i'm free! 37 days post op

i can't believe it's over already! isn't it amazing how quickly a jaw broken in five places can heal? i feel so much better. i can't wait to see the concrete results once fall quarter starts, and it will be amazing to be at the horse barn at 8am on a full, quality night's sleep for once. i'll be able to wrestle those yearlings a little better :) behavior and training, here comes the more coherent, cognitively-improved and alert (not to mention more cheerful) hilary!


my cheeks are still a bit chubby and the bottom lip is numb so my smile isn't back to full-on charmer quite yet...



i think the arch bands and surgical hooks were by far the worst, most painful and difficult part of the surgery. my molars and canine teeth were wrapped in wire and strapped in with surgical hooks, tearing up my cheeks and lips. by the time i got them out, they were embedded into my gums and the wrapping wires had all but disappeared into my gumline, so getting them removed today was awful, even with laughing gas and 6 shots of novacaine (ouch).

on a brighter note, my parents' birthdays (yes, both on the same day) were yesterday, so we went out to smokey bones. i was able to eat a smoked chicken breast with onion rings and bacon on top, mashed potatoes and mac n cheese. the chicken gave me hardly any trouble and was amaaaaazing. i couldn't eat the bacon, though, because it was pretty thick cut and crispy. to get through an entire meal like that was so wonderful. today, after i got my arch bands taken off, my dad and i went to arby's and i got to eat a beef n cheddar with no problem; i could take bites and everything! never take the ability to eat whatever you want for granted.

i can't wait to get back into the loop with my classes and my friends, as well as hooping and being more active. i might even invest in my own glow hoop as a birthday present to myself! this has been the most boring, uneventful summer i've had in a long, long time. i haven't gone camping, only swam a few times, and haven't gotten to go to a festival...but it's worth it. i conquered this surgery like a boss and significantly improved my quality of life and thus, my future. in addition, i've had the chance to learn a lot more about myself, and to attempt to get back into writing. i think i might just keep this blog, or start a new one, so i can use writing's meditative energy to my benefit.

today's parting thought: i can't wait to eat a steak :)

lazy and late on posting! 35 days post-op and eating anything i can

well, i've had my jaws unbanded for 4 days now, and i've been pretty lazy in regards to posting on here. first thing after my appointment friday, my parents and i went to talita's in grove city and i tried to tackle a giant cheese, rice and bean burrito:

the green portion is about how far i got. the margarita was no problemo, though!

it felt like i was trying to chew with someone else's face using telepathy. the teeth on the right side feel numb still, and it's just so awkward. i felt like my teeth fit together all wrong, and my tongue felt huge and clumsy trying to push food around my mouth. however, i continued the theme of being an overly determined bada$$ and made it through about a quarter of the burrito. the hardest parts were actually getting the food into my mouth (teeny, tiny, slightly flat bites...use a fork!) and keeping it between my teeth so it would get chewed. i also have almost no muscle strength to chew with, so it was kind of like smushing the food until i got tired and swallowed it. gross, right? yes! after all the work that involved and a little kick of my old friend jose cuervo, i went home and passed out for an hour or so. 

with my mouth moving around again, the insides of my cheeks are getting completely shredded by the surgical hooks i still have on my teeth. i get these off friday. the doc wanted to leave them on to make sure everything is stabilized in case they should need to band me back up (which i would be crushed). i feel like things are pretty much fine, relatively anyway.

i still feel kind of swollen when i wake up in the mornings, but that's probably just from sleeping on my sides (i can't help it!). my lower lip is still completely numb, which makes me sound a little silly when i talk and makes it hard to make sure i'm getting food where it needs to go. 

but...

i went to the ohio state fair yesterday with matt, and had a blast! we saw all kinds of animals; i especially loved the huge draft horses. i thought i'd put a few pics up here:

 this was a belgian draft horse that stood over 20 hands high(almost 7 feet at the shoulders)! also, his eyes didn't really glow. although that might've been really, really awesome. 

fun fact: belgian foals are born at about 200 lbs. 

 a big sleepy percheron, standing about 20 hands high also.

percherons all dressed up in their harnesses

 here's my humongous bunny friend. i called him general fluffybun.

 here's matt, eating a bahama mama from schmidt's sausage haus (while i watched...don't worry, then he bought me fried cheese on a stick!)

 this is a striped gar (i think), which apparently lives in ohio rivers as well as in my nightmares.

 a horse with some really wicked tan lines...hah

 india's brahma bull...so soft and sleepy

 the cutest goat i have EVER seen in my life. he was an african pygmy baby standing only about a foot tall.

 yeah, people actually do things like this. huh. 

 we spent about 6 hours or so at the fair, and i ate fair food! i had deep fried cheese on a stick. i couldn't actually take bites; i had to break bits off and eat them by hand, but it was soooooo good, and i didn't have too much trouble with it. 
later that night, we went to steak n shake and i got to eat some fries soaked in cheese sauce. i'm making major progress! :) 
here are a couple pictures of my face so far. it's been almost 35 days since my surgery. i don't look super great in these by the way, i'm kind of tired and have no makeup on but...

so altogether yesterday i got to eat: mac n cheese, green beans, mashed potatoes, rice and cheesecake at hometown buffet; deep fried cheese on  a stick at the fair, and cheesy fries at steak n shake. it might not sound like much, but it's SURE better than this:

how fast can i regain the 10 or so lbs i lost? haha...*starts exercise regimen*