Few days left

[sol]

Hey guys/gals I am terrified cause in a few days I will be having upper and lower jaw surgery. I am terrified so I figured I would hop on here to get ideas on things to eat after the surgery because they say I wont be able to eat solid food for at least 6 weeks so any suggestions like sites with different recipes for different shakes and words of encouragement.
Thanks
Sol

[Phantom Muse]

Sol,

It is great that your surgery is just around the corner because the sooner you have it, the sooner you will be healed and on to a fabulous smile! Six weeks of healing sounds like SUCH a long time right now, I am sure, but it will pass by quickly.

I love to make fruit smoothies packed with good stuff. A favorite is one banana, 1/4 pound of tofu for protein (if you don't like tofu, you won't taste it here anyway), berries of any and all sort - just throw in a handful, and soy milk (or cow's milk if you prefer) to help whip it into a shake.

Also, Odwalla makes great protein shakes that are ready from the fridge. If you are in the US, you should be able to find them most everywhere (especially Whole Foods, but other stores now carry them, too). I love the Vanilla Al'mondo flavor as well as the chocolate version, and the fruit ones like Mango Tango taste like melted ice cream - but with lots of vitamins and minerals. If you have a Trader Joe's near your home, they also carry wonderful smoothies of all sorts.

Have you tried pureed soups? You can buy them ready-made, but you can also throw a chunkier, more hearty soup into a blender and turn it into mush. It still tastes great that way. I suspect it could be pretty easy to not eat as healthy of a diet after surgery when you most need it, so maybe think about preparing some of the foods (or stocking your pantry) prior to the surgery.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

[mikeg]

Good luck! It will be over fast and u can smile rest of life.

Post some before pics

[Sunny]

Great that you're nearly ready and just think that by christmas you will be well on the road to recovery!

Phantom has given excellent advice. In the early days it's often useful to use a big syringe. You can ask the surgeon for a few of these, plus ideas about what you should be eating.

All the best!

[sol]

Thanks well wednesday morning is the date I will post before photos soon. Any good websites for liquid diet recipes.

[sol]

Update:

out of surgery day 2 lots of pain day one and right after, getting better still at this point would not recommend this to anyone. very invasive, painful and so far not worth it but that may change later on.

[mikeg]

I bet you'll change your mind soon...

How is the liquid diet going? how long are you banded shut for?

[sol]

I am banded until December 14 but so far no changing my mind. Still not feeling good stomach up and down, yesterday out of nowhere pain was super intense wanted to die at that point not sure what happened but something popped and just hurt all over. We will see, the swelling is getting a little better but headache that wont go away hasnt helped. Liquid diet is not to bad, you get filled up super fast with it though so just having trouble getting the calories and stuff I need but learning. Will keep updated going to post before pick soon as well as after photo of the current state.

[mikeg]

gotcha.. hang in there..

thats good that you are only banded until dec 14....

Now is probably a good time to catch up on a tv show... Do you watch dexter? I just started the seasons and wish I would of saved it for when I go through the surgery... but saving a couple other shows such as "weeds" for the recovery.

[sol]

Thats not a bad idea. I do suppose I will try that. The big thing is trying to deal with eating food that seems to all taste the same and I tend to be very active person, sailing, surfing, working on things, building things but if I mess up my face then that would hurt a good bit so I cannot do that. Idk Thanks for the support. I am sue it will get better it is just getting to that point.

[sol]

Update: Well my tounge fits in my mouth comfortably unlike before I had the surgery, swelling has gone down a little bruising going away and getting better. I am going to try some blended chicken and rice tonight that may be good. I have found that foods that are already kinda mushy work really well that way and be careful of anything with cheese or much grease in it cause that killed my stomach. But either way going today to be disbanded and see what they say. Wish me luck.

[sol]

Well sad news they only put lighter rubber bands on, however I will not be able to loose the bite plate for 8 weeks

[sol]

Hey everyone well I am currently 13 days post op, much of the swelling has gone down and I am only in bands at night, and will continue having to wear the bite plate for at least 6 more weeks but things are getting better accept I am still a good bit numb and its really almost unbearable because my face tingles all day like things are crawling on it. how long will this last? They are worried I may never get feeling back because apparently there was a lot of damage to my nerves, what have others experienced? The cool positive thing though is that before the surgery my tounge never fit well like it was always way to big and it fits very nicely now so I dont get near as many, do you have down syndrome questions, but many people say I look dramatically different and I do not like that.
Thanks

[Phantom Muse]

Glad to hear that things are progressing well for you! I have heard that it can sometimes take quite some time for feeling to return after any sort of surgery, so two weeks out doesn't sound like you need to be worried. Perhaps someone with more knowledge can pipe in.

As for the change in appearance, I imagine that can't be planned for emotionally, so that journey may be longer for you to feel comfortable with your new look. When other people comment, they might be noticing something that you don't focus on too much - like what you mentioned about your tongue - so that may seem like a "dramatic" change from their perspective. Either way, if you are pleased with your outcome - apart from anyone else's opinion about it - then all is good! Before long, your "new" look will become what is ordinary to your friends and family.

[mikeg]

if your bite was way off, than ya the lower part of your face may look different, but I'd say for the best...

glad to hear the swelling has gone down..... how is the blended diet going?

you losing a lot of weight?

Hang in there bro, you will look back on this in a year or so and be thankful you did it!

[ugliibracesgirl]

hey there! I found this web site with lots of different milkshake ideas that I thought might be some help:
Best Milkshake Recipes

There's lots of different concoctions on there, hopefully you'll find some that you like. I haven't had jaw surgery (yet), but over the past two years I've had tons of gum work and other oral surgeries, so I know how boring it can be when you're limited to only one or two food categories!

P.S. I just looked at the date of this post so I realize you've probably already had your surgery by now. I hope everything went well and you're healing nicely!

[sol]

Thanks guys/gals its gotten a good bit better, and the liquid diet is not bad really I grind up anything and everything and most do very will. I have become able to swallow some thicker foods like thick soup so its not bad at all.