Expander in, SARPE completed!

The expander went in on the 6/18 and I had my surgery on 6/21. The first day with the expander was a little tough. I was making a lot of saliva (since my body thought this new device was food) and was having a hard time pronouncing some words. The worst being any words with "ee" in it like neat, feet, meat, etc. S and N were tough at first too, but by the end of the weekend it wasn't too bad. I would also say the extra spit stopped by day 2.

My first meal with the expander was interesting. I decided to go for Indian food and got a whole bunch of rice stuck in it. I couldn't really finish my meal and drank tons of water to clear the expander.

By the time I had dinner, it was much better. I was able to eat regular foods that weren't too hard. I had fish, cheese, calamari (not the crispy kind) and mashed potatos. Delic! By Sunday, I was talking even better and really only noticed a change in voice when I said those "ee" words. I did hurt my cheeks chewing during that second meal. The brackets they use for the expander have sharp edges. I used wax all day Saturday and even attempted to eat with wax in my mouth. By Sunday my cheeks were a lot better and I just used some orajel swaps to keep the discomfort in check.

Monday morning was my SARPE. My oral surgeon had me take some Valium and Vitamin K (to prevent bleeding) an hour before. By the time I got to the oral surgeon's office, I felt good and was even more relaxed once they started the laughing gas. The whole surgery took about an hour. My mom was with me the whole time and drove me home afterward. Once I got out of the car at my apartment, my nose started bleeding a lot, but I made it into the house OK. I was pretty out of it as the anesthesia wore off, but by 2 PM I was answering the phone. The main thing that first day was making sure I iced my face and had all my meds which includes 800 mg of ibuprofen 3x's per day and an antibiotic 3x's per day. I also have liquid vicodin.

I already have a 3 mm gap in between my teeth which was apparent immediately following surgery. I knew the oral surgeon was going to turn the key to test it, but it seems like he must have done it a bunch of times. I will find out more when I see him on Friday. The main thing that hurt was pressure under my nose and cheekbones. I believe that was from the expanding. The oral surgeon wants me to expand much faster than the ortho said originally. He said it would be 2-3 times per day. Ortho thought it shouldn't be more than 2 x's per day. I'm glad they want to do it faster though because that means expansion should be complete in as few as two weeks instead of six.

The pics above are 2 1/2 days post SARPE. It looks like my upper jaw is already wider.