Surgery!

Bilateral TMJ arthroplasty with discectomy and autologous fat grafts with retrodiscal attachment

Today is my day!

Friday, December 4
Start: 2:00pm
End: 6:00pm

This is the operation that Dr. Piper and I agreed would work best for me. It will replace the damaged discs, decrease the need of a repeat surgery, and will absorb impact much better if I were to be struck in the face by anything.


I am two days post-op (at the time this was written) and honestly don't feel much different yet. The pain from the operation is still present and pretty strong (not unbearable), but the pain medications work wonderfully. I can't wait to take the splint off and know what my new joints feel like. I have had headaches, but that is most likely due to my neck pain, as my cervical spine needs a lot of work.

Dr. Piper made a small incision inside each of my ears, and used a small scope to see into the joint, examine how they each looked, and remove the discs. He told us that they were much worse than he thought they would be and that the ligaments were not in good condition. This just confirmed and reassured him that we chose the right method of treatment. They took the fat graft from my abdomen, but couldn't find enough fat once they made the incision. He had to pull fat from other areas to get enough out. This incision has probably been the most painful. It gets better each day, but was quite unbearable all night and the next day after surgery.

I walked into the hospital with a great attitude, but was intercepted by the unhappy registration lady. I've worked in a hospital before, doing just what she does, knowing exactly what her job, struggles and responsibilities entail. As we were going through everything, she inquired about my surgery, telling me that she had the same operation twice - and it doesn't work.

This woman didn't know my history, my condition, who my surgeon was, or even what my surgery entailed. I had never heard of the doctor who did her surgery, and when I asked her if she had a fat graft, she avoided and ended the conversation, not knowing what I was talking about. I tried to swallow what she said, not let it affect me, and move on... I did write a letter though. Hand delivered to the CEO of the hospital. I then rested easy...

Pre-op took forever! Dr. Piper was with another patient doing her surgery just before mine; She had to have her wisdom teeth removed. I felt for her so much. My surgery was about 2 hours behind but I was relieved to know that Dr. Piper was taking his time on her, and would do the same for me. My mom met and talked to her parents all night, so I was hoping to meet her at some point.

Once they were ready for me, they took me to a room to prepare for the operation. Here, I met with the anesthesiologist, who talked to me about the process of anesthesia and put in my IV. I have horrible veins! - No one can ever find them. He had to stick me four times before getting one into my hand. He did promise me a money-back guarantee though, if the third one wasn't in. Should have got it in writing!

IV and Anesthesia time... 

I got this really cool hair net and a sticker on my forehead to regulate my temperature. 

Dr. Piper also came in to see me. Knowing he had had a long morning, he looked amazingly energetic and ready for me! He talked to me and my mom for a bit, and was very pleasant. I was so excited and pumped for the procedure. Every single nurse, tech, and the anesthesiologist were shocked to hear that I have never had any surgical procedure done before; probably because I was smiling, talking to everyone, and extremely calm. I got more and more excited with each step of the process.


The nurses were all so nice, they each came in to see me and introduced themselves, and had a small conversation with me. They let my mom wait with me until I was taken to the OR, which was really special. In the OR, they were playing music, there were a lot of nurses and people in there, and I don't ever remember going to sleep. I just remember waking up in recovery.

The anesthesia was what I was the most worried about, and it was so easy and smooth-sailing. The recovery room was kind of fun; they played good music, and were laughing at me for tapping my toes to the beat in my bed. They all had such great personalities and were funny and nice. The girl next to me woke up about 10 minutes after I did and we both sounded like zombies, moaning and groaning. I wasn't in any pain and woke up incredibly happy and loopy, and ready to sleep some more.

They took me upstairs to my room where I would stay the night. Before that, though, Dr. Piper personally came to see me in the recovery room and told me that everything went perfectly. It was so special and amazing to see him right after surgery. I don't remember much more than that. Once I got upstairs, my family was waiting for me and I was so ecstatic to see them.

                                                 

I was soon awake and happy to have my Morphine pump!

I woke up with the surgical splint in place, secured with rubber bands and wired shut.

I felt like this guy. Sorry, no close-up; it looked scary! They removed the front rubber bands and wires on Monday, making it much better aesthetically.

The night in the hospital was super pleasant. My two nurses were amazing and very attentive. They really pushed me to drink fluids otherwise they would administer another catheter and I immediately started chugging whatever I could find. I ate, drank, and took medicine (that couldn't be administered via IV) using a syringe with a rubber extension as I couldn't do any of that with the splint in.

Apparently something didn't taste great.

I was also required to AMBULATE every 45 minutes until midnight, from my room to the end of the hall. The nurse and my family accompanied me. The first time was the hardest - I was nauseous and as white as a sheet by the time I got to the end of the hall, but it got much easier each time. 

The next morning, they sent me on my way with all the supplies I needed, and we went straight to see Dr. Piper from the hospital.

I'll be adding more along the way including post-op and where I'm at now.