lock & home button not working

I recently replaced the digitizer screen on my iPhone with some success except I broke the flex cable on the home button. Before the teardown I was experiencing problems with the lock button and after the rebuild it worked for about two days but now the button will not function at all. I have ordered a new lock button and flex cable but cannot turn the phone off or pretty much do anything with it except use it as a paperweight. Can i dismantle the phone again with the power on as long as I dont cross any of the ribbons or cables or just wait a week for it to power down on its own? Desperately need your help.