Sunday, May 23, 2010

Day 13 - Smile!

Look at that, folks....that's a smile coming from my face!  I can't feel it, but I'm doin' it!  LOL  I'm just so glad that I have movement in my face.  It's not all there yet, but it's coming along nicely - I'm feeling pretty good about it.  Today has been a decent day.  My breathing has improved and can only get better from here.  My chief complaint right now is the severe pain I have inside my mouth where the cuts, bruising and incisions are.  Unfortunately, the nerves are coming alive and allowing me to feel the pain - not my preference but I highly doubt there's a thing I can do about it! 

I visit the doc tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 pm to have the bands replaced.  Because my mouth is so sore, I'm petrified to go but know that I don't have a choice.  Cross your fingers that by some stroke of luck, my mouth numbs between now and then so I don't have to deal with the pain!!!

Here are a couple of pictures that give insight into my daily routine.  The first picture is of the staples of my day to day existence.  You'll notice Ensure, which I'm growing to like more and more.  Strawberry is so far my favorite!  Soup - of course!  Any kind of soup is good, but again I've got a favorite - Tomato!  I think part of why it's easy is because I don't have to blend it - it tastes good AND it's easy! 
There are a few things that aren't in that pile on our table.  Cream of Wheat is a good one, and of course smoothies and shakes that I make from scratch.  Last night was heavenly!  Brian made chicken fettuccini in white sauce...we blended up my portion and it was fantastic!!!  Tonight, we're going to try burgers.  Hmmmm, should be interesting.  I've always got tomato soup as a backup!

The second picture here is my staging area.  Brian set this up when I first got home from the hospital.  It has gotten smaller since my number of medications has decreased and we've gotten much better at the whole routine so we're a little more organized than we were at the beginning.   It's still a pain in the butt sometimes though!

The process is slower than I would like, but it's going.  It can only get better from here, right?  I can't hear you!!!!

5 comments:

Graham said...

I love your pictures! My counter looked the exact same as your "staging area"!

You're looking really good for barely 2 weeks in. Now the recovery starts to slow down a bit. Wait for the 1 month mark! It seems like a big change happens every 2 weeks or so. =)

Brenna said...

Wow! You're looking great!! The swelling is really going down and we're started to get a picture of what the "new" Aimee looks like :)

Glad to hear things are getting a little better. Let's hope things keep progressing this nicely!

Aimee said...

It's funny, the changes come and go for me. It must be different for those that don't see me daily because I don't see any big changes happening.

Graham, things are coming along, that I know and it's been nice comparing them with you and what your recovery was like. Also talking with Tara and Audra has been great - I'm learning so much! I can't believe that half my counter is now taken up by syringes, drugs and liquid foods. lol

Bren...thanks! So far so good. Doc appt. today, dreading it! Cross your fingers for me that I don't hurt him too badly when he touches my mouth! LOL

Audra said...

My counter looked just like that too. All my syringes in a plastic container, along with all the rubber tubing. Then my lineup of drugs. Too funny.

Aimee said...

Thankfully, I didn't have to do the rubber tubing except for right at the beginning. I'm able to get the larger syringe to the back of the right side of my mouth and it works well. Our counter is a permanent staging area though..it's so funny. These things NEVER move...no matter WHAT we're doing in the kitchen. hehehehe