New photos!
I saw my doctor a few days ago and guess what? He wants me to attempt chewing. Say whaaat?
I thought this task was for later in my recovery.
Of course…I’m only to attempt with soft foods. So things like a jam sandwich or fish soft taco. I opted for a raspberry jam sandwich and well, I learned that there is more to chewing than thought.
I felt like I was mashing my food like a Panini maker.
I realize now that chewing is complicated. Do I need more tongue or do I move my jaw more side to side? (If you have any tips on this, please share!)
And how do you move your jaw side to side? I keep moving my lips instead of my jaws.
What have I learned from all of this?
That I’m still a ways out till making a full recovery. Baby steps, I guess right?
Double Jaw Surgery 
You look great as always!
It’s hard to imagine chewing again (and its only been two weeks since I have). My teeth feel like…not mine. Learning to chew with what feels like brand new teeth is going to be interesting. I have a feeling I’m going to bite the heck out of my cheeks and tongue the first few times.
I hope it gets easier for you soon! It’ll be so nice to eat more and more things.
I can’t feel all my teeth and I’m so scared of chewing the insides of my cheeks. I’m been unsuccessful so far. I feel like I’m moving my mouth but not doing the work – if you know what I mean. Too bad we’re not offered physical therapy for the chewing!!
Lol, panini maker! Totally!! I feel for you. Just today, it started feeling somewhat natural to chew!
Good for you! So jealous!! 😉
My tip is to give it time, and eat on both sides. Challenge yourself, be patient. Eat lots of soft foods to give yourself a mental break, use your food processor to break things down when you get frustrated and just need to get on with it!
Have you tackled a nut yet? I was eating nutty coconut ice cream and was sadly discarding the tasty walnuts. They got no love. haha.
Hi Camilla! I still can’t do almonds or raw carrot. But walnuts, cashews and even peanuts are ok!
I’m impressed!
Camilla, does it hurt when you try chewing? Or is it a locked jaw kinda feel?
It feels foreign. I can’t feel all my teeth so it feels strange chewing and I’m relearning how to move my jaw to effectively grind up the food. It’s sooo weird to relearn something that seems so basic.
I can’t believe we have to learn how to chew again! I guess it’ll be better cuz I’ll be able to actually bite into a sandwich!
haha, yes…that’s the goal! I want to bite into an apple for the first time but I have no idea when that’ll happen!
I have been bad and eaten a sandwich when I shouldn’t have done, was worth it though. Completely agree with you, it’s like having to teach yourself how to eat again. At the moment I am just pushing food with my tongue against my front teeth. Very strange. My jaw doesn’t move side to side at all, I’ve tried moving it but it doesn’t budge. I have been getting this first bite nerve thing though, like an intense sourness in my mouth that goes after a few bites x
A sandwich? How did you do it?? 🙂 I noticed that parts of my jawline hurt when I “chew”. I have no idea but it’s unsettling.
With great difficultly but it was so nice to eat. I get the same too but try not to think about it. I’m sure it is all normal, well I hope anyway hah x
haha…well today was better. The left bothers me more than the right. I tried sucking on a cheese ball today and managed to eat it. Yay!
When I was given the okay to chew after my surgery, I didn’t really chew anything until like a week later. It is very scary to chew after not being allowed to for a while lol. I started with mushy foods, even though you don’t actually have to chew them. It helped me get back into the habit of chewing my food. Also I practiced on minute rice. You will get better with time!
It is scary! I just finished eating some french fries. I’m mostly swallowing the food but the “mushing” is happening. 🙂
congrats on the okay to chew! i am only 11 days out and so i will not be given that luxury for another month. thanks so much for your blog, i have loved following your journey. always easier knowing im not the only one out there going through this tough recovery… i am finally starting to convince myself that there is an end! i wish you all the best with your chewing adventures. i cant imagine how that feels after so long! wish you all the best:)
Aww, you are so sweet! It does get better. I was able to eat a cheese ball the other day and it was fantastic! While I couldn’t chew it hard I managed to get it moist enough to chew. I can’t wait for you to get further in your journey as well! You’re looking great btw! 🙂
Le Fort I and BSSO coming up in August, maybe (if I don’t freak out or rationalize out [see below] and delay). Two questions:
1. At one week out, do you think I would feel well enough to sit in front of a computer for an hour or two at a time and click my way through final exams?
2. At two weeks out, do you think I could return to my job which requires extensive talking two days a week? What about three weeks out?
Thanks SO MUCH!
1. At one week out, I was barely able to stay awake for too long. I was fairly weak from the lack of food. Everyone is different though. I would recommend studying beforehand and knowing your stuff inside and out. That way you can cruise through your exam(s). You’ll probably be miserable but make it. How many exams do you have?
2. Talking through your teeth, why not! 🙂 I lost most of my swelling early but because I was banded, I had to talk through my teeth. Which makes it a that much more difficult to be articulate. Are you talking on the phone or in person?
Two exams: One at exactly one week out, one at nine days out. I’m more worried about the first one than the second in terms of recovery, and unfortunately its the harder of my two classes.
Talking in person. All day long.
Thanks for replying!
Becca, it’s hard to say. Are you typically someone who bounces back from being sick or an injury? If so, this procedure might not be hard to recover from. The talking part may be a bit of a challenge. I had to scale up slowly because my jaw would get tired and it still does. But everyone is different and who knows, you may think this whole thing is a piece of cake!
Hey, I had double jaw surgery 4 weeks ago. At one week I did a lot on my computer. I wasn’t taking exams but I was editing videos and all sorts of stuff. Honestly, besides the swelling and not being able to talk, I felt great. Again, everyone recovers different.
Now, about the talking. I still have my splint in and it’s still hard for people to understand me. If I talk slow and really work at it I sound half way normal. I went back to my florist job 3 weeks after surgery and when I take a flower order I work really hard to sound “normal” but then my jaw gets tired. So, I think 2 weeks would be pushing it- just saying. Will you be wired shut or banded?
What type of jaw surgery are you having?
hi,
how are you? do you still remember me? i had my surgery with dr. mcgann 9 days ago! i am still swollen. i am just wondering, do you still have to wear the rubber bands? when do you get to take them off? and do you know how the top and bottom hooks will be removed for the middle rubber band? i am scares of going through another surgery just to remove those. i am so happy i was able to take my rubber bands off to eat today but i fear putting on bc they can hurt soo much, especially the middle one. do u have any tips to put the middle one on so that it is less painful. btw, did dr. mcgann tell you that you could eat soft foods by day 9 or you did it on your own? i am still on the lidquid diet, unfortunately :(. you are looking great!
Twinkletoe!
Wow, you made it to the other side! Of course I remember you!
I still have my rubberbands but I only wear them when I sleep. I’m about 3 months post op. Dr. McGann told me but I forget when I get to say goodbye to my bands, but I like having them at night. They make me feel secure that I’m not doing anything harmful to myself when sleeping (grinding, clenching). Dr. McGann says the screws are easy to remove and he will give a Novocaine shot for the procedure in his office. I still have all 3 of mine. How many do you have?
Are you talking about the top middle screw, under the lip? I hated that one as well. It was so close to the stitches and was a pain to get to. When taking off my band, I would unhook the bottom one and left the rubberband on the top screw. I found that it never fell off when I ate. Then when it was time to reband, I took the red hook and fished the band out from under my lip and pulled it down to rehook to the bottom one. I hope that makes sense. Good luck!
As for eating. Dr. McGann gave me the okay to eat soft foods. When I came into visit him on Day 8 or 9, he told me start eating eggs and soft pasta. Have you seen him yet? Being on a liquid diet is frustrating!! I just completed putting together a recipe list for that part of the recovery. I’m sorry I didn’t have it ready earlier. This part of the recovery is certainly a pain. I hope you feel better soon! How’s the swelling? And how are you sleeping?
Thank you for the compliment 🙂 I’m certainly still adjusting! How did you like your hospital stay?
Hi,
Thank you so much for your quick response. I am going to see the doctor again this Tuesday before I go back to Norcal. I am 50% less swollen now and I love the way I look.
Yes, I have to wear three rubber bands like you do. I have a nail under my top lip and a hook under my bottom. They look painful, but becausey face is numbed, I cannot feel anything.
I got so tired of drinking smoothies so I started eating soft food today and that tased sooo amazing (even though Dr. Mcgann has not given me the permission to do it yet). I just felt super comfortable to start chewing soft food. I got my energy back by day 4 or 5, which I do not remember but it came back pretty quickly because I was eating a lot.
I want to send you pictures of myself, but I don’t know how to do it. I only had double jaw surgery to fix my underbite. Please let me know if you are interested. I am not really the blogger type haha.
I spent one night at Sharp and it was pretty nice. I don’t know why they gave me a private room but I didn’t complain haha. I threw up once and it made me feel so much better! The scariest parts for me were when they put in/took out the IV needle haha. I wanted to cry!!! It also hurt when they gave me meds through my IV. It gave me a burning sensation in my arm so I had to ask them to do it slowly every time.
As for the rubber bands, I have mastered those using the hook they gave me. I really don’t want to go through another needle session to remove the top and bottom hooks from my gum, but I don’t think there is anything I can do about that :(.
Last but not least, I started drinking out of the cup from day 1 when I was in the hospital because using the syringe took too long and I was always hungry haha. I am 11th day post-op and I can fit two fingers on top of each other in my mouth. I don’t know if I am healing way too fast. I got back all my energy by day 8 and helped my friend clean her apartment today. It felt sooo good to move around!
Hope you are doing well!
You could send me photos at webpartneraccounts@gmail.com if you want 🙂 I would love to see your before and afters! You are such a trooper…drinking out of cups and eating some soft foods..haha. I’m so glad you are doing well!
I had a similar experience when they flushed out the IV line to put in the drugs. I swear it felt that I was being stabbed with a tons of needles. One nurse was really nice and did the saline flush really slowly. I think that gave me even more of an incentive to get out of there!
Are you from Norcal?
yes i am from norcal. i just sent you my pics before surgery. ill sens you pics of me after surgery right now. tom will be my 2 week mark!
I got them! You look great! And so soon! How did you hear about Dr. McGann? I totally thought you were from SD this whole time!