i had a growth on my jaw just below my teeth. I had an op 3 weeks ago to remove it. it was nothing sinister, just some wierd extra tooth or something.
anyway, had the op and it all went ok. they had to remove quite a large part of my jaw which he explained will make that side of my face very week so try not to fall over (well derr)
My face was still very numb but he explained that they had used a lot of anaesthetic because it was such a relativly large op.
went home. the next day my face was still numb, like it is when you go to a normal dentist and they inject you. you know when you dribble out of teh side of your mouth as you just can't feel anything. well this was the entire right side of my lower jaw, my lip and part of my cheek.
at firt i just thought they had topped me up a little too much to prevent pain when i got home but after 3 days and still no feeling i rang the hospital to speak to my surgeon.
when i explained he kinda sucked in some breath like a plumber about to give a quote.
he said that because my op was very close to a nerve that runs along my jaw line it sounds as though they have damaged that nerve during the op. that they had no way of knowing whilst in theatre and that whilst given time i may get SOME MILD sensation back, the damage was permenant.
So now i am left with half of my face numb. i bite my lip whilst eating, dribble whilst drinking. i can't feel my teeth when i brush them, if i drip a bit of food i can't feel it so just look like a mad woman, i can't put on lipstick properly as i can't feel half of my lip....... its awful.
I know its nowhere near as bad as some medical cock ups can be but im just a bit miffed that the attitude im getting from the hospital is one of " oh well, whats done is done"