to all of you that are post op or nearing your surgery date...

[Guest guest]

I have not posted in quite some time. I had upper jaw surgery to

correct an open bite on October 27, 2003. I also had an elective

(cosmetic) genioplasty. I am about 19 weeks post op.

I am here to tell you that there is a big bright light at the end of

the tunnel. My recovery was also full of struggles and bad moods but

it was also full of good humor, lots of laughs and the support of

family & friends. As I have read here today, it is what you make of

it. You can either feel sorry for yourself and be miserable or you

can try to make the best of it.

I was not wired, but I was still not permitted to chew anything for 6

weeks. I became very creative with food & the blender. I did not

consume one boost or ensure. I did try Myoplex as a meal replacement

only to find out I didn't like it and had wasted 60$ on a case. I

prefered to " eat " normal foods, I just mashed them up really well or

blended them. The first week I had lots of mashed potatoes both

idaho & sweet. I also ate lots of mashed up avocados, I mushed them

up with a hand blender and added a bit of olive oil, seasoning &

lemon juice. I spent my time making homemade healthy soups and stews

that were easy to swallow. I also drank tons of homemade chicken

broth for the first 3 weeks.

After 4 days of sitting around my apartment I became bored and

started having friends over to visit. I even went out to run errands

with my sister, totally bruised & swollen. People stared, that is

ok, I as just happy to be out of the house. I bruised worse than

most for some reason & was a palette of various colors for about 8

weeks. I was terribly swollen for the first 7 days and then things

started to go down slowly.

This is not an easy thing to put yourself through and I know it can

be depressing & tough. My birthday was during week 5 of recovery and

I still wasn't able to chew.

I didn't let this not chewing thing hold be back from anything. I

went to happy hour at my favorite sushi bar starting at week 3 and

was able to " eat " thinly sliced fish (Uzuzukuri) by just swallowing

little bits. I also was able to eat tofu & ginger sauce. This was

very easy to mush up with a fork. I was with my friends, enjoying

life, having drinks and doing the best I could. I am telling you,

recovery is what you make of it.

Anyway to make a long story short, I have no regrets. My open bite

is gone, I love my new profile and hopefully will be brace free by

June.

In fact, I just got back from a 7 day Caribbean cruise, and I did

plenty of eating to make up for the 6 weeks of not chewing.

My photo file on this website got all screwed up but I will try to

post some before, during & after surgery photos today under a file

called Florida.

Happy healing to all of you and to those of you still waiting for

your date, this all will soon be a distant memory.

If any of you want to IM me with questions on AOL, you can get me at

Elijahdoll.

Best,

~