Day 8: The Lopsided Face

It's amazing how much the swelling can go down during the day. Well it feels like it has anyway... I am starting to resemble a normal human being again! Well, a human being that has had some serious botox.

Numbness:
I have started to get feeling back in my left cheek, which is actually the cheek with more swelling. You can notice when I smile because I can lift the left side higher!

It's hard to describe the amount of feeling coming back because sometimes it's not black or white, there is kind of a scale between 'has feeling' and 'has no feeling'. Areas can be tingly or ticklish or sometimes temperature-sensitive, but not have full feeling back. I am still completely numb on my chin, bottom lip, and parts of my right cheek. The rest of my face has some kind of feeling, whether it be full or partial. This is a diagram of the numbness I have at the moment, the red highlighted parts are the areas with complete numbness. I think there are also some areas on and under my nose but for the most part there is some kind of feeling in the rest of my face:

The inside of my mouth is pretty much completely numb. I can feel some small areas when I am brushing but otherwise it's just the back half of my tongue (from what I can tell) and possibly the inside of my top lip?

I am still getting tingly and some other weird sensations which I think is a good sign! Here's to staying positive!

Food:
I am still using my squeezy bottle. I will see what my surgeon says tomorrow, because I can open my mouth pretty wide... I'm wondering if I can start using a spoon. Though I'm guessing that will be a no until the three week mark still... probably for the best seeing as most of my tongue doesn't have any feeling. I can imagine it getting pretty messy. I just tried drinking out of a cup and it went well! No spillages!

Drinking out of a straw is going well! I can drink a whole glass :-) It still feels weird and kind of hurts a little but I'm guessing as my muscles get used to it and I heal it will become more natural.

I tried blending some poached eggs and hollandaise sauce this morning for breakfast... wasn't good or bad in terms of taste but it did make me feel a bit sick haha. Mum made macaroni cheese for dinner so I tried blending some of that up with some milk. It tasted pretty good but was still too thick so I'll try more milk next time.

Med:
I haven't taken any pain medication since the morning of day 5, not even the paracetamol. I hope I don't need to start again at some point, I'm enjoying not taking it! My antibiotics should be finished either tonight or tomorrow morning which is great :-)

Pain:
The pain hasn't been too bad, the pain in my left temple has gone but my ear is still bothering me. I really hope my surgeon or ortho can fix this tomorrow! I have had some pain in my lower jaw on the left but I think it must just be an ulcer and not an infection as it feels similar to the pain I get from ulcers, and I haven't swelled up or been feverish like I should be if it was an infection. I was thinking it could also be where I have bitten on my cheek or possible caught a stitch between my teeth. I'll get my surgeon to look at it again tomorrow.

I've had a bit of muscle ache in my lower jaw but nothing too serious. It feels like the muscles are trying to pull my bottom jaw forward... I'm guessing this is normal!

The bit right in the middle on the inside of my top lip is pretty sore, but I'm guessing this is where the incision is rubbing against the screw that is there. I thought I saw a stitch there last night.

Talking:
Talking is getting easier, though I still sound like I have a mouth full of marshmallows haha. I was reading today that you should slow down your talking and make sure you are pronouncing everything correctly because your muscles are going to have to get used to you talking again in a different way. I want to make sure I do it correctly! A speech therapist might be a good idea at some point.

Hip:
Everything seems to be going well, I am going to try and go for a longer walk tonight. It's been very hot here for the last couple of days, I thought it would be best to wait until evening!

Appointment:
So I have my second post-op surgeons appointment and first ortho appointment tomorrow... I have lots of questions for them! I'll let you know how it goes :)

Kelsie