This coming Wednesday will be 3 weeks post op for me, and I have honestly never looked forward to one day so much before in my life BECAUSE I am getting the splint out Once the splint is out what kinds of foods can you start eating, and how long does it take from there to get back to a normal diet? Even if its just soft food I will be happy anything that isn't a yogurt smoothie or made from powder. Come this Wednesday I don't want to see another Ensure, Lucerne yogurt smoothie, or carnation instant breakfast for as long as I live..
Things have gotten a lot better for me since last week, swelling has continued to go down and best thing of all I have started getting full nights of sleep. The only thing that is still hard is the diet being rubber banded shut. I dunno how but I have not lost any weight even though I feel like I lost 20 lbs...When can you start going to the gym again? I was planning on going back for lite work outs at around 4 or 5 weeks post op, do you think that would be to soon?
Last edited by sec9 on Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"If the Army and the Navy ever look on Heaven's scenes, they will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines"
Hi sec9-congrats on making it through the first 3 weeks!.I am just over 3 weeks out and i will be having the splint out in 2 days..( counting the hours..)
I am banded shut but not too tight so i have been eating sloppy foods such as weetabix,scrambled egg,potatoes,fish anything that i dont need to chew.I asked the ortho the other day and he said after 6 weeks i can chew. Gawd i cant wait a sandwich would be nice....
Im glad your sleeping alot better and your swelling is going down-always a good sign....
I am quite pleased about my weight i have slimmed a tiny bit just enough to get rid of that baby belly.I am doing my Exercise DVDS just to help tone up.-i dont find them too challenging so i reckon you will be fine to go to the gym(just dont do to much!!)
Good luck in getting the spint out and enjoying new foods!!!
congrats on making this far sec9. I would say these are questions you need to ask your oral surgeon and ortho. Each surgeon has their own recommendations for eating, working out, splint removal, etc. Weight loss is dependent on the calorie content you are taking in. But if you normally workout and are in shape you tend to lose none to little weight.
I was told I could technically eat solid foods right after surgery but my doctor said that he doesn't trust rigid fixation devices (screws/plates) alone to sustain the chewing while the bone is trying to heal. Plus my midline was slightly off and I had to be banded shut for what will be 5 weeks this week when I go back.
I know you are sick of the liquids, but try to change things up a little. I made all kinds of smoothies and milkshakes. The milkshakes made me feel so much better and I indulged at times. I even came up with an apple pie smoothie where I used caramel ice cream, small slice of apple pie, soy milk, a dash of nutmeg and cinnamon. Oh I forgot that I did add some caramel Baileys. LOL It was amazing.
Brace date: 5/2/2007
Debanding date: 1/14/2009
Ceramic Braces: 20 months
Currently in clear Essix retainers at night
I really wanted to try scrambled eggs but I dont think I can get my mouth open far enough. Do you just scramble them then blend and add milk or something so its like liquid? What I did do though was buy pasteurized liquid egg whites and I have been adding that to almost everything I eat. I kind of have been trying to avoid blending solid foods like fish, but I have blended softer solids like canned chili, mashed potatoes, and even spaghetti and meat sauce (thats about as creative as I got) other than that its been cream of wheat, Grits, Fruit smoothies with a weight gainer high calorie supplement 780 calories per serving yogurt smoothies, Boost Plus, Ensure, Apple Sauce, some soups. The chili has been my favorite so far because it is almost the same consistency even when pureed. I guess the reason I havent been getting more creative with blending things is because sadly ive just been lazy lol and didnt want to clean it all up after.
"If the Army and the Navy ever look on Heaven's scenes, they will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines"
Congratulations on hitting the 3 week mark! If I remember correctly, I had my surgery a day before yours, but I will not be getting my splint out for another week Im excited for you though, because believe me I know the feeling of yearning to open my mouth again!! Keep us posted because I would like to know what your ROM is like and how your bite is once its out. I seem to have an overbite now (I had an underbite pre-op) and I'm wondering whats gonna happen when the splint is taken out.
My OS said my bottom jaw might relapse slightly but I'm guessing thats more over time than immediately after having the splint removed. In a weird way I hope I relapse cause I would love to see my chin come forward a little bit. I was so used to having a strong botttom jaw my whole life.
Anyway, just keep trucking! wednesday will be here before you know it.
tomorrow is week 2 for me, and thankfully, I'm almost able to get 2 fingers in my mouth and succesfully i'm eating chef boy r dee beefaroni and scrambled eggs now!! Chewing doesn't sem to hurt as long as the food is pretty darn soft!! I actually broke my 2 rubber bands last night eating...which my OS sad COULD happen and not to worry if they do was no big deal...
I'm not sure when my splint comes out (upper roof of my mouth)
tortor wrote:Congratulations on hitting the 3 week mark! If I remember correctly, I had my surgery a day before yours, but I will not be getting my splint out for another week Im excited for you though, because believe me I know the feeling of yearning to open my mouth again!! Keep us posted because I would like to know what your ROM is like and how your bite is once its out. I seem to have an overbite now (I had an underbite pre-op) and I'm wondering whats gonna happen when the splint is taken out.
My OS said my bottom jaw might relapse slightly but I'm guessing thats more over time than immediately after having the splint removed. In a weird way I hope I relapse cause I would love to see my chin come forward a little bit. I was so used to having a strong botttom jaw my whole life.
Anyway, just keep trucking! wednesday will be here before you know it.
I just got back from getting the splint out and it feels great. Definitely feels like its going to be all downhill from here. I went to my ortho right after my os removed the splint, luckily for me their offices are in the same parking lot. He removed the wire on top which was cut for the surgery and put in a new one. The one thing I was a little disappointed of was I thought they would take off the bands too but that did not happen. I still have the same amount of bands in as I had when the splint was on, but being that the splint is now out I cant complain about bands just hoping I get them out soon or at least can take them out to eat, which right now is not the case.
Whats a ROM? Now that the splint is out I can see my bite is a lot better, the open bite is now closed and I am no longer biting down on my back teeth. All in all even though I still cant open my mouth to much it is great to have the splint out.
"If the Army and the Navy ever look on Heaven's scenes, they will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines"
sec9, how has your speech improved/not improved? I remember one of the most surprising things about having my splint finally come out was that I STILL talked funny. I had it in my head that as soon as they yanked that thing out, I would be speaking crisply again but it turned out (in my case) that the lisp and weird talking was due to the numbness in my face and not necessarily the splint. Granted I talked better, and no longer spit and drooled *laughs* but I still had a lot of practicing to do.
Hooray for the splint coming out! Your ROM is the range of movement of your jaw. My OS says when I get my splint out, I'll barely be able to open my mouth and may still need to be on a liquid diet for the first few days of having my splint removed.
Bad news though for me though, I thought unwiring meant everything coming out...
I learned yesterday that unwiring (to my OS) just means taking the wires off but keeping the splint in. I almost starting crying haha but kept my composure. The splint is huge and I cant even close my lips around it. I cant talk, either. My semester starts the day after I get unwired and I was really looking forward to not having all this s**t in my mouth! lol I'll stop before I get heated. I just really had my hopes up. Dont even get me started on my swelling...
Congratulations! Yes, getting the splint out is a major milestone. Since I got mine out though I've been concerned to make sure I follow the dietary restrictions. I've been eating Weetabix, light omlette, ice cream, macaroni and cheese minus the crusty bit, chilli & rice (being careful to mash the kidney beans with my fork so I don't have to chew), overcooked tortelloni (cut in half so again I don't have to chew, I can kind of mash them with my tongue).
Teaspoons work well for me (if you don't happen to have a baby spoon).
Once the splint is out what kinds of foods can you start eating, and how long does it take from there to get back to a normal diet? Even if its just soft food I will be happy anything that isn't a yogurt smoothie or made from powder. Come this Wednesday I don't want to see another Ensure, Lucerne yogurt smoothie, or carnation instant breakfast for as long as I live..
Im excited for you though, because believe me I know the feeling of yearning to open my mouth again!! Keep us posted because I would like to know what your ROM is like and how your bite is once its out. I seem to have an overbite now (I had an underbite pre-op) and I'm wondering whats gonna happen when the splint is taken out.
