Tuesday Night (Jan. 19th): It is good to be home. I am thinking being home will lead to better sleep. Last night I only woke up twice and once was to my alarm going off to take my antibiotics. I only have one day left of the meds. For those of you new to my blog, I came down with some unknown aliment 3 days out of surgery and we decided to take an antibiotic just to be careful.
Medication and Pain
I am not on any other medications. I have read some blogs where MMA surgery patients went on sleeping pills. I did that for some time one to two years pre-surgery and do not plan on any post surgery sleeping meds. My swelling has been very minimal the past 7 days. It is hard to tell if there is much swelling around my upper and lower teeth because of the arch bars.
I have to say that the pain I have experienced from the surgery has been minimal and the meds and ice took care of it quite well. I believe I was off pain meds all together after eight days and then I was only on them for my sore throat from my unknown aliment. I am still applying ice 3-4 times a day. I am not sure if that is just a security blanket for me or whether I really need it. I figure if there is any residual swelling it will help with that.
Departing Appointment
At my departing appointment with Dr. Li, x-rays were taken and he loosened my rubber bands slightly. Now my teeth still remain closed, but I can open them maybe a quarter inch at best. I thought they would open without any effort so I could start slugging down soft foods, but that is not the case. I can feel less pressure on my teeth being held shut which is a good thing and my facial expressions I think, look more relaxed. Even if my teeth opened easily to ¼ inch, I doubt I would try squeezing in soft foods.
Frankly I am a little nervous about moving my teeth and jaws too much too early. Dr. Li stated that the loosening of the bands to a quarter inch is done not for food consumption but for the patient’s comfort only. So it sounds to me it is best to keep them shut as much as possible. Since I am trying to obtain the best results and my jaw bones were somewhat thin, I have no problem continuing with fluid meals for the next three weeks.
Dr. Li’s office provided me with copies (glossy 8x10s) of my before and after profile of my jaws and airway opening. My throat opening now appears to be about the width size of one of my fingers where before you could barely see an opening… maybe about the size of a match stick. Also, the opening coming out of my nose down to the airway looks like it has increase slightly.
I may be showing off these photos more than my six grandchildren’s photos……. I wish they made pocket photo sizes.
Cleaning of Teeth
Dr. Li remarked that I need to get busy on cleaning my teeth so I am ready to break out the water pick and baby toothbrush which I have not yet used. I have strictly been rinsing with salt water. I am actually contemplating going to my dentist and let his expert hands clean my teeth good with a gentle water pick. I don’t know how they expect to get in between my teeth and clean anything.
That will probably be my first question emailed back to Palo Alto and Dr. Li.
Sleep Quality
A few nights ago I had a terrible night’s sleep and trouble trying to get to sleep. My nose and airway did not seem blocked but my lungs did not seem to be getting enough oxygen. I tried everything. I learned from Dr. Li that it was probably anxiety and I needed to relax and let the sleep come naturally in due course.
Eating, Eating, and Eating
I sure miss eating potatoes chips and hamburgers and pizzas and…… I find myself watching food commercials now where before I never watched them. I would fast forward by them with my TIVO. I have seen some pretty nice roadside bulletin boards too…. Those hamburgers look bigger than life!
My main substances so far have been Ensure, yogurt, apple juice, cranberry pomegranate juice, canned peaches, Cold Stone milkshakes, In and Out Burger milkshakes, protein powder, milk, both regular and chocolate, Gatorade, hot tea, tomato soup, cream of chicken and Lipton’s noodle soup. For liquid we are using chicken and beef broth. I am going to try cream of wheat for breakfast. Now that I am home, we will be making some lentil and chicken soups.
I have been through a variety of baby foods such as green beans, chicken dinner, banana, and pears.
Foods that have not worked because of taste or would not liquefy: donuts, oatmeal, cheerios, and noodles.
Remember my food has to go in the side of my mouth and through the missing tooth. Maybe I will experiment with my new ¼ open in front, but don’t count on it.
I am currently down 18 lbs, but remember I put on 8 lbs preparing for my upcoming surgery and I was very easily 15 lbs overweight. I will be sure to watch my nutrition, but I won’t be worrying about weight loss unless I start getting weak. I plan on walking as much as possible. I also plan to get back to the everyday dealings including seeing and playing with my grandchildren. I will have to make sure I don’t get any head butts to the jaw!
Other Blogs
I just started re-reading other blogs to see how they were doing at 2 weeks. I can’t believe it…. Roger ate a ½ meat patty at one week. I may have to call him and see how that was done. I do have to remind myself that I am 60 and these youngsters were in their 30 and 40’s.
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