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MediocreLifeguard500 karma

Yes. Also, his haircut.

MediocreLifeguard328 karma

I'm sorry to hear that - arthritis is no fun and neither is pain. How old is your daughter? It was something that we tried treating all through my childhood/teenage years and as the damage got worse this became the only option aside from just living with it.

My pain was pretty constant and getting worse, and I'm only 22. We could have scoped the joints - i.e. gone in and scraped off the calcification, especially on the left, which wasn't as bad as the right, but they'd declined so much in the three years since we started it seemed like the replacement surgery would be the end option anyway. I figured with the trajectory and success rate of the surgery, I had very little to lose. In terms of your life, 6-8 weeks of intense recovery isn't a lot, and even 6 months is minimal. It's been something on the horizon for a really long time (~3 years of waiting lists) and when the time finally came, I wasn't going to change my mind. This has been a very long week but I'm glad to have the actual procedure over with.

Do you see a rheumatologist? That was who referred me to my maxillofacial surgeon - if it's an option, I'd recommend at least investigating. Hoping it's all uphill from here.

MediocreLifeguard242 karma

Hey! Sorry to hear you need it too - both sides?

The TMJ replacement doesn't affect your jawline at all, but I got a sliding genioplasty too (apparently quite a common addition to the procedure) to correct the fact that my chin had receded a bit. That will improve it - give me a stronger jawline and more defined chin, stronger profile, etc.

They also took out my only wisdom tooth while they were in there. I'm lucky enough to be in Canada, so none of this cost anything else and was all just added to the procedure because it made sense. Are you somewhere with a more supportive healthcare system?

MediocreLifeguard144 karma

I was actually flying last weekend. I can't wait to test this. From research it seems like some joint implants set them off, and the company that made my TMJs also makes hip and knee replacements which do. Stay tuned haha.