Monday, June 6, 2011

My post-surgery update and liquid diet menu



Most of my readers know that I had an oral surgery two weeks ago. The surgery did not go as well as planned, but I made it through. I had to be on a liquid and pureed diet for the first week. Then I could start gently chewing on soft foods. I still cannot eat anything too hard. I had to learn how to eat and speak with a big plastic thing in my mouth which was very hard. I felt as if I was gagging and choking the whole time and every time I tried to swallow anything from water to a smoothie it was painful and difficult. I was in a lot of pain because I could not take any heavy duty pain meds and the regular stuff was not very strong. I was icing my face 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off the first few days, then less often. I had to take the week off from work and stayed home (a really fun vacation, don't you think? ), mostly glued to my chair in front of the TV or in the bed. I had all these plans to read and blog, and catch up on things that I did not have time for during my busy work schedule. Well, all these plans went out of the window because I was in so much pain and discomfort, that I could not concentrate on something for more than a few minutes and I was lacking any motivation and strength.
The day before the surgery I stocked up on frozen and fresh fruits and veggies for smoothies and purees. I used a bag of frozen peas as an ice pack. The picture above is just a few examples of what I used to make my liquid and pureed foods. To make things even more complicated, I could not have any smoothies made with fruits with even the smallest seeds (such as raspberries, strawberries) for the first few days, since the tiny seeds would get into my wound underneath the stitches.
Some of the things that I was eating (drinking) for a week:
*banana smoothie
*blueberry smoothie
*mango smoothie (I added rice protein powder, coconut oil and agave nectar to most of those smoothies)
*various fruit juices
*water
*softened up soy ice cream
*soy yogurt
*pureed silken tofu and canned peaches (almost like a peach mousse)
*pureed silken tofu with almond milk,lemon juice and cucumber (with seeds removed-a cold cucumber soup)
*cold fruit tea
*pureed green peas and water
*pureed sweet potatoes and water
*pureed chili (room temperature)
*pureed soups (room temperature)
*pureed broccoli and vegan cheese pasta casserole
*liquid magnesium drink

And here are the smoothies that I enjoyed the most:


Happy Herbivore's "Cinnamon Bun Smoothie". I added presoaked blended rolled oats to the original recipe for a thicker and more nutritious smoothie. I love this smoothie (with and without oats)! It was one of the smoothies that I enjoyed everyday during my recovery and that I will continue making in the future. It tastes and smells amazing!




And this was a fun smoothie that was also very tasty : Chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie :-)

What is your favorite homemade smoothie? Have you ever had any oral surgery and was on a liquid diet? If so, what did you eat-drink?

13 comments:

  1. Poor thing. I'm sorry you're in so much pain. I hope your healing goes well.

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  2. @Leigh Thank you! I am healing O.K. The stitches are out and I can speak and eat much better now. It will take another 5 weeks or so before I am totally healed. Being vegan and a non-smoker made my recovery easier.

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  3. Wow, I'm really sorry for the complications. It does not sound fun. My brother broke his jaw a year or so ago and had to have it wired shut, so he was on a liquid diet for a while. I remember him drinking a lot of vegetable juice and protein shakes but basically still losing a lot of weight. I hope things heal quickly.

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  4. @foodfeud Thanks! Ouch, your brother had to be in a lot of pain! Despite all the calories I had in a liquid form, I still lost some weight, mainly because I did not have my usual carbohydrates such as bread and cookies :-)

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  5. I love chocolate peanut butter banana smoothies! And I've been meaning to find a way to male smoothies that travel well, i.e. to work or a picnic. I know that yours were less mobile, but what did you use to blend them up? Standard blender?

    And I hope that you heal soon! Until then, you could always wear oversized dark sunglasses and say that you're just being ultra-trendy.

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  6. @Meaghan Thank you :-) I use regular cheap blender for my smoothies, but sometimes I use Immersion hand blender as well. I have this cool thing for making smoothies outside home: Blender Bottle with a metal spring inside that I use to blend (mix) water and protein powder shakes and/or smoothies that are pre-made. I usually make the smoothie fresh at home in the morning and then shake it in this bottle at work to make it nicely combined again. The bottle also makes cool salad dressing, combining oil and vinegar into a smooth and creamy dressing.

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  7. Elisabeth - thanks for all your great ideas for post surgery things to eat (drink). I am getting ready to have jaw surgery in a few weeks, and I am looking for liquid diet ideas. thanks again! it was a big relief to see your blog. I am glad you are doing better. - any chance you could post the Choc Peanut Butter Banana smoothie recipe? it sounds delicious.

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  8. @Carter I am happy that my ideas are helpful to you. I hope your surgery goes well and that there will not be any complications. I wish you a speedy recovery. The smoothie was simple, I blended some almond milk with soft chocolate peanut butter (I bought a jar of dark chocolate peanut butter spread) and a banana. I don't remember if I added extra sugar. You can probably use a regular smooth peanut butter and add cocoa powder or chocolate syrup to taste. You can also add some protein powder for extra nutrients. Email me if you have more questions. Good luck!

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  9. It really sounds like that was a rough surgery. :( I have been recovering for a year from my last oral surgery and am about to go in for a 4th, then hopefully 5th and final in a few weeks.

    In the past my hubby made a fantastic cacao smoothie with soaked almonds, wheatgrass, hemp protein, almond milk, agave, etc, etc. and that was my favorite, plus mashed potatoes :) I need some new ideas this time around though - thanks for sharing your story and liquid diet!

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  10. @Bunny I am sorry to hear that you are going through this! I hope that everything goes well and that you will recover soon. Your smoothie sounds great and I love mashed potatoes! Good luck!

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  11. Thank you so much! I am also a vegan and I happen to be 1/4 Czech. I found this site while looking for remedies for wisdom teeth surgery. Other foods I am enjoying are homemade bread soaked in tomato soup, and cashew and nooch man n cheese.

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  12. There are many weight loss diets that promise to give you a slimmer figure in no time, but very few of these diets allow you to drink your way to becoming thinner. A liquid diet restricts what you consume to mostly liquids or all liquids. These diets are commonplace in the medical field, as they allow patients to prepare for surgical procedures that call for little to no food in the intestines and recover from surgery until they can digest food normally. For those looking to loose weight, a liquid diet can help you control the amount of calories you take in each day.

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