DAY 9-11

2nd week is almost over!

Everything's going really well, and the swelling is still coming down; i'm starting to look almost normal! Wednesday i took Rosco for a 2 1/2 mile walk, Thursday i did some major Christmas shopping, and today i took Rosco for another 2 1/2 mile walk. Feels so good to get out!

I realized that i never explained just what it is they did to me during the surgery. Originally, it was to be a 4 part surgery--1: splitting and widening the upper palate and filling the gap with bone filler, 2: bringing down the upper left jaw and grafting in a wedge shaped piece of bone harvested from my hip, 3: turning the upper jaw slightly to the left, and 4: pulling forward the lower jaw and turning it slightly to the right. Luckily, my orthodontist did such a FANTASTIC job this past year, they did not have to do the first two parts of the surgery. I am fortunate, because those are also the more painful to recover from. So the surgery lasted about 5 1/2 hours, parts 3 and 4 only, and now i'm all plated and screwed back together. Most likely the titanium plates will stay in forever, and no, i should not have any problems with metal detectors (everyone asks!). Also, ALL the incisions were made on the inside, so no scars, yay!

I was very anxious about going shopping yesterday because i wound up going by myself. I can talk but it's really hard to understand me. I set out, armed with my little notepad and a pen, just in case! After hitting the Arboretum, the mall, and some of my favorite shops, i discovered it really wasn't that bad or embarassing. Salespeople either acted like nothing was out of the ordinary, or they asked tons of questions and were very interested in my procedure! But nobody stared, or made fun of me :)

During my walks in the neighborhood, kids always run up to pet Rosco and talk to me. I was nervous about this too, since kids can be brutally honest. But the kids have been so sweet! They just ask what's wrong with my mouth, i tell them i had surgery, and they are jealous when i tell them all i can eat are milkshakes!