Oh, how I missed food

I love food! Eating and sleeping are the favorite parts of my day. When I broke my jaw, only two of my teeth touched, I couldn’t chew, and it was very painful to swallow. After my surgery, my mouth was shut for four weeks. Wires for the first two weeks, and tight rubber bands for the next two weeks. My teeth were forced shut, so I was on a liquid diet and consumed everything through syringes. My parents or I would suck liquid into a syringe, then it would go into the side of my mouth where there is a small space between the back of your teeth and the back of your mouth. Then I would squeeze it into my mouth so it was in my mouth and I could swallow it.

All I had was Ensure (a nutrition drink), Gatorade, apple juice, and water for two weeks. After the wires were removed, and my mouth was shut with rubber bands, my diet expanded to include liquidy instant mashed potatoes, applesauce, and yogurt, still through straw sized syringes. Ensure bottles were 350 calories each, and I would have five of them per day to get me to 2000 calories. Medicine was the worst. Before I would consume my medicine (through the syringes), I would say in my mind “Lord have mercy on me for drinking this.” The liquid medicines were really nasty. Oh, how I missed food.