(update: I am replacing all of the missing pictures manually. yes this is taking a ton of time. but i can't just leave it... definitely not fun)
- Katie:)
Showing posts with label liquid diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label liquid diet. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Day 401 - Trying to fix the pictures..! and updates..
So I just checked my blog only to find that all of the pictures i had up are missing... uh oh. I am going to try my best to fix things! I am very upset about this :(
(update: I am replacing all of the missing pictures manually. yes this is taking a ton of time. but i can't just leave it... definitely not fun)
But anyway.. I had an appt with my jaw surgeon a week-ish ago. Because of my joint pain, he believes I should get an MRI to see if my disks are in the correct places. Also, since my condyle is degenerative, I am getting another CT scan to see if it has changed in the last 2 years. I should be getting those tests done in the next couple of weeks.. so I'll post an update after I hear what my surgeon has to say about them. Although I am sad about how much pain I have right now, hopefully these tests can give us more information and hopefully move to try to fix my issues. I have been really down lately about my jaw. The combined joint and muscle pain has forced me to eat soft foods (and even chewing soft food hurts..) But I'm doing my best to stay chipper and distracted. All is well on other accounts in my life. I'm just busy preparing for my first year of college. Hope all is well out there!
- Katie:)
(update: I am replacing all of the missing pictures manually. yes this is taking a ton of time. but i can't just leave it... definitely not fun)
- Katie:)
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Day 63 - NINE WEEKS. i did it. :)
Guys, i made it to 9 weeks. and things are pretty darn great :) i am doing really wonderful overall and could even describe things as "normal". if you asked me 1-2 weeks out if i thought that was possible i would have said never. but here we are!
So tomorrow i go back to school, hence i won't be writing in this as much. I successfully wrote in this blog every day for the first 9 weeks, and i'd say this is a good time to make it updated less often. which is a good thing! that means i must be doing well :)
swelling- i feel like by the end of the day my swelling worsens a tiny bit from all the talking and chewing that i do. but overall i think it is mostly gone.. still some though. i saw one of my friend's mom the first time since surgery and she commented that she thought i was swollen, but my friend thought it was mostly gone, probably since she has seen me several times since surgery when my swelling is much worse. i guess it all has to do with perspective. but i look very normal, so i am okay with it right now, not too frustrated anymore :)
energy-normal! woo. the only this is that im way out of shape now, i feel pathetic. haha, i mean not that i was "in shape" beforehand... but i even felt kinda tired from walking in golf. oops! normally i work out in the summer.. but it just wasn't gonna happen this year. but oh well.
chewing- i know i have talked quite a bit about this in the last few posts seeing as this is the main thing going on right now in my recovery! i still LOVE food immensely, and things are getting easier and easier to eat, which i am so grateful for. the clicking is still there but not always so we will see how that turns out... so before surgery i almost always had a piece of gum in my mouth, it just felt better to be chewing gum than to have my mouth awkwardly half-closed. and i LOVE chewing gum. but obviously that still isn't an option :( so in preparation for school, i went and bought several containers of tic-tacs, those will have to suffice until gum is an option!
numbness- okay, so this is getting harder and harder to describe... so bear with me. ill place my numbness into categories. the only parts that are completely numb are my upper gums, and the incision areas. everything else i don't count as completely numb because i can tell when i am touching it.
stiffness- this has been kinda annoying throughout recovery and one of my biggest complaints the last few weeks. i mean i can smile fairly easily and talk and make normal facial expressions, but my face just feels stiff and weird! probably partly from the partial numbness still. i assume this will get better
normalcy?- i now quite often will forget that i had jaw surgery during the day until i either have a random ache, or i get hungry and realize that there are only so many things that i can eat. but hey, not a bad thing at all :) it is really nice for surgery to not be consuming my life anymore. it is weird when people ask me how my summer was and i have to make that split decision as to whether i tell them i had jaw surgery etc. i am getting better at explaining it, but it still takes a big of time and idk! i haven't decided who all needs to know about it.
pain- any "pain" is pretty much gone, i have some aches for some parts of the day, but nothing horrible, just kinda uncomfortable. but the times where i feel great is when the pain and discomfort is gone and i forget about surgery.
sensitivity- it still kinda hurts to brush with my sonicare, so i have just been using my regular and/or baby toothbrushes still.
nose- i have had really really bad allergies lately from golf and so i end up sneezing a ton. not good by any means, but not the end of the world. sometimes blowing my nose hurts really bad so i have been trying to be careful with that.
bite opening- i am still working on opening my mouth wider, a hard process that leaves my jaw achy sometimes, but im slowly improving! almost to 30mm need at least 35.
pictures!
hope all is well with you guys. thank you to anyone who has read my blog or commented, the support has really helped more than anyone can imagine. i hope that this helps someone, but if not, it has been amazing to put all of my thoughts into one place during recovery. on those days where it seems like it wont get better, i can always look back and see how far ive come. which is so great :) take care, until next time.
-Katie:)
So tomorrow i go back to school, hence i won't be writing in this as much. I successfully wrote in this blog every day for the first 9 weeks, and i'd say this is a good time to make it updated less often. which is a good thing! that means i must be doing well :)
swelling- i feel like by the end of the day my swelling worsens a tiny bit from all the talking and chewing that i do. but overall i think it is mostly gone.. still some though. i saw one of my friend's mom the first time since surgery and she commented that she thought i was swollen, but my friend thought it was mostly gone, probably since she has seen me several times since surgery when my swelling is much worse. i guess it all has to do with perspective. but i look very normal, so i am okay with it right now, not too frustrated anymore :)
energy-normal! woo. the only this is that im way out of shape now, i feel pathetic. haha, i mean not that i was "in shape" beforehand... but i even felt kinda tired from walking in golf. oops! normally i work out in the summer.. but it just wasn't gonna happen this year. but oh well.
chewing- i know i have talked quite a bit about this in the last few posts seeing as this is the main thing going on right now in my recovery! i still LOVE food immensely, and things are getting easier and easier to eat, which i am so grateful for. the clicking is still there but not always so we will see how that turns out... so before surgery i almost always had a piece of gum in my mouth, it just felt better to be chewing gum than to have my mouth awkwardly half-closed. and i LOVE chewing gum. but obviously that still isn't an option :( so in preparation for school, i went and bought several containers of tic-tacs, those will have to suffice until gum is an option!
numbness- okay, so this is getting harder and harder to describe... so bear with me. ill place my numbness into categories. the only parts that are completely numb are my upper gums, and the incision areas. everything else i don't count as completely numb because i can tell when i am touching it.
stiffness- this has been kinda annoying throughout recovery and one of my biggest complaints the last few weeks. i mean i can smile fairly easily and talk and make normal facial expressions, but my face just feels stiff and weird! probably partly from the partial numbness still. i assume this will get better
normalcy?- i now quite often will forget that i had jaw surgery during the day until i either have a random ache, or i get hungry and realize that there are only so many things that i can eat. but hey, not a bad thing at all :) it is really nice for surgery to not be consuming my life anymore. it is weird when people ask me how my summer was and i have to make that split decision as to whether i tell them i had jaw surgery etc. i am getting better at explaining it, but it still takes a big of time and idk! i haven't decided who all needs to know about it.
pain- any "pain" is pretty much gone, i have some aches for some parts of the day, but nothing horrible, just kinda uncomfortable. but the times where i feel great is when the pain and discomfort is gone and i forget about surgery.
sensitivity- it still kinda hurts to brush with my sonicare, so i have just been using my regular and/or baby toothbrushes still.
nose- i have had really really bad allergies lately from golf and so i end up sneezing a ton. not good by any means, but not the end of the world. sometimes blowing my nose hurts really bad so i have been trying to be careful with that.
bite opening- i am still working on opening my mouth wider, a hard process that leaves my jaw achy sometimes, but im slowly improving! almost to 30mm need at least 35.
pictures!
hope all is well with you guys. thank you to anyone who has read my blog or commented, the support has really helped more than anyone can imagine. i hope that this helps someone, but if not, it has been amazing to put all of my thoughts into one place during recovery. on those days where it seems like it wont get better, i can always look back and see how far ive come. which is so great :) take care, until next time.
-Katie:)
Friday, August 9, 2013
Day 59 - well... at least i can chew again!!
YAY. I can chew. long story short.. ahha. but ill back up to my appt.
my surgeon checked to make sure my plates and jaw position wasn't unstable or moving. and said it was all stable and healed super well, so yay for that :) makes me feel better about putting pressure on my jaws by chewing. he then tested me opening and closing my mouth and didn't notice any clicking in my jaw.. so said i should resume eating. he said the clicking isn't anything major as long as it isn't hindering how far i can open my mouth... and with that... he said i need to keep at opening my jaw wider, i am now at 27 mm and need to be at least 35 mm wide. so i am continuing with my exercises with my tongue depressors! haha... he said by my next appt in 2 weeks i need to be at 30 mm. so i better get at it.. i want to be able to open wider too. especially with singing..! show choir started up this week! and im so happy for that, absolutely love show choir... singing and dancing on stage is just too much fun. and we get to sing parts of Phantom.. who doesnt love that theme?! woo :)
hmm... other things, i got back to school on tuesday. so i am going to stop doing daily posts starting monday (at 9 weeks post op). because ill be too busy to post... and also I've started to have less and less to say... which must be a good thing!! :) but trust me, ill still keep this updated, itll be weird not to write in this before i go to bed every night....
also, my birthday is a week from today! so yay for that.
in chewing news... i tried chewing on my way home from the appt (grabbed a cookie from the downstairs cafe at the hospital which was delicious btw) and the clicking was minimal, so hopefully that goes away eventually :( super annoying....
as far as pain goes at this point, some days i feel absolutely no pain. just some discomfort still, but other days, like today, i have some areas that ache. yesterday the left side of my lower jaw ached while today the right side does. it isn't bad enough for me to feel like i need medicine (trying to stay away from all of that, even motrin and tylenol). if it ever gets bad enough ill take medicine, but luckily i can easily manage without it!
until tomorrow,
-Katie:)
my surgeon checked to make sure my plates and jaw position wasn't unstable or moving. and said it was all stable and healed super well, so yay for that :) makes me feel better about putting pressure on my jaws by chewing. he then tested me opening and closing my mouth and didn't notice any clicking in my jaw.. so said i should resume eating. he said the clicking isn't anything major as long as it isn't hindering how far i can open my mouth... and with that... he said i need to keep at opening my jaw wider, i am now at 27 mm and need to be at least 35 mm wide. so i am continuing with my exercises with my tongue depressors! haha... he said by my next appt in 2 weeks i need to be at 30 mm. so i better get at it.. i want to be able to open wider too. especially with singing..! show choir started up this week! and im so happy for that, absolutely love show choir... singing and dancing on stage is just too much fun. and we get to sing parts of Phantom.. who doesnt love that theme?! woo :)
hmm... other things, i got back to school on tuesday. so i am going to stop doing daily posts starting monday (at 9 weeks post op). because ill be too busy to post... and also I've started to have less and less to say... which must be a good thing!! :) but trust me, ill still keep this updated, itll be weird not to write in this before i go to bed every night....
also, my birthday is a week from today! so yay for that.
in chewing news... i tried chewing on my way home from the appt (grabbed a cookie from the downstairs cafe at the hospital which was delicious btw) and the clicking was minimal, so hopefully that goes away eventually :( super annoying....
as far as pain goes at this point, some days i feel absolutely no pain. just some discomfort still, but other days, like today, i have some areas that ache. yesterday the left side of my lower jaw ached while today the right side does. it isn't bad enough for me to feel like i need medicine (trying to stay away from all of that, even motrin and tylenol). if it ever gets bad enough ill take medicine, but luckily i can easily manage without it!
until tomorrow,
-Katie:)
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Day 58 - Another Before/After
Well guys... nothing new to report today. just here. NOT chewing. just what i wanted :\
But anyway... I had another college visit today that went well :) need to get my stupid essays done for all of these applications... ahh.... major stressing about to happen. but ill just shove that to the back of my mind and pretend that it doesn't exist. as i do with all of my problems. including the fact that my jaw clicks and im not allowed to chew and i need to have a visit with my surgeon tomorrow instead of in about 3 weeks. but la la la la... im ignoring anything negative tonight. i will be in bed reading a book for fun (instead of my summer book for school..oops) haha.
hey, quick random question/comment. so i feel like my face (all throughout recovery) has always swelled up more from the heat. so today for example, on my college tour, it was fairly warm outside and my face just begins to feel wet (weird numbness sensations) and just feels like a puff-ball. i don't know if it makes a huge difference physically to other people, but it sure feels noticeable and uncomfortable to me. anyone else experience this at all...?
fingers crossed for a good appointment tomorrow, hope all is well with you guys :)
-Katie:)
But anyway... I had another college visit today that went well :) need to get my stupid essays done for all of these applications... ahh.... major stressing about to happen. but ill just shove that to the back of my mind and pretend that it doesn't exist. as i do with all of my problems. including the fact that my jaw clicks and im not allowed to chew and i need to have a visit with my surgeon tomorrow instead of in about 3 weeks. but la la la la... im ignoring anything negative tonight. i will be in bed reading a book for fun (instead of my summer book for school..oops) haha.
 |
fingers crossed for a good appointment tomorrow, hope all is well with you guys :)
-Katie:)
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Day 57 - :( One step forward, two steps back (not allowed to chew again)
So... I mentioned in my last post how the left side of my jaw was clicking when i ate... so we called my surgeon's office to let them know. They just called back... and said that they don't want me chewing anymore and that my surgeon wants to see me in a couple days. sigh. just when things were getting better.... I don't think i have anything else to say... :(
at least i could barely notice any swelling today. that is a first for me.
as always, take care.
-Katie:)
Day 56 - 8 WEEKS!! - i can chew! (well.. kinda)
THE DAY HAS ARRIVED GUYS. as you can tell im pretty happy. best day ever. :)
i can chew. whoopee :)
my day started off with an early 7:30 am appt with my orthodontist. okay, i know i posted a little bit ago about the whole ordeal with rubber bands on the front of my mouth and the communication issues between my surgeon and ortho and their offices... blah. so today i finally got scheduled with my orthodontist. first they pulled out my lower wire. ouch! only to put the same one back in.... :\ did they really have to torture me that extra amount for no reason? they then switched my top wire, and i still have boxes with rubber bands... on the sides... just smaller boxes. i realized they weren't putting bands on the front... which is what my surgeon wanted... so i asked my ortho about this... cause i was concerned and confused. he told me that my front 2 teeth slightly were overlapping one another and so the band on the front would only worsen that. which i guess makes sense.. hopefully my surgeon is okay with this? anyway... so i go back to see my ortho in 4 weeks. all of the nurses/assistants there were all over me again asking how i was, even ones that i barely recognized! so weird (in a good way) and cool that they all know about me and such :) it was very nice of them.
after my early morning appt... (i have been suffering all day from not getting a ton of sleep last night :P better get on a better schedule again, oops!) i walked into my kitchen contemplating whether i wanted an egg or smoothie when suddenly it hit me. i could try something new. i immediately went for the cinnamon-sugar toast. well... i just microwaved it so it would be soft, so actually it would be bread not toast :P and then just put a ton of butter on it. and had my first attempt at chewing! after EIGHT WEEKS of nothing. wow. the first thing i would call it is.. weird. really weird. it feels like hmm.... like i am chewing a piece of rubber. because i feel like my jaw isnt strong enough to bite down completely on everything. just kinda squishes the food down enough to swallow. and it kinda gives me a headache. and my left jaw started clicking/popping which has me super worried..... i hope this goes away :( so i need to start practicing and reteaching myself how to chew! was i expecting it to be hard to chew? yes. was i successful at chewing? only a tiny bit. was it still amazing? YES:)
so, one of my friends texted me since she knew today was the big day. she came and picked me up and we adventured through target. i decided that what i wanted the most today, was potato chips. i figured they would dissolve easy enough to make them manageable to chew. so we picked up 2 bags and just sat and watched a movie and netflix together all afternoon. it was pretty great. :) i basically ate potato chips for both lunch and dinner and am not even ashamed to admit it! ill go back to eating "healthy" stuff tomorrow... today was a special day.
In regards to the whole chewing thing, itll take a while to get anywhere near normal. Today, i started to get sores underneath my top lip and cheeks from rubbing against my braces... whether this is from talking a lot, or the ortho adjustment this morning, or chewing, i have no clue. but it makes it hurt to talk! so hopefuly those heal up quickly. i may be wearing wax tomorrow.
also... i wanted to complain quickly about the numbness still around my incision areas or areas in the back of my mouth still being numb, because now that i can chew, i got food stuck in all sorts of places in my mouth and didnt notice for a while! so annoying... don't know the best way to clean that out besides just brushing my teeth (since im not allowed to use my water pick yet). so ill just be brushing my teeth a lot for a while...
so! since this is a big "8 week" post... ill write more about how i am feeling/doing overall
sleep - i can now sleep on my face without pain, so yay for sleeping curled up in a ball:)
energy - normal! i havent exercised yet mostly because it feels weird on my face to run and/or jump... the pain is slowly going down. but i feel like it would be kinda painful for me. i could tough it out if necessary though!
numbness
so this is getting harder and harder to explain. ill start off by saying that i can "feel" everywhere i touch except for my gums on my top teeth. which is pretty great. now.. i have a TON of partial numbness though. the inside of my mouth has the most numbness. areas around the incisions are pretty numb. hmm, so are the insides of my cheeks. my left cheek is way more numb than my right though which is weird. the areas on either side of nose are the most numb on the outside of my face. but idk, it is really hard to tell what is numb and what isnt and what is tingly, idk! just all runs together. ill include in this part this my face is still stiff. smiling is still a tad awkward. and yeah
random stuff now... so... im still working on getting to open my mouth wider, im slowly making progress! im at about 28 mm, and gotta get to 35 mm. hopefully i can! cause it makes singing easier when i can actually open my mouth.
my nose still is annoying... pretty sure i have a deviated septum now :\ so i can almost never breathe out of the left side of my nose... but idk. we'll see what happens in the future...
i am still not taking any medicine for pain, even though sometimes i have it, it isn't bad enough to take medicine normally. yay for that :) i have a lot of headaches though... and just random aches. but oh well. gets better by the day still.
swelling is pretty much gone. some people say they notice it, some don't. not sure what to believe, i feel kinda puffy, but i think this is mostly just from the remaining numbness and stiffness.
anyway, i think i got enough into this post... overall things are great :) hope all is great with anyone still reading this. a big thanks if you are :) this blog has been amazing. much love.
-Katie:)
i can chew. whoopee :)
my day started off with an early 7:30 am appt with my orthodontist. okay, i know i posted a little bit ago about the whole ordeal with rubber bands on the front of my mouth and the communication issues between my surgeon and ortho and their offices... blah. so today i finally got scheduled with my orthodontist. first they pulled out my lower wire. ouch! only to put the same one back in.... :\ did they really have to torture me that extra amount for no reason? they then switched my top wire, and i still have boxes with rubber bands... on the sides... just smaller boxes. i realized they weren't putting bands on the front... which is what my surgeon wanted... so i asked my ortho about this... cause i was concerned and confused. he told me that my front 2 teeth slightly were overlapping one another and so the band on the front would only worsen that. which i guess makes sense.. hopefully my surgeon is okay with this? anyway... so i go back to see my ortho in 4 weeks. all of the nurses/assistants there were all over me again asking how i was, even ones that i barely recognized! so weird (in a good way) and cool that they all know about me and such :) it was very nice of them.
after my early morning appt... (i have been suffering all day from not getting a ton of sleep last night :P better get on a better schedule again, oops!) i walked into my kitchen contemplating whether i wanted an egg or smoothie when suddenly it hit me. i could try something new. i immediately went for the cinnamon-sugar toast. well... i just microwaved it so it would be soft, so actually it would be bread not toast :P and then just put a ton of butter on it. and had my first attempt at chewing! after EIGHT WEEKS of nothing. wow. the first thing i would call it is.. weird. really weird. it feels like hmm.... like i am chewing a piece of rubber. because i feel like my jaw isnt strong enough to bite down completely on everything. just kinda squishes the food down enough to swallow. and it kinda gives me a headache. and my left jaw started clicking/popping which has me super worried..... i hope this goes away :( so i need to start practicing and reteaching myself how to chew! was i expecting it to be hard to chew? yes. was i successful at chewing? only a tiny bit. was it still amazing? YES:)
so, one of my friends texted me since she knew today was the big day. she came and picked me up and we adventured through target. i decided that what i wanted the most today, was potato chips. i figured they would dissolve easy enough to make them manageable to chew. so we picked up 2 bags and just sat and watched a movie and netflix together all afternoon. it was pretty great. :) i basically ate potato chips for both lunch and dinner and am not even ashamed to admit it! ill go back to eating "healthy" stuff tomorrow... today was a special day.
In regards to the whole chewing thing, itll take a while to get anywhere near normal. Today, i started to get sores underneath my top lip and cheeks from rubbing against my braces... whether this is from talking a lot, or the ortho adjustment this morning, or chewing, i have no clue. but it makes it hurt to talk! so hopefuly those heal up quickly. i may be wearing wax tomorrow.
also... i wanted to complain quickly about the numbness still around my incision areas or areas in the back of my mouth still being numb, because now that i can chew, i got food stuck in all sorts of places in my mouth and didnt notice for a while! so annoying... don't know the best way to clean that out besides just brushing my teeth (since im not allowed to use my water pick yet). so ill just be brushing my teeth a lot for a while...
so! since this is a big "8 week" post... ill write more about how i am feeling/doing overall
sleep - i can now sleep on my face without pain, so yay for sleeping curled up in a ball:)
energy - normal! i havent exercised yet mostly because it feels weird on my face to run and/or jump... the pain is slowly going down. but i feel like it would be kinda painful for me. i could tough it out if necessary though!
numbness
so this is getting harder and harder to explain. ill start off by saying that i can "feel" everywhere i touch except for my gums on my top teeth. which is pretty great. now.. i have a TON of partial numbness though. the inside of my mouth has the most numbness. areas around the incisions are pretty numb. hmm, so are the insides of my cheeks. my left cheek is way more numb than my right though which is weird. the areas on either side of nose are the most numb on the outside of my face. but idk, it is really hard to tell what is numb and what isnt and what is tingly, idk! just all runs together. ill include in this part this my face is still stiff. smiling is still a tad awkward. and yeah
random stuff now... so... im still working on getting to open my mouth wider, im slowly making progress! im at about 28 mm, and gotta get to 35 mm. hopefully i can! cause it makes singing easier when i can actually open my mouth.
my nose still is annoying... pretty sure i have a deviated septum now :\ so i can almost never breathe out of the left side of my nose... but idk. we'll see what happens in the future...
i am still not taking any medicine for pain, even though sometimes i have it, it isn't bad enough to take medicine normally. yay for that :) i have a lot of headaches though... and just random aches. but oh well. gets better by the day still.
swelling is pretty much gone. some people say they notice it, some don't. not sure what to believe, i feel kinda puffy, but i think this is mostly just from the remaining numbness and stiffness.
anyway, i think i got enough into this post... overall things are great :) hope all is great with anyone still reading this. a big thanks if you are :) this blog has been amazing. much love.
-Katie:)
Monday, August 5, 2013
Day 55 - Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow!
So today i have been humming (and singing of course!) Tomorrow from Annie. because, tomorrow, I GET TO CHEW. hence, i completely love tomorrow. and am excited. if you can't tell.
yay
yay
yay
yay:)
I am a tiny bit terrified that either A) I wont be able to chew anything... or B) it'll hurt a ton...
but hey, gotta try! i am just so ready to chew. and i know it maybe isn't the biggest deal ever to most people... BUT this is what i have been looking forward to for ages. so fingers crossed that my diet goes back to normal quickly!
Since tomorrow is also 8 weeks ill write up some huge long post about everything i can possibly think of :P so ill quit going on about nothing tonight! hope all is well with you guys :)
-Katie:)
yay
yay
yay
yay:)
I am a tiny bit terrified that either A) I wont be able to chew anything... or B) it'll hurt a ton...
but hey, gotta try! i am just so ready to chew. and i know it maybe isn't the biggest deal ever to most people... BUT this is what i have been looking forward to for ages. so fingers crossed that my diet goes back to normal quickly!
Since tomorrow is also 8 weeks ill write up some huge long post about everything i can possibly think of :P so ill quit going on about nothing tonight! hope all is well with you guys :)
-Katie:)
Friday, August 2, 2013
Day 53 - No Chew Diet... FOOD LIST
Okay, so today (since i can't think of anything better to ramble on about) i am just going to compile a huge list of everything that i discovered i could eat without chewing. This isnt necessarily a "liquid" diet... but i was able to mash all of these foods well enough with a fork to choke them down with little effort without chewing, which was/is my constraint! But, ill start with what i ate the first week when i was completely banded shut and had to use a syringe. because i battled a ton of nausea though... i didn't eat a ton. resulting in me losing 7 pounds the first week... which is quite a lot for how tiny i am already. but, i stopped losing weight after i discovered i could eat mashed cake after being unbanded :P anyway... here is a long list!
Liquids (stuff i ate through the syringe in the hospital..)
Breakfast
Liquids (stuff i ate through the syringe in the hospital..)
- apple and grape juice (my favorites to mix with the icky medicine)
- sprite/ginger ale and other sodas hurt a tiny bit on my throat, but helped my stomach settle
- gatorade/powerade is a major must
- smoothies - as long as they were melted enough! (no seeds)
- Boost Breeze - this was my main way of getting in calories, each 8 fl oz juice box had 250 calories and 9 grams of protein. they tasted like jello to me, i like orange the best! (i couldnt stand the taste of things like ensure... as i hate the taste of milk (probably from being lactose intolerant.))
- Tomato soup was awesome too. My only complaint was that it coated the back of my throat and teeth.. and as i couldn't brush my teeth it just made me feel gross. plus, it made it harder to breathe as my throat felt so clogged.
- Chicken broth, can't go wrong with this
- any other blended soup or food for that matter.. i never found one i liked very much.. and as i only needed to use syringes for a week, i never ventured too far with blended things.
No-Chew Foods (now... i kinda do a "half-chew" with my tongue and just used saliva to get most of these things down, some of them hurt my throat a tiny bit, but is was SO worth it... there was NO way i was going to eat blended foods for 2 months... that was too gross for me.)
after every single one of these items, just add on in your head "mashed with a fork" my fork did all of the "chewing" for me!
Breakfast
- scrambled eggs
- pancakes (cut them up SUPER tiny and then add a lot of syrup and peanut butter for protein-YUM)
- hashbrowns -mashed.. these were harder to get down, but you can always douse them in syrup
- yogurt of course! (just had to take my lactose intolerant medicine)
- fruit - i discovered that i could swallow raspberries and blackberries if they were overripe and squishy, if i mashed them up, also! i enjoyed almost rotten peaches mashed with a fork, and bananas (with peanut butter). other soft fruits work mashed up too!
- applesauce (this was my GO-TO thing to eat in the middle of the night when my medicine said to take "with food" so that my stomach wouldn't hurt)
- smoothies - i got really good at making these myself, i just pour in apple juice and cran-raspberry juice, then frozen mixed berries, and frozen bananas, and blended it up! then i would add in Miralax, which i have used to keep my stomach issues at bay... and if it was sour, i could always dump in a ton of sugar!)
Lunch/Dinner
- soups.. of course.. but i got sick of those... so i quit eating soup. i hate soup now actually.
- spaghetti (and other noodles)- okay, everyone always makes so much fun of me... because i cut up the noodles SUPER tiny and relatively quickly! i am pretty darn good at it by now.. haha. but this was one of my main meals for the longest time. i also found these tiny "circle" noodles that i didnt even have to cut up! they slipped right down my throat, yay
- sloppy joes - just the inside of course :P
- ice cream
- baked beans
- black beans and rice and salsa all mixed together
- rice - with different sauces, mexican, chinese, etc
- refried beans
- chili
- cornbread casserole - best. thing. ever.
- mashed potatoes - definitely one of the main things i have eaten!
- CAKE - just put extra frosting on and mash with fork. SO amazing.
- peanut butter (just on a spoon. mix in honey too. yum.)
- melted chocolate
- mini lollipops
- the inside of tacos (ground beef, cheese, salsa, rice, all mixed together, yum)
- stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy and turkey (shredded) and all mixed together
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A huge thanks to those of you still reading..! Hope all is well.
-Katie:)
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Day 52 - Running? No Thanks...
Some days my jaw feels better than others... which is to be expected. But lately i just keep feeling like im having a "bad day" over and over and over again. but i still have improvements!
one thing i wanted to complain about today was the my face is still breaking out more than normal!! i used to never have to "wash" my face with anything special and i would rarely break out. but now... i have lots of issues unless i wash it.. and even then, just kinda gross! thank goodness for makeup to cover up the issue spots... just hope it goes back to normal eventually... has anyone else experienced this after surgery?
I was on the golf course today, and I was feeling restless and just lightly ran back to the cart from my ball. and I noticed that my face still feels weird and hurts from all that motion! i have not exercised since before surgery... i have the energy to. but idk... im just avoiding it. jumping and running just makes my jaw hurt! like my cheeks moving up and down just isnt pleasant. so ill just hope it gets better soon? is it this bad for anyone else this far out from surgery...? i just feel like it should be more normal by now!
I REALLY WANT TO BE ABLE TO CHEW... my jaw doesn't really hurt, and i feel like i should be allowed to by now! just gotta wait until monday... which is easier said than done, but itll get here eventually!
can't. wait.
one thing i wanted to complain about today was the my face is still breaking out more than normal!! i used to never have to "wash" my face with anything special and i would rarely break out. but now... i have lots of issues unless i wash it.. and even then, just kinda gross! thank goodness for makeup to cover up the issue spots... just hope it goes back to normal eventually... has anyone else experienced this after surgery?
I was on the golf course today, and I was feeling restless and just lightly ran back to the cart from my ball. and I noticed that my face still feels weird and hurts from all that motion! i have not exercised since before surgery... i have the energy to. but idk... im just avoiding it. jumping and running just makes my jaw hurt! like my cheeks moving up and down just isnt pleasant. so ill just hope it gets better soon? is it this bad for anyone else this far out from surgery...? i just feel like it should be more normal by now!
I REALLY WANT TO BE ABLE TO CHEW... my jaw doesn't really hurt, and i feel like i should be allowed to by now! just gotta wait until monday... which is easier said than done, but itll get here eventually!
can't. wait.
until tomorrow,
-Katie:)
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Day 50 - I GET TO CHEW SOON.
YAY. guess what... well i guess the title says it all, I get to chew soon! but ill backtrack to this morning with my appt with my surgeon. After waiting for quite a while... we got in to see him. My surgeon said that i looked great, and said that starting monday (8 weeks post-op) i can officially begin to chew!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. if you can't tell, i am overly excited. i mean.. i realize that ill have to go slowly and reteach myself how to chew... but im so pumped regardless. my surgeon said the goal is to slowly work my way up with the hardness of food. and hopefully by 12 weeks.. i will be able to have steak. so yeah! i decided that on monday, i want arby's curly fries. those sound wonderful. but this week will consist of me making a list of all the food i have been craving the last 7 weeks! then my surgeon said he will see me back in 3 weeks. school starts 2 weeks from today..... so in 2 weeks ill get insanely busy and it may seem like i slipped off the face of the planet. but ill be here!
but anyway, after the appt with my surgeon, we had lunch in the hospital cafeteria before our hour drive home (the cafeteria almost always has mushy food!) and i found lasagna that i could mash up, and THEN i ran into one of my favorite nurses from when i was in the hospital. she was the one that was assigned to me the day i had to be readmitted to the hospital for nausea and pain that we couldnt get under control at home.. and she was amazing and so nice. and yeah. so i gave her a big hug and said thanks for everything and she said i looked so great now and asked how i was etc. the nurses in my surgeons office kept saying how the swelling looked great and that i looked great, and it just made me feel happy. so yay for looking somewhat normal!
my surgeon and orthodontist finally are trying to get my surgical hooks back on in the front so i can have a band in the front to help guide my jaw still. gosh.... that was so irritating that they couldn't get this figured out. i already ranted about me never getting an appt with my ortho because he claimed i didn't need the band up front.. but then my surgeon said otherwise, and yeah. so i should get an ortho appt either tomorrow or the next day. but we will see, im fine with wearing rubber bands if it means my braces come off sooner! (and my bite gets better).
now please excuse me while i constantly wish for it to be monday already... haha. but seriously...
take care everyone!
-Katie:)
but anyway, after the appt with my surgeon, we had lunch in the hospital cafeteria before our hour drive home (the cafeteria almost always has mushy food!) and i found lasagna that i could mash up, and THEN i ran into one of my favorite nurses from when i was in the hospital. she was the one that was assigned to me the day i had to be readmitted to the hospital for nausea and pain that we couldnt get under control at home.. and she was amazing and so nice. and yeah. so i gave her a big hug and said thanks for everything and she said i looked so great now and asked how i was etc. the nurses in my surgeons office kept saying how the swelling looked great and that i looked great, and it just made me feel happy. so yay for looking somewhat normal!
my surgeon and orthodontist finally are trying to get my surgical hooks back on in the front so i can have a band in the front to help guide my jaw still. gosh.... that was so irritating that they couldn't get this figured out. i already ranted about me never getting an appt with my ortho because he claimed i didn't need the band up front.. but then my surgeon said otherwise, and yeah. so i should get an ortho appt either tomorrow or the next day. but we will see, im fine with wearing rubber bands if it means my braces come off sooner! (and my bite gets better).
now please excuse me while i constantly wish for it to be monday already... haha. but seriously...
take care everyone!
-Katie:)
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