Day 30 Post Op!

4 WEEKS WHAAAAT?

Sometimes I look at how far I have to go in the recovery (they say 90 days before you feel 100%) and get really down, but right now, in this moment, I can honestly say that time.has.flown. I'm 2/3 of the way until I can unband my teeth and 1/3 of the way until I'm back eating burgers and sandwiches e'rry day!

Most people post op say their swelling is worse in the morning, but strangely enough, I feel the exact opposite. My swelling seems to peak at night, at least on the left side of my face. This morning when we woke up Hunter said that my swelling looks completely gone, which is far from the truth, but it made me feel really good nevertheless. But every day it goes down a noticeable amount so I am not despairing! I suppose I just keep whining about it because after looking at the same face for 25 years, it's a little strange to see the chipmunky version of Aubs smiling back from the mirror for 30 days straight. Did I just refer to myself in the third person? I do believe Aubrey did.

It's easier to show my swelling in a side profile pic. Can you tell? Chunky cheeks?

Here is the most amazing thing...after 25 years of having an irritating cross bite that made my joints miserable and made it impossible to bite off sandwiches and pasta...(see pre-op pic below)

...My upper and lower teeth have finally been introduced! If nothing else, this is an amazing perk.

So today was a great day overall, I kept the TV off (which I have noticed helps me feel sooo much better) and wrote all day; I had enough energy and self-will to make dinner for the hubs for the first time (don't be impressed it was an omelet) and then made myself some buttery, salty, hot grits and, with a considerable amount of milk added, slurped them up the straw. For lunch I ate some potato soup which I hadn't had in a while, so it made me happy. On the same note...(Mom don't read this)....I've lost about 10 lbs thus far. I can't say I'm complaining, but I also am not under the false impression that there is any way I will keep it off. I'll just enjoy the next month of being back to my wedding weight before I go back to eating burgers and fries and being a little bit chubbier and a whole lot happier. :)

I even talked and laughed and had a splendid chat session with these beauties tonight (sisters!! the big head is my little sis Meg and the one in the middle that I completely cut off is my older sis Kate.)

Something that I consider to be a really amazing sign (maybe I already talked about this), is that even though my teeth are literally constantly being forced to clench, I have not had ONE TMJ headache! I've had headaches here and there, but trust me, I know the difference between a normal tension headache and a TMJ  headache. TMJ is more of a pounding behind my eyes that radiates up the nape of my neck, edging on a migraine. I used to wake up with them several times a week...sometimes even every night, several times a night. It was miseraaaable. Crossing my fingers that the surgery did what it was supposed to!

I didn't sleep great last night because it was my first night not taking some sort of sleeping aid since the surgery, and I've got a pretty gnarly knot in my neck so it's going to be a deliciously hot shower and an early bed for me.

Keep up the good work, me! It's possible that I am going to make it through, and looking ever more possible that I may look back one day and say "hey, that was totally worth it!"

xoxo