Sunday, June 24, 2007

3 Weeks Post-Op - Prepare to be grossed out

I had my visit with my surgeon Jun 12 and I finally got to see what he did with my jaw. The procedure is called a "Lefort I Multi-Piece Osteotomy". The Lefort I can be 1-piece, 2-piece or 3-piece. I believe I got the 2-piece since they had to expand my upper jaw. In layman's terms:

2-Piece Lefort I Osteotomy:
  • makes an incision under the upper lip
  • fractures the upper jaw
  • completely separates the upper jaw
  • removes a wedge of bone
  • splits the jaw down the middle
  • re-positions the jaw
  • re-attaches the upper jaw with titanium screws and plates
  • sutures the incision
  • Step by step photos displaying incisions, blood and bones:
    • Lefort I (WARNING: Not for the faint of heart)
Diagrams showing the 1-piece Lefort I:



Diagrams showing the 2-piece Lefort I:



Diagrams showing the difference between a Lefort I, Lefort II and Lefort III:



Upcoming milestones:
4 weeks post-op - start soft chewing
5 weeks post-op - visit surgeon
6 weeks post-op - one week until the splint comes off
7 weeks post-op - splint comes off!!!
8 weeks post-op - resume regular diet
4 months post-op - braces come off (hopefully...)

1 comment:

  1. hi, just had a 3-piece lefort 1 done this week. This is a great blog post to explain to my friends and relatives what I had done! I hate the liquid only diet but I'm excited to see the end result!

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