February 2012 Surgery Buddies

[WoodWillow]

So far, so good! I've been spending the weekend cleaning the house, doing laundry, stipped the beds, cleaned out the fridge, picked up an arsenal of liquids to "enjoy' while I can't eat.

Oh, and I located my scale too. I am curious to see how much weight actually comes off while banded shut. It seems I think I am going to lose far less than everyone else thinks. Time will tell!

[catsteeth]

Woodwillow, you sound very prepared.

There are a lot of people worried about losing weight during the surgery. I know it isn't a time to diet but is anyone secretly hoping that some of those pounds disappear and don't come back?

[WoodWillow]

Honestly, I'm not worried about losing weight. I'm not a big gal but I am fine with some weight coming off, I just know that the way its going to happen isn't the best - heath wise - and the chance of gaining it back plus more once I can eat again is great.

I've been making sort of a lighthearted joke about it too... asking people who talk about it how much weight they think I'll lose. Starting weight is 145lbs (why not share here right?)

I think 10-15lbs... my husband thinks 20-25lbs. The gals at work think about 15lbs. My friend Lucky thinks 20lbs. I have the scale all ready to check my weight regluarly. Why not right? Not like I'll have much else to do! Haha!

[WoodWillow]

And today was my diagnostics appointment with my orthodontist. More impressions, x-rays, pictures (yadda, yadda, yadda). I am really glad I have the orthodontist I do... he is so thorough and answers all my questions without sugar coating the answers.

I got 4 surgical hooks put on at today's appointment too, for the elastics post-surgery. The staff there all wished me well on my surgery and I look forward to seeing them all again when I am on the other side of this whole situation!

This morning my coworkers and I were laughing about all the blending possibilities... also the words "bologna smoothie" now make my stomach turn

[worldpeace]

Hey everyone saw I had my appointment with the surgeon today and it went well. I felt like time flew like crazy! I met the assistant to take pictures and wax stuff, watched the video and got instructions on the dreaded liquid diet/hygiene. Being the forgetful person that i am, i left my list of questions at home so I had to think of them on the fly. Which made time fly and made me feel like i might have forgotten something. So the surgeon told me he won't be doing genio (it was originally part of treatment). He's going to widen my top jaw and then level it with my lower jaw which will be moved forward and all screwed. He told me i won't wale up with elastics but they will be put on a few days later. The surgery is about 3 hours. That was a surprise and relief to hear. As the days get close, i get this sense in my jaws that it knows something is coming lol. It's a weird feeling but looking forward to it. I'm worried about the weight loss as i don't have much weight to lose. Being slim is not helping the cause right now even after eating up the past few months. I keep telling myself that I will double up every liquid meal although i hope to have the energy to do it. No liquid bologna for me lol. I'm off work due to all of the appointments this week. Tomorrow is ortho for surgical hooks, physical exam and scans. Wednesday is the nurse and aneslologist and the rest of the week is prep time and all you can eat time. I have to mentally prepare myself for no fooood.

[WoodWillow]

I totally had a Big Mac for lunch today... it is sitting like a brick in my belly but ooooh it was good!

[emdanut]

Hey guys! I will be having lower jaw surgery on Feb 14. Pre-op is on Feb 2 (tomorrow!) I'm getting pretty nervous about the surgery!

[catsteeth]

Bologna smoothie - wow, that's awful! Well, I shouldn't say anything..I might be craving one in a few weeks!

I know that the weight loss won't be terribly healthy. My orthodontist told me about 20 lbs but the surgeon told me 10. Who knows? We should get our friends and family to set up a betting pool.

Mmmm, big Mac. There are a couple of foods I plan on having ahead of time since it might be a while until I get them again.

Emdanut, you are three days ahead of me so I'll be watching for your updates.

I had my last ortho appointment yesterday. I got 10 surgical hooks including one on the top center and one bottom center. My lips catch on them every time I try to speak. I can't even put wax on the top one because it is visible and I'd look pretty awful with a big blog of wax flapping around every time I talked. I look like I have a weird piercing. The bottom one is waxed to the max! The funny moment was when the ortho said to the assistant, "Make sure you put the _____ on because the OS likes them by the hooks". I thought she said "slugs" but she actually said "lugs". I'm glad I didn't get any slugs

[WoodWillow]

10 surgical hooks?! Yikes! I thought the 4 I got were a pain in the butt! Then again, most of my brackets already have hooks on them. I wore wax on the bottom ones for the first day, but now the hooks just feel like food that my tongue keeps trying to get rid of.

My husband made bacon wrapped filet mignon for supper tonight and it was the best! Buttery potaotes and steamed carrots made the meal perfect
Dang it, I am going to miss steak! It will be a while before I chow through one I'm sure (blended steak notwithstanding).

Tomorrow for lunch I am going to get a burrito from my favourite little spot near my office! Mmm burrito!

My boss and the others I work with are in denial that I am going to be off for the next 4 weeks. I feel bad for leaving them for so long, but I am taking as much time as my company offers. I only get to recover from this surgery once and I plan on taking time to take care of myself. Yeah, I expect I'll get a bit shack wacky, but that is a price I am willing to pay! At 31 years old, I know I heal slower than I used to!!

[Jade12]

Regarding losing weight i thought i would have lost alot of weight being on just liquids but i've only lost 5 lbs and its been 5 weeks.

[catsteeth]

Woodwillow, Good luck on the big day. I hope you got to eat all your special meals. See you on the other side.

[WoodWillow]

To say that I have butterflies in my stomach is the understatement of the century...

Surgery is 11:15 tomorrow morning. Gulp.

[worldpeace]

Good luck Woodwillow i am sure it will go well. Welcome emdanut you are a 8 days after me. I am scheduled for the 8th. I think losing weight will come with the territory, let's just all hope we have energy to be able to eat and get liquids in the system. I am starting to get anxious I just hope i don't catch a cold. The winter's here have been up and down.

[catsteeth]

I expect Woodwillow is in surgery even as I write this. I hope everything went well and she is able to post soon.

Worldpeace, I guess you are next. Are you all ready?

I've hit the 2 week mark. I was blenderizing soups and smoothies last night. I have no idea how much to make but I'd rather have a stockpile than be worrying about it while I'm trying to recover. My husband thought the soups in particular looked really awful. I thought they smelled good though. I like the idea of putting very little effort into cooking while I'm laid up. I'm looking forward to meeting for the last time with my OS next week and finding out his time estimates for liquid diet, soft diet etc.

The good news is that I've adapted to 9 of 10 surgical hooks. The bad boy is the bottom middle hook. You should see the size of the wax blob I have to use to cover it. I can't imagine what it will be like with the bands actually in place. How come I have so many hooks compared to everyone else?

[emdanut]

I had my pre-op appointment on Thursday. I was getting really really nervous about the surgery but the appointment was actually really reassuring. The surgeon and his clinical director both said that my surgery won't be as bad since i'm only getting lower jaw surgery. They also gave me an arsenal or prescriptions (3 of which are for pain!) which will really help.
I'm super lucky because I'm living with my parents right now (graduated from college in May and moved back home because of the surgery actually) so my mom will be around to cook soups/smoothies etc and take care of me