Good afternoon,
I am facing surgery in the near future which would remove the dead bone in my right jaw. I currently have osteoradionecrosis of the right posterior lower jaw. In addition, the right jawbone has a pathologic fracture. Also, I have a draining fistula at the ramus of the right jaw. The doctors and the PAs have told me this dead bone needs to be removed as it can be an area that has an increased risk of getting infected-there may be a chronic low grade infection there since I have the chronic fistula drainage. The surgeons plan on just taking the diseased bone and the plastic surgeon does not think I am a good candidate for tibial flap reconstruction due to trismus. The head and neck surgeon said that I would, cosmetically, only have a slight "sunken in" area where the right ramus of the jaw is/was. These are MD Anderson doctors so I feel good about their experience and knowledge.
Has anybody had experience or knowledge of this procedure? My fear is that there will be more extensive osteoradionecrosis than they thought and there will be more functional damage (my speech isn't great, but I can be understood and I am still using a feeding tube, but am diligently working on swallowing). I also wonder about the cosmetic complications-yes we men can be vain, also. Thanks to anybody that can help with their knowledge and advice.