If you've had gum surgery - please come here

[lrb04]

Pat~ People definitely have different pain tolerances. With regards to activity, my perido stated no heavy lifting which I don't really do & I could not be on any restricted activity because of work & need to do things at home besides being a kind of hyper personality! He did say one thing over & over again, do not look at site or lift your lip to look because it decrease blood flow. Well I was tempted to look but behaved! Also the first time he gave me a rinse that stained my teeth really bad, I asked him if CLOSYS was okay for my next grafting & it was which did not stain my teeth!
http://www.amazon.com/Closys-Alcohol...sys+oral+rinse

I plan on making homemade pudding days before instead of store bought this time. Taking vitamins prior & during should be helpful. Oh, BTW YOU ARE NOT A WEENIE! I sure hope to survive this week coming up!

[Pat58]

AcesScholar - thank you for sharing your experience. Yes mine had very significant exposure (for a LONG time) and my instructions say not to be active as well. They told me working at my desk job and walking should be okay but nothing strenuous.

Fran, thanks so much for your additional info. Good reminder to get back to taking my vitamins.

And thank you FitMommy!

My husband nudged me out to take a little walk with him and I'm thinking this is a good time to get out my Lee Holden DVDs and do more of the flow practices and focus on positive energy.

[CHAPLYN61]

I have had the surgery on two separate occasions. The 1st one about 16 years ago and that went smoothly with some discomfort and changed eating patterns for about a weeks with salt water rinses. the second one about 8 years ago, was a longer recovery and a tad more traumatic. I drove myself to this surgery as I was divorced at the time and brought my 8 year old daughter with me. The procedure it self went about the same, but my post op instructions had changed to no exercise for 3 weeks and soft food for a week. they didn't want anything elevating my activity to disrupt the grafts. After leaving the dentist I stopped by my local Target to get my antibiotic prescription and of course that was a half hour wait and daughter was behaving badly and I got my blood pressure up and my mouth started bleeding while in the check out line. Got home and called the surgeon, who did not return my call. called my regular dentist who took several hours to call me back ( the procedure was done on a Saturday morning).while my mouth was bleeding ( a lot) Dentist told me to lay down- no activity. the surgeon called me back hours later ( his cell phone didn't ring as he was shopping with his wife). Activity was restricted even more ( I had to call our of work on Monday). It was thought the spike in my blood pressure ( and no I don't have high blood pressure) and me not resting right after the procedure cause the excessive bleeding. I now know that a warmed tea bag in the area of the bleeding will help it stop. So I had no problem adhering to the three week no activity as I didn't want another bleeding incident on my hands and wanted to make sure my grafts took ( and they did). I don't recall the 1st surgery's being this traumatic or needing to take this long to recover, but it was 8 years apart, so maybe the know more about the time needed to heal for a successful graft? If I ever have to have it again, I will make sure I have my rx's picked up before hand, have some one drive me, and schedule this for my rest week(s)., and have plenty of good smoothie, green drink recipes on hand.

[Pat58]

Yee Gads Chaplyn, I hope I don't have to go through this twice!

I really appreciate everyone's responses. VF is the greatest community. I knew I'd find support and good advice here. Just knowing that it is not only okay to take it easy but mandatory to rest is making me feel better.

The perio staff didn't really stress this to me, it's a small line in the instructions which I re-read after starting this thread. I think it's important to remember that people such as us who exercise regularly are not mainstream citizens. My instructions say to rest but after a week I should be able to resume normal activities. I'm having a lightbulb moment that "normal activities" doesn't necessarily involve gym workouts, power walks and Kundalini krya, breath of fire, etc.

[CHAPLYN61]

Originally Posted by Pat58

Yee Gads Chaplyn, I hope I don't have to go through this twice!

I really appreciate everyone's responses. VF is the greatest community. I knew I'd find support and good advice here. Just knowing that it is not only okay to take it easy but mandatory to rest is making me feel better.

The perio staff didn't really stress this to me, it's a small line in the instructions which I re-read after starting this thread. I think it's important to remember that people such as us who exercise regularly are not mainstream citizens. My instructions say to rest but after a week I should be able to resume normal activities. I'm having a lightbulb moment that "normal activities" doesn't necessarily involve gym workouts, power walks and Kundalini krya, breath of fire, etc.

Pat it was to two separate areas of the mouth and have been good for the last 8 years....keeping fingers crossed.

[mtnmom]

Originally Posted by Pat58

When I called yesterday the nurse also determined that I'd developed a "bacterial pocket" despite the course of antibiotics so maybe fighting that off too is draining me.

That's what I was wondering, considering you stated you had an ongoing headache.

I had this done (note to Bee*) about 10 years ago. It was the area above my incisors that got the grafts. And the grafts came from cadaver tissue. I know, sounds so yucky but avoids having the roof of your mouth scraped and yet another area to heal, or get infected, etc. The first side went fine and healed well enough to do the second side 6 weeks later. That second side was troublesome. I looked like I had either been in an accident or was a victim of spousal abuse - my face was so bruised from chin to cheekbone and a bit of a black eye!

I laid low for about a week to heal for each of the surgeries, but was fairly normal after that - except the bruising lingered about 2-3 weeks. I was kind of embarrassed to go out grocery shopping.

I think once you get the infection under control, you'll be fine. So sorry you're feeling so down now though!

*Bee, I went to Dr. Litch in San Jose. But I don't think she's there anymore.

[fuzzie]

Originally Posted by Pat58

The perio staff didn't really stress this to me, it's a small line in the instructions which I re-read after starting this thread. I think it's important to remember that people such as us who exercise regularly are not mainstream citizens. My instructions say to rest but after a week I should be able to resume normal activities. I'm having a lightbulb moment that "normal activities" doesn't necessarily involve gym workouts, power walks and Kundalini krya, breath of fire, etc.

That's a really good point! My perio was a marathon runner and asked me pointed questions about my activities/workouts so his directions were very precise.

Originally Posted by mtnmom

I looked like I had either been in an accident or was a victim of spousal abuse - my face was so bruised from chin to cheekbone and a bit of a black eye!

I laid low for about a week to heal for each of the surgeries, but was fairly normal after that - except the bruising lingered about 2-3 weeks. I was kind of embarrassed to go out grocery shopping.

I bruise easily and got pretty dramatic bruises on my face from these surgeries. My SO got a lot of dirty looks when we were out together while I was recuperating.

[cristinalatina]

Pat, I haven't had a gum graft but I know I should in the future! I wish you a speedy, pain-free recovery sweetheart

[lrb04]

Originally Posted by cristinalatina

Pat, I haven't had a gum graft but I know I should in the future! I wish you a speedy, pain-free recovery sweetheart

You look radiant!! And your baby is beautiful!!!!

[Pat58]

Originally Posted by lrb04

You look radiant!! And your baby is beautiful!!!!

Yes! Lovely new avatar! Nice gums, too