This did seem to work at the time, apart from a small amount of pain, I was ALOT better! I had 5 months of relief and I could smile, laugh, talk and sneeze without dislocation!
Wednesday 31 October 2012
Eminectomy Number 2
For the rest of 2010, I was in and out of hospital, having my jaw relocated and praying for an end to this trauma. I became friendly with the majority of Whiston A&E staff, and every time I went, I would ask if Vi jay was on shift, as he was the only doctor who could relocate with just gas and air. This was no way to live and I really struggled when starting my new course at college! I must have been to A&E over 100 times in a year (no exaggeration!!). I had my second eminectomy in November 2010..
This did seem to work at the time, apart from a small amount of pain, I was ALOT better! I had 5 months of relief and I could smile, laugh, talk and sneeze without dislocation!
This did seem to work at the time, apart from a small amount of pain, I was ALOT better! I had 5 months of relief and I could smile, laugh, talk and sneeze without dislocation!
Eminectomy Number 1
I was admitted to hospital earlier than planned because my jaw dislocated and A&E was unable to relocate it. On Monday 5th April 2010 I was transferred to Ward 29 at Aintree Hospital and on the Tuesday I was taken to theatre to relocate my jaw. I was then told I needed to stay in until my operation on the Friday as my jaw was now dislocating every other day! On the Friday I had the operation and was kept in overnight for monitoring...
This was the left jaw joint which was operated on, however, the right jaw joint was still causing problems, this operation only provided short term relief from the endless trips to A&E but within a month I was back to the same routine; jaw dislocation, A&E, drugs to relocate, sleep, it was a vicious cycle and the pain was terrible!
This was the left jaw joint which was operated on, however, the right jaw joint was still causing problems, this operation only provided short term relief from the endless trips to A&E but within a month I was back to the same routine; jaw dislocation, A&E, drugs to relocate, sleep, it was a vicious cycle and the pain was terrible!
The Jaw Horror, Part 2
After a year and half of no problems, you would think that everything is fine and there is no need to worry...wrong! In 2009, after another seizure at air cadets, my jaw dislocated and this was the start of an agonising three years! I went home and my mum thought that if we put ice on it, the swelling would go down and hopefully it would relocate, but after a painful 12 hours, there was no change. Even though I was 17, we contacted Alder Hey as they had my past history, and they told us to go to the clinic to get seen. They doctor used local anaesthetic in the joints and force to relocate the joint, and even though this was a painful procedure, I felt much better once the joint was back in place.
My jaw dislocated a couple more times and we went back to the same doctor who relocated the jaw each time, but I was referred to Aintree Hospital to see a specialist as I was now too old for Alder Hey. From September 2009 to approximately November, my jaw dislocated over 20 times, and this meant going to Whiston A&E and either using gas and air to get the jaw back in, or being sedated with a variety of medicines in resus so that the doctors could get the jaw back in place.
There came a point where the doctors tried to bandage my head up tightly to try and prevent my jaw coming out of place. I had to eat mush through a straw and also go into college with my head in bandages in an attempt to keep everything in place...
This didn't work, and I just looked like a fool for several weeks! After meeting my consultant; Mr Dodd, he asked for an MRI scan of the jaw joints and recommended arthrocentesis (washing out the jaw joint), so I agreed but this looked like there wasn't going to be a "quick fix". As my jaw was still causing so much trouble, I was admitted to Aintree Hospital because Whiston A&E couldn't relocate the jaw like usual, and I was took into theatre so that they could fit "buttons", which have the same effect as arch bars but aren't as noticable. However, these failed to work as the elastics continued to snap everytime my jaw dislocated so they were removed at a later date. In January 2010, a date was set to have an eminectomy (which is the removal of the articular eminence so the ball of the joint no longer gets stuck in front of it). The date was the 9th April, which meant that I still had a gruelling 3 months to live with this painful problem!
My jaw dislocated a couple more times and we went back to the same doctor who relocated the jaw each time, but I was referred to Aintree Hospital to see a specialist as I was now too old for Alder Hey. From September 2009 to approximately November, my jaw dislocated over 20 times, and this meant going to Whiston A&E and either using gas and air to get the jaw back in, or being sedated with a variety of medicines in resus so that the doctors could get the jaw back in place.
There came a point where the doctors tried to bandage my head up tightly to try and prevent my jaw coming out of place. I had to eat mush through a straw and also go into college with my head in bandages in an attempt to keep everything in place...
This didn't work, and I just looked like a fool for several weeks! After meeting my consultant; Mr Dodd, he asked for an MRI scan of the jaw joints and recommended arthrocentesis (washing out the jaw joint), so I agreed but this looked like there wasn't going to be a "quick fix". As my jaw was still causing so much trouble, I was admitted to Aintree Hospital because Whiston A&E couldn't relocate the jaw like usual, and I was took into theatre so that they could fit "buttons", which have the same effect as arch bars but aren't as noticable. However, these failed to work as the elastics continued to snap everytime my jaw dislocated so they were removed at a later date. In January 2010, a date was set to have an eminectomy (which is the removal of the articular eminence so the ball of the joint no longer gets stuck in front of it). The date was the 9th April, which meant that I still had a gruelling 3 months to live with this painful problem!
Where my problem began!
At 15, I had a seizure down some steps, and BAM! My jaw dislocated there and then and has been problematic ever since! The picture is a few days after the seizure, my face was a bruised and swollen mess and as you can see, my jaw clearly isn't where it is supposed to be!
I was referred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital and that first night in A&E was hell! They tried to relocate it with gas and air but the pain was too great and they couldn't do it so they sent me home, I was told to come back the next day to see someone from the Maxillofacial Department. The next day I met a consultant; Mr Cooper, he examined my jaw and basically said that I would have to wait for a surgical slot. This was in June 2007 and the operation was scheduled for August 2007, two months to wait in pain and unable to eat!
When the August date arrived, I was booked into Alder Hey to have arch bars fitted so that they could wire my jaw into a fixed position. This was their first attempt at keeping it in place, the bands weren't strong enough so it was still dislocating...
Attempt number two was a lot more bands, this made it difficult to breathe and even harder to get food through the bands, I resorted to sticking chocolate buttons down the sides of my mouth and letting them melt :)
Unfortunately, these bands weren't strong enough for my dodgy jaw and after sneezing one evening towards the end of August, my jaw dislocated causing the bands to snap and the arch bars to come loose from my gums.
I went to A&E when this happened and they decided that the only option was to give a local anaesthetic and take the arch bars off as a temporary solution. However, I panicked when they brought the needle towards my face so I was told to attend the clinic the next day...
After seeing my consultant again, he decided to book a theatre slot and to fit the arch bars again, but this time wire them together with metal to prevent the bands snapping.
After this operation, the wires were left on for 5 months, which meant I couldn't eat my Christmas dinner and lost a lot of weight, but in January 2008 the metal was cut off and I was able to open and close my mouth again! After a minor operation in the February to remove the arch bars, everything seemed settled and I was happy with the results, but this wasn't to last...
I was referred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital and that first night in A&E was hell! They tried to relocate it with gas and air but the pain was too great and they couldn't do it so they sent me home, I was told to come back the next day to see someone from the Maxillofacial Department. The next day I met a consultant; Mr Cooper, he examined my jaw and basically said that I would have to wait for a surgical slot. This was in June 2007 and the operation was scheduled for August 2007, two months to wait in pain and unable to eat!
When the August date arrived, I was booked into Alder Hey to have arch bars fitted so that they could wire my jaw into a fixed position. This was their first attempt at keeping it in place, the bands weren't strong enough so it was still dislocating...
Attempt number two was a lot more bands, this made it difficult to breathe and even harder to get food through the bands, I resorted to sticking chocolate buttons down the sides of my mouth and letting them melt :)
Unfortunately, these bands weren't strong enough for my dodgy jaw and after sneezing one evening towards the end of August, my jaw dislocated causing the bands to snap and the arch bars to come loose from my gums.
I went to A&E when this happened and they decided that the only option was to give a local anaesthetic and take the arch bars off as a temporary solution. However, I panicked when they brought the needle towards my face so I was told to attend the clinic the next day...
After seeing my consultant again, he decided to book a theatre slot and to fit the arch bars again, but this time wire them together with metal to prevent the bands snapping.
After this operation, the wires were left on for 5 months, which meant I couldn't eat my Christmas dinner and lost a lot of weight, but in January 2008 the metal was cut off and I was able to open and close my mouth again! After a minor operation in the February to remove the arch bars, everything seemed settled and I was happy with the results, but this wasn't to last...
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