My Bimax recovery@ 13 weeks.

At 13 weeks post op, I found myself back in Ann Arbor, Michigan for my next appointment at the oral maxillofacial surgery dept at the University Hospital. This was the day they told me I would be free of the arch bars and bands. Could it be true.....well.....time would tell. We waited for 2 hours before we were seen by a Doctor. Of course it was by an Attending Doctor and after discussing my history and my problems, he said he had to check with Dr. Helman for final approval.

Of course he was not in the department, he "stepped out" and we had to wait again. Another seemingly eternity passed and I got the approval!! I was getting unwired. Of course my first question was, if it was going to hurt. The Doc says of course it would and that numbing it would be just as painful due to the amount of shots it would take. So I was destined to be tortured with my wife sitting by watching with a big smile on her face.

So it began, he started on the top left, un-twisting the wires that wrapped around my teeth and through my gums. Then he clipped them with wire cutters and ripped them out one at a time. So I should be screaming in pain about now right????? Well......I didn't, I sat there as he tugged and pulled. I could taste the blood as it was flowing down into the back of my mouth. Meanwhile my wife and Dr. Kloostra talked of their favorite TV shows. Then came the comment....."wow your a pretty tough guy!" he says. Apparently most people squirm, scream, and cringe at every pull. I sat there with no pain.....why you ask, well. My whole roof of my mouth is still numb due to the nerve damage from when they cut my upper jaw off and moved it forward. It was more painfull for him to tug and pull my lips back to get access to the back of my mouth than it was to have the wires ripped from my gums.

Then came the bottom teeth. Well this was a little different. I have more feeling in my lower jaw than my top, and yes it did hurt. Not bad, I was still the tough guy, but I actually had to work at tuning out the pain. But it was over quickly, thank goodness!!! I was free of wires.

So they measured how far my mouth could open, 20mm. Whoo hoo! a whole 20mm. But I won't be eating right away, all my gums are spewing blood, who wants to eat with a bloody mouth. I spend the next 1o minutes or so rinsing my mouth out with cold water. Finally it stopped bleeding and I was done. Whats next....3 month follow up and a sleep study.

Oh, and did I mention I still have the ongoing issues. Plugged inner ear, numbness in various areas of chin, lips and the roof of my mouth. Strange pains, sore jaw joints, sore teeth. 13 weeks + and I'm still recovering. Looking forward to the day when I can say I feel normal. Its a long road, but one that I'm already glad I'm on. Sleep has been wonderful! I'm looking forward to what I think will be my last sleep study. I can't wait to see the piece of paper that says what I already know......I'm cured of my Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea!!!