Re: 1 day post-op Please help

[Guest guest]

Congratulations, and hang in there! As we say down South, " You're in

the short rows now! "

, show the rest of this to your caretaker, and get him/her to

read it RIGHT NOW!

IF ANYTHING I SUGGEST CONTRADICTS WHAT YOUR DOCTOR SAID DO, DO NOT DO

IT. ASK HIM/HER OR HIS NURSE ABOUT ANYTHING THAT WORRIES YOU IN THE

LEAST. I AM NOT A PHYSICIAN, NOR A SURGEON, and can offer you only

the experience of patients who have posted here. This is important.

Iif your doc didn't send you home with a prescription for nausea,

call his office (get someone to) RIGHT NOW and explain that you are

nauseated. There's no need to put up with that. Simple drugs can help.

Sucking on a straw isn't the best generally recommended exercise for

someone with lots of new stitches. Get someone to thin the soup with

milk or broth for you. You can blend almost anything. I did fine, for

my troubles, with a stick blender and a Pyrex cup, but I wasn't

wired. The hospital should have sent home a syringe and some tubing

for you. If not, you can probably get several (again, get someone to)

either from the hospital or from a hospital supply place. Do not wait

for the weekend to try to find this, though. You can load the syringe

with a blended liquid, and squirt it into your mouth. Voila! No need

to suck.

Some people can sip thinned liquids pretty soon, either from a cup or

a sippy cup. But getting enough fluids in is crucial to your

recovery. So don't take this lightly. (It also is key to getting rid

of that swelling.)

Take a dry erase board with you everywhere. You should be able to get

someone to fetch one for you, with a marker, inexpensively at a

Target or Walmart. That's the best thing for communication, although

many people eventually do quite well with wired jaws. (But ask your

surgeon whether he wants you to try, first; some do; mine didn't, and

I wsn't wired.

And while they're at the drug store, if you don't have one, ask 'em

to get you a vaporizer (may be cheaper at Wal-mart or Target, too.)

That'll help with congestion and breathing, and make you feel

better, if that's an issue. (That's only likely to be an issue if you

had upper jaw surgery, which I can't remember.)

Best Rx for drooling? Lots of washcloths or small towels to travel

with you. Or boxes of Kleenex.

And congratulations to you and your doc on your splendid surgery

without numbness everlasting!

Cammie

> I just got home from the hospital. My doctor said the surgery went

> very well he could not ask for better. My jaw was moved 3mm and

> corrected slighty lateral to line up the midlines I have very

little

> numbness on just one side which seems to be improving. My doctor

said

> he is sure I will not have any permanent numbness

> I dont have any pain but I am so uncomfortable. I am wired with a

> splint for the next six weeks. I cant communicate no one

understands

> me. When will I be able to communicate. My dad was telling the cab

> driver the wrong way to go to my house, I didnt have paper on me at

> that moment I was getting so frustrated. Eventhough I have lots of

> friends and family that love me and were very concerned I feel so

> isolated. I look hideous right now. I weigh 125 pds yet my face

looks

> like it weighs 500. When will I be able to walk out in the street

and

> look normal. Did you guy have trouble getting food down with a

straw.

> I just tried to sip soup. The soup is too thick. Does your ablilty

to

> eat get better. Any food suggestion for right after surgery. All I

> have eaten in 24 hours is apple juice and water I feel like I am

> drooling a lot when does that go away? I keep getting naseous but

> have no food in me to throw up.

> I am proud that I did the surgery but miserable on how I feel right

> now. Any suggestions Thanks,

[Guest guest]

Congratulations, and hang in there! As we say down South, " You're in

the short rows now! "

, show the rest of this to your caretaker, and get him/her to

read it RIGHT NOW!

IF ANYTHING I SUGGEST CONTRADICTS WHAT YOUR DOCTOR SAID DO, DO NOT DO

IT. ASK HIM/HER OR HIS NURSE ABOUT ANYTHING THAT WORRIES YOU IN THE

LEAST. I AM NOT A PHYSICIAN, NOR A SURGEON, and can offer you only

the experience of patients who have posted here. This is important.

Iif your doc didn't send you home with a prescription for nausea,

call his office (get someone to) RIGHT NOW and explain that you are

nauseated. There's no need to put up with that. Simple drugs can help.

Sucking on a straw isn't the best generally recommended exercise for

someone with lots of new stitches. Get someone to thin the soup with

milk or broth for you. You can blend almost anything. I did fine, for

my troubles, with a stick blender and a Pyrex cup, but I wasn't

wired. The hospital should have sent home a syringe and some tubing

for you. If not, you can probably get several (again, get someone to)

either from the hospital or from a hospital supply place. Do not wait

for the weekend to try to find this, though. You can load the syringe

with a blended liquid, and squirt it into your mouth. Voila! No need

to suck.

Some people can sip thinned liquids pretty soon, either from a cup or

a sippy cup. But getting enough fluids in is crucial to your

recovery. So don't take this lightly. (It also is key to getting rid

of that swelling.)

Take a dry erase board with you everywhere. You should be able to get

someone to fetch one for you, with a marker, inexpensively at a

Target or Walmart. That's the best thing for communication, although

many people eventually do quite well with wired jaws. (But ask your

surgeon whether he wants you to try, first; some do; mine didn't, and

I wsn't wired.

And while they're at the drug store, if you don't have one, ask 'em

to get you a vaporizer (may be cheaper at Wal-mart or Target, too.)

That'll help with congestion and breathing, and make you feel

better, if that's an issue. (That's only likely to be an issue if you

had upper jaw surgery, which I can't remember.)

Best Rx for drooling? Lots of washcloths or small towels to travel

with you. Or boxes of Kleenex.

And congratulations to you and your doc on your splendid surgery

without numbness everlasting!

Cammie

> I just got home from the hospital. My doctor said the surgery went

> very well he could not ask for better. My jaw was moved 3mm and

> corrected slighty lateral to line up the midlines I have very

little

> numbness on just one side which seems to be improving. My doctor

said

> he is sure I will not have any permanent numbness

> I dont have any pain but I am so uncomfortable. I am wired with a

> splint for the next six weeks. I cant communicate no one

understands

> me. When will I be able to communicate. My dad was telling the cab

> driver the wrong way to go to my house, I didnt have paper on me at

> that moment I was getting so frustrated. Eventhough I have lots of

> friends and family that love me and were very concerned I feel so

> isolated. I look hideous right now. I weigh 125 pds yet my face

looks

> like it weighs 500. When will I be able to walk out in the street

and

> look normal. Did you guy have trouble getting food down with a

straw.

> I just tried to sip soup. The soup is too thick. Does your ablilty

to

> eat get better. Any food suggestion for right after surgery. All I

> have eaten in 24 hours is apple juice and water I feel like I am

> drooling a lot when does that go away? I keep getting naseous but

> have no food in me to throw up.

> I am proud that I did the surgery but miserable on how I feel right

> now. Any suggestions Thanks,

[Guest guest]

Hi , and welcome to the other side! You made it!!! Listen, it

is really important that you drink, but don't suck on a straw just

yet! (My splint is out and I STILL can't suck on a straw!) Try

sipping, or the syringe thing like Cammie said.. And I didn't have

the benefit of a dry erase board, but I did always have a notebook

with me (which now I'm scared to read back over because I think I

cussed a nurse out..lol..) and a pen hanging from a string around my

neck. That was critical, the pen thing. My mom kept saying, " oh,

where's your voice?!! " whenever I lost the pen..because really,

that's the sole means of communication there for a while. After

about two weeks I was mumbling coherently enough to make sense. I

know the swelling is miserable...I know. But it will go down, and

you'll be beautiful you again soon. I got really down emotionally in

the first week, and I remember thinking, you know, my face is huge,

I can't stop puking, I don't even recall when I last washed my hair,

but I'm still ME inside, and I can handle this very short season of

misery. And I did, and you will too. Definitely keep those fluids

in, lean on others and try to rest and take warm showers. Keep us

posted, Alix

> I just got home from the hospital. My doctor said the surgery went

> very well he could not ask for better. My jaw was moved 3mm and

> corrected slighty lateral to line up the midlines I have very

little

> numbness on just one side which seems to be improving. My doctor

said

> he is sure I will not have any permanent numbness

> I dont have any pain but I am so uncomfortable. I am wired with a

> splint for the next six weeks. I cant communicate no one

understands

> me. When will I be able to communicate. My dad was telling the

cab

> driver the wrong way to go to my house, I didnt have paper on me

at

> that moment I was getting so frustrated. Eventhough I have lots of

> friends and family that love me and were very concerned I feel so

> isolated. I look hideous right now. I weigh 125 pds yet my face

looks

> like it weighs 500. When will I be able to walk out in the street

and

> look normal. Did you guy have trouble getting food down with a

straw.

> I just tried to sip soup. The soup is too thick. Does your ablilty

to

> eat get better. Any food suggestion for right after surgery. All I

> have eaten in 24 hours is apple juice and water I feel like I am

> drooling a lot when does that go away? I keep getting naseous but

> have no food in me to throw up.

> I am proud that I did the surgery but miserable on how I feel

right

> now. Any suggestions Thanks,

[Guest guest]

i couldnt drink through a straw for a few months after my surgery.. i

just couldnt suck. i ate out of the syringe.. my favorite was the

whipped kind of yogurt, oreo pudding lol, chicken broth ohhh it was

so good, but i tried some after i could eat regular again.. wow..

disgusting. i loved taking my antibiodict too (the pink bubble gum

liquid for kids) and i really liked eating pizza sauce..haha. apple

juice was my absolute favorite drink. its crazy when you can get

pretty full off of 20 cc's and feel like youre going to pop after 40

cc's.. i wish it was still like that for me. i remember being super

frustrated as well.. it took me a few weeks to be able to be

understood,i wasnt wired, only banded. i drooled for weeks. it was my

senior year and i stayed home for a full month. i was kind of scared

about graduating, but i did do it..so thats good (and besides the

point) i wore a " bib " 24/7. i ruined a lot of my clothes with my

drool stains....especially from the oreo pudding.lol.and yes you

really should get meds to help your stomach. hopefully by next week

you will feel more comfortable with your swelling, and everything

else thats icky. just remember we are our own worst critic, and if

you have a positive attitude towards yourself, others most likely

will follow.congrats:).

amanda

>

>

> > I just got home from the hospital. My doctor said the surgery

went

> > very well he could not ask for better. My jaw was moved 3mm and

> > corrected slighty lateral to line up the midlines I have very

> little

> > numbness on just one side which seems to be improving. My doctor

> said

> > he is sure I will not have any permanent numbness

> > I dont have any pain but I am so uncomfortable. I am wired with a

> > splint for the next six weeks. I cant communicate no one

> understands

> > me. When will I be able to communicate. My dad was telling the

cab

> > driver the wrong way to go to my house, I didnt have paper on me

at

> > that moment I was getting so frustrated. Eventhough I have lots

of

> > friends and family that love me and were very concerned I feel so

> > isolated. I look hideous right now. I weigh 125 pds yet my face

> looks

> > like it weighs 500. When will I be able to walk out in the street

> and

> > look normal. Did you guy have trouble getting food down with a

> straw.

> > I just tried to sip soup. The soup is too thick. Does your

ablilty

> to

> > eat get better. Any food suggestion for right after surgery. All

I

> > have eaten in 24 hours is apple juice and water I feel like I am

> > drooling a lot when does that go away? I keep getting naseous but

> > have no food in me to throw up.

> > I am proud that I did the surgery but miserable on how I feel

right

> > now. Any suggestions Thanks,