Day 14 - Doug Visits with Pizza Hut :)

Well, well, well, what do we have here... It appears to me that today is my two week anniversary since my double-jaw surgery! Time sure flies by when you are having fun, and drinking your meals straight up on the rocks, blended to smithereens. I have to say I really got fed up today with my blended mac n' cheese. After slobbering all over myself for a good thirty minutes, I gave up. I figure I'll chug an extra Ensure later today, as I seem to have no problem getting those little milkshakes down in five minutes or less. A few days after surgery I was feeling experimental, but now I'm simply tired of cleaning out the blender and chancing on whether or not whatever I blend up will be edible or not. When in doubt....have an Ensure :)

However, Doug is coming over tonight with Pizza Hut. I have heard nothing but good things from people who have tried blended pizza, or "blended soup." I will have to add extra sauce to make it blend up smooth, but nonetheless, this sounds delicious! Oh, I am so excited. I think I will make a salad too and blend that up as well.


(5 hours time has elapsed and now I get to announce my verdict on blended pizza.)


Not bad! The only downfall is that it is very difficult to consume a normal amount of pizza. I had one slice, and added one can of tomato sauce and a little bit of apple juice, to properly liquify it. It smelt JUST like Pizza Hut even when it was in liquid form! I suppose it helps that we chose the greasiest pizza we could find :) Hey, it sure serves a purpose when hunting down the best foods to blend up. It was great and there's one slice leftover for tomorrow.

Doug, Dad (and mom) join me for Pizza Night :)

O.K. this may not be how the final result looked, but it did taste the same :)

So, if you happen to find yourself wired shut in the upcoming weeks, months, years, who knows when it could happen, please indulge yourself in this delicious blended creation. I'm not holding back. I'm not going out on any limbs and trying anything too extravagant, but burgers, pizza, spaghetti and sauce, are all typical meals, and all taste great blended up. They are fairly nourishing too and I've even packed on a couple of pounds. I am no longer feeling as decrepit as I was those initial first few days :) Go meat, go meat, or in my case, Go Food, Go Food.

Day 13 - Oh, for the Love of Food

It hurts to yawn. I wake up from my three hour nap today, and I can't stop yawning. Of course it hurts to yawn, for I cannot open my mouth to release my yawn! I am yawning now and it is only 9 pm! Thursday I will be meeting with my surgeon and I will be getting new bands, after having these ones removed briefly, and being allowed to brush my teeth!!! =) I am excited to brush my teeth, but I don't expect them to be too bad as I'm dutifully cleaning after each meal.

Each morning I start off with a Carnation Instant Breakfast, either chocolate or vanilla variety. I've found that using the blender to create something more interesting is simply too much work first thing in the morning, and grabbing a ready-made drink from the fridge is much more accommodating :) It's a great way to start my day by beginning with a hefty dose of 24 vitamins and minerals. These drinks are loaded with good stuff (and tons of sugar). Ensure has 21 vitamins and Boost has the most at 26. Lately, I have been starting my day and ending my day with one of these drinks. Usually around this time of night I venture to the kitchen, partially famished, and not wanting to wake in the early hours of the morning completely starving. I try to go to bed fairly full.

I would be very happy if I could feel my chin. Although this was not bothering me before, it is starting to be quite bothersome. It just feels weird. It's not like I have zero feeling there whatsoever, but there's definitely a weird sensation going on there and also in my nose area. I can tell I do still have a fair amount of swelling going on too. I look square today, and my jaw hurts again. I'm not good with pain. I don't even recall my surgery, (thank God). All I can say is thank goodness for that "cocktail" they gave me just before wheeling me into the operating room. That stuff sure got me good. I feel like my surgery was a dream, it feels so far away. I'm so thankful it is over with and I'm hopeful for my recovery to continue going in a great manner.

My goal of 2000 calories per day consumed is going well, but there are some days that are just a little bit low. I've been keeping track of everything I eat (drink) each day and it looks like I've been having generally five meals each day. I'm going to up the ante tomorrow and try to consume six meals, as I am lacking about 500 calories. It definitely makes it harder to reach this goal when I nap for a good portion of my day, when I could be spending some quality time doing some serious eating! Hopefully my naps will be fewer and less frequent soon.

Today's Mug Shot, 8/30/11 

(Yes, I will eventually take a break from my photo shoots on this couch, not yet, patience my friend =))

Day 12 - Boost Makes the World go Round'...

Well, we survived the hurricane but other areas were not so lucky! I know people are laughing at how "lame" this storm was, but I guess I am glad that it was lame! If it weren't, we would probably be underwater like Plymouth State right now.  It's sad to see my Alma Matar underwater!

I 93, Exit 25 - Flooding at Plymouth State University from Hurricane Irene

I ventured out for the first time today for an appointment this morning. Dad took me merely because I have orders not to drive for two weeks, and I also figured I probably shouldn't be driving with my hardcore pain meds still in my system. This short period being out was good to break me into the living world of people once again, but was nearly all I could take. Upon coming back home I laid down and snoozed for a good two hours. I wonder when it will be that I do not require daily naps. But then again, even before surgery I also was great at participating in afternoon nap time :) However, it would be nice to have the energy to withstand a days worth of activities with no rest period. 

I took pain meds this morning upon waking (pain is worst in the morning) and attempted to not take any more meds for as long as I could. I made it to 6 pm and gave in. I'm trying to make my bottle last, but I don't feel as if my pain is lessening. Perhaps it will be enough if I only take a morning and evening dose. We'll see how it goes.

I am beginning to start searching for a job, once again.  I would love to find a job now while I am still in recovery, in hopes that I will get a few call backs, not too soon, but in the next few weeks. What was prohibiting me from getting a job prior to surgery, was obviously the surgery. Asking for a few weeks off for recovery was something employers were not thrilled about. I also believe my possible job fields are broadening in which I am potentially interested in. 

Although I am still interested in a writing related occupation, I would love to pursue a career within a non-profit organization. I also, something I previously would never have considered, thought briefly for a moment or two the other day, about being an on-air personality, or a reporter, once my whole mouth situation is healed up and taken care of. Basically, I am open to pretty much anything. Shockingly, I briefly considered becoming an LNA too. Doug has discussed taking the LNA course after he experienced some not-so-professional nursing staff looking after me at the hospital. Something which totally grossed me out before surgery, somewhat interests me now as I am much more aware of the growing need for qualified, intelligent, dedicated and caring nursing staff.

My jaw feels okay, but I can definitely feel some pain when using my Waterpik. My surgeon said to not use the Waterpik in the top-front area of my mouth in the gum area, above my two front teeth. I know why too, because it hurts when I am even remotely in that area and I have a feeling from my level of pain, exactly where my incisions are. Also, doc kind of showed me. He said that the bottom chin area is fair game. But outer areas of my lips, and all the way around the top of my mouth should pretty much be left alone. I'm okay with listening to his orders because I really don't need to mess with any incisions or stitches. I am however systematically cleansing my mouth. After each meal, I'm doing the salt water rinse. I use my prescription mouthwash morning and night, and I use my Waterpik at least three times daily. My diet is no longer a problem and I think I may have a slight addiction to Ensure. This stuff is good when you aren't forced to drink it.

Lunch time today: Ended with a Strawberry Boost w/ banana, and began with Progresso Italian Meatball Soup - Was yummy and blended up perfectly! 

Day 11 - Renewed Strength and Flying Cows

Any other day I would love to sit around and play on my Mac, watch some television or read some of my latest Stephanie Plum book. But today I am bored. This hurricane seems to be fizzling out! All this hype for nothing! Better to be prepared than sorry.... dad even put our cars in the backyard. I would love to know what our neighbors think about that, it does look quite amusing. However, our cars are perfectly sheltered from any trees that may fall, which is the important thing. The gas stove has not flown across our deck and there have been no sightings of flying cows.

My nose is itchy and runny today. My right nostril doesn't have a whole lot of feeling in it and still is very swelled up, seemingly making me sniffle quite frequently. I still do not have the okay to blow my nose, but I can use Vaseline to swab the inners of my nose so that nose junk won't stick to the walls of my nose. My doc is very smart with that idea and it significantly helps reduce the amount of nose irritation.

Jaw pain is minimal, as long as I stay on top of my pain medications, and it is usually most intense upon waking in the morn. I've heard that as more feeling returns to my face, my pain will increase. This makes sense because when I lose my numbness and start feeling everything that is going on in terms of bone regrowth in my jaw region,  then I probably will be in a bit of pain. This pain will be inspiring, (and hopefully bearable) though because I will know that my jaw is going through an important stage in recovery.

I was just thinking that I am not totally aware of how many weeks long I will be banded shut. Mom said she remembers the doc saying either six or eight weeks. I recalled hearing six weeks, but am aware that after getting my bands off there will still be a week or two where it will be very difficult to open my jaw. This is expected as my mouth is forced shut right now, and when it is time to open it I can only imagine how difficult that will be. When that time comes I will probably continue on liquids for a bit and then move onto soft foods.

As a suggestion from a friend, I am working on writing a jaw surgery cookbook. Hopefully it will be of great use to other jaw surgery patients and those who are in need of a liquid diet. I will incorporate in it recipes I've found, as well as some of my own creations that I have blended up which are nourishing and delicious too. I will be working on that for my new project as I recover. I also am considering going back to work at Tj's next week, for a short morning shift or two, as my strength is greatly improving.

The Burwen's photo moment :)

Day 10 - Preparing for Irene!

I'm writing this post now, just in case Irene is as bad as she may be, although I really, really hope she isn't. I would love to not lose power and not have all my lovely blended concoctions go to waste... Mom did get me a couple 6 packs of Boost today though, in the event that we were to lose power for a while.

Today is going pretty well and I am loving my new face more and more each day. I successfully made blended waffles this morning and they were just as good as I had hoped! I first made my family their share, and then blended two for myself after buttering and adding honey to them, and adding a good amount of apple juice to help mix it all up. Typically, I can eat about four of my waffles, but when they are in liquid form it can be difficult to drink all that liquid, as two waffles plus the apple juice ended up being one full glass of liquid. I saved two yummy waffles and will heat them up and have for a snack later. I'm hoping to use up a few meals in the fridge in case we lose power, such as leftover stir-fry and spaghetti, mac n' cheese, broccoli cheddar soup and some chocolate, oatmeal smoothie.

I am pooped! Nap time. Will post more later if something extremely Earth-shattering happens, otherwise I'll be back after Irene! Be good everyone!

and today's photo moment :) 

Pretty flowers sent from my Orthodontist! :)

Day 9 - Love for Blended Delights!

Just now I tried to seal an envelope but couldn't do it because my tongue is trapped behind my teeth! It is a weird sensation, it is almost like I don't have a tongue at all! Once I grasped the concept that my tongue was nonexistent, mom graciously licked the envelope for me :)  Besides this little inconvenience, I've been pretty self-capable. I prepare my own meals and today I must say I sure got in some high amounts of calories. I started my day out with a chocolate instant breakfast and tossed in a coffee donut to the mix. It was delicious! A bit sweet, but very good considering I'd been craving donuts for some reason... obviously since I cannot have them, you know how it is.

Later on today I made a little pudding snack out of Kozy Shack chocolate pudding, some chocolate milk and half of another donut! I'm going to become a porker but it is okay for now as I need to gain back some of those lost calories. Dinner was great too. I re-heated mom's pork stir-fry with veggies and spaghetti from last night and plopped it all into the blender. It was wonderfully aromatic and went down nice and smooth, it was great! I also made mac n' cheese on the side and added a slice of Velveeta cheese and extra 2% milk. It blended out very well. Mom, dad and Doug tried it too and they all agreed it was great!

My conclusion is that real 100% homemade food works great and tastes the best in the blender, vs. instant food like instant mashed potatoes, which I made the other night and were not very good. Tomorrow for breakfast I'm making the family my famously delicious waffles and tossing some in the blender with a bit of honey, butter and watered down apple juice for me. Apple juice is the perfect juice for blending up foods, (I also used apple juice in my stir-fry dinner tonight).

I love food!!!!! and being wired shut is not going to ruin that. Today I made some awesome blended food and have come to realize that they are not gross or flavorless but quite the opposite - they are flavorful and extraeordinary! They are also so simple! Clean up is so much easier as well. In fact, I'm shocked people consuming blended food on a regular basis isn't the norm ;) Once my jaw isn't wired anymore, I may have to continue on this exciting diet.

Almost forgot!! Dessert! The family whipped out the icecream, (dad says we have to eat it all because of hurricane Irene and we may lose our power) and began chowing down. Even ice-cream I cannot eat. I feel kind of incapable at times. I tried to test the macaronis to see if they were fully cooked and then realized, duh how the heck can I do that???? So anyways, I plopped some chocolate ice-cream in the blender for myself, about three scoops, added whipped cream and chocolate milk, blended it up and poured into my glass. To my surprise, my glass was barely half full! This concerned me. That would mean that in order to have a full glass, one must blend about six scoops! That is a lot of ice-cream which leads us to conclude that ice-cream is mostly full of air, (Okay, dad's conclusion). Nontheless, I finished off this glass, added a large glob of vanilla ice-cream, milk, and whipped cream, pressed blend, poured, and consumed. Wow, can you say porker???? I think I may have maxed out on the calories today but the funny thing is, I do not feel overly full. In fact, I feel slightly hungry. Perhaps this is because when on a liquid diet, you never truly feel full....how deceiving.

This blog post today has been almost entirely made up around the topic of food. Mmmmm how I love food so much!!!

Picture time...

Douggie and Em :) He's so good at taking care of me!!!!

Douggie, mommy and me :)

Day 8 - Get out the Bling

Dad dragged me out to Sam's today to get provisions for the hurricane. Then he leaves me in the middle of the store with the cart chalked high with goods. Typical. But I survived. I had my well-awaited first post-operative appointment with my surgeon today and it was the best feeling to get rid of my nose junk. I can breathe easily now. He cleaned my mouth out and gave me the a-okay to use my water pick on the teeth and just above the teeth, but not any further, as that is where all my stitches are. He commented that I'm still pretty swollen but that it'll be decreasing gradually. I'm not too worried about my degree of swelling. Compared to what it was before, I think I look fine now. People who don't know me wouldn't think any different; only that I may be a little special since I can't talk. This may be why I would've preferred dad didn't abandon me in Sam's Club today.

My face is a bit tingly in the chin, right nostril regions and lips, but it is not a major concern for me at this point. I'm getting more range with my mouth and can open it a tiny bit now. My family still suffers trying to understand my own little language I've created but I think they'll get used to. When I was a small child my parents couldn't understand me then either :)

I'm feeling healthier each day but trying not to push my limits. I need naps each day. I wasn't around to take a nap today and almost fell asleep in the surgeons chair. I'm yawning profusely now and it hurts to do so, so I should sleep soon. My diet today wasn't bad and consisted of a few Ensure's/ Carnation Instant Breakfasts'. I've come to find that these products are not bad but perhaps take an acquired taste in order to have them so regularly. They definitely are handy to have in the morning or for a snack when I don't feel like straining my brain to come up with an interesting concoction. This way I play it safe by drinking something I know is at least edible and loaded with vitamins and minerals and a hefty amount of calories. I'm supposed to get 2000 calories a day. I've been keeping track and it seems I've been getting about 1600 which isn't bad at all, considering this was my first week getting used to my new routine. 

Doc weighed me and I'm at 104, down from 112 pre-operative which is not bad at all.

Now time for some pictures....

Look, I am smiling a little 

Check out the bling!!!! (Doc's orders)

Day 7 - Wonton Soup

Today marks one week since surgery, and tomorrow is my first post-operative appointment with my surgeon, which I'm extremely looking forward to so I can get my nostrils cleaned out. I'm ready to sleep in my bedroom again, enough of this Lazy Boy stuff. Bruising today is much less than yesterday, but still in existence. I'm getting discouraged, particularly when I am hungry and can't find anything exciting to eat. However, I did have the best liquid-lunch yet today. I had a cup of blended Wonton soup from our favorite Chinese restaurant. Although low on calories, it was extremely satisfying and reminded me of a time I once knew, pre-surgerical era. I also had a warm bowl full of blended hamburger, tomato sauce and cheese which was great and very good for the protein.

 I didn't luck out much at dinner, as I began with instant mashed potatoes and gravy, but they were way too sweet (and my tolerance for sweet things is steadily decreasing with the amount of milkshakes and ice-cream).  I added chicken afterwards and will reheat and try that for lunch tomorrow. Doug then made me blended egg drop soup but the broth was plain chicken broth and I'm not even sure how to make egg drop soup. I wasn't a huge fan of it.  Doug was being thoughtful though like always and kudos to him for helping me out. Douggie is now gone and it makes me sad. I miss him. Probably because he's the only one who can understand what I'm saying. Pain has been kicking my butt today too, as yesterday it had subsided and I hadn't need much for pain meds. Today at least three doses and two naps were taken. We took a nice sized walk around the block and my energy level is definitely rising. My weight loss is leveling off at around 10 pounds and doesn't seem to be decreasing any further.

 On a positive note, Doug was over for a slumber party last night and we stayed up till 2 am watching Sex and the City :) See, I have to have my jaw broken in order for Doug to withstand that much S.A.T.C! 

My Douggie and I :)

Day 6 - Love for Vaseline

Day six is almost over and my lips are the greatest sign of improvement today, as I've been constantly slathering Vaseline onto the cuts and splices. I also resisted the urge to yank off the dead skin when I could, because someone mentioned to be cautious in that these areas of "dead skin" since they may in- fact be stitches. When applying Vaseline today, I look at the tissue and laying there is all my dead skin which was so cool. I have flawless new lips, it is great! Still waiting on this nose of mine, way too congested and full of dried blood for my own good....

Doug came up today and is here to spend some time and help me out. We took a very short little walk around the circle, at a snails pace, but my energy is rapidly increasing. My bruises on my face have spread to my neck region, and from there they will disappear within the next week or so. I am looking more and more normal each day. My bite looks awesome. I'm numb though, so I'll feel like my mouth is hanging open, as it was most of the time prior to surgery, and then realize that it is actually closed.

I am getting very tired of milkshakes, Carnation Instant Breakfast, and Ensure. Not that these products aren't good; mixed up with strawberries it is a delicious concoction, but I do need variety in my diet, and not to mention these foods really bloat me up! Dinner tonight we blended a burger with some tomato sauce and melted cheese, and it came out relatively good. Hopefully this will add some meat to my bones as I have already lost 10 pounds. I'm not worried, as it was expected from the minimal amounts of food I ate at the hospital and those first days after surgery. Now that my appetite is basically back to how it was pre-surgery, I'm mostly gain to try any blended delight, at least once. If it's good I'll gladly try it again. We've been a bit experimental so far. I've had blended grilled chicken, milk and pasta which was probably not my favorite, although dad would like me to believe that he thought it was great :) I offered him my syringe.

I'm hotter than Haites. Last night I woke at 3 am with my pajamas completely drenched.  I'm trying to avoid afternoon naptime. This hasn't been difficult because I am so bored and tired of sleeping. My hunger is kicking in again. Every few hours I must eat or I feel out of whack.

Swelling has gone way, way down. Bite is looking great. Waiting for bruising to dissipate.

Day 5 - Feeling Fabulous!

I feel great today! Been drinking prune juice regularly since yesterday, and boy has it helped. I think the nasty hospital narcotics are almost out of my system because I am feeling pretty good. I showered this morning without feeling exhausted and didn't have difficulty breathing afterwards either. Mom made me and Ensure vanilla drink with some blended in strawberries. It was delicious. And I thought I'd never eat Ensure again after my hospital stay, but now I realize there are ways to make it taste quite good - too bad the hospital staff didn't think of trying any of those ways out ;)

Feeling much less lethargic without the toxins in me and since I'm consuming much more liquid than I had been. Drinking lots of juice - prune, apple, cranberry, etc. Not a big fan of blended cream of wheat or oatmeal. I think the only reason I enjoined my Ensure smoothie is because the texture that I drank it at was the original texture. Eating something blended like spaghetti just seems so wrong because I've never had it like that before! We shall see though what other blenderized foods are to come.

My face feels extremely tight today, was a pain in the tush last night when trying to sleep. Ice was making it worse, perhaps I should be using heat on it soon...will have to find out. I also do not need my two pillows to prop up my head. I'm still sleeping in the Lazy Boy chair but no extra chunky pillows are necessary :) Breathing is still a pain but looking forward to Thursday once again to clean out the nose gunk.

Hehe, this photo is not real! This was on my Mac using the fun photo settings ;) But, this is pretty close to how I looked right after surgery, and if not, sure most definitely is how my head felt!

Now that is better :) Can you notice a difference between the two pics? ;)

Day 4 - Pain in My Rear

Day #4 in one word: well, it sucked. Nauseous for the better part of the day, but then my wonderful surgeon called and gave me tips and tricks and kind words, and using his helpful hints I was then able to let loose some of the nasty hospital antibiotics my body has been holding inside, yes this might be too much information, but it sure felt good :) Helped with nausea significantly. I noticed bruising on the right part of my face today, but only a small amount, we'll have to see what tomorrow brings. I want food so bad. Mom and dad made spaghetti and meat-sauce tonight, nothing spectacular but it smelt amazingly good. I really wanted some hummus and chips, salad dressing and salad....so dad whipped me up a juice in the JuiceMan machine. I couldn't get much down, but it was good, and my first real taste of food :) Wouldn't mind some Lindt Balls, either, thanks dad for constantly eating these things nonstop around me ;) Excited to see surgeon Thursday to eliminate this old blood and ooze from my nose that I am forbidden to touch. Not only will it be significantly easier to breathe, but this old blood up there is a huge factor in nausea that I'm experiencing. Head is currently pounding as doc gave me a new prescription for my nausea and as reading the label I spot a huge MAY CAUSE HEADACHE sign, so it helps with one thing and makes me uncomfortable in another way. Perfect. Hoping tomorrow is a better day. Doug came to see me, here's a photo from tonight :)

Douggie giving Snoops a big sloppy kiss :)

Day 3 - Snoopy Love

Day 3 is here, and this means swelling should be peaking as 72 hours is approaching.  I'm starting to miss food, a lot. But besides that I really can't think of anything bad or inconvenient about this whole thing. To begin with, I don't remember surgery at all, and the parts I do remember, such as preparing for surgery or resting up afterwards were uncomfortable, tiring, and nerve-wracking, but not painful. So, what I read previously, before undergoing jaw surgery was that it's not painful, but uncomfortable and I'm here to confirm this statement is indeed true. I've been staying on top of them pain meds and even managed to pull off a 7 hour of sleep kind of night! And my day has only gotten started....think I may take a nap outside in the shade today too, it seemed to help with my sinuses.

I've had a little bit of watered down cream of wheat this morning, which tasted like buttermilk, which isn't bad, but not something I would want to chug down regularly... Each day lately I've been having a different liquid, yesterday I maxed out on the Ensure and today Cream of Wheat, for now anyways... Today is also prune juice day to get these bowels going! :)

It can be challenging getting liquids down at times, but other times it is a piece of cake. My meds make me so drowsy too so I'm trying to wean myself off of them unless it's needed or at night or take some of the lower dosage non-narcotics stuff, but most definitely none of that crushed Vicodin - man, that stuff has got to be the worst tasting crap I've ever had. And with a wired shut it takes grossness to a whole new level.

Firsts for today will include trying of the water pick which was fairly successful, (will be better off when I can open my mouth a bit wider), baby toothbrush and prescription mouthwash. These items significantly reduced the deadly odor emanating out of my mouth upon waking this morning :)

I miss Douggie, but in his place is my Snoopy who is soft and cuddly and a great companion for any jaw surgery recoverer :) I've attached photos of me and my puffy, slowly reducing in-swelling face and my smiling Snoopy. He's even softer than he looks :)

Love, Em & Snoops

Day 2 - Surviving on Pills

Mom, dad and Douggie are in the kitchen eating God only knows what - yeah, you guys are lucky I'm stuffed up ;) I'm happy to be home but miserable. I need 2000 calories a day! Today, day 2 in recovery, I've had 1/2 of two Ensure's because I'll take my meds and then be good to go - eat, talk (little bits and pieces) and then they will just wear off and I'm useless, sitting in the living room watching Seinfield, alone, while everyone bonds over ...hmmm... well forget it, I can't smell, remember? ;)

Surgery was successful, from what we can see, and everything looks great. These past few nights really blew for a.) having to call the nurse in every 3 hours because all the intravenous liquids in my system the surgeon requested and my catheter just being taken out so I can't tell there's more in that bladder and if I don't call the nurse the machine goes beep beep beep -------- or b.) because I couldn't breathe/blow my nose. Nights seem to be the most bothersome in terms of pain and annoyance. Speaking of annoyance, nurses who pretend they don't understand jaw surgery patients are very bitter, irritating people. Sure, maybe I don't make perfect sense but the lady taking care of me immediately out of surgery knew just what I needed and monitored me around the clock , versus the next one who comes in after her shift who doesn't know anything - literally, anything- sure, let's put the new nurse in to look after the people who need the most help by completing ignoring them unless they speak perfect English to them! And then she can't read or she pretends she can't read. True my handwriting on Vicodin was a little iffy but if you try you might find a word or two outta it.

I gave in and took a few self-photos on my MacBook for my own perusal. Ewwwwey. I might post them if I'm feeling braisen, okay wrong word according to my Mac and noone to ask what the correct word is....ugh. Well back to socializing, aka watching Sex and the City with mom, dad and Doug and them being confused as to why we are watching, and me iced up and swollen and slowly sucking in these nutrients, one at a time.

Until next time. :)

Day 1 - Jaw Surgery was a Success

Waiting for mom and dad to come take me home! Spent 2 nights in the hospital - both nights extremely hard sleeping conditions and I must say first time I looked in the mirror I scared myself. My face is huge. Haven't been brave enough to look inside yet, my surgeon has briefly though. He's the best! He came each morning around 7 am to make sure I was okay. He even called last night at 10 pm to check in on me and recommended my nurse give me a special breathing mask to help with the gunk in my nose. Well, at first it worked great. I was so freezing, and woke up and my room was blowing hot air in and I had a mask on my nose, it was wicked comfortable until I had to pee.....then I couldn't get back in position and it didn't help that my room door was partially shut after -- as the warm air was coming in from the hallway or something. My bed the first night was wicked comfortable and had a little tv in front me, for wherever I wanted it. This bed last night sucked. My television, for some reason, is located in the top far left corner, and I just had jaw surgery, what sense does that even make. I didn't watch much tele considering I didn't wanna break my neck in the process, figured my jaw was enough :) I played on my Mac a bit from Douggie, who was great, by the way. Him and my parents spent all day Wednesday here and a good portion of the day Thursday, although I woulda loved someone to spend the night with me last night ;) Going home today, YAYYY ! My buttocks are sore, my spelling is poor (thanks Vicodin) and I have a fat face :) Almost forgot, Doug got me a cuddly snoopy!! My nurse made sure to tuck in "my dog" each time I'd lay down last night :)

Countdown: 6 Days Away till Surgery

Six days until operation break-my-jaw is commenced. August 17th both of my jaws will be cut -- top jaw moved back -- bottom jaw moved forward -- genioplasty incorporated to aid in chin and lip support and a piece or two of bone removed or implemented in there somewhere, too. (Is this right, doc???) I'm pretty sure this is what's going to be occurring, but the whole thing is a little hard to follow. However, I do know the expected result is fabulous and I'll have healthy chompers and I won't look like Bugs Bunny anymore, (thanks Doug :)). I will be happy to close my mouth for the first time in 23 years (exaggerated), and put an end to my excessive drooling (generally at night time), clicking and jaw pain (and saying goodbye to my bedside bottle of codeine to aid in me not becoming a pill-poppin addict), mind-blowing migraines, nausea (according to eHow TMJ sufferers must have TMJ for a long, long time to experience nausea as a result, so I guess that is self-explanatory. I've contemplated blogging my jaw experiences as so many inspiring, comical jaw surgery survivors have done so in the past....and decided to give it a go. Although it does puzzle me how these people acquired enough energy immediately after the procedure to photograph themselves and blog about everything going on, but hey, I'll go with it and see what I am up to. My blogs may not be as frequent (or as graphic) but I'll see what I can come up with. Until next post I'll leave you with some old, pre-surgery pics, and later on will be posting via use of PhotoBooth on my new Mac (thanks Dougie, it'll make self-pictures post-op so much easier), for your viewing pleasure :)

Most current picture taken July 2011-- Braces on since October 2010 --

Surgery date: August 17, 2011

Below: Doug and I - 2010: Good view of my teeth protruding out of my face, 

nice warm day in the park :)

 

    Above:  2008: Nice pearly whites but protruding teeth