Week 5 - I survived Thanksgiving!

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am glad to say that I survived not eating solid foods over Thanksgiving. I really thought I was going to have a melt down but I kept trucking along. It went so well, that Mike and I ended up cooking and hosting Thanksgiving for 5 people! Turkey, stuffing, potatoes; the whole 9 yards! By the end of the night our feet hurt, 1 belly was full, and 1 person (me) avoided the extra weight gain over the holidays!

Before you all begin to feel sorry for me, I should let you know that I enjoyed a delicious dinner. I prepared White Bean Soup for myself. The recipe is quite simple and only calls for lima beans, celery, onion, chicken stock, and a little paprika to garnish. The taste reminded me of mashed potatoes. The good kind, not the potato water that was the potato soup disaster of weeks past. In the end, it was great to have family around and be able to host my first Thanksgiving.


I also got a kick out of setting the table. Notice in the picture below where I was sitting. Bowl, spoon, and straw ready for my meal!


I am glad to report that everything is moving as status quo for me. Now that I am at the halfway point all I want is for this month to fly by to get my wires cut. I am not hungry, but am craving the ability to chew food and eat whatever I want to. I am also finding that I can utilize less wax in my mouth to cover up poking wires and brackets. It certainly makes cleaning my teeth and heading out the door much quicker! I am also excited to report that I am down 25lbs. My weight is teetering right above 200. I cannot even remember the last time I weighed in with a 1 in the beginning of my weight. I am hoping that the next few weeks will help widdle down my weight and get me past that milestone.


Here are some updated photos of me!

Week 4 and half way there!

I am very excited to be at the halfway point in my recovery stage! This past week I have been out and about keeping very busy. It feels great to not be glued to the couch anymore. Last Friday we went and saw Harry Potter 7 Part 1. While it was a great movie the lack of caffeine was evident when I was yawning at the 8:45pm start time. Sad to say, my bed time has been 9:00-9:30pm for the past month. Either way I had a great time meeting up with Kellie, Karl, & Kirsten for HP7.1. On Saturday we walked around Ikea, Target, & Costco. Although the highlight was when Mike and I stopped at Jamba Juice for smoothies for lunch. My cap was leaking down my cup and instinctively I went to lick the side of the cup. Whoops! I don't have access to my tongue! LOL. Mike certainly got a kick out of that!

I have also had 1 success and 1 failure in the soup department. I was very excited to make a delicious vegetable stock. I used vegetables that I have never eaten or diced before. I ended up using YouTube video clips to learn how to cut leeks, ginger root, and parsnips. I am really enjoying cooking and preparing my meals. It definitely beats the monotony of eating Ensure for every single meal. With my vegetable stock I was able to prepare 2 soups. The first soup was a Potato and Roasted Garlic. Unfortunately, I left the potatoes in the stock too long and it turned into mashed potatoes. However, I still ended up eating the soup which turned out more like potato water. YUCK! The second soup I made was a Cream of Onion. It turned out beautifully! It was made with butter, onions, dry vermouth, stock, bay leaf, and cream. The soup was deliciously buttery with a nice onion flavor!

Yesterday I had my doctors appointment for the week. As before, everything is looking great! I am down just about 23lbs and the doctor is predicting that I should be at 190lbs when I see him again in 2 weeks. Maybe being wired shut during the holidays is a good thing!

Speaking of holidays, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! This year Mike and I are hosting Jack, Laurel, Grandma, & Papa for the holiday. We are cooking a turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoe casserole, corn, and White Bean Soup (for me). While I am going to miss diving into all this delicious food, I am just keeping focus on my recovery and I will enjoy having the family over to our place for our first Thanksgiving. I am thankful for a successful surgery, great family, and good health. I am also thankful for all of your support through this process, and with the passing of my Mom. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!!!

Cheddar is Better!

I believe that I have found my new hobby. Not only does it fill some time in my schedule, but it also allows me to eat amazing soups! My first soup success was a Cheddar Soup that I found on the Food Network website (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/cheddar-soup-with-crispy-tortilla-crunch-recipe/index.html). After the blended meat debacle of last week, I decided that I should target the next food group that I am feeling deprived of, dairy or more specifically cheese!

The recipe is quite easy. The ingredients include onion, red bell pepper, jalapeno, 6 cups of cheddar cheese, chicken stock, cream, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper.

The end result looks a little like this ....

Happy Camper!

Following the success of Cheddar Soup, I have purchased a 400 soup recipe book from Borders. There are so many great recipes that I can utilize during recovery, and post! Stay tuned for the next soup success!!

2 Weeks Down, 6 To Go!!

Well folks, I have made it to the beginning of week 3 of my recovery phase! It appears that the tough times are behind me now and I am crusing on forward. As you have lived with me through the rough points and swollen pictures, I am happy to report some exciting changes to me!

1. I can talk! Well, not as articulately as I used to, but people can understand me. The days of carrying around that darn white board are behind me! WOO WHO!
2. I can use a straw to drink fluids and meals! This is an amazing thing for me. It means that I can actually go out into public now and not be afraid of freaking people out with my giant plastic syringe and tube (not that I was leaving the house with those darn things).
3. A spoon has been reincooperated back into my arsenal. Not that I am the most eloquent eater with a spoon. Actually, most of the soup rolls off my lips and down my chin, but advancement forward none the less!
4. I can go out socially! Not that I plan on making this a regular habit, and I was still in bed by 9:30pm that night. Can we say party animal? Either way, I proved to myself that I can return to a normal pre-surgery routine. I just need to remember to not overdue myself. My jaw was pretty sore at the end of the night from talking with my friends. All of whom were very patient and listened as I muffled my way into each conversation. Thanks to you all, love you all, you all know who you are!

Also, a big shout out to a couple of the most amazing friends in the world, Erin & Paul Fasse. Erin made me the most amazing vegetable soup that was easily blendable and I was able to consume using a straw. You guys rock! Eating your amazing soup has inspired me to do some cooking of my own. Stay tuned for how my Cheddar Soup recipe turns out this week!

Now to the exciting part of my post, I have begun to see some very obvious changes in my appearance. I am down 17 pounds as of this morning. Originally, the most shocking photos were my side profile, well not any more. Take a look at my head shoots below:

Day 0 Pre Surgery

Day 1 Post Surgery

Day 14 Post Surgery

Blended Meat??

Yes you heard me correctly. I had such a craving for meat last night that I decided to take the plunge and blend hamburger helper! Now before you all cringe and gag, I will say that while the looks weren't all that, it smelled amazing! Well, maybe just to me because I haven't eaten solid food in 12 days and haven't had any meat in just as long.

I bite the bullet, drive to Jewel, pick up my ground beef and hamburger helper recipe (I chose the Italian Shells Recipe). Mike finishes dinner, we get the blender ready to go, and VOILA! I blend in liquefy mode, I get my TV tray ready, I got my tube in hand and I am ready to eat the most amazing meal in liquid form. AND THEN, the spot behind my teeth clogs up from something not blended enough, the tube clogs, and I get blended meat all over my braces and on the TV tray. Let's just say, I know why I have high blood pressure. I was so mad!! All a kid wants to do is eat some beef! Blended beef 1st attempt = failure!

I took the jump once, I'm not sure if I will do it again. At least I know that I did try it and the small taste I got, it wasn't half bad! The catch is that I get so heated when I am hungry and I don't know if I can deal with another failure just yet. So for now I am sticking to shakes and juices that I know I can consume. For everyone's safety :)

I did have a doctor's appointment this week. He said that everything looks great. I have good hygiene, my healing looks great, and he is thrilled with the changes he is seeing in my face. I am thrilled too. As I am losing weight and the swelling is going down the signs of a solid jaw line are surfacing. He did say that I will not have feeling in my chin for 2-3 months. Which doesn't bother me, except for when I am shaving. I can't seem to shave the part of my chin above the chin, but right below my lower lip. Some people may know this as the "soul patch." The doctor also said that I must practice talking. He said that my pronunciation is so clear that I should have no issues talking with my wires. With that my homework for the week: begin talking more! Anyone I see I just ask for some focus and an open ear. While sometimes I sound like Darth Vadar, I am able to speak! Yah!

This week I have begun getting out of the house. I am no longer on pain meds so I have a license to drive and I am using it! I'm not really doing anything exciting, but just being able to get out of the house means so much. The books I have say that I need to get back to my normal routine and that is just what I am trying to do. Speaking of which, time to get ready for the day!

Happy Friday Everyone!

1 Week Down, 7 to Go!

It has been 1 week, and I have 7 to go! I would be lying if I didn't say that this first week was hell. Let me air my dirty laundry out here in an attempt to correct some of my frustrations and be more productive in week 2.

1. I hate not talking! Mike has some of my "grunts" down, but I pretty much have to write or type everything down. I actually enjoy time alone at this stage because the only person I have to conversate with is myself. On the flip side, I have started to have some visitors and it certainly has been great to see friends and family. (Thanks Jack, Laurel, Dad, Jill, Somer, Jason & Josh!)

2. I miss food! I have been leaning heavily on Ensure protein shakes and broth to sustain my hunger for the first week. Enough of that!! I have found that I have to eat more because my stomach is hungry and I am starting to get headaches from not getting enough food. Lesson learned last night! This morning, I made an awesome triple berry and banana shake for a mid morning snack. I even have enough to have an afternoon snack! The other great discovery is that broth is just too salty and not flavorful. Campbells in a blender, is delicious!!

3. We need more comfortable living room furniture. When sweatpants and the couch turn into your office you realize that maybe it is time for an upgrade!

The last point is really more of a joke, but food and talking have been my biggest meltdowns. Thank you to Mike for helping me, dealing with me, talking me off the ledge, and being ok with doing absolutely nothing for 6 days.

In appearance news, the swelling is going down and the yellow bruising has shown up. I am getting more feeling back in my jaw, but my chin is still feeling rather numb. I am also down 10 pounds after week 1. I go to the doctor tomorrow and am hoping for a good check-up!

Liquid Diet

Ever notice how when you diet that every single commercial on TV is pushing a bacon double cheeseburger, with perfect fries and a large soda? Or how when you are channel surfing the only shows that look good to watch are on the Food Network?

Overall I am doing very well adapting to my new liquid diet, but there are some challenges. I have found that Beef Bouillon cubes make me congested. Not good when your nose is your main breathing source. I have found that Ensure Protein shakes aren't bad. They actually provide a considerable amount of nutrients and calories for me. Strawberry Ensure is breakfast, while Chocolate is dinner. I have also found that when these are the only 2 things you consume for 5 days that you drop weight very quickly! Here is a peek at what my fun food options are for now:

Luckily I have not been considerable hungry during the past 4 days. Eating is a chore in itself! I have to put all liquids in a large plastic syringe and fish a narrow tube to the back of my teeth. It makes eating a slow process as you don't want to put too much liquid in your mouth before swallowing. It leads to coughing or pain in your jaw from the pressure of a big gulp. I'm looking forward to the days where I can just sip a glass like normal, or fill a bigger syringe with liquid and just shoot it to the back of my mouth. Until then, the challenge of patience is still upon me!

Update on recovery: Swelling is going down!

Day 2 - Post Operation

Hello Everyone!

First off, thank you for all of your love, support and prayers! They have certainly helped me fight through my frustrations as I get used to being wired shut.

Let's start with a couple pictures. The first picture was taken the day before surgery. You can see the sever angle of my nose to my chin.

The second picture was taken Day 1 Post Operation when I was back at home. I now have a clearly defined chin and my jaw has been moved out 8mm.

I am so pleased with the already obvious changes to my face! My chin is clearly defined and my jaw is moved 8mm forward! It is just unbelievable. My surgeon and his staff are very pleased with my postive attitude and believe that it will help me through recovery. Then again, wouldn't you be happy with these results?? Speaking of results, my surgeon is ecstatic with the results. This is exactly what he had projected. Once the swelling goes down, and I lose the soft tissue above my neck, we will see a clearly defined jaw line! I can't wait!

So far all is going as well as can be expected. I have gotten used to feeding myself through a syringe and tube. I have mostly consumed water and 2 Ensure protein shakes since Monday. My appetite has just not been there. Last night I finally got 4 hours of continuous sleep both before 1am and after 2:30am. I can't tell you what this has done to my energy level this morning(thus being up and blogging). I did have a protein shake for breakfast and am looking forward to some soup for lunch.

My pain has not been too bad. It is mostly just discomfort with being swollen and not being able to open my mouth. I am not able to talk either. I can grunt to talk but I feel like only Mike would be able to understand me. I am finding that writing my words down is a pain in the butt, however, I will continue to do it as sitting in silence drives me nuts!

I will keep you all updated on my progress!!