Bay Area - DR Fagin 6 weeks PO, DJS
Hello! Im officially 6 weeks post op from my double jaw surgery; specifically 3-piece LeFort I osteotomy + bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO) + genioglossus advancement and wanted to share my thoughts/experience for anyone who is still unsure/looking for a surgeon in Northern California/the Bay.
So a bit of context: After meeting my orthodontist he mentioned to pathways 1) he can fix my bite, with braces but the other features like breathing, recessed chin, would all remain. He mentioned that I was extremely close in my measurements to where he “Could not fix the bite without Surgery”. I think the number was like 0.2 away from needing surgery. Upon hearing that I felt like it was in my best interest to go searching for a surgeon in my area (im from the Central Valley) that was covered by my insurance. It ended up being about 1.5-2hrs away from me:
Dr Adam Fagin from Peninsula Oral and Facial Surgery in San Mateo, California.
He took a full hour for our consult, and any questions I may have had, were answered in his presentation. I was blown away by how much he told me and answered for me that upon leaving I was committed. I went back to my orthodontist, told him I was going to go with surgery with my surgeon. I got on braces, and the communication between my orthodontist and surgeon was fluid.
I had a sleep study done before, and while I didn’t have apnea, signs of it was present, which made me even more certain about surgery.
Fast forward I had my Surgery on July 6th. I personally LOVE how it came out. Friends and Family notice the differences and say it came out very good too.
What blew my mine was the BREATHING IMPROVEMENT.
Upon waking up from the table, I noticed it instantly. And to this day, I notice how badly my airways were blocked. I had no idea the severity until this surgery.
Im a 23year old Male who has been active my whole life, through sports and gym in case someone wants to know. Most of my swelling is down, i’d say I have small spots if any. I think a lot of it is just scar tissues inside still healing. I have essentially full feeling on my entire face, with the only spots a bit unsure being my left half of my lower lip, and parts of my chin, however I feel those nerves are waking up, just way slower than the rest of my face has.
Overall I am blown away by everything. Those of you who want to know about pain; I’d say the first 4 days are the worst. I wouldn’t say it was due to pain, as I kept up with my medication plan 4x a day as he mentioned me to do. I just felt the discomfort and liquid only diet made it hard for my body to sleep at night. The lack of feeling and being all number also sucks! However I would say my pain was minimal.
But here I am. At 6 weeks, with my next semester coming up, about to go back to work and excited to see how the rest of the recovery goes. I’m blessed everything worked out well for me, and if there are ANY questions please don’t hesitate to drop a comment or DM. I didn’t know this reddit existed before I got my surgery, as I found it during my time recovering, but I wish I had been able to ask some questions in here before.
And yes, my first time chewing solid food was taking bits of an In N Out Burger and the soft parts of the fries!
X-Ray was from Orthodontist
Medical Findings were from Orthodontist to begin referring to surgeons.
Left both in case anyone was curious.
I do NOT have the movements. I personally had confidence in my surgeon and didn’t need them.