Day 8: The Curse of the Blog . . .

You may remember that in my post yesterday I was effusing happiness and mentioned some reasons why life is improving in terms of my post-surgery condition. One said reason was that my A.J. lips were decreasing and returning to normal. I should have kept my mouth shut (no pun intended) and not tempted fate because I woke up this morning and not only had my A.J. lips returned to their full puffy-post-op-state but they looked as if they had also had collagen injected into them whilst I was sleeping and sores had decided to call them home. I actually think Angelie Jolie would be jealous of my lower lip today!

Seriously though, is there anything more cumbersome than cracked, stretched, and sore-ridden lips? Selfishly, the answer is no, there is not. The Doc. said to put lip balm that contains Aloe Vera on and it would help. Haven't found any so I am presently trying something called Aquaphor. I will let you know the results. I believe that we now own every variety of chap-stick and lip-balm product on the market and not one of them contains Aloe Vera?@ I am thinking that is because there is not a product that contains it but the Doc. needed to say something so that I would leave him and his paging company alone :) I feel like Bob in What About Bob where Bob is constantly calling the paging service to try to get hold of the doctor . . . good times.

The rest of the day went well; my swelling is noticeably decreasing thanks, in part, to the constant ice and heat packs I apply. I definitely have a confirmed sighting of a cheek bone, it is not a mirage!

Also, and most importantly in my present world of Baby Steps, I shaved today! It only took me about 45 minutes to complete given the fact that I cannot feel my chin whatsoever and the rest of my face has differing percentages of feeling but after 45 minutes I actually didn't look too bad (relatively speaking). I hadn't even considered the hassle of shaving pre-surgery. Lesson learned.

A lot of people have asked about my diet and what I eat daily so from now on I will write at the bottom of each post what I ate as well as including a section in the FAQ.

Eating dinner with the family . . .

My favourite food for two days running is the liquified ham and bean soup - it doesn't hurt my throat very much when  I swallow and it tastes great! I cannot explain the physiology behind it but presently my throat really does not like to swallow what I am syringing down it! For the first few days after surgery I could swallow any liquid; applesauce, Sprite, water, smoothies, whatever. But as the days have progressed my throat has grown rather irritated (pun again) at my attempt at swallowing and now it is rather painful swallowing anything. I really don't remember the Doc. mentioning any of these after-effects . . Hot liquids however are the exception to this and my throat gladly welcomes anything with a ranged temperature!

Frozen smoothies also seem to work but I cannot drink as much as the hot liquids as believe it or not it is my teeth that resist anything really cold. Sensitive teeth perhaps? My wife brought home a Jamba Juice smoothie for me today and it was also delicious! I drank the entire cup over an hour and a half and it was heavenly. . .

A neighbor brought around dinner for all of us this evening and they made smoothies just for me so I also had a couple of those for dinner, greatly received! Also, some great friends brought around a few movies for us to watch; one of the DVDs is The Young Ones, something I have not watched since a kid so I am looking forward to bringing back the memories . . .

Once again, thanks so much to all of you who have popped around, called, sent emails, texts, etc. You know who you are. I want you to know that my family and I appreciate all of your support!

Foods Eaten today: Doesn't sound much when I write it down . . .

1. Ham and Bean soup
2. Jamba Juice Strawberries Wild smoothie
3. Homemade smoothies x 2 made by great neighbours!
4. Apple juice (1 syringe worth)
5. Ginger Ale (1 syringe worth) 
6. Non-caffeinated fruit and herbal teas (Lipton Red Fruit is the best but we can only find it in England) 

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