A List

Those of you who know me know that I am pretty obsessive/compulsive about certain things. You also know that I am definitely a huge list fan. That's write..lists for groceries, lists for goals, lists of To-Do projects, lists for Christmas, lists of what I want to get done over the weekend, etc etc. I'm a fanatic. So....to help you understand my recovery, I'm writing a list of things that have changed since surgery:

1. My face, obviously. Nothing looks the same at all. The swelling not only makes everything huge, but since one side of my face is more swollen than the other it is making my nose look all lop-sided. It's weird.
2. I have no feeling in my nose, lips, gums, teeth or cheeks due to the nerves in my face being bothered during surgery. This is normal and will take weeks, if not months, to get back completely. The hardest part about the numbness is that if my nose starts running or bleeding, I don't know. If something I'm drinking starts running out of mouth, I don't know. If my heating pad is too hot and could burn my face off, I don't know. The best part about this is that I'm sure I'd feel a LOT more pain if I did have all of my feeling.
3. I can't blow my nose. I physically am able to, but if I do I will have air go into my sinuses and literally blow (puff up) my cheeks. I don't need that. This is frustrating because some of the meds I am on are to clear my sinuses and they cause my nose to run.
4. I can't chew, of course. I'm on a liquid diet and will stay on this for at least 6 weeks. Anything that I can blend and puree is fair game. Lately I've been having protein shakes, smoothies, apple sauce, lots of juice and water and broth. I have to make myself eat though, because I am not hungry.
5. My front top teeth actually come down in front of my bottom top teeth! This was the whole point of the surgery pretty much. Once I can open my mouth more I will try to post some pics.
6. I'm always tired. This isn't due so much from surgery...more from the fact that I'm not sleeping much and I'm not eating much. I have to sleep sitting up, which I hate, so it's hard
7. I've lost a couple of lbs so far....surprised it's not more since I've hardly eaten anything at all this past week. I'm keeping an eye on it because the doc said he doesn't want me to lose more than 10 lbs total.
8. I take pictures of myself. I hate having my picture taken- always have. It's funny that before the surgery I would shy away from cameras, but now...now that I look my absolute worst...I don't mind so much. I guess I'm hoping that people who will have this surgery in the future can look at my pictures and get an idea of how long it took me to look a certain way? Who knows.
9. I love my husband and other people that have been there for me a little bit more. I didn't know it was possible, but it was. Going through something like this is harder than I thought, and having people there for me has meant more than I ever thought it would.
10. I'm actually sick of watching TV. I'm addicted to tv- it's almost like it's my anti-anxiety medication of sorts! Sound odd, I'm sure, but I love it. I love to zone out and get caught up in some other drama that is not my own. It's relaxes me and I really enjoy it. Now that I've been home over a week, I'm getting bored with it. I've already watched all of my DVR'd shows....I've already caught the marathons of anything I didn't use to watch that I thought might make me laugh (Rock of Love Charm School, for example)...and I'm done with all my favorite movies. Crazy.