Little Victories

I'm blogging from my desk at work! This is my second day back and the first was a success. It went much better than I expected. Since everyone in my area knew about my surgery and were warned ahead of time that I wouldn't be able to really speak, it went smoothly. I got a lot of "welcome back" and "your face shape looks different" which was nice and then most people pretty much let me be. When walking in the hallway to go to the bathroom and stuff, I got a few double takes. That's a little hard cause it makes you feel like a freak haha but what I can do but keep walking? I can't wear a sign that says, "I had double jaw surgery". Anyway, they're allowing me to just focus on tasks other than the new system, which is nice because the new system is very involved and time consuming. It would compete with the time that it takes for me to take my rubber bands on/off, brush my teeth, sneak off to do my mouth exercises and eat (very slowly). Phew. I decided against bringing my Magic Bullet to work because it would be too much to clean and do and pack everyday. But I really need to get more creative about what I can eat. It's getting boring. Although the addition of soggy pancakes is awesome! I cannot wait until the surgeon gives me the ok for soft chewing. Grilled cheese here I come!

I finished the book I had mentioned in a previous post. It was a great thought provoking read. Choosing To SEE: A Journey of Struggle and Hope by Mary Beth Chapman is about her life and faith after the tragic loss of her daughter. I loved how honest she was about her thoughts and feelings while struggling to continue trusting in God and believing that His plans are perfect. You can relate to her frustrations regardless of what you have gone through or are struggling with. There are so many awesome tidbits of encouragment and wisdom. At the point in the book where she describes so vivdly and openly the death of her daughter (at the hands of her son, a complete accident), I was completely choked up and unable to keep myself from crying. It's unbelievable what people go through and it's equally amazing how God can be our everything, if we let Him. I may buy the book since I earmarked so many pages.

It's been 34 days since my surgery. Wow. I've made a point to think about the areas in which I have made any progress, at the urging of HH, so here goes: I can now purse my lips enough to blow on my BB's food to cool it off, I can smile much bigger (although the top lip doesn't curl up...yet), my gums are looking better everyday and I may not need the gum graft surgery (yay!), it's much easier to talk even when wearing my rubber bands (since there's only 3 vs 6 and they aren't as tight), and I'm sleeping in my own bed again! I'm still keeping my head elevated though until ALL of this swelling is gone. I don't want to do anything that will slow that excruciatingly slow process down. Whenever I'm alone in the car I do ridiculously exaggerated kissing/smiling movements to get that upper lip area to wake the heck up and get flexible again (and hopefully go down in swelling). I don't know what else I can possibly do but I'm back to a place where if the swelling is going down everyday, I can't detect it. It makes me have to work harder at not getting discouraged. It's one of the unpredictable parts of this recovery. Back to work I go on this beautiful California day!