So far I've lost 8-10 pounds depending on what scale you use lol. The scale at my ortho says 9 pounds and the one I have here at home says 8 pounds. I'm only 2 weeks post op and my ortho says I will probley lose a couple more.
Now that I got the splint out I can eat a little more not much though because I still can't close my mouth because it's still frozen.
I am 5'11". When I started out, I was about 175 lbs., and now I am 167. I actually did better with stabilizing my weight when I was on completely blended diet--I noticed a downward shift again when I switched to trying to eat more "normal" food. I pretty much eat whatever I want these days (which was not the case before surgery without HUGE consequences), but eating a meal the size I'm used to is a challenge if my food needs any chewing at all. It's a workout!
When I had my SARPE last summer, I lost about the same amount of weight, and never gained it back, which was a good thing. Right now, if I lost much more weight, I would need to try to gain some back. I'm OK as it is.
I'm sure that once my chops are in order, I'll be pretty much back to my usual self!
I am 5'7" and before surgery was 125 lbs. I lost 10 lbs after surgery to 115 lbs, which is on the thin side. Bones started to show. I'm 8 months post op and am eating normally. I've gained back 5 lbs.
Check out my journey :
http://janniesjourney.blogspot.com/
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Braces on: Sept 16. 2005
Braces off: Dec 3, 2007
Upper/Lower Jaw Surgery on: Dec 1, 2006
I lost 14 pounds post surgery, and I ate very well. I'm currently down 18 now, but the last four have been by choice and from increased working out at the gym.
I lost about 7 lbs and have only gained back 2 so far. I think some of it was muscle weight as I haven't jogged for 6 weeks! I hope to gain at least 5 lbs back.
I didn't lose any weight either even having my jaws totally wired for 6 weeks.
Nov 1960: born
1973 ?: palate expander
1973-1977: braces
Aug 1981: Le Fort I, posterior impaction to correct anterior open bite and class II malocclusion
Aug 2007: braces again to correct various alignment issues and class II malocclusion
I'm really, really hoping for some braces/surgery related weight loss, actually.
Right now, I can't really chew because of the spacers, but I'm afraid that I'm using that as an excuse to eat bad food, like rice, potatoes (I don't put any butter on them, but those starches are BAD NEWS), etc.
Since I'm not going to be wired, I think I'm going to go with a lot of slim-fast and scrambled egg whites, and get OFF those evil, evil starches!
Does anyone have any more low-cal suggestions for post-op food? I can't eat vegetables obviously, which is my staple, but has anyone tried (as undignified as this may sound) baby food veggies? If so, would you recommend them?
You should be able to eat just about any of your favorite foods pureed, with added liquid. Lots of folks use the "Zip-n-Squeeze" products early on to get the food in. I mostly used a syringe from the hospital. It meant that I had to run some things through a sieve, but I survived just fine. Once I could get a spoon in my mouth, things went much better in the food department.
Because of recent complications, I'm back on soft diet, which is just fine with me. I basically blend whatever I would normally have for dinner. Sometimes I add my vegetable right into the casserole, for instance, if I think it might taste funny on its own. Usually I add beef or chicken broth (or sometimes milk) to thin my food a bit. If you are a vegetarian, you could use vegetable stock.
You could experiment with your favorite foods now, and see how they turn out pureed. I use a Kitchenaid immersion blender, and it works like a charm. Some people have also bought the Magic Bullet, and say that it works quite well, too.
At any rate, nutrition should not be an issue if you have jaw surgery, even if you are pretty tightly banded shut.
Or, just buy a bike and use it. I usually cycle 20 miles a day to work and back, and battle to stop myself wasting away to nothing.
"Another piece of cake? Oh woe."
Braced May 2005
Bimaxillary surgery Aug 2007
Debraced Jun 2008