BILATERAL TMJ REPLACEMENT SURGERY:  JILL JOHNSON'S RECOVERY PERIOD

(April 21, 2010  -  Sky Ridge Medical Center)

I have created this page for a couple of reasons. Foremost, I wish to thank the many people that helped me to receive surgery and to now be on my way to more enjoyable living. Particularly helpful were Dr. Robert W. Christensen of TMJ Implants, Inc., and Milton and Renée Glass of TMJ-JJAMD Foundation, and Dr. Randolph Robinson of Park Meadows Cosmetic Surgery, all of whom have spent years advocating for TMJ Patients and their right to appropriate medical care. Also, this page is hoped to help other TMJ sufferers to understand what they may expect during recovery should they need surgery, though, of course, each patient is unique. Best Wishes to All!

RIGHT PARTIAL IMPLANT & LEFT TOTAL IMPLANT CREATED BY TMJ IMPLANTS, INC. (Now, TMJ MEDICAL, INC.), GOLDEN, COLORADO

ROBERT W. CHRISTENSEN, D.D.S., FAIMBE - FOUNDER TMJ IMPLANTS, INC. (Retired)

SURGEON - RANDOLPH ROBINSON, M.D., D.D.S. OF PARK MEADOWS COSMETIC SURGERY, LONE TREE, COLORADO

ASSISTANT SURGEON - JAMES CURRY. D.D.S. (Retired)

MILTON AND RENÉE GLASS OF JJAMD (JAW JOINTS & ALLIED MUSCULO-SKELETAL DISORDERS).

OPERATION SMILE

FACE THE CHALLENGE

SURGERY DAY

Right TMJ feels better, already, but I realize that the healing process will take a while. I believe both surgeons involved (Dr. Randolph Robinson and Dr. James Curry) are top-notch and I feel fortunate to have had them as my surgeons. 

DAY 2 AFTER SURGERY

Bruised and swollen, but I have two functional jaw-joints for the first time in years. I am very excited! My right TMJ still feels noticeably improved compared to prior to surgery, and despite medications' influence. My left side is very painful though it feels rather numb.

DAY 4 AFTER SURGERY

The swelling continues to go down slowly, and the left side continues to have great pain. I am prescribed pain-medication (Oxycodone 5mg., 1-2 every 3 hours) and ice-packs to help the pain. I have taken, semi-consistently, about 1 Oxycodone every 3 hours and am also taking, as prescribed, steroids to reduce swelling, as well as antibiotics for precaution against infection.

DAY 7 AFTER SURGERY

The swelling continues to decrease and though I sure hurt, I am encouraged. I am using a lounge-chair as a bed so to keep my head elevated and, yes, it's in front of the television. Hey! Does that count as being a couch-potato?

Suddenly I am having difficulty closing my left eye. It is dropping, too, but likely this is not an unexpected possible side-effect. Because there is some movement to the left eye, I think its strength will return sooner, rather than later. Both eyes are sensitive to light. I definitely need the pain-medication, for now. Dr. Andrew Mohler is helping me to manage the pain. I am starting to chew soft foods and notice that Dr. Christensen's implants are such that my molars fit together when colsing my mouth for the first time since my right TMJ dislocated in October, 2007.

DAY 10 AFTER SURGERY

The bruising is beginning to disappear and my left eye is getting stronger. Both eyes are still sensitive to light and the swelling continues to go down on both sides. I had my left eye uncovered for about six hours, today, before it felt strained. I got some sleep, last night, and the morning pain felt less severe than on yesterday morning. I still need pain-medication but things are improving quicker than I anticipated.

DAY 12 AFTER SURGERY

Okay, it is the middle of the night and I won't kid you, the total implant (left) side really hurts! The partial implant (right) side doesn't and I am amazed and optimistic. I make effort to take less than prescribed pain-medication during the day, though at night I seem to make up for it. It is important to create a suitable sleep (bedding) place. A recliner helped my head to stay elevated, as the surgeon advised. Make sure your recliner also provides adequate support for the rest of your body. 

DAY 18 AFTER SURGERY

The left eye's apparent Bells Palsy seems better by the day, though annoying and obviously making it hard to be photogenic. (ha!) The bruising is gone and the right side still feels very good. The left side is still slightly swollen and is quite painful. I am sleeping on my bed, now, though additional pillows do seem to be required. I am chewing better, too, and am able to open my mouth just a bit more, each day. Dr. Christensen's implants have saved my life, surely.

MAY - JUNE: 1-2 MONTHS AFTER SURGERY

I saw Dr. Robinson and he said that I did get Bell's Palsy on the left side, affecting, particularly, my left eye. He said that Bell's Palsy is a rare side-effect, but that it clears up pretty quickly. The pain on the left side seems to be getting worse and I am nervous about it. My gums (on the left side) and some of my teeth have been sore since surgery. I wonder if the sore teeth are due to the fact that my back teeth now fit together and hadn't for years. Perhaps the teeth are sore because they getting used to being used, again. This is just my theory, but due to the extra pain and sudden added swelling on the left side my Family Physician prescribed antibiotics just to be on the safe side. I will return to eating only soft foods, for a while, to see if that helps relieve the teeth and gum pain, and to help the left TMJ more slowly adjust to the new situation. If the pain is not better by tomorrow, I will call Dr. Robinson, again, and hopefully he can consult with me, next week.

JULY: 3 MONTHS AFTER SURGERY

The right TMJ has no pain except the normal tingling that follows surgery. My left TMJ still hurts quite badly and the lower left mandible is still swollen. Because the left side has a total implant, I understand that my face will always look slightly fatter than will the right side. Below is a recent photo. Though the photo is blurry (I need a new camera), I felt well enough to go camping with friends. I have switched from ice-packs to a heating pad though, for most hours of the day, placed on the left side of my face as the left side's pain is yet intense. The palsy on the left side seems nearly healed. I see Dr. Robinson again, soon. I fear there is nerve damage (I think damage to these nerves is referred to as "Trigeminal Neuralgia?"). I know this was a complicated surgery that has, like all surgeries, possible side-effects, yet I do feel amazed at how brave, bright and compassionate the doctors involved were in helping me. Oh, by the way, friends are offering me new names to choose from. Here's a few, just for laughs:  "Jaw-Menator," "Jill-of-Steel," "Jilly-bot," and my favorite, yet, "Metal-head." (ha!)

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER: 5-6 MONTHS AFTER SURGERY

Sure enough, it is nerve damage that is causing the steady pain on the left side. Apparently one or more of the Trigeminal nerves were caught between the mandible and the implant. Dr. Robinson did another on the left side. He tucked the suspect left Trigeminal nerve underneath a muscle. This surgery should make the left side of my face numb (from the TMJ downward) and, thereby, relieve pain.

FEBRUARY, 2011: 10 MONTHS AFTER INITIAL BILATERAL TMJ REPLACEMENT

AND 4 MONTHS AFTER SECOND (NERVE) SURGERY

Both implants are working well. The right implant feels a total success. Following October's surgery, parts of my face (left mandibular teeth, gums, and lower mandible) did feel numb and with slightly less pain, but unfortunately this occurred only for a short while. I again followed doctor's orders and used an ice-pack to relieve pain, immediately following surgery. However, the pain rapidly increased to totally return, on the left side, also again causing that constantly feeling of coldness (not cold to the touch, but cold to me), so that I slowly have returned to using a heating pad (on high setting) for several hours per day. I, too, can now open my mouth less wide than I had immediately following the Bilateral  Implant surgery, last April, 2010, and my right molars just don't fit together when I close my mouth unless I force them to by pushing up on my mandible. Since Dr. Christensen's company had custom-made my implants and they are working quite well, nerve damage is apparently the culprit of my bite being flawed. It seems evident that the nerve damage is causing the pain from slightly above the left implant and into my temple, down into my mandible, lower teeth and gums toward exact center of my chin. Dr. Robinson is having a splint made for me to wear, hoping that it will make my bite close correctly and relax the muscle on the left side of my face.

Honestly, I don't think Dr. Robinson's charged for my visits, which is kindly, though I feel bad that I can't afford to pay him, at this time. Of course, none of these doctors seem to want to discourage me with the specifics regarding rather or not they've been paid appropriately for their services. Considering Medicare and Medicaid's terrible disregard for TMJ conditions, I'm doubting very much that any involved in my treatments and/or surgeries earned what they are due and I absolutely believe our Government need confront our American Healthcare situation realistically so that doctors, dentists, and surgeons can, in fact, begin to care for the suffering. It is clearly a sad state of affairs.

MARCH, 2011: 11 MONTHS AFTER BILATERAL TMJ REPLACEMENT

AND 5 MONTHS AFTER SECOND (NERVE) SURGERY

The splint is helping relieve the pain, slightly, and relax the muscle, making it easier for my bite to close correctly. I am to see Dr. Robinson again, soon. I've yet no pain on the right side, but a great deal of pain on the left. Currently, I am prescribed pain-medication, anti-inflammatory medications (for both the nerves and the muscles). 

MAY, 2011: 13 MONTHS AFTER BILATERAL TMJ REPLACEMENT

COMPLICATION = INFECTION ON LEFT SIDE, FOLLOWED BY REMOVAL OF LEFT TMJ IMPLANT

The pain on the left side just would not subside, and I suddenly awoke with another sudden infection. Dr. Robinson, with the assistance of Dr. Curry, felt it best to remove the left implant so that I can heal from the infection. They did this next surgery on May 27, 2011, and I felt relief immediately. It seems clear that I do not have permanent nerve-damage as the removal of the implant relieved the pain. The infection is gone and I will get the implant back in (another surgery), semi-soon. Dr. Robinson wired my teeth together for a few weeks, which was unpleasant, but necessary, and has now removed the wires. I am eating, though the right teeth do not close together, properly, quite yet. I hope that the more I chew, the stronger the muscles will get on the right side of my face so that I will be able to, eventually, get my bite to close. In the meantime, and once again, I am greatly indebted to Dr. Robinson, Dr. Curry, and to all who have helped me with this great challenge. I understand, completely, that my condition was such that the possible, and actual, nerve-damage that I had was not much of a shock to me. I believe that our American Leaders need recognize how current insurance guidelines regarding TMJ and other facial deformities and illness are causing citizens to become debilitated, which in turn is causing Social Service and Unemployment funding to further deplete. The mere thought of others' TMJs deteriorating to the point mine has directly due to insurance limitations is heartbreaking. I will update this page following my next (and hopefully last) implant surgery. 

FEELING SO MUCH BETTER! (PHOTO OF MY SON, ELLIOT, WITH ME) JUNE, 2011

Thank You so Very Much to the doctors who have helped me, to my friends and family who have encouraged me, and ....

      TO ALL YET SUFFERING FROM TMJ, HANG-IN-THERE AND BLESS YOUR HEARTS!...

BEFORE SURGERY X-RAY

AFTER SURGERY X-RAYS, BELOW (HOORAY FOR JAW-JOINTS!)

note: Plate in Neck is Unrelated to this Surgery. Dr. John Nichols of Intermountain Neurosurgery is another great surgeon. He saved me after I had suffered from extreme neck pain for years and years. I will ever recommend Dr. Nichols to all who suffer neurological illness. Please click this paragraph to learn more about this great doctor.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A PARTIAL LIST OF People and Organizations I have contacted,

Please learn of the plight of TMJD (Temporomandibular Joint Disorder) patients at the following websites:

TMJ/TMJD JJAMD, INC.           TMJ MEDICAL, INC.         PARK MEADOWS COSMETIC SURGERY

SENATOR KENNEDY