Day 21 - We're halfway there!

Today's Craving: Lasagna

This morning, I was wrestled awake, kind of in the space between sleeping and awake, and I kept hearing this sound coming from inside the fireplace. For a while, I figured I was still dreaming, until I started coming to and realized…there was something stuck in the chimney! I scrambled out of the recliner and closed the grate on the fireplace, while Francis just sat there watching on. When mom came downstairs from a phone call, I tried to have her listen too, but the sound came so sporadically! Eventually, mom heard it and we both freaked out. I didn't trust the grate to hold whatever what was in there inside still, so I piled a bunch of boxes up in front of it to block any opening. Soon after, Dad came home and I told him about the whole incident. He set into action. 

                   

"Here upon these stones we shall build our barricade…."

              

Dad was not satisfied with just a barricade so we decided to head to Orchard Supply to pick up some traps. When we got there, we thought about getting some tubing to build a tunnel to lead whatever it is out the window. Then we realized, we don't know what is up there, and we don't know what size it is, so traps were the way to go. As we left Orchard Supply, Dad realized he hadn't eaten lunch yet and asked if it was okay if we stopped by this deli he knew in the area, Paradiso Deli. I hate that this surgery has inconvenienced my family so much, so I told him it was no big deal. We parked and headed in, and man oh man, did I regret my choice. It smelled AWESOME inside! They had homemade meatballs, lasagna, meatloaf and eggplant. I totally can't wait to try it again once I'm unwired. Dad ordered a meatball sandwich and the meatball was about the size of a softball. We headed home so he could eat and we could start taking care of this critter. 

 

We came back home, and Dad split his sandwich with mom. I poured myself an Ensure to dull the pain. After lunch, we removed the barricade…veeeeerrryy slowly. Luckily, the creature had not moved down into the fireplace. We set the traps and Dad decided to upgrade our barricade. 

Dad's upgrade

After that, Dad and I decided to go on a quest for some new syringes for me to eat with. We went to the first medical supply store, which smelled terrible, and unfortunately, they didn't carry any. But they directed us to a store that they thought had some. We headed over there, and just our luck, they had some for sale! We were hoping to find some bigger ones so I couldn't have to refill the syringe so often but they're the same size as my old ones. At least they will, hopefully, function properly. Then we went and returned some of the supplies we didn't use at Orchard Supply and as we were leaving we passed a Feed and Pet Supply store. Dad thought we should stop in to see if perhaps they carried any horse syringes, that might be bigger than the ones I am currently using. Thankfully, they didn't so they spared me from playing Mr. Ed. When we finally got back home, there was a flower delivery for me from Jenny and Gina! They are beautiful and a perfect way to celebrate being halfway through my recovery! Thanks for thinking of me ladies :)

Once everyone was home, we settled in and watched some TV, trying to ignore the scratching sounds coming from behind the barricade. Mom headed out to an appointment, so it left me, Dad and Kevin to figure out something for dinner. The boys decided they wanted SmashBurger, so I tagged along since I saw they had milkshakes on the menu. I ordered a salted caramel milkshake and asked them to blend it extra well. The reaction I get in restaurants when I tell our servers I'm wired shut is pretty hilarious. A mix of pity and confusion. So we grabbed a table in the corner, so I wouldn't be too much of a spectacle.  When my milkshake came, I loaded it into one of my new syringes and it was delicious! And they blended it perfectly. After a while, I decided to try drinking it straight from the straw. I've had some issues drinking through the straw, since it normally puts most of whatever I am drinking through my front teeth. If it is anything other than totally liquified (i.e. water) it clogs up the holes in the front of my splint and I can't drink anything else, or even breathe out of my mouth. Now that the swelling has gone down, I can put the straw further back in my mouth, along my teeth, and create enough suction to get some liquid into my mouth. I drank the rest of the milkshake like that. It is definitely going to make it easier to eat outside of the house from now on. Success!

After dinner, we came home and went for a walk. I was fine on the walk, but when we got home my jaw was pounding. I think I'll hold off on walking with the fam for a bit. After some TV, we got ready for bed. The sounds in the fireplace were much louder now, which is terrifying because my recliner is probably just 3 feet away. Hopefully this thing, whatever it is,  doesn't bust out in the middle of the night and attack dad and I. 

Here's my 3 week progress picture:

Feeling pretty good :) I can't believe that we are halfway through! The days are flying by but at the same time, I still feel like I have so long to go. And lately, it seems harder and harder to deal with the food aspect of this recovery. But I'm grateful to have everyone support and help that have got me this far. I'm excited to see how this next 3 weeks goes. Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!