SARPE Surgery

[lalcharlie]

And then you can tell me where you bought it so I can buy some too! Assuming you're in the UK! Are you drinking soups yet? I love food, but have more of a savoury tooth and I think I might find endless smoothies and shakes too sweet.
Let me know when you have your first piece of toast.....how I love my carbs. Tried mashed potatoes?

[Sadoozie]

Food isn't a big deal, you can blend pretty much anything. Thats not to say that it will be tasty but its doable. I could use a straw from day one, but used a syringe to begin with (instead of a turkey baster, just because i didn't find one in time). The hospital provided me with a small and large sized syringe with a plastic tip so i kept them. I could sip from a straw and then a cup not so long afterwards. But everyone is different and it depends on how you swell up i guess.

The thing that bothers me about eating is that i havent had the feeling of being full since the surgery, although i do eat. Must be because im not chewing, or maybe its my mind trying to adjust to the absence of meat. Im one of those people that need some type of meat in each meal to consider it a meal. Now, my breakfast is greek yoghurt with honey and soups with broth the rest of the day accompanied by protein shakes every now and then.

In other news, ive started turning the expander...its the strangest feeling, not really painful though. After the first day, there was already a visible gap. I have to expand two times a day for 6 days to reach a 7-8mm gap.

[lalcharlie]

I've been told 10mm. But some teeth cross/overlap so the ortho said the gap shouldn't be too big. Tbh I don't believe him as from what I've read 10mm is more than most but there's nothing I can do about it so what's the point worrying. I'll be standing in front of 7 classes a day after Easter, no doubt lisping/slurping as I speak and that worries me more - most of the kids are great but some can be merciless...
Is than a week since your surgery Sadoozie? Assuming you're a bloke who likes his meat -like my Yorkshire hubby - it must be tough for you at the moment. From what I've read many people don't feel full or particularly hungry for quite a while after surgery so hang in there. Soon you'll be cutting your steak into small pieces and eating it ! So other people say but I think I'll wait until the expander is out.
I have a three hour drive back home from glasgow, should I organise ice maybe in a cool box? Do the hospital ice you up?

[Sadoozie]

The hospital iced me up good, the nurses were so sweet and helpful. You hear a lot of bad things about poor service quality in public health care in Denmark but that wasn't my experience at all. The only thing I can comment on is the ice packs - they weren't cold enough. It's because they use the single-use ice packs that you break to cool, not the ones that cool in the freezer.

Im 10 days out of surgery now. The orthodox wasn't really sure about expanding me 7-8mm, seems like he works more by gefühle. I do miss steak though. Breakfast is fine, lunch too but come dinner time you need to chow down on some warm greasy food and soups don't do that for me :/

[Sadoozie]

*ortho, not orthodox - lol

[dnbull]

[quote="Sadoozie"]The hospital iced me up good, the nurses were so sweet and helpful. You hear a lot of bad things about poor service quality in public health care in Denmark but that wasn't my experience at all. The only thing I can comment on is the ice packs - they weren't cold enough. It's because they use the single-use ice packs that you break to cool, not the ones that cool in the freezer.

Im 10 days out of surgery now. The orthodox wasn't really sure about expanding me 7-8mm, seems like he works more by gefühle. I do miss steak though. Breakfast is fine, lunch too but come dinner time you need to chow down on some warm greasy food and soups don't do that for me :/[/quote]

Same for me. Had my surgery 4 days ago and the nurses were nice to me (miami beach) the ice pack weren't cool for me neither I wasn't sure if it was because I was numb

[Sadoozie]

Hi dnbull, congrats on being past the surgery and since your'e on day 5, the worst is already behind you! Maybe the ice-packs just never seem cool enough when your skin is being stretched like a rubber band.

[lalcharlie]

URGHH! How does anyone learn to eat with this monstrous thing in their mouth?
I'm moving food from side to side and having to tip my head back to get it down my throat as my tongue can't do its job.
Good lord tell me it gets easier...
Hey, I can get my little finger over the top of the device from the front and my tongue from the back, it's so flippin' low.
Metal is churning up my cheek on one side, was told to put wax on it.
Hospital tomorrow ..weirdly I feel happy this process has finally started as the waiting is the pits. Thanks to everyone for positive comments etc xx

[goku]

Hi everyone,

I just had SARPE done last Thursday so I'm on post-op day 4. My swelling is finally starting to go down.. what a relief! Tomorrow, I meet with the surgeon to begin the expansion. I'm really nervous about it because I don't want the expansion to be unsymmetrical. I am also worried that it might hurt since he wants me to do 4 0.25mm turns a day. I'm also worried in the future about relapses. Anyone else feel worried about these things?

lacharlie ya the expander sucks. I wouldnt worry too much about the surgery. It was pretty easy. They knocked me out during the procedure and when I woke up I was just out of it, not in pain. After surgery pain can be knocked out with ibuprofen. The worst part is the swelling and trying to eat/drink. I used a turkey baster for the 1st 3 days and it helped me immensely.

Sadoozie I'm missing steaks and hamburgers and pizza right now! Can't wait till the healing process is over.

[Sadoozie]

@lalcharlie, Good luck with your SARPE surgery. Hope that your swelling stays down to a minimum!

Went for my 2 week check-up at the hospital today and they said that everything looks fine and that the next time ill see them is when i have the BSSO in about a years time or so. Yikes! I'm still worried about how im going to get through 4 more weeks of soft food atm to even think of going through all this again. Tomorrow im at the ortho's to see how much more i have to expand for.

Hang in there Goku! I'm at the phase where i literally just blend anything and then decide if its good or not. Chili con carne is not bad at all fresh from the blender.

[goku]

Went to see the surgeon this morning. 5 days post op and he says everything looks great! We turned the expander 2 times in his office. It didn't hurt, more like a subtle stretch or tightness feeling in the face. I'm going to turn 2 more times tonight. Hope it goes well.

Sadoozie I have been blending just about everything too! I got some Seafood gumbo from Whole Foods this afternoon and am going to blend it because some of the sausage chucks are pretty big. I cooked some bacon and blended it into some lentil soup. It tasted pretty good

[lalcharlie]

Have surgical stockings on, gown and am ready to go. Surgery at 9 am I'm grateful to be first in today. Been asked to remove my nail varnish on my toes I carefully applied last night!
Asked about ice and they don't give ice routinely here you ask for an ice pack (it seemed like a weird request to the nurse).
See you on the other side guys xx

[goku]

Hope everything went well for you lalcharlie! You will recover soon. The first days are the roughest but they'll pass.

[lalcharlie]

Well surgery went well but I had a violent dizziness afterwards and vomited blood for hours , grim.
Then the surgeon came to tell me that the consultant ortho didn't turn up, his exact words were 'miscommunication ' and told me today I'd have to go to the Glasgow dental school to have the device cemented in properly. Not impressed.
I wasn't well enough so I'm going tomorrow.
No ice, or cold water, service is rubbish I'm not a wimp but I had to ask 4 times for a glass of water - on my own in the room and 3 people were asked and forgot!
Eating mush today, palate does feel a bit wobbly

[Sadoozie]

Glad that you got it over with. Sucks about the service, but thats public health care for ya'

Keep trucking and hope you have a speedy recovery.