- Pain: 0/10
- Inconvenience: 3/10
Guess what! My nose is beginning to straighten out again! My lips and mouth are still out of proportion quite a bit, and their symmetry seems to be nonexistent at the moment, but I’m sure that will all be corrected in due time.
Yesterday, I had a soup-making party with a friend who lives close by. There were no recipes or structure of any kind involved, just pure cooking madness. We made 3 different flavors:
- Vegetable
- Taco hamburger
- Pork and mushroom
With a few different types of soup mix and numerous vegetables–celery, carrots, peppers, onions, mushrooms, potatoes and zucchini–it’s amazing the incredible scents you can generate. My house smelled like a restaurant, and I was definitely a fan. I think Glade needs to manufacture an air freshener with a homemade soup scent. They can rest assured I’d be a paying customer. I must admit, however, that I’ve never cried harder in all my life than when I was chopping through all those onions. Does anyone have any “stop-weeping-like-a-little-girl-while-chopping-onions” tips?
It’s a soup buffet!
Moving on from all this talk about food, I went and saw my little nephews and nieces a few days ago, and all they wanted me to do was read Winnie the Pooh books to them. It’s difficult to explain to children that you can’t keep reading to them because your face will swell up like a balloon. It just makes them want to start playing with balloons. And I thought my A.D.D. was bad.
I’m a vegetable chopping master.
And this just in: I had my first successful sneeze in over 6 weeks! It felt awesome! It’s been a little weird not sneezing for that long, but I no longer have to worry about snapping elastics and throwing my jaw out of whack, so sneezing is allowable. I’m still unsure of whether I’m able to blow my nose yet. That’ll be my first question when I go to my next appointment in 7 days. By the way, that’s the appointment where they’ll be removing my splint. So. Freaking. Excited.
October 12, 2011 at 1:45 pm
gosh 8 weeks being unable to blow your nose sounds a bit extreme to say the least!! i had a septoplasty along with my double jaw surgery and i was advised against blowing for 1 week only!! Well time has flow – doesnt seem like yesterday i was on day 10 reading your tips! tomorrow marks my 6weeks post op – 42 days!! and i will then be allowed to eat a normal diet as the bone healing is complete!! still minor swelling and a small stitch abcess but its all starting to take shape!!! very pleased with the results so far, and only a few stitches left in at the moment! cant wait till xmas as i hope to get my braces removed!! 🙂
August 27, 2011 at 1:00 am
Sara, you’re splint-free as I write this message! I’ve been on the road for the past week so I missed your cataclysmic milestone, but I trust you’ve been slowly working your way back into eating delicious meals once again.
Stay positive and make sure you enjoy every single bite you take!
August 22, 2011 at 5:51 pm
Today is day 42 for me and I’m getting my splint out tomorrow!! I’m so very excited and can’t wait to re-discover food!! After reading your experience on this day however, my joy is tempered with knowing that it’s likely to be a somewhat painful day opening wide for impressions, and then having that metal thing shoved between the teeth. Good thing I have some codeine left. Hoping for my favorite sushi in the next few weeks though (or as good as Edmonton sushi gets).
Your blog has definitely helped get through all the random frustrations, funny sensations, and learning to be a blender chef over the last six weeks. My cheeks are still a little puffy and my chin/lips are still a bit numb, but I’m loving the results – no regrets! I found it interesting that you had stitches down the top of your mouth – that must have been awful unless it was numb – somehow the surgeon split my palate above everything without cutting through the top (how the surgeon did everything with only internal incisions is still a mystery to me). I’m also amazed that you went back to work after two weeks!
Thanks, and hope you had a great summer of great culinary delights! (I skipped heritage days because of the temptation for all the food! Gah!)
August 20, 2011 at 1:10 pm
You can blend a burger and have that. I did it – just blend it well or it can get stuck in the syringe and end up all over you and the wall, and furniture (I speak from experience here). I blended chicken pie, chili, butter chicken. I did eat a lot of soup – but near the end decided I HAD to have a burger. It was awesome!!! Just make sure you put in some beef broth or better yet – gravy.
August 20, 2011 at 12:17 pm
Anyone have any deliciously wonderful recipes that I may have missed? Just blended some chicken noodle soup and it definitely was not the best creation ever made. Parents just made burgers and oh my God they smell delicious, AHHHHHH
January 12, 2011 at 8:02 am
Chrissy, don’t pass any judgements on yourself or your surgery until the three month mark. Remember, you’re just over 1/3 of the way through recovery. Your entire face is going to shift around for another few months still.
I wasn’t happy with the results until about 15 weeks in. Once the swelling dissipates, you’ll be able to see what your smile will actually look like (and even that will take some getting used to).
January 11, 2011 at 10:14 pm
i am at day 42 and these past two days i have been really upset with my looks…my smile is not cute and my face looks big.. its day 42 and my face looks like ball… i mean you look swollen here too but i had only lower jaw surgery…and my jaw bone on the right side is farther out then the left
June 21, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Candles! You make cutting onions sound like such a romantic activity, haha.
August 2nd… I’ll keep you in my thoughts.
June 21, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Ok, so I’ve been stalking you for a couple weeks now. Going in for double jaw surgery on Aug. 2nd to correct a cross bite. THANK YOU for your daily posts. I’m only up to day 42 so far but snuck ahead and looked at your “mug shots”. I can’t wait for my own before and after’s!
So – for cooking onions… light a candle or two right next to you before you do it. It’ll burn up the sulfuric fumes that make you cry. 🙂
May 23, 2010 at 11:37 pm
Haha, I have no wife to pass this job onto!
Maybe I’ll invest in a slapchop. Late-night infomercials get me every time. 😉
May 22, 2010 at 8:23 pm
The best way I’ve found to chop onions up involve the following steps:
1) get the onions wet, or, if possible, chop them underwater. I usually douse each big chunk as I cut them.
2) Dice them as quickly as possible. We have one of those “smashy-mandolin” things and that does a fine job dicing, otherwise, I cut them fast and furious with a big knife so I don’t get my fingers, as you’re evidently prone to do.
Other than that I just try to make the wife cut them. ^_^
May 8, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Haha. I’ll have to start cooking using beakers instead of pots. 🙂
May 8, 2010 at 11:49 am
I chew gum when I chop onions. It seems to help a little bit, or at least provide a bit of a distraction.
I remember a kid back in elementary school who used to wear swimming goggles. I bet that works spectacularly well. Maybe try your safety glasses from Chem 103/105? You can feel like an evil genius while you’re cooking.
May 4, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Hey Diane,
My splint is still in until *next* Monday, but at first I could feel stitches all the way from my upper lip to the back of my throat, so I could definitely feel *that* incision.
As for the others, I had no idea they were there until I started brushing and saw all the stitches.
You’ll get through it, no worries. The pain is no problem. The hardest part is not being able to eat.
If you can handle the liquid diet, the swelling and the lack of communication for the first few weeks, you’ll be good to go. Just keep reminding yourself that it’s only temporary, and then start a daily blog to pass the time. 🙂
May 4, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Hi Graham!
I’m going in for surgery tomorrow, and was just notified that I’ll be having a three piece maxilla segmental surgery (I thought I was just having it done in one piece!) – I haven’t really prepared for it mentally… I’m wondering if you can feel the incisions on your upper palette when the splint is out? (The splint sounds like a joy, by the way)
Thanks,
Diane
May 3, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Sure. If you don’t mind, that would be great!
I’m sure you are going to love your tequila and nachos. The only way I can drink tequila now is in margaritas or paralyzers (I got sick on tequila shots once and just can’t go there now), but I’m OK with that.
May 3, 2010 at 12:37 pm
You better believe it! I’m going to go to a Mexican restaurant and have tequila and nachos, and it’s going to fantastic!
I’ll post the recipe in a later update, alright? I need to go home and see what spices we added.
May 3, 2010 at 12:16 pm
8 weeks is a really long time to not be able to blow your nose. Your surgeon sounds like he is really cautious, which I guess is good because you have less risk of any kind of damage.
Can you tell me how you made your taco hamburger soup? Please???
Are you going to have nachos when you can eat again?
May 3, 2010 at 11:40 am
Well, my nose has been clear for about a month now. I just remember the day after surgery, my doctor told me not to blow it for 8 weeks. That seemed like a really long time.
The taco hamburger is the best flavor! Makes me want to eat *real* tacos.
May 3, 2010 at 11:00 am
All that soup sounds yummy. I’m particularly interested in the taco hamburger soup. Got some groceries yesterday – what a sad state the grocery cart was. Picked up some frozen meals from M&M Foods. The shepherd’s pie with a bunch of chicken stock added blended really nicely and tasted really good.
You should be allowed to blow your nose by now. I was allowed to at the 2 week point – and man did that feel good. I’m sure no one wants to see the bloody gunk that’s coming out of there… I use a nasal syringe (Nasaline) and salt water to flush out my sinuses first, then blow all the crap out. Feels great after.