Back-to-back front-to-back-to-back<reason for surgery> When I was in 10th grade, I went for a dental checkup and learned that my upper and lower teeth were misaligned with an improper bite. That was the reason I ate slower than other people, food would get caught in the gaps between my teeth, especially slippery noodles, and I had severe indigestion I thought it could be fixed with orthodontic treatment, but every clinic I consulted said it was a surgical case, so I felt lost I had never even considered surgery. But I absolutely did not want to live my whole life looking like this, and the functional problems were also obvious, so I started considering surgery. I joined a community, searched YouTube and the internet, and narrowed it down to a few oral and maxillofacial surgery clinics rather than plastic surgery clinics. One of them was Y Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic, where I had my surgery!
<Reason for choosing the hospital> What I liked most was that during surgery, a guardian could view the CCTV feed in real time, and the director performed only one surgery a day. In addition, orthodontic treatment could also be received in the same place, which was convenient, and it seemed like the director and the orthodontic doctor could communicate smoothly. The managers were all so kind too. Especially the manager in charge of me has always replied kindly and quickly whenever I contacted them, and even after surgery they have been taking good care of me! During the consultation, the director clearly explained why I was a surgical case based on the X-rays, CT, oral photos, and other test results, and did not recommend unnecessary things like zygoma surgery. The director said, "You're the kind of case that would benefit a lot from surgery, and I don't think you'll be criticized after it," and I could feel confidence in the director's calm, gentle voice and careful way of speaking. That didn't mean they would just make me pretty like a celebrity no matter what. The cosmetic aspect was important too, but what mattered more was the functional problem! The consultation went on a long time because I had so many questions, but even then they answered every single one sincerely without looking tired. So I trusted the director and had my surgery at Y!
<Preparation for surgery> I had brackets attached to my lower teeth on 3/2 and had surgery on 3/18. Originally, surgery was planned for June after presurgical orthodontics, but due to personal circumstances I moved the date up. My case was originally one that could be done with surgery first, so I was able to bring the schedule forward. Not everyone can do surgery first! You have to get a consultation in person to know! At the pre-op consultation, they showed me photos and explained the surgical plan using a model made from my own oral structure to show how the surgery would proceed. I did have some asymmetry, but I said I wanted to improve my protruding, angular lower face that looked heavy, and I brought photos of the face shape I wanted. I had double jaw surgery plus contouring in 2 areas (square jaw and chin)!
<3/18 Surgery day> I arrived at the hospital by 9:30, unpacked my things in the hospital room, changed clothes, completed the pre-op procedures like signing the consent form, consulting with the director, washing up, and gargling, and went into the operating room a little after 10. The moment I walked in myself and lay down on the operating table, I was shaking like crazy... The staff in the OR positioned me properly, inserted the IV, and told me my arm might feel a bit sore. Then they told me to breathe with the oxygen mask, and after that I remember nothing at all. Not even the memory of closing my eyes When I opened them, I was lying in the hospital bed, and a nurse woke me up because I wasn't supposed to sleep. I was barely keeping my eyes open while fighting off drowsiness when the director came and told me the surgery had gone well. The surgery took about 3 hours, and I don't remember exactly, but I think they said there wasn't much bleeding. Until 8 o'clock I wasn't allowed to drink water or sleep, and I just had to breathe, but I don't know how the time passed. The pain was mainly jaw muscle soreness, pain from the swelling in my throat, and difficulty because my nose was blocked. And my butt hurt too... The night was especially hard. Cold, throbbing, I think I slept for 10 minutes and woke up, over and over. The pain wasn't so severe that it was unbearable, but breathing was really hard. It was more discomfort and hardship than pain!
<3/19 Post-op day 2> Around 9:30, they removed the drain line, the hose inserted in my nose, and the urinary catheter, and I received swelling laser treatment, then met the director. They asked how I was doing and put a wafer on my upper jaw. They said if I felt okay, I could walk around the hospital a bit. It definitely felt better once the hoses came out, especially the urinary catheter Without it, sitting was so much more comfortable. Then I saw my face for the first time, and I was so happy with it. The swelling wasn't too severe, and I really liked the line of my face. Even though I was swollen, I could see that my face had gotten smaller. The right side was more swollen, probably because the right side of my face had been bigger and longer to begin with, and they also extracted a wisdom tooth during surgery. I had to start eating little by little, but New Care went down more easily than water. Maybe because it was sweet and thick, it didn't go straight down my throat but went down slowly. Water felt rough and went down too quickly, so I was afraid it might get stuck in my throat It was my first meal after surgery, and I finished an entire carton of New Care. During the day, moving around and having my guardian there made things okay, but at night, with no guardian, darkness all around, and my breathing feeling even more blocked, it was scary and hard Still, the nurses came right away when I called and gave me medication, so I survived. At that time I had a slight fever, felt hot, and was cold too. They changed the cold compress every 2 hours, and I could barely bring the fever down and sleep for 1 hour at a time.
<3/20 Post-op day 3, discharge day> At 9:30 I got swelling laser treatment and they removed the IV needle. After packing my things and waiting, the director came, and I practiced fitting my bite with the wafer. They said it would keep swelling more, so not to be too surprised. Fortunately, I only had the wafer on my upper jaw and it wasn't fixed, so I could breathe well. I had already received all the aftercare instructions from the nurse the night before, so I got my discharge kit with things like hot/cold packs and gauze and was discharged safely. Coming home felt mentally comfortable, but physically uncomfortable. I had prepared a recliner, but it wasn't as good as the hospital bed, and having to do everything myself was exhausting. Especially changing the hot/cold pack repeatedly at night Since 1 hour was the limit anyway, I slept for 1 hour, changed the pack, slept again, and repeated that. I kept the humidifier running and gently cleared a little runny nose with tissue. I got through the night like that, and the daytime was similar. I rotated between New Care, The Protein, diluted orange juice, and Gatorade, and took my medicine too. Whenever I felt like the swelling was getting worse, I rode the indoor bike very gently for 10 minutes at a time.
<3/21 Post-op day 4> I was insanely swollen... Even my palate and uvula were swollen to the point that it was hard to swallow saliva I still had a bit of jaw muscle soreness, but it wasn't severe; the pressure pain from the swelling was worse. On top of that, my nose was blocked too, and it really felt like my face was going to burst. Still, it seemed to loosen up if I kept using my throat a bit, so I drank fluids often and took my medicine diligently. When I ate, I always gargled with water and Hexamedin too. I walked little by little from my room to the living room, using the hot/cold pack and water as an excuse. I couldn't even think about going out for a walk At night, it felt swollen and hurt, so I took Tylenol The hospital said not to use Otrivin too much, so I didn't use it at all at first, but I felt like I was dying, so I used it once and it opened up a little. Thanks to that, I think I slept for two hours at a time, and toward the end I slept for three hours.
<3/22 Post-op day 5> I was even more swollen. Still, my condition was better than before. Thanks to Otrivin, my nose was about 50 percent open, so I could breathe through my nose sometimes. In the morning I got up, prepared food by myself with determination, and ate it (even though it was just New Care and The Protein), and took my medicine too. I gargled, changed the ice pack, ventilated the room, and passed the time watching Netflix. At night, the pain got worse again so I took painkillers.
<3/23 Post-op day 6> I slept so deeply I was even drooling. Although I woke up every 3 hours, the quality of sleep improves day by day When I woke up, my face felt like it was going to burst, so I dragged my heavy body around the living room a bit, ate breakfast, and took my medicine. Then I squatted down by myself and showered too. When washing my hair, if I tilted my head too far back, pressure went into my jaw and it hurt, so I just tilted it slightly. My long hair got really heavy once it was wet I barely managed it by grabbing my hair Even while sitting, my body felt so exhausted and I was short of breath... I took a nap and then bought red bean porridge and Ice Cream Together and ate them. The red bean porridge went down really easily. Highly recommended! I tried cutting up rice cake too, but it just took effort and didn't even seem to fill me up, so I just left it out and ate the porridge. For sure, walking a little helped the swelling go down. I walked slowly for 30 minutes, which was hard though. I still had a bit of pain, nasal congestion, runny nose, and phlegm, and the yellow bruising had come up too.
<3/24 Post-op day 7> There was less phlegm and swelling, so breathing was relatively okay. Usually by 8 a.m. I couldn't sleep anymore and it was hard, so I'd force myself to get up early, but on this day I slept from 1 a.m. to 10 a.m., waking only once or twice in between. My diet rotated through New Care, The Protein, misutgaru, blended banana + blueberry, and Custard. I highly recommend soaking Custard and eating it! It melts well and goes down easily. I mean the Orion Custard sold at supermarkets, not castella bread! I switched to hot compresses from this point, and I kept wearing the chin strap unless I was eating or gargling.
<3/25 Post-op day 8> The swelling was visibly going down! My lower lip was returning to its original shape, and the area beside my philtrum had also gone down a little. I'm not sure about my cheeks yet though The bruising was turning more yellow. My nose was 80 percent open too! As for food, I just blended whatever I could and ate it. I didn't season anything! I blended things like banana, blueberry, pumpkin, tofu, and boiled eggs, keeping everything non-irritating. I had been dieting before surgery, so resisting food wasn't too hard, but I really wanted to exercise I had lost about 3 kg compared to before surgery, and thinking that it wasn't body fat but water and muscle made me crazy My skin got dry and saggy... Since I was just sitting all the time, I felt like my hip volume was shrinking too But if I tried cardio like walking or cycling, even just standing up after sitting made my vision go black, so I'd just hold onto the wall and stand there blankly... Instead of actual workouts, I substituted daily movement like standing to gargle, preparing food, and doing housework.
<3/26 Post-op day 9> My lower lip completely returned to its original shape! They say swelling goes downward, and that seems to be true. The eye area had mostly gone down, and there was still some left in the midface. No nasal congestion or pain. Other than feeling swollen and being dizzy because I hadn't eaten enough, there wasn't anything too hard. When I spit out phlegm, clots of blood came out, and I was startled every time... I also now sleep almost lying down, with my head elevated about 30 degrees! Maybe I had been tense without realizing it for days, because my shoulders and trapezius muscles were so badly knotted and painful Even if I wanted to stretch, I couldn't because bending or tilting my head brought on pain I couldn't extend my right arm straight out to the side... It feels tingly and won't extend at all, so if it gets worse I'll go to the hospital. And when I lie down to sleep, my jaw shifts backward too, but because my teeth were hooked onto the wafer, all the weight of my jaw was on my teeth and it hurt so much It hadn't been like that before, but suddenly I could feel the weight and it hurt...
<3/27 Post-op day 10, first outpatient visit> I went to my first follow-up! I got swelling laser treatment, and while checking my condition, the director personally removed the wafer and disinfected the surgical site. I also saw the X-rays before and after surgery, and the difference was huge. The left and right sides were almost symmetrical and looked clean. I was happy to hear that I could now remove and reattach the wafer when eating, and that I could brush with a Waterpik and a baby toothbrush!! As soon as I got home, I removed the wafer, ate, and brushed my teeth refreshingly. I also cleaned the wafer thoroughly!! It felt so much fresher I didn't use rubber-band fixation or anything like that!
<3/28 Post-op day 11> The double-chin swelling went down a lot! The bruises also seemed to be in the fading stage. I felt like I wasn't moving enough, so after every meal I went up the stairs. Going up the stairs raises my heart rate more than walking casually, so it seems to help the swelling go down in a shorter time. It also works the glutes! Since I didn't go up for too long, I didn't get dizzy. It felt like exercising for the first time in a while, and I was happy for a moment. I really want to exercise again soon Gym, Pilates, StairMaster, dance... I used to work out 6 times a week, but even simple squats and planks are impossible, and it's honestly killing me. My body is stiff too It was an unexpected obstacle... And I didn't notice it before, but I often feel like my jaw is unstable. When I tilt my head left and right while gargling, or when I lie down, I can feel my jaw moving. Since it's not even been 2 weeks yet, I figured that was natural and stayed careful. I have no sensation in my lips, the area around my lips, the left jaw, the upper gums, or the palate I'm a little worried, but when I try to sleep at night it feels itchy, so I just think time will heal it.
<4/1 Post-op day 15 (exactly 2 weeks)> The swelling has been moving downward little by little and the bruising has faded! With the wafer on and off, I'm eating things that don't require chewing, like drinks, bread that dissolves well in liquids, and yogurt (I started eating dairy after finishing all the antibiotics!), and since the stitches haven't been removed yet, I'm avoiding strongly seasoned foods! Even toothpaste tastes a bit spicy, so even if I want to eat strongly seasoned food, I don't think I could My weight has dropped by about 5 kg compared to before surgery! I think it's not body fat, but water, swelling, and muscle that have been lost Now I mostly sleep lying down too. Still, I'm not lying completely flat, just slightly propped up. Other than feeling dizzy because I can't eat well and the occasional pain at the stitches, there isn't much discomfort! I just want the swelling to go down quickly I look at my face every day, so I can't really tell, but every time my family looks at me, they say my face has gotten smaller and my expression looks gentle even though there's still swelling! They say I look like I'm smiling even when I'm not My mouth shape seems to have changed into a smiling face too! The first week was so hard that I regretted surgery, but time really does heal everything Day by day getting better is not a lie! Looking at my changed face, I think I'd still choose surgery again if I went back
That was my two-week review up to here! I can answer any questions except about the surgery cost, so leave a comment if you want to know anything!! For inquiries about surgery cost, please contact the hospital directly!