Pre-Surgery Suggestions

I promised I'd put my list of must-haves out there for anyone who could use them. I know everyone's experience is different, but these were the things that helped me most:

• Humidifier
• The machine you can rent through the surgeon/hospital to ice your face. I don't recall the name of it, but it's a water mask that is attached to a machine and it constantly flows water at the appropriate temperature to reduce swelling. It's not cheap -- somewhere around $350 to rent for a week. BUT, it was well worth the price. My surgeon's assistant recommended it at my pre-opp meeting. But, before she said anything, someone in my office who had the surgery a few years ago told me I had to get it. He was right. I have low iron and bruise SUPER easily. But, I wore this thing non-stop (you bring it with you to the hospital on the day of surgery and they put it on while you're passed out) and had VERY little bruising. It's also a lot cleaner than using ice packs and the temperature is more consistent.
• Syringes. I lived off of the big ones to "eat" for the first few weeks. I didn't have to buy mine. I received a packet of items from my surgeon at the pre-opp appointment -- I think that's pretty common. They gave me 2 and then there was a third one for me in my hospital room that I got to take home as well. "Eating" was such a pain but these helped a bit.
• A bucket of some sort. I know this sounds weird. But, at the hospital, they had a little bucket thing for all of my meds, etc. to sit in. The hospital makes you take everything with you or they throw it away (germs, etc.) so I took mine and figured I'd find a use for it. It turned out to be SO helpful. "Eating" is such a mess with the syringe. So, I would put my bowl in the bucket and "eat" over it. That way, when I spilled stuff, it didn't go everywhere.
• Baby toothbrushes and children's mouthwash without alcohol. I didn't return to adult brushes until around the 6th week. These things were super helpful.
• Nasal spray. My surgeon gave me a prescription for one and also put a non-prescription one on the list of meds for me to pick up at the Rx. I had to bring them with me on the day of surgery. They used them a lot right before the surgery to keep everything moist and then I continued using them for about a week or two after the surgery. As much as I hated them, they were super helpful.
• Kleenex and paper towels. It's gross, but your nose goes through a lot and the Kleenex is necessary. Remember you can't blow your nose, though! The paper towels are helpful when eating.
• Protein power and vitamins. It's really hard to get the nutrients you need and these help. You can crush up the vitamins into the blender with the protein powder and liquid food.
• Baby rice cereal -- it has nutrients and is easy to eat after the jaw is unwired. And it tastes good.
  
• Movies, magazines, books, etc. All very necessary. It gets boring. If you can borrow someone's dog, that's helpful too. I was lucky to have Darla and she helped make the harder days less difficult.

One of the other things I'd recommend is to not get over-zealous on buying things. I went CRAZY! I bought way more liquid food options than I needed. I was worried about getting nutrients, so I bought baby food, smoothies, and things like that. Turns out, I didn't need most of it and threw a lot of it out. Because you're not eating as much, you lose your appetite so it's really important to have options of things you actually want to eat. The only thing that sounded good to me for the first few weeks was a chocolate milkshake. So, I just did my best to get nutrients through that -- milk, protein powder, vitamins, etc. After that, I was into soups and stuff like that. To the extent you can just get a few things before the surgery and have someone to help you get more items after, I'd recommend doing that so you know what you actually want and don't end up having to throw out a lot of stuff like I did. Outside of food stuff, I'd also check with your surgeon to find out which supplies they'll give you, like the syringes, etc. You may not have to buy a lot of things because they'll give them to you.

One final thought . . . as you start moving into soft chew, egg whites and polenta are great options. I don't eat meat, so I don't have any meat suggestions. But, these items were great for the transition from liquid meals.

I hope this helps. I'll add other stuff if I think about it. So excited for everyone!!!

3 Months!!!

Wow, I can't believe it has been three months since my surgery! I'm not gonna lie -- the first month dragged a little bit more than the past two. Since returning to work, time has just flown by!

I've had a few appointments with my orthodontist since my surgeon released me to finish up the fine tuning. I haven't seen my surgeon since March and won't see him again until June. My orthodontist said everything is looking really good. They're just having to use rubber bands to get everything set exactly where it needs to go. The first round of rubber bands went really well. How much longer I have my braces on will depend upon how long it takes my back right molars to touch. I mentioned earlier that they did the surgery a little different than originally planned. That resulted in a gap between my top and bottom molars on the right side. It freaked me out at first and I made the decision that I couldn't allow myself to obsess about it (or I'd drive myself crazy), which is why I didn't write about it. Eating salads is still impossible on that side because of it. But, I've decided to have faith and am hopeful it will get all resolved with a little more time in braces. Even though I am always ready for them to come off, I'm less anxious to get the braces removed ever since the surgery. I feel like they're a bit of a security blanket to make sure everything stays in place. I'm still nervous to bite down on anything hard, but am getting less freaked out day by day.

Aside from my fear of hard foods, most everything else is back to normal. I have feeling back almost everywhere and am back to talking everyone's ears off. My gums are still numb and there's still a little tingly part above my right upper lip. But, it's not anything that bothers me. I FINALLY got to start running again this week, which was a big milestone for me. It's how I release stress and it was hard not to be able to have that outlet (I'm fairly certain it was hard for those around me, too -- I can get a bit cranky without that release). My surgeon said I had to wait three months to start running again. Last Friday was 12 weeks; today is 3 calendar months. I had to work all weekend and needed a release so I split the difference and started back again on Tuesday. The hardest part was getting used to the breathing now that my jaw (and nose) are aligned differently. It's so crazy how this surgery impacts different things!

Anyhow, that's about it for now. I hope everyone is doing well. SO excited for everyone who is having their surgeries in May! It will fly by! Very happy for you!