Syringe Diet

I thought this photo might be amusing to some. It was taken five days post-surgery. As you can see, SWOLLEN.

For the first week or so, I was eating from these giant syringes from the hospital. Basically, I was so swollen that I couldn’t really suck liquids through my teeth, so I had to put the food into syringes and just squirt them into the back of my mouth. It was a very tedious process, and eating a meal took way longer than it was worth.

And of course, here’s a photo of what it means to be “banded shut.” The orthodontist put in some hooks before surgery, so that once everything was in place, the surgeon and his team could simply wrap rubberbands in the appropriate places to keep my jaw from moving.

I soon upgraded to spoons that were not so big that I’d get soup all over my face, but they were small enough to push the liquids right into my mouth. Then, I started eating out of certain small cups that wouldn’t allow liquids to dribble down my face. Finally, bowls were included in the list of drinkable dishes. I could finally say goodbye to the syringe diet and consume mass quantities of soup and blended rice porridge.

Thank goodness! I think so far I’ve lost 5 pounds max. I’ve regained some of it too. Sorry for the quality of the photos! We took everything with the iPhone. And for those wondering, straws are impossible with the splint in. :( I’ll have to save the bendy straws for when there’s more room in my mouth.

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