Jaw Surgery and Play Time

On Monday, April 2, 2012 Paul had jaw surgery to correct an underbite.  We left Katelyn at home with Grandma and Grandpa and reported to the hospital at 6am, although the surgery did not start until 8:45am.

Pre Operation - Sexy Gown

For close to 4 hours, the surgeon worked on Paul by breaking both his upper and lower jaw. Sounds enticing, right?

The upper jaw was broken on each side and expanded, moving it slightly forward.  There are gaps in the bone but with the help of brackets and screws, the bone with eventually grow back and fuse together.  Then, his lower jaw was broken, a piece of bone removed from each side, and slid back.  The lower jaw was also shifted a tad to help correct his alignment (so all this teeth match up with the center of his nose).  Again, with the help of screws, the jaw will heal.

I spoke to the doctor immediately following surgery and before seeing Paul.  He told me that everything went perfectly as planned and that there were no complications.  Such a sigh of relief, especially for a pregnant woman waiting in one room for nearly 5+ hours.  I can't tell you how many worse case scenarios ran through my head.  I am a worrier.

The doctor also prepared me for seeing Paul for the first time.  He told me that Paul would look like he just came out of brain surgery, and well, he was definitely correct.  Paul had bandages wrapped around his chin to hold the jaws in place and then more bandage around his head to hold that in place.  He had oxygen tubes up his nose and his lips were huge.  Don't believe me, check out the picture:

We stayed at the hospital until Wednesday night. Thank goodness my parents were here to watch Katelyn.  I didn't imagine myself staying at the hospital overnight with Paul but he was in no condition to be left alone.  The first night I thought he was going to stop breathing - when he breathed through his mouth, the lips, due to the swelling and nastiness, would get stuck together so then he would breath through his nose but that was all clogged from the tubes, so he would gag a little and then wake himself up.  It didn't help that the anesthesia/medication/shock to his body caused him to drift in and out of sleep like a light switch.  He felt nauseous and the nurses worried that if he threw up, he could possibly choke so they had a pair of scissors taped above his bed in case they had to cut the bands holding his mouth shut.  He couldn't talk and couldn't get his own water.  I had to use a huge syringe and squirt small amounts of water in so it could trickle down his throat.  Again, enticing, right?

The day after surgery - removal of the bandages

Two days after surgery before we left the hospital

Paul is now left with two small stitches on the outside of his cheeks. (I'm assuming that is where they put the screws in his lower jaw.)  Needless to say, this is the one time I am letting him get away with not shaving.  The inside of his mouth (top, bottom, and all sides) is lined with stitches as well. He is limited to a liquid diet until we hear otherwise. But, he can't even use a straw, so he has to spoon it in, and well, it doesn't always make it.  An adult size bib would be much appreciated.

A brief tangent: Hospitals must plan to have the most uncomfortable chairs in the patient rooms to discourage guests from staying overnight with their loved one.  Maybe it was because I am pregnant, but I tossed and turned in the awful recliner all night and woke up with sore hips and tailbone.  Now I believe Paul when he said the chair he slept in when Katelyn was born was miserable. We had a reversal of roles.

Anyway, we are just glad the surgery went as planned and are now at home.  Paul improves each day (even though he has already lost 5 pounds of muscle since he has no fat on him), especially as the anesthesia continues to leave his system.  That stuff has been hard on his body.  Paul is tough though, and has been handling the pain and discomfort like a champion.

In the meantime, here is what Katelyn was up to while we were in the hospital.  It looks like she didn't miss us one bit.  (My parents brought her to the hospital a few times so I could eat dinner with her and see her.  We even let her come up to the room one night and go on a "walk" with Paul once all the bandages were off Paul's face.  We didn't want to scare her.)