my week

[victoriaaa18]

edit::just expanded & updated since I'm better today, feel free to ask any questions!

hey I was just released from hospital today, very swollen & finding it difficult to drink/eat

day 1; I arrived at the hospital on sunday & was shown to a ward, all the other patients there were really old but nice, after I unpacked the nurse came in & told me there was a mistake & I was moved to a private room, which is more than I expected, for the rest of the night I just got some blood taken & an Iv but nothing major.

Day 2; the nerves kick in on my way to surgery at 12, it's scary once you get taken in there, I woke up in recovery about 8 feeling suprisingly good ( the doctors said this is because the drugs hadn't worn off yet) I remember asking for my mum but my memory is kinda distorted. I set into a massive panic around about 10 because my breathing was going all wierd the nurses rushed in & thats when they discovered I had a temperature, they put my craziness down to that lol

Day 3: my swelling has increased rapidly & my temperature is still at 37.8 & I was being monitored all night as my temp was constantly rising & dropping. some wierd guy wondered into my room during the night & took his clothes off, was a scary moment lol, but apparently he's got dementia or something...anyways they tried to give me solid food, thats right, & suprise, suprise i couldn't eat it. They gave me wheat-a-bix for breakfast but I started choking and coughing, that evening they tried again with ravioli I couldn't handle it at all. I've received no dietry information either, I have a stitch on my forehead which my surgeon said is from some contraption which helped them to put my jaws into the correct position.

Day 4: after going for an x-ray my surgeon is concerned as I'm not shutting my jaw I'm just leaving it slightly parted but with all the swelling it's really difficult. I returned home today & I began feeling unwell in the evening, I was being sick most of the night luckily it was just liquid so it didn't put too much of a strain on my jaw, I couldn't sleep tonight my mum slept in my bed, she's such a worrier, I was constantly getting out of bed, just restless in general.

Day 5: still very ill, my mum calls the doctor who says I was released from hospital way to early I shouldn't have even been considered to leave at least untill friday, he suggested I was ill because of the drugs, like the general anesthetic and morphine that my body's not used to, he then prescribed me some anti-nausea pills. I had a way better night tonight though I actually slept! but I'm still getting up really early, 6 am to be exact.

Day 6: I've eaten alot more today usually I can only manage half a yoghurt or a couple of spoonfulls of soup but I think I have my appetite back! I pray I don't get sick again it's just a horrible feeling I'm a real messy eater right now though as I'm using a spoon it just goes everywhere & loads of family are visiting right now & I guess I'm embarassed by it so I try to eat when no one's about, I don't know how to make it easier? I've tried a straw but it hurt my throat too much. I'm also concerned about my rapid weight loss, maybe it's due to the nausea or the extreme change in diet, I was weighed on sunday at 118 lbs I'm now 114 which is really under weight for my height, I can see all my bones , I knew I was going to lose weight but I wasn't expecting to lose it this fast does anyone have any suggestions?

I'm seeing my surgeon again on monday.

victoria x

[fromjersey]

Very surprised that anybody would try solid food for you. Wow. Hope somebody wakes up. Aside from that, hope all else goes well and you have a good recovery. Stay in touch with us.
Helen

[dubnobass]

This is not the first time I've heard of this happen to British patients. My surgeon mentioned that he makes sure his orthognathic patients are looked after because they're usually on a general head and neck trauma/surgery ward. This means they'll be given cornflakes and toast for breakfast likes everyone else unless someone intevenes. God bless the NHS!

I suppose you can only see the funny side or else you'd despair

[sillikitti]

Geez Victoria, sounds like you had a rough start. I'm sorry I had to laugh a little when you mentioned that guy taking his clothes off in your room.
I can't believe they tried to give you solid food and didn't give you any dietary info How come you have a stitch on your forehead?
Well at least you're at home now. I was so happy to come home as well...but now I'm getting so bored of sitting around at home lol.

[Delag]

It is too bad that you wern't still doped up - the old guy might have looked a bit more like George Clooney then! Glad to hear you are done and back home.

[Happysmiler]

Hi Victoria,

Sorry to hear it hasn't all been plain sailing!
At least now you are at home you can chose your food more wisely than the 'so called' professionals!!...... unbelievable that they gave you solid foods!! It does make me worry as I'm going through the NHS route too - I will have to give strict instructions to my husband to keep an eye on them!

Oh well, onwards and upwards, I'm sure you will improve in leaps and bounds now.

Take Care
Happy Smiler

[Paul]

Well done Victoria, now I know what to expect from them when I go in seeing as I will probably be going to the same place as you to get it done.

I was gonna say you could have told them you couldnt eat solid food, but I suppose you could barely open your mouth anyway, must have been frustrating!

some wierd guy wondered into my room during the night & took his clothes off

hahaha!!!

[WhiteLurcher]

Hi Victoria
Sorry your not feeling too great, the first couple of days are the worst, but they will fly by.

I see your hospital ran the same menu as mine, the Southern General, I survived on orange juice for breakfast, "strained" asparagus soup for lunch and oxo cube for dinner (apparently the don't do soup at dinnertime!!?) you would think a Max-Fax ward would cater for a no-chew diet

I got a dietary advice leaflet after my re-chop, in fact I even got a goody bag of prescriptive milkshakes I guess it depends what staff are on

I take it the stitch is to mark the centre of your face I have a lump between my eyes and at the far side of both eyebrows. Fat lot of good it did my midline first time around!

Good luck on Monday and hope you feel better soon!

[victoriaaa18]

fromjersey- thanks. I know I was shocked, I was expecting protein shakes & liquidised stuff, it's just as well I felt ill otherwise I would have been starving

dubnobass- your surgeon sounds way more efficient than what I had, I'm a vegetarian & they kept on bringing me meat as well!

meryaten- thanks, I've been looking around the board & there's loads of options for food!
that old guy constantly returned to my room maybe he was jealous

sillikitti- lol I know I had to laugh at it too! he seemed harmless though nbut his breathing freaked me out! the stitch is just from something they used to align my jaws correctly, my mum's taking it out tomorrow!
I know but I guess it's less boring than the hospital, I constantly find myself getting fed up, I have friends & family round but they don't understand a word I say right now

Delag- lol that might have been a better awakening
thanks

Happysmiler- I hope I do improve I've not been felling good at all the last couple of days.
that's a good idea, I couldn't believe it, I actually felt as though I was supposed to be eating solid food, why else would they give it to me? but after one tiny spoonfull I knew I was right, my mum & dad brought in yoghurts for me to make sure I actually ate something!

paul- it was I had to constantly explain to them that I'm vegetarian aswell, they could barely understand a word I was saying either so it was really frustrating! good luck for your surgery

whitelurcher- thankyou. yeah that sounds similar to my menu, on tuesday I went without breakfast because I don't like orange juice the rest of the time I was eating soup with lumps of vegetables in them aswell. You're lucky you got all that! maybe on monday, on the wednesday my surgeon asked if I'd spoken to a dietician yet, so maybe I hope so I don't have a clue how to eat right now

[ohmyjaw]

Hi Victoria,

I have to tell you the same thing happened to me at the hospital - pretty much.

First of all I didn't get any food whatsoever until lunch the day after surgery. And then the lunch was all solid food. And I was wired shut! I just looked at it and laughed, and drank the juice. I didn't feel much like eating anyway. Then I was actually brought some blended soup for dinner, but it didn't taste very good (it was way too salty) and I had a really hard time getting any of it in my mouth - most of it ended up on my shirt. Another juice box for dinner, and then I went home.

Did the hospital not even give you a syringe? That is one way to eat - you fill up a big syringe with a tube attached to it, and then squirt it into your mouth. Zip n squeeze bags are much better, but you would have to order them...

I survived on blended soups, milkshakes, puddings, pureed fruit, couscous, and protein shakes. Getting a protein supplement of some kind is a really good idea. Also, make sure you eat something with fibre in it and stay well-hydrated.

Hope the rest of your recovery goes smoothly!

[Beth85]

Hey Victoria

Sorry to hear things haven't been that easy for you! I hope you feel better soon and your recovery is a lot smoother.

Thanks for posting your progress, it's a great help to those of us who have yet to go through surgery.

Good luck!

Beth x

[Renden]

I'll be having my surgery done at the Southern General also, should be quite the experience lol

After hearing your stories I'm taking a notebook and writing everything down in large letters for them

[phil]

I have to say, with my surgery stateside, they brought me "bland diet." The only thing on the tray that I could consume was beef boullion, very sugary pseudo-fruit juice and tea! I just looked at the nurse assistant, and said, "I can't manage most of this." Of course, this should have been obvious because I was tightly banded shut. Fortunately, it was only 24 hours after my surgery, and I had very little appetite. This is the hospital where my surgeon has done all his work for years--you would think that they could get it right by now! At least I only had one night in the hospital.

[loulou123]

hey victoria

congratulations on getting through all that and hope you feel much better now?

Im totally shocked by the fact it seems common place to offer us solid foods when were wired shut, or at least unable to eat it-guess ive got that to look forward to!


on the subject of the old man, how scary, tho my boyfriend had a very similar experiance in hospital when a old man (again with dementia) actually got into bed with him before being removed by the nurses! The same old man went on to eat my boyfriends food if given the chance! good old nhs! lol.

Seriously tho, i think the care you receive depends upon many things. My boyfriend had 2 collasped lungs 6 months apart and was treated on the same ward both times and the 1st time the care was amazing, but the 2nd time there was a serious flu epidemic and the treatment was a little careless at times as the staff were just so busy. This shows that the treatment you receive can vary even at the same place, so for those facing surgery (like me) try not to worry to much, as your care could be fantastic.

Louise

[victoriaaa18]

hey & thanks for the replies, I hope everyone elses surgeries go well!
I had my second appointment with my consultant on wednesday & he said everything's going fine, but he will put stronger elastics on next week.

He also said I could eat solid food now! I was shocked as I was under the illusion it would be weeks before I could eat again, I'm so happy I ate a pizza for tea & I'm eating toast right now, I'm glad because I'm not the best cook, scrap that I can't cook , so didn't really try any smoothies or blended food & just stuck to soup & yoghurt..I was bored of it by the end of week 1! so the fact I can eat food I've been craving has really made my day

the only real problems I have right now are the excessive clicking on my left side & the swelling, my surgeon said it will be weeks before it goes down, I've been using arnica, some herbal medicine that someone gave me it's supposed to help the swelling but I don't think it works, I know alot of you use bromelain, is it effective?

victoria x

ps. I will be posting pics once the swelling goes down!