I would have updated earlier, but there isn't much news. I got a call from my surgeon's office on Friday, and they confirmed my surgery for the 31st of December. There was some confusion with the receptionist who called me about what surgery I was having done, but the final word is I'll have a 3 piece Lefort on my upper jaw, an inverted L osteotomy on my lower jaw, and a genioplasty for my chin. Apparently, the genioplasty is pretty much cosmetic but Dr. L swears that it's necessary, and he went to med school so I'm sure he knows more than I do. They scheduled a pre-op appointment for Dec. 19th in order to talk to Dr. L more specifically about what he'll be doing and to meet with the anesthesiologist. I'm pretty anxious for this appointment to get here, because it seems like every day I come up with more questions.
My biggest worry is about my lower jaw and the inverted L osteotomy. I've been trying to do my research and it seems like most people have a BSSO done to fix the kind of problem I have. In fact, I can't find one personal account of a person having an inverted L osteotomy. I did find a lot of journal articles written in medical jargon that I don't really get. So that hasn't been very helpful. It's making me really nervous that I can't find any information about this surgery, because it makes me think that this is a very new and possible experimental type surgery. Dr. L didn't describe it to me that way, but I know that they are using my case for a case study, and that would make sense if this surgery hasn't been done much before. I plan on talking to Dr. L about my concerns here, and he is going to need to explain to me in detail why the inverted L is better for my case than the BSSO. I'm all for learning and research, but I'm already freaked about this surgery and I'm not okay with my surgeon using some experiment method just because he feels like it. Especially since the inverted L requires fairly large incisions to the side of my face, which won't be super noticeable but will leave definite scars. The only think he told me about why he chose the inverted L the first time we talked was that it avoids coming anywhere near the nerve in my face that is usually completely exposed during a BSSO. That means that there is a lower chance of permanent numbness in my lower lip and chin, which is good..but what is the cost of that? I'm thinking every surgical procedure has costs and benefits. I just want to make sure that the inverted L is for sure the best way to go in my case.
I'm trying to remember to write down all these questions that I have for Dr. L. I don't want to give him a hard time, because he really has been very helpful, but I'm the kind of person that needs to know everything about what they're getting into before they get into it. I just want to be completely informed, and since its my face I'd like to feel like I'm slightly involved in the decision making process. I mean, if these doctors got together and decided the inverted L would be my best route, then I don't think its too much to ask for them to simply explain to me why they reached that conclusion.
Aside from my worries about the inverted L, I've almost come to peace with all of the other down sides of the surgery. I think I'll feel better after being able to have an in-depth conversation with Dr. L about what I need to be expecting. I really want more details about the splint, because I've been getting mixed reports from my online research. I also want to know more about the bands that will be used to hold my jaw in place after surgery. I just want to know how many he's thinking and how they'll be place. Also, I want to know if they'll be the kind that I can take off for a few hours a day. I'm really hoping for the smaller retainer like splint (which is what was originally described to me by Dr. L) and minimal bands. Although, I know I get no say over these things. It just seems like the people who have that kind of splint and very few bands have an easier recovery time, and that it really what I need.
I talked to one of my professors today about the possibility of my having to miss the first couple of classes next semester depending on how my recovery goes. Dr. L said that the bands and splint should come off at 5 weeks after surgery, and if I couldn't return to work/school until that point then that actually puts me 2 weeks into the semester. Luckily, my boss is cool and fine with me missing work (it will just majorly affect my paycheck :( ) and my professor said that missing the first 2 classes shouldn't put me too far behind. So, that's all good news. I just can't go over 5 weeks, because that is already pushing it. So, all of these horror stories about 8 weeks recoveries are really worrying me. I'm trying to just stay calm and be prepared for anything until I talk to Dr. L on the 19th.
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