Re: Just had surgery.. .have questions

[Guest guest]

I used a syringe to get the food in. I cut the end off the syringe

and stuck part of a straw on the remaining tip. Put it behind your

molars and voila! Shove the mush in. I ate blended soups, malt-o-

meal with lots of butter and maple syrup and smoothies. I lost about

12 pounds in the first week or so but put it back on pretty quick.

I never used heating pads. I think if you're still swolen you need

ice, not heat. You could also try alternating if the heat feels good

but your concerned about the swelling.

I was never actually wired, just banded but I was not able to chew

for about 6 weeks. Then it was just super soft foods. When your

wires come off you can cheat a little though. Anything that you can

smoosh on the roof of your mouth with out chewing will work.

Hang in there, it goes amazingly quick. I'm six months post-op and

have no regrets at all. In fact my braces come off on Wednesday. I

really can't beleive how fast it all went.

Good luck to you!

-- In orthognathicsurgerysupport , " Fulghum "

wrote:

> I just had surgery on Jan. 28th, and I have some questions. I'm

sorry

> if these questions have been answered before on this site. I'm just

> too exhausted to search. My teeth will be wired for a couple more

> weeks, and there is only a tiny gap where I can suck through a straw

> to get liquids down. Anything that has even the smallest pieces of

> food in it get caught in the opening making it very aggravating and

> hard to eat anything. Do you know of anything that I can make or

buy

> that is good and will give me some energy? I drink Boost and juices

> mostly.

>

> Another question is about the heating pads. I had to use ice packs

> for the first few days. Now, I have to use heat. The swelling has

> gone down but not as much as I hoped it would by now. I've also had

> trouble with the heating pads. How long am I supposed to use the

> heating pads and how often? When can I expect the swelling to go

> away? Is there some kind of heating pad out there that will make it

> easier to stay around my face? Right now, I put a heating pad on

one

> side of my face and another one on the other side. During the

night,

> I wind up throwing them off, or I feel like I am smothering. Any

advice?

>

> My doctor told me that when I get these wires off that he will put

> rubber bands on me. Will I be able to slowly begin opening my mouth

> again to finally eat some of my normal favorite soft foods? Or

will I

> still be stuck with the liquids? Please tell me your experience

with

> this so I can kind of know what to expect.

>

> Another question is about weight loss. How much weight can I expect

> to lose before this is over? I know it's different for everyone.

>

> Finally, is there anyone who is not happy with the results of the

> surgery? I'm thinking I will feel better about things once the

> swelling goes down. I hope.

>

> I thank you for your answers to these questions. I'm hoping it will

> bring me some peace of mind. I don't mean to complain so much. I

> guess I would have the surgery again if I had it to do all over.

> Thanks again for your time. I truly appreciate your help and

support!

>

> Sincerely,

[Guest guest]

note: When one says syringe, sometimes people's mind's eyes see

hypodermic needles, such as those used for vaccinations, novocaine,

etc. That's not at all what we're talking here.

The syringes I was sent home from the hospital with are somewhere

between an American Quarter and an American half-dollar in size, so

that gives you a chamber large enough to hold a can of Ensure.

There's a plunger that fits down in there, and it's all plastic,

including the part where the needle would be with a hypodermic.

Where can you get 'em? I dunno, because I had a lifetime supply from

the hospital. I'd think maybe a home health care place, or a hospital

supply place. Or maybe even a drug store, but I never tried that.

The other part of the gizmo they sent me home with was reguar

catheter tubing, which is made to go over the part of the plastic

syringe analogous to the needle. That way you're supposed to be able

to squirt.

The Zippie bags also squirt, which is better than sucking, lest you

damage the stitches.

And as for jaw wraps, you won't find a better one than the zippie

one. Although my surgeon did say he's seen some similar to the zippie

one elsewhere. They're soft jersey, fasten at the top with velcro and

have pockets to hold those heat-'em up packs, or frozen ones.

I don't know this for a fact, but I'd wager you could improvise

somethign with a couple of socks and some safety pins, if you have

the heat packs. The jaw wraps are much, much easier, though.

As for food: Blend, blend, blend. I used a stick blender, because of

the ease of the clean up. You can blend and thin almost anything

enough to make it work for you. Good wishes!

cammie

> > I just had surgery on Jan. 28th, and I have some questions. I'm

> sorry

> > if these questions have been answered before on this site. I'm

just

> > too exhausted to search. My teeth will be wired for a couple more

> > weeks, and there is only a tiny gap where I can suck through a

straw

> > to get liquids down. Anything that has even the smallest pieces

of

> > food in it get caught in the opening making it very aggravating

and

> > hard to eat anything. Do you know of anything that I can make or

> buy

> > that is good and will give me some energy? I drink Boost and

juices

> > mostly.

> >

> > Another question is about the heating pads. I had to use ice

packs

> > for the first few days. Now, I have to use heat. The swelling

has

> > gone down but not as much as I hoped it would by now. I've also

had

> > trouble with the heating pads. How long am I supposed to use the

> > heating pads and how often? When can I expect the swelling to go

> > away? Is there some kind of heating pad out there that will make

it

> > easier to stay around my face? Right now, I put a heating pad on

> one

> > side of my face and another one on the other side. During the

> night,

> > I wind up throwing them off, or I feel like I am smothering. Any

> advice?

> >

> > My doctor told me that when I get these wires off that he will put

> > rubber bands on me. Will I be able to slowly begin opening my

mouth

> > again to finally eat some of my normal favorite soft foods? Or

> will I

> > still be stuck with the liquids? Please tell me your experience

> with

> > this so I can kind of know what to expect.

> >

> > Another question is about weight loss. How much weight can I

expect

> > to lose before this is over? I know it's different for everyone.

> >

> > Finally, is there anyone who is not happy with the results of the

> > surgery? I'm thinking I will feel better about things once the

> > swelling goes down. I hope.

> >

> > I thank you for your answers to these questions. I'm hoping it

will

> > bring me some peace of mind. I don't mean to complain so much. I

> > guess I would have the surgery again if I had it to do all over.

> > Thanks again for your time. I truly appreciate your help and

> support!

> >

> > Sincerely,

[Guest guest]

> I just had surgery on Jan. 28th, and I have some questions. I'm

sorry

> if these questions have been answered before on this site. I'm just

> too exhausted to search. My teeth will be wired for a couple more

> weeks, and there is only a tiny gap where I can suck through a straw

> to get liquids down. Anything that has even the smallest pieces of

> food in it get caught in the opening making it very aggravating and

> hard to eat anything. Do you know of anything that I can make or

buy

> that is good and will give me some energy? I drink Boost and juices

> mostly.

>

> Another question is about the heating pads. I had to use ice packs

> for the first few days. Now, I have to use heat. The swelling has

> gone down but not as much as I hoped it would by now. I've also had

> trouble with the heating pads. How long am I supposed to use the

> heating pads and how often? When can I expect the swelling to go

> away? Is there some kind of heating pad out there that will make it

> easier to stay around my face? Right now, I put a heating pad on

one

> side of my face and another one on the other side. During the

night,

> I wind up throwing them off, or I feel like I am smothering. Any

advice?

>

> My doctor told me that when I get these wires off that he will put

> rubber bands on me. Will I be able to slowly begin opening my mouth

> again to finally eat some of my normal favorite soft foods? Or

will I

> still be stuck with the liquids? Please tell me your experience

with

> this so I can kind of know what to expect.

>

> Another question is about weight loss. How much weight can I expect

> to lose before this is over? I know it's different for everyone.

>

> Finally, is there anyone who is not happy with the results of the

> surgery? I'm thinking I will feel better about things once the

> swelling goes down. I hope.

>

> I thank you for your answers to these questions. I'm hoping it will

> bring me some peace of mind. I don't mean to complain so much. I

> guess I would have the surgery again if I had it to do all over.

> Thanks again for your time. I truly appreciate your help and

support!

>

> Sincerely,

Hi ,

I had lower jaw surgery the same day as you. I am having the same

problems with this liquid diet. I pass by bagel stores and look with

envy at people. I have a little more 4 and half wks to go till the

wires come out I am counting the days I have tried the real healthy

approach of juicing organic fruits and vegetables. Drinking soup

alot. I have been putting supplements that are high in protein in my

blended drinks of fruits. However I finally found a solution to beat

the hunger pangs I discovered you can blend just about anything if u

liqify it enough. I add soy milk to pasta and all kind of grain

cereals and put in the blender. You can do that with potatoes all

kinds of carbs to help yu beat the hunger. You can add regular milk

and butter. Its filling and pretty good at least for us that are food

deprived. I teach health education and can tell you that lack of

energy comes from lack of carbs. Sorry Atkins diet u loose weight but

it is dangerous.

I guess weight loss is different for everyone. The Dr told me expect

to lose 7 to 10 pd. The last couple of days I stabalized at 8pd lose.

Like u I have about the same time left to be wired so who knows how

much more weight will come off. I am not complaining I am back to my

svelt high school weight of 118.

As far as ur question of anyone regretting the surgery. I asked many

oral surgeons that question as well as my ortho. I went for way too

many consultation before I even got the braces on. Everyone answered

the question almost identically. All but one Dr said they have never

had a patient who regretted the surgery. One Dr said he had one in

the last 15 years and she had unusual complications and didnt heal

well. My Dr told me he never had even one patient in the 25 years he

had been doing surgery have permanent numbness. Your question was

really about results. If ur going to a really good Dr it should not

be a problem. My Dr said the idea of this surgery is not only to get

the best functional results but the best astheic results as well.

I have been really fortunate a good part of my swelling as gone down.

I love the results. I am still plenty puffy but I cant stop admiring

how good my jaw looks. I am sorry a little self centered here. Give

it time really soon ur being saying the thing. I was a little

depressed at first because it looked liked I had a small jaw due to

the swelling after surgery. My Dr. told me the majority of your

swelling goes down within 2 wks. Your going to notice that every day

it gets better. I guess everyone is different I dont know what

procedure u had. I think what may help is excercising a little. I

have been walking a lot. My Dr told me you can excercise as long as I

do not do any excercise to jar my jaw like jogging or jumping on a

trampoline. Excercise helps with circulation, therefor helping to

reduce swelling but consult with ur Dr. first.

Best of Luck counting the days with you.

[Guest guest]

I haven't had surgery yet, but I have been experimetning with some of

the herbal powders, " supreme greens " and things like that, I've

noticed I have more energy and am not as hungry, I've been sleeping

better too, you can mix these powders with water or any kind of juice

and take 1 or 2 times a day. Key in supreme greens in any search

engine and you will find a lot of websites that sell it and similar

products.

I plan on using this after my surgery to get enough nourishment.

MArsha

> I just had surgery on Jan. 28th, and I have some questions. I'm

sorry

> if these questions have been answered before on this site. I'm just

> too exhausted to search. My teeth will be wired for a couple more

> weeks, and there is only a tiny gap where I can suck through a straw

> to get liquids down. Anything that has even the smallest pieces of

> food in it get caught in the opening making it very aggravating and

> hard to eat anything. Do you know of anything that I can make or

buy

> that is good and will give me some energy? I drink Boost and juices

> mostly.

>

> Another question is about the heating pads. I had to use ice packs

> for the first few days. Now, I have to use heat. The swelling has

> gone down but not as much as I hoped it would by now. I've also had

> trouble with the heating pads. How long am I supposed to use the

> heating pads and how often? When can I expect the swelling to go

> away? Is there some kind of heating pad out there that will make it

> easier to stay around my face? Right now, I put a heating pad on

one

> side of my face and another one on the other side. During the

night,

> I wind up throwing them off, or I feel like I am smothering. Any

advice?

>

> My doctor told me that when I get these wires off that he will put

> rubber bands on me. Will I be able to slowly begin opening my mouth

> again to finally eat some of my normal favorite soft foods? Or

will I

> still be stuck with the liquids? Please tell me your experience

with

> this so I can kind of know what to expect.

>

> Another question is about weight loss. How much weight can I expect

> to lose before this is over? I know it's different for everyone.

>

> Finally, is there anyone who is not happy with the results of the

> surgery? I'm thinking I will feel better about things once the

> swelling goes down. I hope.

>

> I thank you for your answers to these questions. I'm hoping it will

> bring me some peace of mind. I don't mean to complain so much. I

> guess I would have the surgery again if I had it to do all over.

> Thanks again for your time. I truly appreciate your help and

support!

>

> Sincerely,