I saw the oral surgeon a week later, and he said he thought it should be removed because I would chew on it and it would become infected. And indeed I have bitten it several times in the ensuing two weeks.
However, the oral surgeon also assured me when I first saw him that the surgery would not cause any disfigurement of my lip. At the most, he said, I might have a slight "pucker" that he said no one would notice.
Looking in the mirror, I am not at all convinced he knew what he was talking about, because it looks like half of my lower lip is gone.
I took the picture in the mirror; my husband can't handle the camera to do any better (he tried). I am dismayed at what I see and I am also in a good bit of pain. There are a number of stitches there; I don't know how many. He initially said it would take only one stitch but I know there are at least three.
Had I had any inclination I could be disfigured, I most certainly would not have allowed this.
Country Dew, I can understand your concern. In the past, I've had a bit of oral surgery, too, and it's no picnic. It seems to me that you should call the oral surgeon with your concerns. Perhaps he can reassure you. The good thing is, God made our bodies with an amazing ability to regenerate. I was once bitten by a brown recluse spider. Their bite actually kills skin cells, so I had quite a deep crater where it bit me, but now I can't even tell where it was. My thoughts are with you.
ReplyDeleteI’m sorry you are in pain. The one thing I have learned about taking medicine after some type of procedure is not to wait until I am hurting too much before taking my next dose.
ReplyDeleteAbout the disfigured part. I know it is hard to imagine, but there is a very good chance it will become unnoticeable. I had a few surgeries before that convinced me that things would never be the same, but as time went by, there was no longer anything to see.
{{{Hugs}}}
I'm so sorry. I do agree with Kitty above that this will very likely become unnoticeable. If not then there are simple things that can be done here to remedy it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your concern, ladies. Hopefully once the swelling goes down it won't look so bad.
ReplyDeletePoly, one of my problems is I am allergic to lipstick, so I don't wear any. I've yet to find a lipstick that doesn't make my face swell. So I won't be able to hide anything with makeup.
Dew, it seems things are never quite as simple as we're told they are. Hopefully it'll go down in a couple of days. Don't think you're disfigured, it always looks worse to us than to others. Are those stiches dissovable ones? BTW, my dentist said I didn't have a mucocele after all, just a swollen salivary gland from my oral surgery and he recommends I do nothing about it. I go next week for another pull but my regular dentist is handling this one. Then after it heals in about 8 weeks I can finally get my partials.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll be ok - it does look quite scary now but I have had a huge crater in my lip caused by playing trumpet on a cold sore.... kept opening it up for a fortnight as I had some major gigs. It was horrible... but it has now disappeared completly. Thankfully. Don't know what I was thinking not looking after my lips as a trumpet player. doh.
ReplyDeleteAnyway - hope it doesn't stay painful for too long. Will the stitches just dissolve?
Apparently the stitches must be removed, as I see the doctor for that Friday.
ReplyDeleteoh, i wasn't referring to lipstick, dewie. with a little "assistance" you could have Angelina Jolie lips if you wanted. :0
ReplyDeleteWell, my lower lip still kind of looks all nice and puffy; does that count? I would never resort to such things, though. If it scars it scars, I'll just live with it.
ReplyDeleteHi CountryDew,
ReplyDeleteI had the same surgery about a year ago and the doctor never warned me that my lip might be disfigured. Well, it is. Mine looked just like yours post surgery and it really scared me. I went back to his office immidiatly that day AND called the next day. Both times I was reassured my lip would return to normal. It's been a year. It hasn't. I am also numb in one spot.
These doctors should know better and tell us this is a possible complication. Changeing the look of our smile forever. I am seaking a plastic surgeon to hopefuly right the gap in my lips, but even that is scary. I don't really want anyone touching my face ever again.
Anyway, sorry for the rant. It's been a little while since you wrote this and I hope you healed better than I did.
Also, like you said, I would NEVER have had this surgery if there was ANY possibility of disfiguration.
You may want to seek a lawyer about medical malpractice. These doctors should tell us this is a possibility.
Mya - I too am still experiencing problems six months later. It is better than it was but I am not at all impressed and I will never have it done again if I can keep from it.I figure I will probably end up having to see a plastic surgeon at some point, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that. I've spoken with a couple plastic surgeons and they are recommending fat grafting as a permanant fix and Juvederm if I just want to try something temporary. I'm just a little surgery shy about anything right now but I will keep you in mind when I do get it done and give you an update. That is, if that is okay with you. I figure I would want to hear the same from someone else who is getting surgery to fix this kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteMya, I wish you good luck. I will try to write an update on my own problems with this on my blog soon. Other people should know not to have this done!
ReplyDelete