MARCH 2011 BUDDIES

[qwertz1]

"real" nourishment.

some more "real" nourishment ideas:
tomato soup, but with lots of overcooked rice in it
mashed potatoes (from potatoes, not powder) with any kind of sauce
indian food in general

I'm feeling much better since I'm not only eating joghurts and soups

[suzanna]

Two weeks post-op today and I have only JUST tried a mirror while eating. I just managed a bowl of rice with smoked chicken AND a cupcake without getting it all down my chin and front. Hurrah! Can't wait for this numbness to go. I'm meant to be going out for dinner with work in two and half weeks time and I'm worried that I might have to take a mirror along to the restaurant!! Eek!

Still really struggling with chewing, but I guess it will get easier in time. Can only really eat food that I can use the roof of my mouth and tongue to break up.

I'm only just starting to be able to bite together properly (gums/cheeks swelling over my teeth have been stopping me). I find that my jaw is never closed properly and my upper and lower teeth are always apart unless I consciously bite together. To be honest, I can't even remember what is normal anymore, I can't remember if pre-surgery this was the case or not. Does that even make sense? Does anyone else find this? I.e. when your mouth is closed are you subconsciously biting together, or do you have a gap between our upper/lower jaw?

You'll be fine! I was going out to eat at restaurants at 2.5 weeks with a little compact. I'm 7.5 weeks post op and still have that handy little mirror with me at all times!! I can't eat without it, because food will hit my teeth as it's going in and spill all over the place or I'll get stuff on my lower lip/chin and not even know its there.

Chewing gets much easier over the next couple of weeks! I was able to bite into a thin slice of pizza at like 4 and chew it. It took a lot of work though and the next day my muscles were really sore.

I don't have the same probably as you because for the first few weeks I felt like I was always clenching my teeth. My jaw is a lot more relaxed now though. When I'm at rest my jaw's aren't touching, but I think that's the way it is for most people?

[freakyteeth]

Can I say how much I love you all on the board? I'm so serious. It helps so much having your great ideas, good and bad experiences.

I did have an infection in my opinion and am on Clinda for times a day. I think I detect a small bit of improvement after five doses (pictures on my blog).
I'm just so darn depressed. I know I am not eating enough - so far today 8 oz of rice cereal with milk& protein powder , mashed potatoes w/broth, small amount of soy milk fruit smoothie. With this horrible sulfurous taste in my mouth and sinuses, nothing smells or tastes good.

I'm pretty darn depressed. I admit it.


www.dentaltransformation.blogspot.com

[I love my teeth]

I just checked out your blog====and quite honestly the swelling is looking better!! I know you feel awful, but you should be turning the corner soon! Since you are 1 week out, see if you are able to use a waterpik and the lowest setting to get food out of your mouth. My surgeon said after day 7 it was OK..that might help you keep things clean, just with no real pressure--as you want the incisions to heal up.

Hang in there--by day 10 you will feel better

Christine

ps-our move to Michigan is in 2 weeks, ugh--so much to do, and still only fair energy to do it!

[jonathon003]

man i'm starting to enjoy my goto smoothie right now, and am getting an obscene amount of calories in with it (relatively speaking, from a liquid meal).

i start with my vanilla ensure as the base, which is 225 calories. i then add a scoop and a little more of my cookies and cream whey protein powder (about 30 g of protein) which is another 150 calories or so. i throw in a banana, which is a good 100 calories or so. then i add about what looks to be around 2/3rds of a cup of chocolate ice cream, 200 calories. lastly i throw in about 2 and a half to 3 tablespoons of peanut butter, which is close to 200 calories. lol so all in all my delicious smoothie is close to 900 calories or so!! hah. it's deliscious too. and really there's not that much saturated fat ( a little in the ice cream, and a little in the peanut butter). probs not the healthiest given the ice cream, but i don't really care! i need my calories! after a week of nothing but water and apple juice, and losing 15 lbs, it's nice to be able to at least maintain my weight for the last 4 or 5 days.


ps. developed some oral thrush on the weekend. it's DISGUSTING to look at. managed to scrape a lot of the white crap off my tongue, but it seems it will be staying for a little while anyway. picked up some probiotic powder today to take 3 times a day, so hopefully it goes away fairly soon.

other than that, breathing like an absolute champ now, no issues. on day 11 and swelling is still quite noticable around the mouth/upper cheeks. seems to be taking a long time to go down, and i imagine it won't be gone for more than a week. pain in my mouth is still quite noticable pretty much 24/7 too..but whatevs, no biggie.

[dtdtdt]

freaky - I hope you don't mind the nickname!

I feel your pain. I am so sorry you are going through this. All I can say is it does get better. I looked at your blog and I also think the swelling is down a bit. I remember thinking I was doing great around day 3 and 4 then around maybe 6-8 I hit a wall. I would come on here and read about all these shiny happy people further along and I though there was something seriously wrong with me. was I a wimp? Was my recovery not going well? Was I always going to sleep propped up with drool everywhere that I couldn't even feel?

Can you make yourself eat something you have not had yet? Do you have some baked beans or something with a strong taste you can put in blender? Or creamed spinach? This will camouflage that bad taste.

Hang in there, ok?

[freakyteeth]

Thanks everyone.

I slept better than I have in a long time. However, I feel like I can't do anything. My eyes hurt and the sinuses below them a lot. Even with painkillers. Wearing glasses hurts and my eyes hurt constantly.It's like a migraine in the sinuses behind my eyes. I can get on the computer for 10 minutes at a time. I cant' watch tv or read either. ugh.

[rtxtavi02]

I guess I just fit in the March 2011 Buddies category because I had my surgery on March 31st.

I had Lefort 1, my upper jaw was moved 5.5 mm forward (I had a very strong lower jaw). I also had cheek (malar) implants and bone grafting.

This is my first post, but I have found the information on this board to very helpful. I am 5 days post operation and the most frustration thing is food. I have already lost 5 pounds and I am trying to do what I can to get my calories and protein intake up. Anyways, I am already really happy about the new placement of my jaw, I am just excited to see what it really looks like when the swelling is down and my braces are off.

Rick

[bracedfaced]

I guess I just fit in the March 2011 Buddies category because I had my surgery on March 31st.

I had Lefort 1, my upper jaw was moved 5.5 mm forward (I had a very strong lower jaw). I also had cheek (malar) implants and bone grafting.

This is my first post, but I have found the information on this board to very helpful. I am 5 days post operation and the most frustration thing is food. I have already lost 5 pounds and I am trying to do what I can to get my calories and protein intake up. Anyways, I am already really happy about the new placement of my jaw, I am just excited to see what it really looks like when the swelling is down and my braces are off.

Rick

Welcome, Rick! Glad to hear all is going well. We'd love to see some pics when you are up to it. I am having my upper jaw moved up 4-5mm May 11th so I am really interested in your before/afters!

[rtxtavi02]

[quote="bracedfaced"][quote="rtxtavi02"]I guess I just fit in the March 2011 Buddies category because I had my surgery on March 31st.

I had Lefort 1, my upper jaw was moved 5.5 mm forward (I had a very strong lower jaw). I also had cheek (malar) implants and bone grafting.

This is my first post, but I have found the information on this board to very helpful. I am 5 days post operation and the most frustration thing is food. I have already lost 5 pounds and I am trying to do what I can to get my calories and protein intake up. Anyways, I am already really happy about the new placement of my jaw, I am just excited to see what it really looks like when the swelling is down and my braces are off.

Rick[/quote]

Welcome, Rick! Glad to hear all is going well. We'd love to see some pics when you are up to it. I am having my upper jaw moved up 4-5mm May 11th so I am really interested in your before/afters![/quote]

Yea, I can get some pictures up, just need to get them off the camera. I was actually planned for a 4 mm move and they did 5.5 once they were in there.

[Laundraholic]

Yea, I can get some pictures up, just need to get them off the camera. I was actually planned for a 4 mm move and they did 5.5 once they were in there.

Hi rtxtavi02,

I saw in the other post that you're pretty much in the same boat as me.
I had a Lefort 1 advancement of 4 mm, also on March 31 coincidentally

And no pain for me either... I'm assuming because the upper jaw is still numb so I don't feel anything, and am also have progessed to mashed up foods.

I saw in the other post that you were concerned about the amount of weight you've lost and the amount of protein/calories you're getting.

I was suprised, because I haven't lost ANY weight. I don't weigh that much to begin with (I'm 5'2" and about 110 lbs), but I found what made the most difference in terms of eating is HOW I'm getting the food into my mouth... and I found this out totally by accident.
I used chopsticks on day 3 when my brother brought me some sushi (not knowing I wouldn't be able to chew.. so I cut up a couple of maki rolls into tiny unrecognizable pieces and used the chopsticks to directly place the food right at the back of my mouth).
I found eating really mashed up or cut up food with chopsticks really allowed me to place that food in the back of my mouth quite quickly and effortlessly (without having to use my tongue to try to useleslly push the food to the back)... so eating was not as tedious as trying to get the food in with a small spoon or using the zip-n-squeeze pureed food bags.

I am eating most solid-ish food this way (even had some french fries with gravy yesterday -- used a kitchen knife to cut if up to almost a mash), and no longer feel hungry because I feel like I'm eating somewhat normally.

I also find eating anything in a broth or soup is MUCH easier. I hate a bowl of noodle soup today (again used kitchen scissors to cut off the noodles to 1/2 the size of a pea) and then just spooned it into my mouth with a very small spoon. The liquid of the broth made it so much easier for the cut-up noodles and soup to just slide into my throat to be swallowed

[jonathon003]

^^ i'm jealous...today i had mr noodles, only blended up lol. it was literally a liquid after i was done with it...initially it wasn't that bad, but towards the end it was bordering on disgusting. i have an appointment this thursday, and i think i'll be able to take off the elastics to eat, so hopefully i can graduate to a soft food diet soon (i will go crazy with my famous omelletes, watch out!).


also, i'm not sure if it's b/c i had double jaw, or just so many things done in general, but i'm experiencing quite a bit of pain. is anyone else?? if i had to rate my pain tolerance on a scale of 1-10 it's a 9 at worst, probably higher. growing up an athlete probably did that to me. but geez, this pain is actually bothering me quite a bit. i'm even getting shivers shooting through my body at times it's so bad. i think i'm more worried that something could be wrong. i'll obv tell my surgeon come thursday, but i this can't be normal (just hearing other ppls experiences on here). i'll take my codeine when it gets really bad and it's still bordering on intolerable. just seems kind of strange 13 days after surgery, hmmm...

[jonathon003]

edit: whoops...mistake

[freakyteeth]

Jonathon,

I'm Day 9 today (Praise God) and Day 8 had the worst pain of the entire time. Terrible sinus pain. These sinuses. Ugh. Ibuprofen and Lortab didn't even help it. It's back this am too.

Maybe like someone said, the pain is worst when the numbness wears off and you continue to heal.
However, I know the pain is bad because I really can't 1) watch TV, 2) read, 3) drive, 4) use computer for longer than 10 minutes., 5) wear my glasses So what do I do? Play on my phone a little bit, take my medicines, nap, and blend food. You'd be surprised how much of the day that takes up.

I'm still pretty depressed I think. I hate not being able to take care of my family. Plus I'm older than most of you - 37.

[Laundraholic]

Plus I'm older than most of you - 37.

Actually you'd be surprised (or not) that a lot of this board skews older, though perhaps we're some of the older ones that had surgery in March.
I'm turning 36 this year -- I joined in 2008 just after getting braced, thinking my surgery would be in 18 months or so. Because of my age and how hard my bones were, it took 3 years for the teeth to move into surgery-ready condition.
I fell off the board for a bit for a couple of years when it didn't look like there would be any surgery date in sight, but started actively reading again once the surgery date was booked 6 months ago.

When I first joined (at 33 years old) I was on the younger side of average age of posters here.
If I remember correctly, at the time there was someone in their 70s or 80s who had just had surgery