Day 3: So this is business as usual?

Craving Today: Taco Bell's Cheese Roll-Up    

The morning of Day 3, I slept in a bit. I slept in the recliner and mom slept on the couch and played my nurse. Every couple of hours she was up, getting me my pain medication and making sure I could sleep. I struggled to find a good balance with my pain med, and the pain woke me up a couple of times. I also had a dream that I was chewing something, and felt like i bit down, and that woke me up. It was a very scary moment for me, because though I am wired shut, I was worried that I was clamping my teeth, which would put pressure on my jaw. And my jaw needs all the freedom it needs without pressure so it can focus on healing. But mom was such a good nurse. I'm lucky to have her :) Since we were up so frequently that night, we decided to sleep in a bit.

All morning, my jaw was very tight. I think a lot of it stemmed from visiting with Amy the night before and trying to talk and communicate with everyone. I couldn't really talk this morning if I tried. So I decided that I should try and be as quiet as I can during the day. I actually downloaded a text-to-speech app for my iPhone and iPad. It allows me to respond and speak to everyone, and it's totally come in handy. Though it makes me feel like a female Stephen Hawking.

For breakfast, we decided to try something other than the broth I have been eating. So I had a carnation instant breakfast shake. I had the chocolate flavor and actually really liked it. We have these little dixie cups (like you would normally use in the bathroom when brushing your teeth) and I've been using them to eat and drink out of. It's much easier than filling up a syringe with food every time, and syringing everything in my mouth, which is a mess, believe you me.

After that, I figured I should look a little more presentable to the world, so mom helped me brush my hair and wash my face and…wait for it…brush my teeth for the first time! Okay, so for most people the whole not eating thing would be the biggest frustration (and yea, talk to me in a couple of weeks and it will probably be my new biggest frustration) but for me, not being able to clean my teeth has been KILLING me. As it is, I am able brush the outside of my teeth, but there will never be a way to get inside and brush the backs or my tongue. When I told my dentist about this surgery, he gave me the tiniest toothbrush known to mankind, so I am able to maneuver it in there and brush the front of my teeth around the wires. I still can't brush all the way in the back, since my stitches are still healing and I don't want to eff anything up, but just being able to brush those front teeth and using my floride mouthwash felt like heaven. Who knew I was so OCD about my teeth?!?

So that whole ordeal brought me to about lunch time, where it was time for (who guessed it?) BROTH! I was mid-drink when all of a sudden my jaw spasmed, hard. It was worse than the car spasm episode I had. It felt like my jaw was being thrown open, but then was being clamped shut at the same time. It was also accompanied with a crazy sharp pain rushing through my lower jaw. It really scared me! So of course, I yelped and went into panic mode, immediately followed by a meltdown about how now my jaw was probably totally misaligned and I was screwed. The cracks in the armor slowly reveal themselves. LOL.

After that Kevin's mom, Luisa, came over to visit. She of course spoiled me and brought over a lot of goodies, especially a beautiful orchid. It was nice to visit and catch her up on my surgery and what I've been doing the last couple of days. After that, I FaceTime with my gramma and she suggested that I have a task to focus on that evening, so I started coloring one of the giant pictures Amy brought for me.  Just call me Ozzy Ozbourne with my paint by number sets...

Today was all about adjusting to the new norm of my life for the next 6 weeks. I'm still trying to figure out how everything is going to go, what our routines will be and how I'm going to keep myself sane for the rest of this ordeal. Thankfully, I have the best care team in the world who are always willing to do whatever it takes. More importantly, they are willing to put up with my mumbling as communication and my hissy fits when no one understands what I am trying to convey. I'm pretty thankful for them, and I guess this means I'm gonna have to do something nice for them when this is all over. UGH :P

Photo courtesy of the selfie button!

Here's my progress picture for the day. I don't see much of a change:

Is it just me or are my jowls getting bigger? Keep packing on that chin, body. I really appreciate what it does for my look…

Supposedly, this is the day that is supposed to be the peak of swelling so we'll see. If this is my peak, I'll be overjoyed!

Do you see much of a difference? Thanks for reading!