SURGERY # 3

So, the oral surgeon set me up for my 3rd surgery since my Lefort in May of 2007 pretty quickly. The surgery was less than 2 hours. The surgeon removed the plates and screw from the right side only and cleaned out the right sinus and put a temporary drain in the right nostril so the sinus could continue to drain for 7 days on it's own. The good news was that when they went in there was no sign of infection in the plates or sinuses. However, a few days before surgery I got a preop test back and was informed that I had a staph infection so I was back on antibiotics so most likely that's why there was no infections. I did stay one night in the hospital and was home within 24 hours of waking up I did get a few doses of IV antibiotics. The only problem was the drain in the nose. I had to keep a piece of gauze taped to the end of my nose to catch the crap draining for about 5 out of the 7 days. Removing the drain was no big deal and I felt like I could breathe so much easier after it was out. Hopefully, the congestion will continue to improve and the sinuses will do well. I am now just almost 2 weeks post op.

Major Surgery...AGAIN :-(

On Valentine's Day I saw my original surgeon again. I had a CT Scan done and come to find out my right sinus was 3/4 full. My left was almost completely empty. Due to all of the infections there is only one way out of this...SURGERY! I'm scheduled for this coming Tuesday, 2/26. They are going back in through a previous incision inside my mouth and will chip away a small piece of the jaw bone to expose the right sinus. They will remove the plates and screws on the right side and then drain the right sinus and completely clean it out. After that they will leave a temporary drain in my nose for 7 days which after will be removed to heal up by itself. Hopefully when they go into the sinus the infection is not in the bone and I will be able to come home the same day or next day and not have to stay for IV antibiotic treatment only time will tell. I'll try to post to the blog as soon as I can.

Still No Answers

So I decided to see another oral surgeon to gain a second opinion. She said that surgically speaking everything looked great! However, my sinus infections are another concern. I may need to have the plates and screws removed in hopes to prevent the sinus infections from recurring so frequently. She would perform day surgery so that my sinuses could also get cleaned out at the same time. However, because I only had upper jaw surgery I need to wait as long as possible before removing the plates. Typically the bones heal within 2-3 months post op. There is the possibility that the jaw can pop back into pre-surgical position once the plates are removed if done too prematurely. I can't even imagine what I would do if that ever happened to me. I think I would definitely have this surgeon do the procedure instead of going back to my original surgeon. I see the ENT in a week and get my night guard in a few days. That will determine where we go from here.