I never thought I would miss food so much! I have learned after this surgery, that I could never be anorexic..LOL. I think about food all the time. Big juicy hamburgers and chili-dogs. I saw my OS yesterday, everything is great, he's very pleased and I get my stitches out next Monday (the 27th). He gave the OK for Mac and Cheese, but to be careful, of course. I'm kind of frustrated because I can't open my mouth wide enough for a regular spoon, although I'm making myself. I'm also having alot of trouble drinking out of a regular glass! I can't tell you how many times I have wasted milk on myself. I cannot picture actually chewing again..it's kind of scary. I keep thinking to myself that I never will be able to eat again (I know it's stupid).. For those who have had this done and your eating "regular" food again..how long did it take you? My OS says about another 4 weeks for me to just begin. I miss BREAD!! Any words of food encouragement from those who are eating again will give me some hope..LOL.
**I'm 15 days post-op BTW**
For those of you who are "healed"...
Moderator: bbsadmin
I'm 25 days and on soft chew, so I can only offer you advice there... I use baby spoons and forks still and verrrrry overcooked pastas and soft things. At first my swelling went back up after I would eat but now I can do it with no problem; it just takes some getting used to. I'm sure going back to regular diet is much the same... a slow but steady progress. I am just like you though- dreaming of cheeseburgers, pizza, fries, and everything else I can't have. My surgeon told me to start of slow but it will be so hard!
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My timeline was pretty similar too yours.. I was tightly banded for 12 days (i think) and was given the ok to VERY VERY VERY soft foods lol.. (nothing harder than overcooked pasta) until I was 6 weeks post-op. That was by far the hardest part of the surgery/ recovery for me. I litterally had dreams about food i missed it so much. When I was finally ok'd to eat normal food I started crying leaving the ortho's office i was soo happy. He said to take it slow at that point and not do anything that made me uncomfortably in any way. But by that point I was so fed up I ate half a bag of chips the next day..
ANYWAYS may advice would be to find one thing that you can have now that you actually like- not just something that is tolerable.. and have it everyday or every other day. For me this was frappucinos from starbucks, or any other frozen coffee type drinks. I also got these terrible cookie cravings so i would buy the soft cookies and put a couple in a bowl with some milk then microwave it until its all soggy then mix it up- looks nasty but tastes jsut like regular milk and cookies. Then it feels like your having it because you want to, not just because you cant eat anything else. And I know that everyday of the liquid/soft food diet is aweful, but just try to realize how worth it it will be in the end, and how much better regular food will taste when you finally get to have it again
oh and btw am about 4 months post-op and i'd say i was eating totally normal food but 2 months (except carots and apples).. i probably looked hilarious though since i would always end up with half of it on my numb chin
ANYWAYS may advice would be to find one thing that you can have now that you actually like- not just something that is tolerable.. and have it everyday or every other day. For me this was frappucinos from starbucks, or any other frozen coffee type drinks. I also got these terrible cookie cravings so i would buy the soft cookies and put a couple in a bowl with some milk then microwave it until its all soggy then mix it up- looks nasty but tastes jsut like regular milk and cookies. Then it feels like your having it because you want to, not just because you cant eat anything else. And I know that everyday of the liquid/soft food diet is aweful, but just try to realize how worth it it will be in the end, and how much better regular food will taste when you finally get to have it again
oh and btw am about 4 months post-op and i'd say i was eating totally normal food but 2 months (except carots and apples).. i probably looked hilarious though since i would always end up with half of it on my numb chin
I'm 3 weeks post op and at about day 6 I ate pasta which I was so happy about (considering I had been drinking soup for 5 days!) The switchover from liquids to solids is amazing, you'll be surprised at how much you'll miss real food! At the moment I eat just about anything apart from food that's really chewy.
I was on a liquid diet for 5 weeks due to my stubborn lower jaw was that did not want to shift into its proper place. I also had issues with craving foods. I craved everything from fast foods I wouldn't normal want to something typical as potato chips. I love to eat and struggled big time. I didn't think it would affect like it did. Well I was able to eat soft foods at 5 weeks with no problem. Didn't even need the baby spoon. It took a while to eat comfortably. Some things are still difficult to eat even at 14 weeks but I felt much very comfortbale at say 8-10 weeks.
Here was my typical daily eating habit. I had fruit smoothies in the morning. I used a magic bullet and would blend frozen fruits, various juices, vanilla or fruit yogurt, and a small packet of quaker instant oatmeal all together. This tided me over for 4.5 hours. For lunch I would blend campbells chunky soups since I didn't have a lot of time to prepare foods for lunch with work. I love their chicken, potato, broccoli and cheese soup. I would either have water or a fruit juice then a snack pack of applesauce. This tided me over for 4-5 hours. I would have a pudding or applesauce and juice for a snack. For "dinner" I would have something involving ice cream like a milkshake. My favorite was a apple pie milkshake I created. I took a small slice of apple pie that had been refrigerated a couple hours, caramel ice cream (like hagen daaz's dolce de leche or their vanilla would do), a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla extract. I would blend it all together. And for a little treat for myself I would add a little Bailey's liquor for taste. lol
Here was my typical daily eating habit. I had fruit smoothies in the morning. I used a magic bullet and would blend frozen fruits, various juices, vanilla or fruit yogurt, and a small packet of quaker instant oatmeal all together. This tided me over for 4.5 hours. For lunch I would blend campbells chunky soups since I didn't have a lot of time to prepare foods for lunch with work. I love their chicken, potato, broccoli and cheese soup. I would either have water or a fruit juice then a snack pack of applesauce. This tided me over for 4-5 hours. I would have a pudding or applesauce and juice for a snack. For "dinner" I would have something involving ice cream like a milkshake. My favorite was a apple pie milkshake I created. I took a small slice of apple pie that had been refrigerated a couple hours, caramel ice cream (like hagen daaz's dolce de leche or their vanilla would do), a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla extract. I would blend it all together. And for a little treat for myself I would add a little Bailey's liquor for taste. lol
Brace date: 5/2/2007
Debanding date: 1/14/2009
Ceramic Braces: 20 months
Currently in clear Essix retainers at night
My Blog: http://jjfan1.blogspot.com
Debanding date: 1/14/2009
Ceramic Braces: 20 months
Currently in clear Essix retainers at night
My Blog: http://jjfan1.blogspot.com