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4 days Post-op, need advice

(7 posts)

Started 7 months ago by fatalframe
Latest reply from THECW

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fatalframe
Member

Hi everyone...my names Connor and I don't know exactly what surgery I had done (the papers are somewhere...), I do know that I have screws in my bottom jaw and that my chin was brought forward quite a bit...and this all happened on September 26th, 2011.

I guess, like everyone else, I have a few questions that I really haven't seen answered here.

1) What did you eat? I am having a hard time eating, as sometimes things won't stay down and for that reason, I sometimes feels nausea.

2) Blood clots? I have spit it out 2 so far. My surgeon told me not to blow my nose (which apparently, is full of blood clots), but its draining on its own, and I guess they need to go somewhere.

3) Best way to clean mouth? I can't really get a toothbrush in there that much, but my mouth tastes disgusting, which makes me want to puke.

4) My upper/bottom lip, chin and cheeks are all very numb (fuzzy, tingly feeling) still and what would be the best way to go about fixing that?

Since I am only, technically on day 4...when did everyone start to see some significant improvement? I'm in school right now (but staying at home for the duration of a somewhat long recovery) and plan on going back on October 10th.

Does anyone have any tips/advice? Anything would be very helpful.

Thanks!

Posted 7 months ago #
kscott
Member

Hello frame, well done on having your surgery done!

Day 4 hits everyone hard, if you search day 4 tags then you'll find plenty of posts like your, mine included!

1. On day 4 I had hardly eaten. By the time I got some medication and some water down I was exhausted and napped, and when I woke up it was med time again! Are you banded shut at all? I'd say speak to your doctor, they can prescribe meal replacement drinks and juices that are thin and quite helpful at the beginning, I was given some in hospital, but that is the UK. That and some thin soups, try beef or chicken broth? Do it in little sips, try some, give it 10 and then see how you feel. Slowly but surely it WILL get easier, promise. Once you eat a little you wont feel so sick, the meds'll go down easier, you'll feel better, you'll eat more, huzzah!

2. I had my nose messed with during surgery and it was totally full, I couldn't breath through it at all. I wasn't told not to blow it, I physically couldn't. What has helped is a hot bath, and also putting my head over a bowl of hot water and smelling salts. It all starts to help everything break down and loosen, I then would twist a bit of tissue to help dislodge bits. It's all a little bit disgusting, but if it helps, it helps!

3. Get a baby tooth brush! It's nice and soft, you can clean the front few teeth easily, and over the next few days you'll be able to clean more of your mouth. Get some specialist mouth wash, I use curasept, it's strong and meant for post surgery, rinsing your mouth out will make you feel better :)

4. The fuzzy tingling feeling is here to stay I'm afraid! I'm week 4 and I still tingle, it often feels like it itches. Its a good thing, means your healing and the feeling is starting to return.

I started to feel a lot better on day 7/8, once your over the first week it all gets a little easier :)

Good luck! xxx

Posted 7 months ago #
fatalframe
Member

Haha, thanks a lot.

I hear ya about the eating thing. I have definiately lost weight..and I can't really afford to anyways. I am a pretty skinny kid (6'4", 140pounds usually), so if I don't keep a steady upkeep of food, then I will lose weight...like this surgery. And no, I am not banded shut, my mouth hangs open as of right now. I have been eating some meal supplements that my mom (who works at the hospital I had my surgery, and my aunt, who is also a nurse) recommended, called ensure (meal in a can). I'm turned off it at the moment, because I threw up recently and some of it look like ensure.

I'll take you up on the hot bath idea. Whenever I try to shower, it doesn't really work, but I think what I need is a good soak, :). I'll also look into the baby toothbrush thing. I also started doing some sea salt rinses, only 1 today, but I feel it helped. The worst part is all the food gunk or the clots that get stuck on my tongue and I constantly taste them all day..makes me want to hurl.

I'm fine with the tingling. Now is it only in certain parts of your face after 4 weeks? Or do you lips close fine now? I just want to be able to eat again, that is all I want, :(.

Also, to stop drooling, I've put a piece of paper towel in the space in my bottom lip, change it every so often because it gets really drooly, lol.

Thanks, any more advice from anyone else is really welcome!

Posted 7 months ago #
kscott
Member

Ahhh Ensure. If I ever see another bottle once I'm recovered I'll go mental!
When I left the hospital they said they had given me 'a selection of flavours'... I was given banana and vanilla... about 30 bottles altogether. Totally sick of the stuff.

See if your mum can get hold of something called Scandishake, it comes in the same (boring) flavours, but it's 580 calories just for the powder. I mix mine up with whole milk and peanut butter, calorie fest. I've lost 29 pounds since my surgery, but that was in the first 2 weeks really. Now I've been prescribed the scandishake I'm just maintaining the weight rather than loosing it.

I managed to get most of my nose cleared by week two, and kept drinking lots of water to try and avoid the whole blood in the mouth thing, from what I've read I've been pretty lucky in that respect. I did however spend days after baths using a Q-tip to clear my nose out...

I don't get tingling in my cheeks any more, it's just my lips and chin and it tends to come and go. Some times I'll sit for hours with it driving me crazy, other times It wont bother me all day. Your face will probably pick and choose! My lips can touch now with a bit of effort, I'm still a bit swollen though. The drooling however isn't as bad, I don't find myself needing a bib any more! x

I'm wired completely shut, so I can only say about liquid food, but there are a lot of posts here on mushy foods and when people were able to eat them. In two weeks time I'll join the mushy crowd, I've never been more excited, haha.

Posted 7 months ago #
April
Member

Hey there, fatalframe,

I'm on day 11, and I think day 4 was one of my worst. Actually, I posted on day 7 thinking I was doomed to feel horrible forever, and miraculously the next day things started looking up...in fact, kscott was one of those who helped me hang in there on here :)

I was really nauseous the whole first week so they gave me some anti-nausea medicine at the hospital that I could take home (Zofran). Maybe your mom could could get a hold of something like that for you. I haven't had to take it for a few days now, so hopefully you feel better soon, in that respect. Also, the pain meds cause nausea if your stomach is empty, which sucks since its so hard to eat right now, but if you can find something to get down before you take them it might help keep the queeziness away.

I also had a lot of blood clots, from the nose and throat. So gross. The doc warned me though, thank god. She had me keep a humidifier next me at all times so they would break up and get outta there faster, I do think it helped. I'm not allowed to blow my nose, and I'm too scared to anyway.

I'm also really skinny, and am so terrified of losing weight through all of this. I also am allergic to a protein in dairy products, so its made it really hard to find things I can eat to keep from wasting away. The first few days was a whole lot of chicken broth...ugh. Then as many protein shakes as I can handle. I add bananas, peanut butter, chocolate syrup...all of those are high in calories. The other night I ordered my fave soup from this Thai restaurant and asked them if I could just have all broth, it made me feel good to have something I love, even if it wasn't the whole soup. Eating has been the biggest challenge. I have been cleared for mushy stuff, but I really can't even handle a lot of stuff yet. I just discovered baby food bananas(delicious), and teeny-tiny star shaped pasta, called pastini, that I put with blended up jarred tomato sauce, its easy to swallow and I pretend its real spaghetti and marinara :) If you like guacamole or hummus (I've making them softer with olive oil), those are easy to just swallow too and nutritious. Apple sauce, cream of wheat, oatmeal, mashed potatoes, soup, soup, soup.

So, the gross tongue thing bothered me sooooo much. Its gone now, but for a while I felt like my tongue was covered in slime, and it was. Drinking ginger ale helped 'cause its bubbly and I felt like it broke up the yuck and got it off of there. And ginger ale is supposed to help with nausea, so thats a plus. I took one of those tiny little flosser-brush thingys and stuck it in between my teeth and bands wherever it would fit and then moved my tongue around on it to try and clean up a little bit. It was slow and I had to be really careful, but I was so desperate. It sorta worked.

I have no advice for the drool. I was sooo drooly up until the other day. It just got better as the swelling has lessened. And I'm still really numb all over, I don't think there's much we can do to help that along, just wait I guess.

Anyway, hang in there, buddy. I felt exactly like you are now just last week, and this week is soooo different. I even made it out of the house today to go to a bookstore. You will make it through...I'm pullin' for ya :)

Posted 7 months ago #
fatalframe
Member

Yea, my grandma made me turkey soup and my mom blended that up. It had the texture of applesauce going down, but I did manage to take in a cup and half, and I feel better.

And a humidifier? I have a huge one in my room..those ones that purify the air..maybe I'll turn it on (its annoying to fall asleep too, yet I use my computers usb fan to fall asleep as well..)

I've heard alot about peanut butter on here, but unfortunately, I have a peanut/nut allergy, but the soups have been a big help..

The baby food sounds good too and so does the hummus..do you recommend to eat it with anything?

Thanks a lot kscott and April, your stories and information are highly valued, as this..sorta sucks right now...feel like I have a growth hanging off my face.

I'll keep everyone posted, as I'm just leaving this forum open on my laptop. Thanks April! Hope you feel a lot better and soon!

Posted 7 months ago #
THECW
Member

I LOVE ENSURE. I'm 2 months post op and I still drink 3 ensure everyday, it keeps me full and I love the taste (chocolate). During my first couple of days post op I drank a lot of chicken soup and juices. I also drank ice cream milkshakes and smoothies. Things will get better.
As for the nose and breathing I found that the humidifier works greats and also just walking outside. Also try taking a nice short shower.
Even after 2 months my mouth is still pretty numb and swollen, so that just takes time but you'll get used to it

I'm 6'6 and I lost 20 pounds. My sister would tell me that I look crack addict skinny... I really dont care though because I know that once I'm able to eat I'll gain everything back

Posted 7 months ago #

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