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!!!