Not feeling it.

Warning: Very unflattering images to follow.

Okay - not this one. This is pre-op with Mom

Post-op in my hospital room.

Literally. I'm not feeling it. I can feel the left side of my lower lip and part of the left side of my chin. I CAN'T feel right side of my lower lip or the right side of my chin. (The chin being directly below the outside corners of my mouth...this means I CAN feel my cheeks!) The idea was to have less pain and/or be pain free. So, numbness about covers that. Be careful what you wish for kiddos!!! The idea has now evolved to having feeling in my face with no pain. If you catch me with drool, or soup on my face, be a doll and let me know. You don't even have to say anything. Just hand me a napkin! *There's actually been no drooling, but the food on the chin thing happens every time I try to eat.

Here are some more unflattering post-op pics. The compression bandages kept the swelling down a bit so when they came off, my face got HUGE. It's going down little by little.

HUGE. I wouldn't lie to you.

Okay, you're right. This is a forced smile. Is it really that easy to tell?

This is still a couple of days ago. Heat is supposed to take the swelling down. It's working. Very slowly.

Below are the most recent pics - yesterday evening after my followup at the surgeon's office. I'm still pretty swollen and the appointment, while full of good news (things look excellent according to the doc), made me miserable. He took off the rubber bands that kept my teeth together, had me stretch my jaw a little and then put bands back on only in the back. I can stretch against them to strengthen and stretch my jaw. Supposedly I can eat more stuff now-soft foods that I don't have to chew. But, it's really difficult to consume anything that's not liquid.

And, you can see the lovely yellow discoloration of my chin and neck. This is caused by the swelling. It's supposed to go 1/2 way down my chest in the next few days, but according to the doc, the yellow looks great. Silly me. I always thought yellow wasn't my color.

Okay kids, that's it until next time. The words for the day are HEAT and PROTEIN. Learn them. Use them.