Re: My surgery is October 11th

[Guest guest]

Hi Charleen,

I will be five months post op on Thursday I had a bombined Le fort one and two,

bimaxillary osteotomies, major nose reconstruction, cheek bone and bone graft

surgery. I was in hospital for nine days after my surgery. I live in the UK and

no one is allowed to stay the night with you, my mum was there all day and would

stay till about ten every night. The nurses were fantastic. When I came home

from hospital i was still on crutches and was totally dependant on my mum and my

family.

I was very exited about my surgery too I was more exited then nervous. My

surgeon gave me a sleeping tablet the night before surgery but it didn't work! I

guess I was too exited!! I was off work the week running up to the surgery as I

had pre-op clinics etc and I just spent time with my friends and family. I went

to hospital the day before the surgery.

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[Guest guest]

Charleen,

Hi, my name's Ken. I had the LeFort surgery done this past Monday,

September 26th. Sounds like you're way more prepared than I was for

this recovery period.

It wouldn't hurt to have a friend fighting for you in your overnight

stay in the hospital - especially if it's a big hospital and

attentiveness by the nurses will be low. I won't even go into how

many times I pushed that call button and how little response I got,

how many times I threw up before they gave me the anti-emetic, how it

took four hours to get a fresh ice pack after the previous one melted,

and how the next morning they served me a regular breakfast instead of

clear liquids diet and how it took until lunchtime to get anything to

eat, and then they brought me the wrong food again.... one thing after

another all night long that I really had to stay on top of what was

going on. Hopefully none of this will happen to you! I'm not sure a

friend being there will make any difference, but if you do get one to

stay, tell them in advance that you're going to be in a nasty mood and

they should back you up even if they personally think you're being too

aggressive!

As far as your dietary preparations for what to have on hand, aside

from soups and broths, how about yogurt and ice cream and mashed

potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, pudding, fruit smoothies in a

blender, cans of Ensure in different flavors. How about a juicer so

you can drink your veggies? I've heard that celery juice is good for

the nerves, and your nerves will be damaged in the operation, so

anything you can do to help them out is good (I'm telling you, this

numbness sensation in my face is very very weird). My surgeon said I

could eat basically anything that would go through a blender, so I

actually cooked pasta and put it through the blender with tomato

sauce. You might not want to try that !!! The thought of it now is

making me queazy.

I had some trouble on day four with my stomach getting irritated by

the antibiotics and pain meds, and I tossed whatever food I had eaten

and then felt terribly weak on Saturday. They gave me another

prescription to stop the nausea, promethezine I think it was, which

really makes you feel loopy and tired.

I can tell you from my experience that having a friend there with you

to look after you would be the best thing in the world. Even though

you may not be cheery company, having someone there to encourage you

to eat/drink something every 1.5 - 2 hours can make a tremendous

difference in your recovery. After I was sick to my stomach twice on

Friday and lost everything I'd eaten that day, I woke up Saturday

feeling extremely weak and tired - not a good position to be in when

you have to stay on top of eating regularly. That's when I called for

reinforcement, a friend who is looking after me. If you got one

that's willing to take care of you, by all means, take that person up

on their offer. You won't be sorry.

Hope all goes well for you, and I'd appreciate any prayers/good

thoughts to come my way as I round out this first week of recovery. It

has been kind of tough.

Take care.

Ken in Philly

> Hi all,

>

> I was wondering if you all could give some of the most

> important things to think about or remember just

> before and after surgery that helped you through the

> days prior to, in the hospital, and just after

> surgery.

>

> I'm just a little over a week away from having my

> lower jaw advanced and having some grafting done as

> well. I have my smoothie maker ready to go, the

> humidifier ready to be cranked, bought the

> zip-n-squeeze bags, have broths and soups frozen and

> ice-cream, lip balms, face creams, baby tooth brushes,

> long thin brushes, and swabs, many pillows and back

> support and neck support pillows, face ice packs, dry

> mark board, breathe right strips, etc.

>

> I'm trying to be super positive and really can't wait

> for the day to come. Do I need a bud to stay

> overnight in the hospital with me and how about when I

> get home. Is it necessary to have around the clock

> care at first? Just how " out of it " are you in the

> beginning?

>

> Thanks for any help.

>

> Charleen

[Guest guest]

Hi Charleen,

You are very prepared ... that's great. The one thing I had a hard

time with was pain control - I couldn't take the amount of liquid

tylenol - it tasted awful, so I needed to grind up extra strength

tylenol, mix it with water and shoot it in my mouth with a syringe.

So, you might want to think about what pain medicine you can

tolerate, and what your OS says you are allowed to have - and also

how you can take it - I couldn't possibly swallow a pill.

I agree with Mark that having someone with you in the hospital is

helpful, depending on how good your nurses are - mine were actually

very good, but it was still nice to have company and to have someone

to take me for walks.

I would definetely have someone at home with you. You will be very

low energy, you need someone to prepare your food for you and just

generally be your cheerleader. It's hard to know if you will bounce

back or take a while - I took a while and was glad for the support

that I had. It took me a week of eating and rest to get enough

energy to start preparing my own food.

One more thing - I guess ice packs are recommended for the first 48

hours, then I was told to use a heat pack. I have one from the

drugstore that is microwavable. It helps relax muscles and feels

nice on your sore face.

Good luck with your surgery!

Pam

> Hi all,

>

> I was wondering if you all could give some of the most

> important things to think about or remember just

> before and after surgery that helped you through the

> days prior to, in the hospital, and just after

> surgery.

>

> I'm just a little over a week away from having my

> lower jaw advanced and having some grafting done as

> well. I have my smoothie maker ready to go, the

> humidifier ready to be cranked, bought the

> zip-n-squeeze bags, have broths and soups frozen and

> ice-cream, lip balms, face creams, baby tooth brushes,

> long thin brushes, and swabs, many pillows and back

> support and neck support pillows, face ice packs, dry

> mark board, breathe right strips, etc.

>

> I'm trying to be super positive and really can't wait

> for the day to come. Do I need a bud to stay

> overnight in the hospital with me and how about when I

> get home. Is it necessary to have around the clock

> care at first? Just how " out of it " are you in the

> beginning?

>

> Thanks for any help.

>

> Charleen

[Guest guest]

Hi Ken,

Great post! I am sorry you had a distanced staff at the hospital.

The worst part of that is that I am sure you will get no deductions

on your bill for the absence of care you received! That is pretty

frustrating. I agree. Having previous surgeries in a larger

hospital, has taught me that you always need to have an advocate

there for your protection. Good advice.

Many post op posts report that the first week is the worst of the

recovery, so hang in there. You are nearly there! And if it is

prayers and good thoughts you are wanting, you definately have

mine. I hope the next few days pass quickly and you begin to feel

you are on the downhill side of the recovery. You can make it.

Hugs,

Fran

> > Hi all,

> >

> > I was wondering if you all could give some of the most

> > important things to think about or remember just

> > before and after surgery that helped you through the

> > days prior to, in the hospital, and just after

> > surgery.

> >

> > I'm just a little over a week away from having my

> > lower jaw advanced and having some grafting done as

> > well. I have my smoothie maker ready to go, the

> > humidifier ready to be cranked, bought the

> > zip-n-squeeze bags, have broths and soups frozen and

> > ice-cream, lip balms, face creams, baby tooth brushes,

> > long thin brushes, and swabs, many pillows and back

> > support and neck support pillows, face ice packs, dry

> > mark board, breathe right strips, etc.

> >

> > I'm trying to be super positive and really can't wait

> > for the day to come. Do I need a bud to stay

> > overnight in the hospital with me and how about when I

> > get home. Is it necessary to have around the clock

> > care at first? Just how " out of it " are you in the

> > beginning?

> >

> > Thanks for any help.

> >

> > Charleen