Today I woke up more tired despite having my best night's sleep yet. Went to bed at 10:30, had a little trouble falling asleep but once I did, I slept decently, waking up only twice. Still having the weird/fever dreams, which I wish would go away, but I definitely slept...
And all without the CPAP. No mask. No need. That's what this was all about, right?
Additional Firsts...
Well, today was a day for additional firsts despite my greater fatigue. First, I discovered I could drink from a cup again--carefully. Just have to set the edge of the glass on my still-numb bottom lip and take it in slowly. That's made taking my liquid medication a whole lot quicker, though I'm still having trouble keeping it all in my mouth. Second, I was able to talk on the phone for the first time, intelligibly. It sounds like I'm talking around a mouthful of cotton, but I'm understandable. Called my parents, brother, and a friend. Third, it appears I can indeed take pills. I can crack my jaw just enough to slip my Rheumatoid Arthritis pills and caplets through gaps in the teeth, so that worry is over with--back on my regular drug regimen. Against that, I'm happy to say there's been very little pain, just pressure, so I have not had to take the hydrocodone since day two. All I'm taking now aside from the usual RA stuff is the ibuprofin to try to attack the swelling.
About that swelling...
It's very lopsided, much more pronounced on the left side of my chin than my right. You look at me from the right angle, and it appears that I've got an almost-comically jutting chin that isn't there from the opposite view. Perhaps that has something to do with TMJ issues; perhaps that side got stretched more than the other because of them so now it's more inflamed. I've taken some pictures tonight; I've decided to post them along with the previously hidden post-surgery pics Mark took tomorrow. So stay tuned for that.
Here's another issue I didn't think of before surgery: shaving. I learned it's pretty well impossible to shave areas of your body that are nearly numb, because you can't tell whether the blade is in contact at the right pressure and angle. So... just an hour ago, I took my first solo car trip of the post surgery period, going to Target to get an electric razor, which I'll use at least until I get sensation back in my chin. The drive and shopping went fine, before anybody panics, though I did have to stop myself from drooling at the checkout.
Numbness
I'm not sure I've said so before, so here's where I'm actually numb right now: my chin, the right side of my nose, scattered small areas under my eyes. For the record, I use the term numbness loosely; it isn't entirely. It does feel like something's going on in my numb areas; I feel this weird, deep-seated almost prickling sensation in my chin and these occasional fleeting tingling sensations on my bottom lip. It's not unpleasant, it's just odd, and I'm taking them as a good sign that the nerves are there and intact, just stunned and trying to figure out the new situation they're in.
The only thing that is unpleasant--did you know that you can still get itches in numb areas? You just can't scratch them because you can't feel the scratch. That's frustrating when it happens.
Cravings
This post is more stream-of-consciousness then most, so apologies for sudden changes of topic. I've been having some odd food cravings. I got tired of sweets, like the breakfast shakes, and the chicken/beef broths I'd been having. So I heated up some tomato soup for the first time last night and found it absolutely heavenly, finishing it off for breakfast. That didn't fully satisfy my apparent tomato/vegetable craving, so I had a V-8 later on. One other thing I've been wanting bad is Gatorade, so I went out and got some at Target as well, and downed about a full glass of it when I got home. I'm taking that one as a sign I was still a bit dehydrated, but regardless... I'm glad I did. I've done my four cups of fluid today, though I'm still looking forward to tomorrow, when I hope I'll get clearance from Dr. Jelic to start the puree diet phase of recovery. First thing I'd like to do? Go across the street to Dairy Queen and get an orange smoothie.
For the record, I weighed myself today and found myself at 188lbs. Before surgery? 202lbs. I'm certainly losing weight, but it would be nice if my gut would melt away along with the pounds. It hasn't yet. Losing weight was one of the more desirable side effects as far as I was concerned; from what I've read you lose an average of 10% of your body weight following the surgery and tend to keep it off because some of your excess is due to sleep deprivation. Take that away, and... well, we'll see how I do going forward.
My Day
Mostly spent playing video games and working on editing a story. Not too atypical a Sunday for me in recent months, except for the fact I didn't go for a workout with Kevin. Be a few weeks before I can resume those, I would imagine. Just hope I don't lose too much muscle tone in the process.
Anyway, time to sign this entry off. Pictures will follow tomorrow, promise.
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