- What are questions you asked your surgeon at your pre-op appointment?
- What are foods you stocked ahead of time (other than soup, my MIL has that covered and then some) that were easy to "eat" right after surgery? Anything that you would NOT recommend?
- What are the products you bought for jaw surgery? (Stuff). I need to make a list!
Thanks, guys. This means a lot to me. School is out in just a day and a half, and after that it's just 14 recliner-shopping, food-stocking, list-making, apartment-cleaning, half-marathon-running, migraine-avoiding days until surgery. I have great pictures of all of the IV bruises I've collected in the ER last week, but my computer is acting up and I can't upload pictures. I'll make sure to have that fixed before surgery :)
Part three... coming soon to a theatre near you.
8 comments:
I haven't had jaw surgery, but I did have gastric bypass surgery, which meant I was on a liquid and soft/pureed foods diet for two months during recovery.
One of the easiest and simplest ways to get in my foods and make sure they were the right texture? Baby food. Especially if you buy the high-quality stuff, it's nothing more than pureed veggies or fruit, etc. They can be quite yummy. Also, the rice cereal sold for infants is quite tasty, and you can mix pureed fruit in with it.
Stay the heck away from fruits with a lot of small seeds, like strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc. Blueberries are quite delicious, especially if you freeze them...it concentrates the sugars, makes them really sweet. Just pop them in a blender with a little water or fruit juice or yogurt for a yummy treat.
What are questions you asked your surgeon at your pre-op appointment?
I HAVE YET OT AHVE MY PRE-OP APPOINTMENT BUT I WOULD ASK AGAIN WHAT EXACTLY HE IS GOING OT BE DOING. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF PERMINENT NUMBNESS. HOW LONG DO YOU EXPECT IT TO TAKE.
What are foods you stocked ahead of time (other than soup, my MIL has that covered and then some) that were easy to "eat" right after surgery? Anything that you would NOT recommend?
I HAVE SOUP STALKED UP TOO! I ALSO HAVE SOME WHE POWDER IN DIFFERNET FLAVORS. AND BROTH. WHAT I AM GOING OT DO IS SOAK MY BROTH IN SOME VEGGIES LIKE BROCCOLI AND JUST DIFFERENT VEGGIE FLAVORS.
What are the products you bought for jaw surgery? (Stuff). I need to make a list!
I HAVE ZIP N SQUEEX ITEMS, A BLENDER...MY OWN LITTLE MINI FRIDGE WE WILL PUT NEXT TO MY RECLINER IN THE LIVING ROOM. NEW PILLOWS A BACK UP BLENDER, NEW PHONES WITH A QWERTY KEYBOARD TO MAKE FOR EASY TEXTING.BOOGER SUCKER (THAT LITTLE THING FOR BABIES TO SUCK OUT SNOT....) HUMIDIFIER AND A DE-HUMIDIFIER. COMFY SLIPPERS. SHIRTS THE ZIP/BUTTON SO NOTHING GOES OVER YOUR HEAD. WHAT ELSE DID I BUY....JAW WRAP, BOOKS, A $50 IPOD CARD...ROBE FOR IF I'M TOO TIRED TO GET DRESSED, AND EASY TO MAKE DINNERS FOR MY HUSBAD IE: STUFFING, MASHED POTATOES ALL HE HAS TO DO IS MARINATE THE MEAT!!!
bty i was not yelling at you I just wanted to make it easiesr for you to differentiate (no i cannot spell) between your questions and my answers. GOOD LUCK GIRLY!!!!!!! (NOW I AM YELLING AT YOU!)
Hey Steph-
PRE-OP QUESTIONS: possibility of infection and permanent damage were always at the top of my list, granted I had breast-reduction surgery and knee surgery, but still- it's surgery. Estimated pain to be expected is a good one- I had no idea it takes bone about 4 weeks to heal, so after knee surgery I was DYING... maybe ask about prep for pain management too.
FOOD: My grandmother couldn't eat any solid foods and what saved my parents and I was a mini-food processor, and the bullet. Now, it doesn't really work in 1-2-3 seconds like the infomercial says, but it does work. I agree with the babyfood & no seeds in the fruit too. Protien shakes and Ensure would be wise to keep on hand.
Let me know if you need any help!!! I'm here for you!
I found that each day certain things sounded good to me and it was so important for my husband to be flexible and willing to go get them. I tried jello and hated it! I could only stomach broth at first, then later I wanted this sweet cappuccino drink.
The two things I would recommend would be the magic bullet (easy to clean and use), and Ensure. I got protein and it wasn't milk based, so it didn't produce phlegm!
I personally couldn't stomach very much... even baby food. But, we are all so different. That's why I don't recommend being too prepared ahead of time. But, of course, it's totally up to you!
I may have said this before, but I ended up with a lot of stomach aches and it turned out that I really needed water. I did not feel like drinking water at all but it really helped! I must have been dehydrated with all the meds and such!
I can't wait for you to get this surgery and I'm hoping and praying this will really work for you and your migraines!
As far as I am... I'm doing well. I'm five months out, the nose surgery was minimal and I'm doing well. I see the ENT Friday and I'm anxious to hear how she thinks it went. I'm either swollen (probable) or still crooked!
Good luck again! Elaine
Wow, your surgery is so close!!!
So as far as questions to ask...a few questions for you, do you clench or grind your teeth at all? If so that is something to make sure you address with the surgeon and if you do, let me know and I'll give you some more scoop on it and the possible complications.
Also, make sure you know if you are allergic to any pain med and ask them what they do for you to avoid getting sick after surgery. I didn't get sick at all (that goodness!) and I give all the credit to my Dr. He suctioned out my stomach before they finished up everything to get all the blood out. They also have me some anti-nausea meds before and after surgery. I never once felt like I was going to be sick. It was so nice! Also, ask him (if you haven't already) what to expect when you wake up. Are you going to be banded, wired or splint? I only had bands which was also nice. I asked a lot of questions about what the chances of permanent numbness are and what my recovery will be like and he took me through the basic process on all that, but each person can be so different, it's tough to say. That's all I can think of for now. I had tons of questions at my first post-op.
As far as stuff to stock your fridge with...I mostly stuck to smoothies and ensure my first few days, and I got so burnt out on the sweet taste. I wasn't able to eat anything that couldn't go through a straw and I had a hard time wrapping my mind around eating stuff like mash potatoes through a straw. :) That lasted for about a week and then I was able to start getting a spoon in my mouth, so I tried yogurt, apple sauce and some couscous. If you like couscous, I'd recommend having that on hand. It's nice because it's easy on your digestive system. I've been eating rice lately and that's not so easy on the digestive system if you can't chew it. After the first few weeks, you'll find that you can tongue chew lots of stuff, like avocados, bananas, even salmon.
As far as products I bought before the surgery... I was away from home so I made sure I had a good blender. Get lots of movies or books to keep you occupied. I'd recommend some Biotene. It's mouthwash that is alcohol free. Also a baby toothbrush. You won't be able to brush the inside of your teeth or tongue for a few days, maybe even a week and it gets pretty gross in there let me tell ya! I still can't brush my entire tongue. But I can finally get to all my teeth. My surgeon gave me a little tool and mirror to get my rubber bands on with, so you might want to ask your OS if you can get one. It's really handy. I still use mine. Oh,and back to the food for a moment, stock up on some ensure or slim fast too. You'll hate the stuff after a while, but at least it's a quick way to get some calories. Also, tofu in smoothies is a good way to get some protein.
And my final piece of advice...this might be too much info, but I had somewhat of a major problem after surgery...I didn't blog about it because I was a bit embarrassed, but what happened was I couldn't go to the bathroom (bathroom-bathroom if you get my drift) for 6 days after surgery and I just figured it was because of my liquid diet. Come to find out, it was probably the pain killers, anesthesia, morphine combo that put my system to sleep. He basically told me I had to go by that next day or I'd have to go to the ER. Luckily between prune juice and magnesium, I was able to, but it was pretty scary. With that said, I'd recommend taking magnesium as soon as you are able to swallow a pill (or if you can find it in liquid form) and start drinking prune juice on day 1. Since that happened to me, I've read a few other blogs that have eluded to similar problems.
Okay, so I'm done with my novel now. :) I hope it helps you. I'm excited to watch your blog. Good luck on your marathon and I'll be praying for you and a smooth surgery! ~Katherine
Katherine - I do have major clenching issues. Give me the scoop!
So my Dr. says that your jaw is actually strong enough to break a titanium plate if you clench too much. I told him I clinch all the time and grind in my sleep. He says that he has been injecting botox in his paitents prior to surgery which will paralyze the muscle so that you can't clench hard enough to do any damage. He says it's not FDA approved, but he has been doing it for a few years now and has seen a 99% effective rate. The little downside of it is after surgery, your muscles will be frozen for about 3 months, which means, you won't be able to smile fully until it starts to wear off. Mine is getting a little better each day, but I still can't smile very wide, like me old smiley self. But I'd rather not be able to smile all the way for a while rather than break some plates and have to have surgery again. Hope this helps. :)
My Doc prescribed Ativan for the muscle relaxant effect *shrug* different strokes, and all that :)
To add to the female issues, I don't know if antibiotics have ever been a problem, but given the high doses given at hospital and take home, this was something that worried me,haha. Anyhow I got those little Maximum Immunity yogourt drink thingies and took one everyday. Yes it's milky (some stay away for phlegm reasons) but small, not too thick, and loaded with probiotics.
Ooow, a question I asked my Doc was his rules for when I could eat what. I know some folks like the weight loss advantage (I wouldn't mind loosing a bit off the hind end,lol), but I swear getting as much in as you can, whether you feel like it or not, can only pay off in the long run. Just my opinion :)
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