Progress!

Since the surgery, I've been in the doc's office about 2-3x week, just to make sure I'm doing ok and that there are no issues with healing. My jaw started to drift last week and my bite was no longer lining up, so that's why they had to put the bands back in. I was a bit disheartened by this,less because of the floating jaw (the docs seemed very confident that they could fix that) but because I'd enjoyed being able to kind of open my mouth. The bands made me kind of nervous, so even though they weren't the stiffest ones the docs could have used, I sxtill lost a bit of mobility up there. Not to mention it made brushing my teeth in any fashio a bit more of a pisser as well.

However, I've definitely adjusted to having them in there and am waaay less afraid that I'll accidentally open my mouth too wide and snap all of them simultaneously and send myself into spasms of pain (I did have one snap on me, but other than a very minor sting and a surprised look, it was kind of a non-issue.

Doc has been assuring me for a while that I can eat soft foods whenever I feel up to it - mashed pootatoes, scrambled eggs, that sort of thing. Even on a good day it didn't feel like I could open my mouth terribly far, much less jam a loaded spoon in there. But yesterday I sort of hit my limit and needed to eat Real Food (tm). My caloric intake had really been dropping off as I was really having trouble consuming any more soup or other pureed food item.** Just couldn't make myself do it. Plus yesterday i just needed a strong flavor. Went to the grocery store.

Last night I had a bit of a feast. I blenderized me up some bbq chicken (delish!), got a vat of potato salad, and some chocolate pudding. Know what else I got? A baby spooon. Oh yeah, moving up in the world -- I ate with a spoon last night. Sure, I ended up wearing a bunch of my dinner, and it took me about an hour to eat, and another hour to pick a bunch of the chicken out of my bands (I chopped it instead of liquifying it,) but I did it. Oh god, that was good! Picked up a can of Pringles as well. Broke those suckers into small pieces and just kind of let them dissolve on my tongue. Mmmm, salty, slightly soggy/crunchy goodness (I daresay I mightve had some involuntary up and down jaw motion with some of those damp chips.) And to top the whole baccnalia off, I drank my water out of a glass. Get out of town, you say, and I say, no! I drank two whole glasses of water without dousing myself or shorting out my loaner laptop! Hallelujia! She has been saved! Now keep in mind that I still can't feel anything on my lower lip or chin, so I have to sort of reach up and check with my hand to make sure I'm actaully making contact, and I'm sure that wackiness will ensue at some point in the future, but still -- progress!

Its times like these that I have a LOT of gratitude that my mouth isn't completely banded shut like I expected it to be. I think I would've gone nuts and tried to stab myself to death with the Zip n Squeeze straw by now.

** For some reason, I have never taken to smoothies on this dietary adventure. I had been cutting back on dairy prior to the surgery to help keep the mucous down, and seem to never have gotten fully back on the wagon. Also, I have craved warm food about 10x more than room temperature or cold food since the surgery.