We all went back to NYU yesterday for Emily’s first post-op visit with Dr. Grayson. The purpose was to check the surgical splint to make sure it was properly in place, and hopefully get cleared for soft foods.
Unfortunately, Dr. Grayson wants to keep Emily on a liquid/blended diet for another week. He saw a couple of spots where the surgical site was still bleeding (just a spot of blood – but it indicates that it’s not 100% healed yet).
The danger with eating anything thicker than a shake at this point is that food particles might get caught in the splint and infect the surgical area, causing the bone graft to fail. So, a very disappointed Emily (and me!) headed out of the first appointment and up to 2nd Avenue where there’s a Baskin Robbins. I bought her a big cup of rainbow sherbert and Ana got some mint chocolate chip. We walked around the city a bit but Ana and Emily quickly got tired so we headed home.
I’d given Emily a bowl of chicken with stars soup the day before the appointment (she doesn’t eat the chicken) – thinking it was fine since she’d be moving to soft foods the next day, but that’s definitely off limits unless I blend it, so now we’re back to her three staples – yogurt, jello and milk. Jim blended scrambled eggs yesterday into a fine creamy concoction and she ate some of that, but was very resistant (it looked like bright yellow pie filling or something). But I’m happy to say she ate an entire bowl of Maple & Brown Sugar oatmeal even though I’d blended it to a fine powder and it came out kind of like a paste.
I have decided to go on a liquid diet with Emily until next week so she doesn’t feel like she’s all alone in this. I went to the supermarket and bought some stuff for both of us yesterday (chocolate pudding for me!) and a lot more soup. I’m hoping if we sit down to eat the exact same thing together, she’ll be less resistant to trying new things. I’m also constantly reminding her that this is temporary and we’ll get through it, but it’s important for her recovery.