Maria,

I had my jaw replaced, I did have ORN however most of the damage done to my jaw was due to the cancer. I didn't have HBO treatments before my surgery, which now I find odd but I suspect they didn't due to having to remove that area of the jaw anyway from the damage the tumor caused. I don't believe that the surgeons gave me a good idea of what to expect after the surgery myself, even though I had a wonderful surgeon (Dr. Neil Futran, UW).

My case is a bit different as my primary tumor was huge and they had to remove a lot of tissue on my right side. The surgery compromised my right facial nerve causing paralysis and my lip to droop. I do have much more jaw movement now though, as before the surgery I couldn't really open my mouth and now I can eat albeit with much difficulty.

The surgery has left me disfigured and paralysed but again that was due to the size of my primary tumor and there wasn't much else to do. Others I have seen that had the same surgery, from the same surgeon came out great and have had little side effects. My side effects all stem from facial paralysis, and I would definetly get the skinny on whether that is a danger for you as it is incredibly debilitating.

Hope I didn't scare you, the others I've seen that have had this surgery turned out extremely successful. I wish you all the luck.