Day 9 - New stuff to keep my mind entertained!

Today's craving: Onion Rings 

This morning, I slept in a little longer than I was expecting. I had another rough night of sleep. Plus, at one point I was having a very vivid dream that I had a big slice of white bread stuck in my mouth. I remember choking on the bread and when I woke up, I had my hands in my mouth, trying to pull the plastic between my teeth out. Luckily, that sucker is wired in. Guess my subconscious was feeling a little claustrophobic.

When I woke up, I went upstairs and took a bath before my visitors showed up. Soon after Grandpa and Michelle arrived! We sat down and visited a bit (as best I can without being able to speak). They brought me some awesome gifts. Grandpa bought me a set of colored pencils and a coloring book. He has the same book himself, so we can complete the book together! Michelle brought me an awesome book that will teach me how to crochet, plus crochet hooks and whole bunch of yarn! So many things that will keep my mind and hands occupied over the next 5 weeks :)

At that point, everyone was pretty hungry so they left to go have lunch. I was just about to settle in for a nap when Katlyn called me on FaceTime. You know, it's pretty ironic but I'm using FaceTime more than ever since my surgery. I can't really talk but I guess it's more handy because you can see my face and I can (most of the time) get my point across. 

Classic faces. 

By the time everyone got home, I had just hung up with Katlyn. So we all decided to watch a movie (The Bourne Legacy). I was going in and out of napping so I only saw a short bit of the movie. But Mom made me some soup for lunch. I downed 3 syringes; I was hungry! So every time after I eat, I have to rinse my mouth with saline to keep everything (especially the stitches) clean. As I was rinsing, I noticed that my mouth was bleeding. Of course, to me, this means I'm dying. :P So I ran to find mom and ask her to call Dr. Fujimoto, just to make sure this was okay. We paged him and meanwhile, I stressed. 

Suddenly the doorbell rang. It was the mailman and he had a package, for moi! I ripped it open and inside was a beautiful prayer shawl, made for me by my wonderful godmother, Aunt Cathy. She had packaged it with lavender so it smells wonderful! And it's my favorite color, purple! I've been using it today while sitting in my recliner and it's just so comforting. I'm so grateful and lucky to have so many thoughtful people invested in my recovery. It makes every day a bit easier. 

Dr. Fujimoto called us back and assured us that a little bleeding is perfectly normal. He says that the blood vessels back by the incisions are pretty sensitive so if anything disrupts them, we can expect a little blood. I was worried this would mean limitations on if I can use my suction machine or a straw, but he said I'm fine on both fronts. To soothe me from the trauma, Mom made me a milkshake with the ice cream Yvonne brought over and some banana. It was delish! I ate 4 syringes worth. Definitely gonna have to try that out again. 

The rest of the evening was spent watching TV with the family and explaining my medications to dad and Kevin. They'll each be taking shifts on the couch downstairs taking care of me at night. It's really just giving me my doses of pain meds in the middle of the night and making sure I don't die. Tonight is Dad's first shift. If you don't hear from me tomorrow, you'll know it didn't go too hot :P

Here's my progress picture for the day:

More of the same, if you ask me. But I'm happy with it!

Thanks for reading!