The big day is October 24th! I would go tomorrow if they called and said I could come.

My husband and my mom will be my main caregivers (Mom during the day, hubby at night) for the long haul. I am an RN and one of my dear nurse friends is planning on staying with me at night in the hospital – even in ICU – as a patient advocate. I know that my main risk is airway obstruction post-op but my main fear is infection. The last thing I need to happen is get a antibiotic-resistant staph infection in my face – thus the enforcer, er, nurse friend. Her job is to make sure that anyone that comes near me has washed their hands and to make sure I am as comfortable as possible. Good friend. Other than family she is on the very short list of folks that will be welcome to visit for the first couple of weeks. I agree that I won’t be up to being the hostess with the mostess. During my father’s recent illness (melanoma) I found that sending out an update email en masse to family/friends kept them happy and allowed us to handle the communication situation in a manageable way. I think I will do it for my post op time also. That way I can email and read email when I am ready/awake. I will also be posting on my blog often during recovery.

I placed an order with the Zip-N-Squeeze folks and got some bags, a chin sling with removable cold/warm packs, the book they offer. This thing should really be required reading before surgery. It is called “The Healing Jaw and a Liquid Diet”. It is written well and is very comprehensive – from what to acquire before surgery, postop nutrition, mouth care, lots of hints and recipes, and an explanation of vitamins/minerals for healing. Did you know you are supposed to consume 85 grams of protein a day! Sheesh, that will be a challenge.

I totally agree about taking pain meds on a schedule for the first several days. I was a pain control nurse before I started spitting out kids – I know that the best way to control pain is to stay on top of it.

All in all I feel like I will be ready. My kids still need some prep. I really haven’t done much to prepare them for the gruesome side of this situation – I need to do some work on that.

I will definitely do mexican food several times before surgery. And Tex/Mex. And steak. And Italian. And Indian. And lots of sushi. I love sushi – I look forward to having a mouth big enough to fit a whole piece of sushi. More than once I have had to cut pieces or *badly* try to bite a piece in two. Not pretty with the orthodontic-induced killer overbite.

I am more of an Alton Brown girl – Bobby Flay irritates the crap out of me.

I really appreciate the advice and will be trying those eggs with cream cheese – that sounds great. I am a firm believer that anything with cream cheese or pork products have to be good. And if you can combine the two – whoa, watch out! Cream cheese stuffed jalapeno halves wrapped in bacon and baked until the bacon is done – GREAT! Yep, I will have to have some of those before surgery also.

Shelby’s a big help! She is right about enjoying pizza, and if you like it steak. It will be a long time afterwards before you can chew it comfortably again. Oh….and the yawning and enjoying biting into big round fruits like plums, apples, etc. It will be months before you will be able to bite into anything with your front teeth, mostly due to numbness!

Brandy