- Pain: 1/10
- Inconvenience: 5/10
Today’s mugshot is guest starring my rock climbing shoes. That will be one of the first sports I get back into once I regain my energy. You’ll notice my facial expression is the same in almost every photo I take. It’s extremely difficult to twist your face into different expressions when it’s numb. Trust me.
I’m able to talk a lot more now. I wouldn’t call myself chatty quite yet, but I’m feeling a bit more dignified each and every day. As a result, I’m snapping elastics on a daily basis. I feel that it’s a fair trade-off though. I hope these elastics are edible, because every time one snaps, I never see it again.
Dual blender action!
Due to my newfound ability to communicate in my hybrid state, I’m attempting to become somewhat social again, albeit very slowly. I have so many things I want to say, but I have to filter through them all and decide which statements are actually useful, because it’s far too much work to talk non-stop. And if I attempt to do so, my jaw joints start hurting from the excessive movement. I was, however, able to hang out with a friend last night! It was crazy! We played Crib. And then we played it again. And then we played it one last time. I won all 3 times. I may have chubby cheeks and sound like a salivating monster, but at least I can still think straight.
I made the mistake of eating soup with celery in it last night. Now I have celery strands stuck in my teeth and I’m unable to remove them. This is the true definition of the word “annoying”.
Why are you so sad?
I’ve had several people ask me that question as of late. The truth is: I’m actually very happy! I can’t smile though, so that explains the depressing look upon my face in all my mugshots. My friends also tell me I look like a little kid due to my chubby cheeks. *sigh* So much for being taken seriously in this life…
My jaw has been randomly floating out of place a few times every day. It’s quite odd–it just pops out of place. I have to grab my chin and push it back into the right spot every time it happens, so my teeth fit back in the splint. I’ll admit that it feels a little weird, but I guess that’s the price I must pay for being able to open my mouth a little bit.
Last night, before bed, I accidentally put my hotpack in the microwave for a bit too long. When I took it out, it was so hot that the cereal inside was actually popping. As a result, I burned my face AND had a craving for popcorn.
I checked the Google AdWords’ results for this blog yesterday, just out of curiosity. I had quite a chuckle when I read that its highest rankings come from the following 2 phrases:
- “the best way to lose weight”
- “how to lose weight fast”
I guess they’re not complete lies.
Anyway, I must go pick up some more soup and Ensure today. My roommate is cooking some type of curry chicken right now. And it smells absolutely delicious.
September 4, 2017 at 7:05 pm
Hi, I hope you’re well! I’ve been following tie blog for a while now. I’m 19 days post double jaw surgery today. Woohoo. I still have swelling around my cheek areas. I’ve not put any ice/heat packs on my face at all as my surgeon advised here’s no evidence to suggest it contributes towards reducing the swelling of the face. However, I’m not sure why but 19 days in to the surgery I really want to try it out for myself LOL, can’t hurt to try?! My question is should I try ice packs, heat packs or both?
I’d really appreciate anyone’s input in this, I’m starting uni in 13 days and would like my swelling to reduce more so.
Many thanks 😊
October 28, 2014 at 5:02 pm
Spasms still throbbing pain both ears. Along with headaches that turn to migraines teeth are also killing me ! What can I do for ear pain ice? Heat ?
Broke in two places have screws and a plate in my mouth forever next to my ear. Stitches and scars on chin and side if face , hospital a total of 10 days and surgery was over 3 hours long
August 16, 2014 at 2:51 pm
Graham, I am at 2.5 weeks of recovery and I must say – You have NAILED the experience. I couldn’t say it much better myself. I am glad to see you are a climber and in a IT field – I am close to both of those things too! It would be awesome to grab lunch with you sometime if I ever go up there (I’m in Ohio).
Without seeing your readership stats, I can assure you that thousands of people appreciate what you have written here. I am also impressed with how you have replied to EVERYTHING for 4 years. I almost did a blog myself, but you have done such a good job, and I could never follow up like you have. 🙂
Thanks again, man!
July 15, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Hi J-C,
You’re going to lose strength whether you like it or not. Unfortunately, muscle is always the first to go when you stop eating and working out/climbing.
The good news is that you’ll rebuild it incredible quickly once you’re active again. I lost 30 lbs and pretty much all of my muscle, but your body maintains a pretty incredible “muscle memory,” so you’ll be able to climb at your pre-surgery level quite quickly once you have your energy back.
July 15, 2011 at 5:09 pm
Hey Graham,
I can’t help but wonder how much strength you must have lost as a climber. I also climb lots and I wonder if it’s possible to avoid weight loss as much as possible to minimize the amount of training/strength I will lose with the surgery?
Thanks!
December 19, 2010 at 6:56 pm
Bumpkinrn, make sure you smile lots’n’lots once you’re able to with no pain! Smiling makes life so much more worth living!
Nice work with the steak as well. That’s one of the toughest things to eat right after surgery because it requires such intense chewing.
December 19, 2010 at 1:31 pm
I had pinning and graduation this week which means lots of pictures yay me! My face hurts from trying and trying to smile. Let’s not go into having to constantly as is my mouth closed? Am I drooling? I can however swallow small bites of steak whole!!