Day 22: Hooks, Wires, and Heat Therapy

The ol' nerves are definitely coming alive, especially my lips and around my mouth and they are seriously distracting and not fun! Wow. They are permanently tingling with ever increasing vigor and my lips especially seem to be bearing the brunt of this new sensation. Who knew that nerve regeneration would be soooo distracting but it seriously is! Not sure what can be done to alleviate 'this' but hopefully there is something. Presently writing this with the heating pad once again wrapped around my head as heat seems to lesson some of the throbbing (along with pain medicine!). The picture on the left is a bit freaky as my right eye is bloodshot and closed more than the other, my lips are swollen and my smile is crooked not the mention my chipmunk cheeks. Beautiful.

However, there is hope to be had because this time tomorrow evening I will be SPLINT FREE! I have my weekly appointment with my oral surgeon and he said that tomorrow is the day that the splint comes out. I cannot wait! My jaw and cheeks are presently swollen and I feel like I have zero space in my mouth as my surgical hooks and wires seem like they are ripping my inner mouth and cheeks. I wonder if the hooks and scars permanently scar your inner mouth? I will have to remember to ask him tomorrow. Ugly picture below I realise but if you zoom in on it you can see what the splint looks like as well as the surgical hooks and the surgical wires that are digging into my cheeks. A lot of fun let me tell you! :)

So it seems after a period of feeling much, much, better that I have regressed a bit inasmuch as my jaws and cheeks are swollen, my inner mouth is being scratched by the hooks and wires, and talking is causing jaw joint pain. Ah well, I keep telling myself that every day is going to be a better day!

"The Splint"

I had meetings at work the entire morning today and I talked for the vast majority of time. A lot of people have asked when they should return to work after surgery because they have concerns about returning to a job where they are required to talk a lot. I am in such a position and truthfully returning to work when I did was too soon I think; talking is difficult, both for me and the listener, and it really does take a lot out of you in terms of tiredness levels, jaw joints, jaw muscles, etc. As to how long you should take off is probably different for each person!

Disaster today, I ran out of instant pudding!?! I completely forgot to make a new batch! I mean what was I supposed to eat as that is all I seem to be eating presently :) The good news is that my mouth is opening more and more each day and today I could actually get the baby spoon in my mouth in its entirety (upside down but we're talking baby steps after all). No instant pudding but I had soft serve ice cream instead which was fantastic! Don't worry though because even though I did not have my staple of instant pudding I still managed to eat my other staple, mashed potatoes! The good life indeed . . .

So, this is what I ate today:

1. Yoghurt drink for breakfast.


2. Homemade (by my amazing wife!) mashed potatoes and gravy.


3. Soft serve ice cream.

You can see additional photographs under the ‘Photo Journal’ section above