April 18 Surgery Buddies...

[PierreDeFermat]

If you need to sneeze make sure you do it through your mouth (keep your nose and mouth open).

If your nose is running and you're in a pinch I recommend twisting a tissue or piece of toilet paper and gently putting it up your nose. It looks funny but at least you're not covered in mucus. Did your doctor say anything about taking allergy medications?

Unfortunately your teeth might actually move but that can be fixed quite easily with a couple weeks of Invisalign.

[MoJo2685]

The guy that asked about the lisp I call Joy from Inside Out. He has never had a mean spirited or hateful thought in his life. So when he said that it was a genuine question for him. Then he felt horrible when I told him it was my first day back after face surgery. I couldn't hold a grudge on that one if I wanted to. The other guy though. He also didn't mean to be rude but I can give him such a hard time about it every time I see him it's kinda fun. Gotta laugh at yourself sometimes right?

Today was really nice because I saw a friend I haven't seen since before surgery and she is the first person I didn't have to explain where I'm still swollen. She saw it right away. Granted she also has a medical degree. But it was so nice not to have to explain everything.

Sneezing causes me a panic everytime. Luckily there isn't a ton bothering my allergies right now.

[N2Deep]

No IMF screws for me. Just good old fashioned titanium plates and screws that will be with me the rest of my life unless they bother me for some reason.

[Punakmouth]

Yesterday my sister in law was in town so we took all the kids to the Wild Animal Safari Park. I thought the walking all day (and pushing a double stroller) would be difficult, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

The hardest part was finding something to eat/drink! At "lunch," I ended up waiting for a root beer float to melt so I could drink it. I had some emergency snacks for my toddler in the diaper bag and had to resort to those. They were squeezable baby food pouches of various fruits/veggies that had probably been in there for 6 months, LOL. However, my mouth barely opens so the little nozzle would get stuck in between my teeth!

Since the park closed at 5 everyone wanted to go to dinner. While they were all enjoying "lamb pops" and poke, I had to ask for the only soup on the menu to be blended and served in a cup. This was day 20 and the first time I had tried "drinking" thick soup from a cup. I was worried it would get stuck between my splint and braces on the top so it took me about half an hour to drink 1 cup of soup!!! (After graduating from the syringe when I was tied completely shut, I upgraded to squeezable ketchup/mustard type bottles with various sized cut nozzles)

I can't wait to get this splint out of my mouth if for no other reason than a little more clearance for a regular spoon!!

10 more days.....

[MoJo2685]

Puna that sounds terrible. I mean great that you had the energy to spend the day out and about. But that split life seems way worse than even the expander I had after SARPE. But I understand the ketchup/mustard struggle well. That was life right after this surgery. Now if someone is snooping through my kitchen I just look very much like I'm obsessed with picnicking.

Today marks 6 weeks post op for me. I can finally chew things! Nothing overly hard or crunchy. But attempts can be made. Its exhausting. Who would think that getting cleared to eat again is going to be when I end up losing weight.

[Punakmouth]

MoJo - You cracked me up with the obsessive picnicking comment!!

What types of food are you able to chew first? Are you able to bite things? For example, could you bite into toast? Or peanut butter honey sandwich? A burrito? I'm curious about the progression!

[N2Deep]

So far at just over six weeks I can chew fries, sausage, soft cookies, pasta, and I don't need to blend my soups anymore. It still takes me a while to eat anything because my bite is not ideal at the moment, and I can't chew as well as I could before even. If it were ideal I think I would be close to eating almost everything normal except raw veggies, nuts, and other crunchy stuff.

As far as failures go, I ordered some various Chinese dishes the other night and had a hard time with a lot of it. I tried to eat fried tofu , but I couldn't chew through the fried layer of "skin". I couldn't eat Most of the cooked veggies in it either. But I could eat the shrimp, rice, and lo mein, so it wasn't a total loss

[PierreDeFermat]

I imagine it's nothing hard/crunchy for the first few weeks after you're done being banded shut, not to mention working on being able to open your mouth as wide as normal.

My arch bar removal is next week and I've been cleared for soft foods but it's not really worth it for me yet. All I know is that it's been a long 5.5 weeks of Ensure (my general practitioner gave me cases of the stuff that he received but didn't need). Surprisingly I haven't gotten sick of them yet, though I do miss my Taco Tuesdays!

How is your guy's swelling going? I think in the next week I'll be back to "normal." The only real edema I see left is on either side of my nose/upper lip, and that's going away quickly now.

[MoJo2685]

Again because this is surgery #2 for me I probably push things a bit farther than I should. But things I have been able to eat decently well the last couple days have all been pretty soft still. My favorite has been gnocchi with crumbled Italian sausage and goat cheese. I tried a quesadilla with a fork and knife which broke my AZ pride a bit, but was doable in very small pieces. I tried to just grab a chicken salad today. I was only able to eat the chicken. The lettuce was just not working. Donuts have been good. I would say the toughest part is the not being able to open far enough to really bite down. I have definitely done peanut butter sandwiches. Also tuna. Just make sure the bread is soft and I would say aim for not seedy and you should be fine. (I love food)

I had to call my ortho office today because one of my wires was stabbing me. They worked me in to "just cut it down". Turned into a full on appointment where they finally took off the surgical hooks! He polished down some staining, put in new wires, and added some power chains to close the last little gap. He says we are in the home stretch and it should be braces off early Fall!

[MoJo2685]

How is your guy's swelling going? I think in the next week I'll be back to "normal." The only real edema I see left is on either side of my nose/upper lip, and that's going away quickly now.

Swelling is mostly down. Just my chin is still puffy and uncomfortable. And it fluctuates day to day how puffy.

[runrabbitrun]

Haha even though this is surgery #1 (and hopefully it stays that way), I definitely pushed it with the soft foods early on. Had my 2nd follow up with my doc on Tuesday and he told me I could start eating scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, etc... I was like, "Brah, already doing that, sorry." And he laughed and said everything looked fine so as long as I wasn't chewing, he was fine with that. He also confirmed that my teeth didn't look like they had moved, but that the feeling I was experiencing was most likely from the nerves healing. I feel like I've had a lot of new nerve progress this week, so that makes sense.

So excited for all of you guys in the final stretch! PdF, you must be stoked to get your arch bars off next week - still can't believe you have to go under for that. Doc said that as long as I can hold my bite in the right spot without hesitating at my next appt (week after next), he'll remove the IMF screws.

I still have a lot of swelling but I know I need to remind myself that I'm only 3 weeks out. Edema on the chin for sure, though that's decreased a lot in the last day. I suddenly have insane cheekbones, and my lips aren't disappearing into my mouth anymore. I'm still very confused by my nose as it looks different every day. Aside from my chin, my swelling is mostly under my eyes (right where the plates are located) and a bit over my upper lip, though I suspect that's not so much swelling and more so the IMF screws protruding outwards and puffing things up.

[PierreDeFermat]

I spoke to the doctor today about the removal, he said it wasn't deep sedation just IV conscious sedation. Really glad because I don't need another breathing tube after all that stuff I just had done lol.

Does anybody have some numbness on the roof of their mouth? I think this is due to septoplasty/UPPP/Lefort but thankfully it's going away day by day...

[runrabbitrun]

Phew! I hear you, I wouldn't want anything down my throat after all of that either, haha.


So...this is kind of gross, and I'm not sure if it's the same as what you're experiencing. But I thought I had numbness on the roof of my mouth and tongue, especially towards the back of my throat. Basically felt the same as what happens after you burn the inside of your mouth (and then I thought, well - maybe I burned my mouth at some point when I still couldn't detect temperature) and was pretty uncomfortable. So I was finally able to open my mouth wide enough to see past the first 1/3 of my tongue... and it's all furry. I mean, it's of course not actual fur, it's lingua villosa which is apparently super common when you're on a no-chew diet and have recently used antibiotics. But I am obviously very grossed out and am now furiously scrubbing my tongue to try to get rid of it. Ugh.

[N2Deep]

I also experienced the furry tongue. But I started using a tongue scraper as soon as I could fit it back there, and also drink a 6 oz glass of water with 2 tspn of Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar two to three times a day on an empty stomach. Usually right before bed and as soon as I wake up. It took a few weeks of that but I think everything is almost back to normal now.

Not the most pleasant thing to do, but definitely worth it in my opinion.

[runrabbitrun]

Funny - I was just thinking I should get some ACV because I keep buying the expensive Suja blends and figured I might as well make my own. Thanks for the tip!