February 2012 Surgery Buddies

[WoodWillow]

I am scheduled to go in on February 3rd.

Not nervous... yet. Not really anyhow. I'm not nervous about the surgery itself, just the road to recovery afterwards. I have a coworker who had her jaw surgery in August of 2010 so she's been my main resource of info for my ridiculous questions. She also helps talk me out of borderline panic attacks when I come on here and read about the horrible experiences some people have had!

I'm as prepared as I think I can be, and while I'm not looking forward to having surgery, I do look forward to after... being all healed and (fingers crossed) no more headaches!

Any others scheduled for a February surgery date?

[Jade12]

Hi, i just had my surgery on 12/27/11 i had my top jaw done (sarpe) i'm glad its over with, the first few days were tough, its not that is really painful its more uncomfortable that i would say painful. any questions you have feel free to ask

[WoodWillow]

Okay... I'm wondering about vitamins. Like a daily multivitamin. I asked at my local pharmacy about liquid vitamin for adults. I was told they didn't know of any, just the type for children.

Anyone have experience with either cutting/grinding a multivitamin (which in my experience tastes terrible)?
Anyone take children's liquid vitamins?

[Jade12]

regarding vitamins, i went to a herbarium place, or go to like a trader joes/whole foods places like that to get liquid vitamins. I have a multivitamin and a liquid calcium vitamin... i also found having a travel pillow is good at nightime to keep your head straight when you sleep upright... i'm still sleeping sitting all propped up.. i had my surgery on 12-27-11. Still pretty swollen but it could have been worst i'm told. I kept ice on my face for 2 days then after that i used hot/facecloths on the 3rd day.

[catsteeth]

Hi, WoodWillow
nice to see another February person on here. I'm scheduled for February 17 so I guess you can go first and tell me all about it I'm having BSSO done. I'm trying to focus on a positive outcome and not think about the possibility of it going wrong. Fortunately, work has been very supportive so that's one less worry.

I haven't gone shopping for anything yet and I have no idea where to find liquid vitamins other than kids. I guess I should start doing some planning. I just found out 2 days ago.

Jade, thanks for coming on the Feb board and providing some reassurance. It is always nice to hear from someone who has been through it already.

[WoodWillow]

Hey Jade, thanks for the suggestions. We don't have Trader Joe's or Whole Foods here in Canada, but I'll have to check out our local organic grocery store to see what they have. In all honesty, I *would* rather go a holistic route rather than something blended in a lab. Thanks for the idea!

Also, I'm glad to hear you suggest a travel pillow. I dug mine out of the closet last weekend to try it out around my house in the places I am planning to "nest" while I recover from surgery. We have reclining couches, and the travel pillow is a nice neck bolster when my seat is in the full recline position!

[WoodWillow]

Catsteeth, I'm glad to hear your work has been supportive! Mine has been okay. The coworkers I am friends with are wonderful and have stopped asking if I am nervous yet, because I finally am. Not nervous in a big-bad way, but I get butterflies in my stomach thinking about what is to come!

I have my pre-op appointment at the hospital on January 25th and my final ortho visit (for measurements, impressions, etc) on the 30th.

I am still getting over a bag cold/laryngitis and am still on antibiotics, but doing everything in my power to keep myself healthy so there are no reasons to delay my surgery.

I have altered my food intake to a mostly "clean" diet so my system has a better chance at being easier to adapt to the no solids thing. In all honesty, it is more work preparing "good food" but wow, does my body ever feel better, more specifically my digestive system! I did cheat and have Kraft Dinner last night, but that was more circumstantial and I don't even feel a little bit bad about it!

[WoodWillow]

In other news, my husband mentioned last night that when I am home after surgery and he is back at work, he'll try and come home a time or two during the day to check up on me, even though my mom will be staying with me. I really appreciate that! I get shack-wacky at the best of times, I look forward to visits!

[worldpeace]

I'm having surgery scheduled for February 8th for a maxillary and mandibular osteotomy (thats the medical term on my letter) surgery. It's a double jaw surgery. There is a lot of information on this site so I have an idea to a certain extent what to expect so i'm not too too nervous. The only thing that worries me is i'm single but although i will have some friends to support me, i will have to pretty much take care of myself alone while they are working.

[WoodWillow]

Hi worldpeace!

The best thing I can suggest if you are going to be mainly taking care of yourself in your recovery from surgery, is to do as much prep as you can now. Blend your soups and freeze them in portions. Stock up on things you think you're going to want to blend/eat as long as they won't spoil. From what I have been told from others who have gone through double jaw surgery before, is that you won't want to fuss with food preparation too much when you're feeling weak and tender.

And having friends who will come by and help you out or just be company will be great

[WoodWillow]

I got a call yesterday morning from the booking clerk at the maxiofacial surgery department at the hospital where I am having my surgery.
They had to reschedule my pre-op day due to "complicated" circumstances. So they suggested moving my day from January 25th to February 1st... just 2 days before my surgery. This didn't make me feel very comfortable, only 1 full day to get bloodwork/molds made/etc. so I called back to see if they could accomodate me in any other way. I got a call last night to say they could switch it for me, to January 27th. I really appreciated the accomodation, since I was anxious about having my pre-op day and my surgery day so close together.

[worldpeace]

Thanks woodwillow! I'm planning on taking the week before my surgery off from work so i can fully prepare my meals and purchase all of the essentials. I have a lot of appointments for molds/x-rays/ ct scans. I'll get my surgical braces on and see the oral surgeon/amesiologist around the same time. My friends will also be around in the evenings so the days will be to get as much rest as possible. I have a big list of things to get. Glad to hear they were able to accomodate you its less to worry about. I feel like the days are going so fast, i cant believe it's going to happen in a few weeks.

[catsteeth]

Woodwillow, good luck with your appointment tomorrow.

Welcome, worldpeace. So far it seems to be the 3 of us for February.

I'm in shopping mode too. I'm starting to work on food preparation. I've got a lot of personal activities coming up (birthday parties, etc) so I'm trying to get things done whenever I can.

[WoodWillow]

Well, today was my pre-surgery appointment day!

Impressions, x-rays, measurements, photos, bloodwork, meeting with anesthesiologist/nurse/surgical resident... 7 hours later. My first appt was 8am and my last appt wasn't till 2pm. Snore. Sooooo glad I brought my fully charged Kobo so I could read in the various waiting rooms!

Anyhow, here I am... one week away from surgery!! YIKES!

[catsteeth]

Woodwillow, wow! Just one week. Sounds like they really gave you a workout.

We're here if you need some support during the last countdown.