I had my weekly OS appointment today, and was "hoping" I would get cleared for soft chew ... but in the back of my mind I guess I had a gut feeling that wasn't going to happen. Dr. P took a look at my plate, and said indeed it seems to continue to be closing up, although he said again that it would take a small miracle to heal over completely. Since I am healing up so nicely ... my reward is ... 2 more weeks of liquids! He fears if I move to soft chew it could rub the incision and prevent further healing. Oh well ... I've gone 6 weeks, what's another 2? (that is my attempt to be positive :) ) . Everything else looked good, yesterday I got cleared from my OD to use my Sonicare and water pic, and I guess it showed because Dr. P commented that my hygiene looked very good.
I ventured to ask about the plate removal procedure, if/when it takes place around week 10. It will be an in office procedure, using IV sedation, and I'll be in and out within an hour or so. He'll precribe me some of the heavier artillary drugs if I have excessive pain, but hopefully I will be able to get by on OTC meds. If we do the procedure on a Friday, I should be back to work the following Monday. I will only have to go back on liquids for a day or 2, and it won't have to be clear liquids, as the plate removal procedure is much less invasive than my original surgery. So that was good news.
We talked about my range of motion ... he doesn't think I'll progress too much more as long as I am in the bands still 24/7 ... although he did say that I may get some more ROM when I move to soft chew and have my bands out for 1 to 1.5 hours each time I eat. He said that it can take up to a year to get my ROM back, his ROM is less than before he had his surgery and since it has been over a year now he doesn't think he will get it back to what it was pre-op.
He will be in Canada next week, so I will not see him, but he still wants me to meet with one of the other doctors just to check on the plate, but so far everything is still looking good.
Catching Up & Building a Timeline!
3 years ago
5 comments:
Just wondering if you have lost much weight being on this liquid diet for the last 6 weeks?
Jen, I have lost 10 pounds total. I plateaued around 2.5 weeks and haven't lost anything since. I think my metabolism adjusted to the lower caloric intake to prevent me from loosing more.
You lost a full Australian dress size. What about exercise? Did you have the strength to go to the gym or a run within the week after surgery?
I went for short walks the week after surgery, and gradually walked more as my calorie intake went up. My OS didn't want me doing anything strenuous for 6 weeks. You won't feel comfortable running within a week after surgery, even if you did have the energy, which would be doubtful in itself. You just get a sense that everything is healing and don't want to do anything to put that healing at risk, and bouncing up and down would make you feel like you were going to jar something loose. Walking is good, it gets the blood moving, but lifting anything too heavy can cause clenching and the impact of running would be uncomfortable. When in doubt, ask your OS.
I want to thank you so much for your blog...your experiences have been really helpful in putting my mind at ease at my impending surgery. How are you doing today?
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