Seven weeks marks the start of the soft food stage of the diet--if the surgeon is satisfied with the healing he sees. To do that, he needs to take x-rays and see how things are going with the bone grafts, whether they're filling in or not.
And are they? See for yourself. These X-rays were taken this morning:
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| You can see the advancement gaps in the lower jawbone easily. The left side is doing well, 'calcifying' nicely over the graft lattice, which is pretty much invisible in the x-ray. You can tell by the more cloudy appearance. The right side is lagging, either due to the larger gap or the fact there was a minor infection on that side. |
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| Certainly have a sufficient airway now! No apnea, but still having sleep issues. Seeing a sleep doctor next week. Probably see about chemical help. |
Marking the start of the soft food phase, I tried eating with a fork and spoon for the first time since before surgery today. Made scrambled eggs for lunch, but only got through half of them; was finding it hard to get them in and down since my jaw opening is still so constricted and a lot of it ended up stuck in my braces and made for a bad clean-up job. Later in the afternoon, I microwaved some instant mac-and-cheese given me by a coworker. That went down easier, and I finished the whole thing. I didn't chew, though I did shift my jaw around to try to smush the pasta shells into my teeth to break them up... which is pretty much was I was told to do.
So... back to the waiting game now. A few new culinary options, like mashed potatoes (probably make that this weekend), but nothing too major. Actually, the biggest thing I find with this new stage is that I can simply lick my lips or fingers again. I can't when all the rubber bands are in.
Post-op appointments now run every other week instead of weekly. Progress, more or less.
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