergenic, and all together I had three plates and 16 screws put in. Following that they took the steps to close my gum line by using stitches, then banded my mouth shut as seen in earlier posts. Tah dah! You now know the quick and easy version of what happens during upper jaw surgery (in my case).

If you're hungry for more information, there are actually videos of live operations on YouTube, just search 'orthognathic surgery' and there should be a fair amount of results. Keep in mind, these videos aren't for the squeamish. I've seen a few, and even though I like some slasher films, the surgeries are way too gruesome for my tastes. So, if you need a visual and want to skip the gore don't forget about the aforementioned diagram below the day 53 photo.