A lot of people are curious about the recovery process. So I thought it might be helpful to at least document what I have learned – from my doctor, from a friend who has gone through it and from research on the internet.
The recovery is supposed to take 2-3 days in hospital, then 4-6 weeks at home after that.
1 week on clear fluids
1 week after that on general fluids
2 weeks on foods that don’t make a noise (rice, mash potatoes, pasta etc)
after that – eat as I am able… however I am told it may be 2-3 months before I can get my mouth around a hamburger…LOL
They say that I should be up and walking on the same day as the surgery. They just don’t want me doing anything stressful etc. So they recommend 4 weeks off work. Depending on the type of work, some are told to take 6 weeks off.
As for visual recovery, I am told that the first 2 weeks it will be obvious for anyone looking at me that something has happened to my face. For the 3-4 week mark, the swelling will be down and only those that know me will see the difference. After 4 weeks I am told only those that know me really well should be able to see the swelling. The bones themselves will in essence be healed after 4 weeks. However, I was told that the bones will swell as part of the healing process and apparently for them to fully heal could take 6 months to a year if not longer. But my official healing should be over in the 4-6 week range.
My oral surgeon isn’t worried about me over exerting myself as I don’t have a physical job. However, he and I have talked a couple of times about speech. With my jaw moving, my tongue will end up in a new position and there is also a risk of some numbness in my lips and front jaw area post surgery. So how I enunciate may be impacted. He is not overly concerned but will be watching. In the hundreds of these particular surgeries that he has done he has had only one patient that needed speech therapy afterwards. Given my occupation, he wanted me to be aware of that risk. So depending on how things go he may arrange for speech therapy.
An interesting side note, I have two Pastor friends/mentors – both of who went through a stage in life where they lost their voice and needed speech therapy. As a result of their challenge to me, 15 years or so back I picked up “The Voice Book” which comes with a CD that has all kinds of voice exercises – it is great to guide in practicing the enunciation of the letters of the alphabet, working on volume, pitch, etc. My one mentor – told me that he spent a few hours in an empty sanctuary reading his Bible and the hymn book out loud in order to work on his enunciation…
I am not too stressed about the actual recovery nor am I really worried about my speech. The oral surgeon has never had anyone die on the table so that is not a worry of mine. What I am thinking about – and it is not a big deal but it is there… I am thinking about how I will look when done. I am not in this for the cosmetic change, but there will be some change visually in my appearance. Vain as it is, that seems to be where my head keeps going.