Intro
Hi. This blog is to document my experience of MMA surgery, why I did it, the research I did, and ultimately the experience of going through it. A few things that I’ve learned through this process which I find different from other MMA surgery blogs :
- You really should do about a year of prep before going into this. If I did not do myofunctional therapy and orthodontics, I can’t imagine getting a good outcome.
- Dr. Reza Movahed in St. Louis is an outstanding surgeon for this surgery. Get a consult with him if you are seriously considering this surgery.
- Very few dental professionals are airway focused. There’s definitely a network of them out there. But as I am in the SF Bay Area, Dr. Brian Hockel is the best.
- Doing a travel surgery to St. Louis was not as bad as it was in my head.
My surgery included:
- MMA itself (maxillomandibular advancement)
- Double jaw joint replacement
- Deviated septum correction
- Stitching to open the nasal passages
- Turbinate reduction
In great thanks, this my list of medical professionals and their teams which made this happen:
- Dr. Reza Movahed, oral and maxillofacial surgeon in St. Louis, MO https://movahedoms.com/
- Dr. Brian Hockel: airway focused dentist in Walnut Creek, CA https://www.hockel.com/
- Dr. James Hartman, ENT in St. Louis, MO https://www.soundhealthservices.com/dr-james-m-hartman-ent/
- Dr. Dyron Jue, endocrinologist in San Jose, CA
- Virginia Downing, myofunctional therapist in Oakland, CA http://orofacialintegrity.com
- Heather Vukelich, speech-language pathologist in Danville, CA https://happykidstherapy.com
- The surgical, ICU, and TCU teams at Mercy St. Louis
- Acupuncture team at Wei’s Acupuncture in Sunnyvale, CA http://weisacupuncture.com
All Blog Posts
- Why is snoring such a big deal?
- Kids snoring and mouth breathing make me start my investigation
- My Dr. Hockel results and decision to proceed
- The consult in St. Louis
- Orthodontics before surgery
- Pre-surgery myofunctional therapy! Don’t skip it. Seriously.
- The final road to surgery – what I would plan differently
- Final days before surgery (Surgery – 1-2 days)
- Surgery Day to ICU (Surgery + 1-2 days)
- TCU time: pain, sleeping, feeding and walking (Surgery + 3-4 days)
- Living in STL (Surgery + 7 days)
- Nose cleared (Surgery + 8 days)
- Continued progress. Can’t wait to get my splint out! (Surgery + 11 days)
- Splint is out ! Going home (Surgery + 14 days)
- Home front (Surgery + 17 days)
- Resolving the symptoms (Surgery + 21 days)
- Ears (Surgery + 27 days)
- Back to work, acupuncture, and first post-op ortho appt (Surgery + 5 weeks)
- Life goes on (Surgery + 8 weeks and 1 day)
- What acupuncture looks like (Surgery + 9 weeks)
- Removed my splints and a Few FAQ (Surgery +12w1d)
- Feeling Normal… aka this blog is going to get boring (Surgery + 4 mo 2w)
- Shelter-In-Place and Progress (Surgery + 41w1d)
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More questions?
Email me at: mymmasurgeryblog@gmail.com
My MMA Surgery Blog 