My latest consult was with a surgeon up in Walnut Creek on Monday. I don't know why I was so nervous going to see this guy. I am so used to being in and out of specialists offices now that it shouldn't phase me, but I guess I am nervous because I was hoping for this guy to be the one. I'm pretty sure I am not jiving with the guy from Stanford, and I absolutely adore Dr. Gunson, but I would love to stay closer to home, and lets face it, his $70,000 price tag is a little intimidating. I know there are lots of great surgeons out there hiding in the wings. Lesser named guys who nobody really hears about, but does good work. I think I found that guy. He uses all of the same technology that Dr. Gunson uses, and seemed on his game all the same. I didn't get the impression that he saw and did as many revisions as Dr. Gunson, but he seemed confident all the same. I really like that right away he was looking into things and going to do a mock surgery on my scans to see what needs to be moved where. He is going to get back to me on all of that hopefully by tomorrow.
He had already seen my records ahead of the appointment. The prosthodontist I am seeing also called him and chatted about my case, which was REALLY nice of him to do. So, he pretty much knew what was up. Like everybody else, he was really surprised that I have come out how I am from my surgeon. He basically admitted that he doesn't think it's her work and asked if she had residents in that day. This has been my suspicion since day 1 that I felt like the one out of the two residents really ran my case the day of surgery, so it's nice to pretty much get that confirmed by somebody who knows my surgeons work and very confidently thinks my result is absolutely not her work because she is a better surgeon. He said whoever did this to me was obviously inexperienced. It really pains me to hear this, because I did not sign up for a cheaper surgery with an inexperienced doc (think like going to a dental school to get a root canal vs. going to an endodontist who's been doing it for years), but at least I know my suspicions are correct, just like all the other gut instincts and hunches I've had through this whole deal. But I digress.... like all the other surgeons, he basically said both jaws need a total redo, with the upper jaw needing to come back and un-yawed and un-cated, and the lower jaw could probably come forward a bit more and the biggest and hardest thing to correct will be the yaw and can't with it. He thinks the bulge on the left side of my lower jaw is actually the bone segments placed wrong (on top of the yaw, so it's also swung out and sticking out) and they have now healed all rough and stuck out a bit.
I could always see it on the xray looking all messed up at that fracture, but none of the other surgeons really nailed it down as this and instead just concentrated on the fact that it was swung out and yawed. He was very honest with me and said since that bone is all healed over, he probably won't be able to fix it during revision and instead will have to go in for a third surgery down the road to reshape and contour that bone that has healed bulged out. I am not sure I am going to subject myself to yet another invasive surgery (and risk more nerve damage and everything else associated with it) just for aesthetic purposes. Lets take care of the functional and we'll reevaluate everything, but I am pretty certain I am not getting sliced and diced just to look a little better.
So far so good in terms of digging this guy. I'll be hearing back from him in a few days to hear about the mock surgery and any other tid bits he has for me. He's also going to investigate more into exactly what was done, how far everything was moved, and any other issues that lead to the way this has all gone. Really can't wait to hear more about that since I've gotten no explanation from Dr. O'Ryan.
He had already seen my records ahead of the appointment. The prosthodontist I am seeing also called him and chatted about my case, which was REALLY nice of him to do. So, he pretty much knew what was up. Like everybody else, he was really surprised that I have come out how I am from my surgeon. He basically admitted that he doesn't think it's her work and asked if she had residents in that day. This has been my suspicion since day 1 that I felt like the one out of the two residents really ran my case the day of surgery, so it's nice to pretty much get that confirmed by somebody who knows my surgeons work and very confidently thinks my result is absolutely not her work because she is a better surgeon. He said whoever did this to me was obviously inexperienced. It really pains me to hear this, because I did not sign up for a cheaper surgery with an inexperienced doc (think like going to a dental school to get a root canal vs. going to an endodontist who's been doing it for years), but at least I know my suspicions are correct, just like all the other gut instincts and hunches I've had through this whole deal. But I digress.... like all the other surgeons, he basically said both jaws need a total redo, with the upper jaw needing to come back and un-yawed and un-cated, and the lower jaw could probably come forward a bit more and the biggest and hardest thing to correct will be the yaw and can't with it. He thinks the bulge on the left side of my lower jaw is actually the bone segments placed wrong (on top of the yaw, so it's also swung out and sticking out) and they have now healed all rough and stuck out a bit.
I could always see it on the xray looking all messed up at that fracture, but none of the other surgeons really nailed it down as this and instead just concentrated on the fact that it was swung out and yawed. He was very honest with me and said since that bone is all healed over, he probably won't be able to fix it during revision and instead will have to go in for a third surgery down the road to reshape and contour that bone that has healed bulged out. I am not sure I am going to subject myself to yet another invasive surgery (and risk more nerve damage and everything else associated with it) just for aesthetic purposes. Lets take care of the functional and we'll reevaluate everything, but I am pretty certain I am not getting sliced and diced just to look a little better.
So far so good in terms of digging this guy. I'll be hearing back from him in a few days to hear about the mock surgery and any other tid bits he has for me. He's also going to investigate more into exactly what was done, how far everything was moved, and any other issues that lead to the way this has all gone. Really can't wait to hear more about that since I've gotten no explanation from Dr. O'Ryan.
The break on the left (my right) sunken in and not flush. The break on the right (my left) bowed out.
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