Brad had his second post op appt today. This one was with the big wig, the head of the department,and the one who actually preformed his surgery, Dr. Helman. Since I have a history of renaming Drs, I'm guessing you can figure his out. Yep, he is Dr. Mayo.
Dr. Mayo sent a resident in first to ask how things were going. I tried my normal "throw Brad under the bus" tactics because I really wanted him to know just how much time Brad is spending in bed and see what he'd say, where people should be at this point, which is 6 weeks post-op. He laughed it off, like I was just some wife who wanted her husband to do more. Seriously, no one is going to tell him to get up more. I really must come to a true peace on this topic. Maybe I will, but I'm guessing not, it is hard. I think I am doing better at keeping it to myself at this point. I get to blog it here and I make jokes every now and then but I like to think I am keeping the nag under control!
The resident, hmm...I have no name for him...anyways, he looked Brad over and said everything was looking well. He did mention that Brad needed to rinse with warm salt water 7-8 times a day still, he hasn't been at all, just a Rx mouthwash. So I looked at Brad and said, "translation, it is super gross in there!"
Next they took Brad for X-Rays so I snatched up his comfy chair and pulled out the laptop to entertain myself with U of M's WiFi. When Brad came back that guy actually kicked me out of his chair. And I was having this weird back pain, I had been mentioning it since right before we left the house. I couldn't even guilt him into letting me have the chair. Man oh man, he is milking this surgery for all he can. Won't let his wife spend a few mins in a more comfortable seat, grumble, grumble, grumble....
So this is the Dr. Mayo entrance time. He came in, an older man who has been practicing in his field for 23 years. He didn't seem as though he thought he was above us, he was pretty friendly, shook my hand, looked at me as well as Brad when he spoke. He told Brad that he would need to stay banded shut another 4-6 weeks. We were originally told it was only 6 weeks. So at the last appt when they said they "might" take the bands off at this appointment we had kind of accepted that this week they would loosen his bands and in 2 weeks take them off. So we were shocked at the thought of 6 more weeks. Dr. Mayo told us that his interns are idiots, yep that is the term he used. He said the 6 weeks is usually for the patients that do this surgery for cosmetic reasons, man that still BLOWS my mind, the things people do in the name of vanity. Anyways, when the surgery is done to correct S.A. the jaws are moved forward further so if the bands are removed too early and the bones are not healed enough then his jaw bones can be pulled back by the muscles and make his bite off. Often the teeth will turn upward. Then Brad would have to undergo another surgery. Yes, lets avoid that!
Brad is already down 30lbs in 5 weeks, I wonder how much more he will drop in the next six weeks. He could stand to lose a bit more so I'm not too worried about it but I think I need to be more involved in his eating schedule. His mom has been keeping our freezer stocked which has been an awesome life saver for me because frankly my blender has it out for me! So I just leave it to Brad to warm things up as he wants them and he isn't keeping a calorie count or eating as much as he should.
Now we have an appointment scheduled in 4 weeks. At that appointment they will decide if he gets the bands off, if he gets looser bands, or if he has to keep the same tightness of bands. If he gets them off then there is the possibility he will have to put the bands back on himself at night while he sleeps for 2 weeks. I think this option, though it seems good because he can open his mouth, would be miserable for Brad. He has wires wrapped around each tooth and the wire ends are just twisted sticking up every few teeth. There are also hooks at the top of each tooth. Right now I think the bands are creating some kind of cushioning between these irritating metal hooks and his lips/gums. So if the bands were removed his mouth would be getting kinda ripped up. The picture below isn't Brad's actual mouth but is what it kinda looks like only he has bands running up and down.
Friday is Brad's birthday, he was really hoping for a better gift, I was as well, he deserves it. As much as I joke and give him crap I really can't imagine just how miserable he has been, not only these last six weeks but the previous 8 years never getting any real rest. Hopefully the next month will be uneventful and go by quickly. Then we can start our new life together with a happier, healthier, definitely more rested Brad.
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