Day 8: What a Difference a Day Makes

After last night's post I had a friend come over and we decided to run some errands. We picked up another friend, who hadn't seen me since the surgery, and returned some movies and ran another errand. It felt so good to get out of the house, and not be going to a doctor's appointment.

For the second night in a row I slept pretty well considering how bad I had been sleeping. I was exhausted come midnight and I fell asleep fast. But, not for long. I was up at 1:30 am 2:30am and 4:00 am. After 4:00 am I slept pretty well. But just as the night before, I woke up with the driest mouth ever! My tongue felt as if it had been super glued to the roof of my mouth. I finally got out of bed (actually the couch, still) around 7 and had my blended cereal breakfast.

I had to go to my family doctor for some vaccines for school. While there, my looks alone practical made a young girl cry. I felt like an ogre or the hunchback. On top of that, the nurses had lost some of my paper work and had to ask me what shots and titers I needed, like I knew off the top of my head. Luckily, one of the nurses understood my mumbling well enough that I was able to get the necessary info off a computer.

After getting home and doing another round of icing, I noticed my speech was becoming a little better. Then, I began to feel more tingling in my lips. I was getting excited. Then, my cousin texted me. We had planned on going to see Despicable Me in 3D with her boyfriend who is just coming off an intense battle with Lime Disease. At the last moment, he began to nauseous and thought a 3D movie might not be the best idea. I agreed. They still wanted to do something though. As I waited for them to come over I was "reading" some Facebook statuses when one my friend's statuses made me smile. It hurt. Then, I realized this was the first time I was able to smile since the surgery! (Notice the smile in today's pic, and the fun background my computer added for me.) Immediately, I was excited. Then, I realized I hadn't been drooling that much-maybe due to lack of my attention to the food commercials on TV. No, this wasn't the case because I could feel part of my lower lip!!! This last sentence was meant to be read in the "excited Oprah" voice. My cousin and her boyfriend got here and I showed them the x-rays (people are always impressed by them) and mumbled them the story of my dog busting my lip. I give my cousin a lot of credit, she can understand everything I mumble just as well as my Mom can. It's rather impressive.

With so much improvement in one day, I began to wonder if the heating was helping that much or if it was a coincidence. The heat feels good for a short time, then I begin to get a headache and feel uncomfortable. Also, I wonder if my improved appetite, or rather-my ability to eat, had any role in this improvement. Today, I was able to drink in a much more civilized manner. I was able to drink a whole smoothie and milkshake since yesterday's post. I also had more mashed potatoes, V-8 Fusion, and cereal. I'm really tempted to try some cheesecake. I figure if I can handle mashed potatoes I could handle a fluffy, crustless piece of cheesecake.

I got some mail today. I enjoy getting mail (that isn't bills). My friend, who I went to the DMB concert with, sent me a card and Andre Agassi's Open. This was a good idea because I am getting tired of movies, or at least starting them. I've also been reading The Sh** My Dad Says. It is hilarious, but it won't last long as it is a pretty small book. I also have 60 pages of introductory material for my clinical anatomy class that needs to read in the next three weeks.

Well, I am getting hungry and haven't decided what I want to drink for dinner. I'm going to change this. Mumble to you tomorrow!

It's now been several hours since I originally posted this. And a few things have changed. The drooling came back in full force. I also began to feel sick. I got nauseous, felt really hot, then really cold, had a headache and became dizzy.This lasted for about an hour. I immediately tried getting some liquids in my system by having some V-8 and beef broth.

Later, I was able to have some cheesecake. It wasn't as easy as I thought but it's comforting to know I consumed roughly 400 Calories from that one piece. After looking at myself in the mirror today before getting in the shower, I realized I have lost quite a bit of weight. Unfortunately, I can't quantify this right now due to the fact that I forgot to weigh myself with my scale at home before the surgery. Next time I go to my family doctor (this will be on Monday), I will have them weigh me. I weighed in at 191 pounds on their scale for my pre-op physical.