I got my stitches out today and my surgeon says everything is going well. He will be writing the surgeon that did the implants to get a schedule for my physical therapy with the Therabite, and I will go back in 10 days for a check up.
Now comes the hard part - getting my opening bigger. Everything still feels pretty tight, but I’m trying!
Now that the final phase of this long ordeal is almost over I can feel my motherly instincts kicking in. I have been so patient and understanding for such a long time, but now I am ready to have you leave the nest, not today, next week, or even next month, but hopefully soon. It was such a subtle change that I had to really think about what was happening. I have no point of reference, however I am sure that this is a normal reaction. I find myself being a little less patient, and a little less understanding. In the past there never seemed to be any light at the end of this long tunnel, and now that I see it I feel the need to push you a little harder. While I realize that you just got out of surgery, and need time to heal, I also realize that it is more important than ever that you follow your post op regimen to the letter. Enter the nag…ME. It isn’t a comfortable position, and I can see by your reactions that you don’t like it, however it is one of those mommy things “I am doing this for your own good” or “It hurts me more than it hurts you.” Funny how those sayings finally make sense. Our roles were that of mother and child for so long, and it was out of necessity, but subtly it is changing. I am beginning to see you in a different light, you are an adult woman who really needs to be on your own, doing all the things that women your age do. I want this for you as much as you want it for yourself. As I said, not today, not next week or next month, but soon. When you leave the nest I will feel lost and more than a little sad, my gift to you are your wings…. and I know you will soar to high places. I love you.
Candy is available by e-mail for any questions, comments, or just to vent: candy AT tmjfriends DOT com
Either the swelling has gone down a little bit, or I am getting used to my new big face. I think it’s the latter.
The pain on a scale of one to ten is a tolerable six. I still need pain medication but I don’t feel like crying. It’s hard to distinguish at this point what is surgical pain and what is residual pain left over from TMJ disorder.
This morning when I got up and spoke to my Mom, the strangest thing happened. After I said a couple of words to her, I found myself repeating what I said over and over and making different noises. My new joints vibrate when I talk, but only with certain words. I think I’ll either get used to it, or it will disappear once the swelling goes down. Will I be hearing radio stations next? And I hope if I do it’s not Mexican Polka music!
Most people ask me if the joints feel “weird.” I honestly have to say (besides the vibrating), that they don’t feel any different than my last ones did. I think this both speaks for the amazing construction of them and the incredibly talented surgeon who implanted them.
I still have questions about how they’ll feel as time goes on, like in weather changes - will cold effect me? Will I feel storms coming? I’ll just have to wait and see.
I think that the general rule of thumb is that after any major trauma to your body (and surgery definitely is a trauma), it will take about a year before you feel like it never happened. That isn’t to say I am going to just lay low for a year and feel sorry for myself. However, I do feel that having two major surgeries in such a short period of time has had a profound effect on me even though I may not know it at this moment. I also feel more beat up and more fragile this time around. Perhaps part of that is the let down of having it all over with, too. Friends and family tend to think that the surgery is over with now… I’m okay, and they get on with their lives.. when in fact, this is the period when I probably need the most emotional support. I’m glad to have all of you guys here supporting me, and I know I can count on you when I need you.
By the way, today I had a happy meal and some carrot cake. My tongue was very happy.
Hi everyone.. Yesterday I walked out of the ICU the day after surgery.. again. It took me a little longer this time because my surgeon wanted to make sure my opening was doing well. I can open to about 20mm (bigger than I could before this all started!).
This morning I had pancakes and eggs for breakfast.. my digestive system is a little shocked, so I can only eat a little bit at a time. Now it is time to do the Therabite… I figure eating is a good warm up. My face is REALLY swollen, my Mom says she has never seen it this big before.
I will be posting pictures later today… we lost the cord to transfer pics from the camera to my laptop, so my Mom has to go get a new one.
I know a lot of people are wondering - how do the joints feel? They do not feel mechanical or out of place… they feel quite normal (in a very sore, muscle spasm-y way). The scars are a lot longer than I thought they would be, but they look really good.. My stomach (where they took fat from to pack around the joints to lessen the chance of bad bone forming) doesn’t hurt at all. In fact, in the hospital I thought they had skipped doing that part until I saw the bandage.
Other than that, things are doing ok. I’m hanging in there & have been sleeping a lot. Let me know if you have any questions!
Stace is back at the hotel: real bed, real meds, no beep, beep, beep of the hospital machines all of the time. She CHEWED a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch, YUMMMM! She’s also using the Therabite every hour to improve her opening ASAP. I’m sure she’ll start posting herself soon, surprised it hasn’t happened already.
“Still in ICU, hoping to go home…..opening around 20mm”
That was Stace IM’ing me, so she is up and around…just no access to anything but IM yet. Home is the hotel (for now).
7:30pm: Stace is out of surgery, trying to negotiate going home with the doctor. That’s our Stace. Oh yeah, she can open her mouth wider than ever before.
We love you Stace!!! Congrats!!!!
Ok.. not today.. but maybe tomorrow, and definitely Friday. I was given the go ahead to chew ANYTHING I want when I wake up. Except for gum. I can’t have gum ever again… but being wired for the past month and a half has made me really appreciate the finer things in life…. like steak, cheeseburgers, salad, and the almighty popcorn.
The second stage of my surgery is tomorrow, June 22nd, at 10am. People keep asking me if I’m excited… well, I wasn’t, until yesterday when I was walking through Atlanta Hartsfield airport to go to my gate. I am excited now. I’m excited for the prospect that this could be the end of my personal journey with TMJ disorder. I don’t want to get too excited though. I will be happy no matter what happens, because I *will* be able to open my mouth, and I will be able to eat pretty much whatever I want.
I have to be at the hospital at 7:30am, and they will admit me and take me to my room. Then they will take me to pre-op. I wanted to see the joints, and even keep the model of my jaw that they made from the CT scan, but I’m not allowed. My surgeon has to keep it. 
He said I could probably get my own model for $2,500. Yeah, right! I think I’ve paid enough for these things!
So, I will hopefully be back here blogging on Friday afternoon… like last time, I will have pictures for each day. Let me know if you have any questions!
I am not really sure where my story begins, but I do have two suspicions. One is in 1988, I had to have my wisdom teeth pulled because they were causing problems. They were very impacted, and I could not open my mouth more that 10 mm. After they were pulled, I then had full range of motion.
The next suspicion was in 1998. I was hit very hard in the back end of my husband’s pick-up truck and hit my head on the back glass. After the accident I had severe headaches for 3 weeks straight. Nothing I did would relieve the headaches. I couldn’t even think for myself. My husband finally insisted that I go to the emergency room to have a mri done. All they scanned was my brain, and it only showed a mild concussion. They gave me some pain meds and sent me on my way. The headaches did go away for about a month, but then returned with a vengeance.
Now I have headaches every day. This is the year 2006 people. My jaws started popping about 3 years ago, and I never thought any thing of tmj til I went to the dentist 2 years ago, and he told me that I might have tmj. He sent me to a specialist who I have been seeing since. Been through the splint therapy and still going thru it and the so called pain therapy. My specialist finally agreed to send me to get an MRI. Got my reading back on Tuesday April 4th. The mri showed a torn ligament in my left jaw as well as spurs on both jaws and total derangement of both discs and of course the adhesions. I am actually relieved that it is this and not brain tumors. ( you see my dad died with a brain tumor in 1989, and my sister is in remission from brain tumors.) Now, the next step for me is to see a shrink, to see if stress is the cause of the problems at hand. The date for that is May 1st. My doc wants to do surgery. However, I am planning on a second opinion first. If it will make the headaches go away, I do want to do the surgery. We will see what is to come. By the way my left jaw has gone into lock down. My right, well lets just say can’t do much without the left. There will be more to come as I journey through this thing called TMJ.
To read more stories of people like you, visit our TMJ patient story page. As always, if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or tips, let us know!
