Day 17: Triangle-less Once Again

Today I had my third surgeons visit. He just changed the bands again and took some measurements. I asked him if he was going to put more triangles on and he asked why and I said they were really painful haha so he said he won't do them this time. Yay!

So you know when he asks me to open as wide as I can and I think I'm doing really well? apparently it's only 2.1cm. Woo. That's gonna be fun trying to get a spoon into.... I tested it before and it should be okay, I'm more worried about making a mess because my tongue still isn't back to normal. It's very sensitive, like that feeling when you burn your tastebuds away. Hopefully they come back in a few days!

Here are some shots:

And some of my teeth:

The clear chunky stuff is resin which is used to hold the wire in place as he had to cut it during surgery. I'm guessing this will come off when they resume orthodontic treatment at the 8 week mark. My bite looks pretty good! I'm hoping my top jaw doesn't rebound again now the triangles are off. If they start to then I might put the triangles on myself.

I can smile now!

It's a bit crooked but I really don't mind, I'm so happy with it!

Numbness is still the same really, I'm still tingly pretty much everywhere but my cheek and gums.

I asked if it was okay for me to sleep on my side again and he said it won't do any damage whatsoever which is good. Damn I miss sleeping on my side! I have started to the last few nights because I felt like it would be okay, so it's good to have this confirmed. I still feel sensitive and bruised on my lower jaw but it should be okay on a soft pillow.

The last few days have been extremely painful, I finally resorted to taking pain medication again! The triangle on my right side was giving me so much grief, it felt like it was ripping my bottom canine right out of my mouth. It peaked a few days ago and I tried the paracetamol, and then the ibuprofen, and THEN the codeine... and nothing worked. Seriously. I'm surprised I managed to get any sleep. Anyway, I've continued to take ibuprofen twice a day just to take the edge off and it seems to be calming down now. Hopefully with the triangle gone it will return to normal.

I FINALLY finished the chlorhexidine mouthwash! I've been using normal mouthwash since then (Colgate Plax) and I just water it down. I tried using it full strength and it hurt quite a lot! I've continued using it every time I eat, and brushing morning and night. I can't wait to use my normal toothbrush and waterpik and piksters and floss!

My hip has been getting better I think, it's still painful if I walk too far but Dr. W. says this is normal. It should settle down in a week or two. I go back to uni next week so hopefully it's not too bad walking around campus.

And for the next round of 'What's Kelsie Eating?':

This is spaghetti bolognese.

Other things I have eaten:
Chicken and Spinach Soup
Pumpkin Soup
Blended up canned stews and soups from the supermarket
Blended up pasta bake
Blended up stewed apple with a small amount of ice cream (I gave in to sugar cravings)
Vegetable juices
Sugarfree milkshakes
Milked down greek yoghurt

Til next time,

Kelsie

Day 14: The Two Week Mark!

I made it to two weeks! It feels like it has flown by, which is weird because I have just been sitting around doing nothing waiting for time to hurry up and get me to the fully-recovered point haha.

I moved back to my flat yesterday, I've spent the last two weeks at my mum's place and she has been taking good care of me! I was starting to get a bit restless though and had lots of stuff I wanted to sort out before uni starts (1 week away). It's good to be back, though I miss my mum already!

Things are progressing slowly but surely in regards to jaw surgery....

I can't believe how much the swelling has gone down! I look almost normal! :-)

Let's have some comparisons (Because who doesn't love comparisons!):

Yesterday I went to a first birthday party. I actually managed to eat some of the food too! I had an iced chocolate on the way there, and then I had some jelly that I mashed up with the spoon and sucked through a straw, and also some chocolate milk. I am still using straws, but this is a hell of a big improvement on a week ago! I'm hoping that when I graduate to a spoon in a weeks time that it won't take too much practice. This all depends on the bands my surgeon puts on at my appointment in a few days as well... if they are too restrictive then I won't be able to get a spoon in! I'm reeeeeeally hoping he takes the triangles off, they are pretty painful.

This was the first time I have eaten anything with sugar in it since surgery. I have been avoiding sugar like the plague!! I really don't want to have problems with cavities later on. I am slowly being able to brush my teeth better each time I do it but seeing as I can't floss, waterpik, or rinse properly I really don't want to risk it.

I am getting a bit of pain.... still in that area above my front teeth where the metal sticking out of my gums is rubbing against the inside of my lip, and possibly an incision. Also in my bottom right canine tooth which is the tooth the bottom of the rubber band triangle is attached to. This is the area where I was getting some gum feeling back so I guess it makes sense. If it continues then I might have to take some panadol.

I haven't noticed any significant feeling coming back, though the tingling in my chin is still pretty aggressive. I'm looking forward to finishing the mouthwash and seeing how much feeling I have in my tongue, should be only a day or two to go! I was thinking I would move onto kids mouthwash after that. Listerine might be a bit too strong haha.

My hip bandage came off this morning, and this is what was under it:

Scary huh! My surgeon says when this bandage came off to just leave it off.

And now for the next round of 'What's Kelsie Eating?':

This, my friends, is minced up butter chicken (with a tablespoon or two of rice). It was pretty delicious!

My next surgeon appointment is a few days away (Thursday), hopefully I have some exciting news after that!

Kelsie

Day 11: Double Digits!

I made it into the double digits!

Swelling is still slowly coming down... I'm hoping by the two week mark I look kind of normal. I start uni again on the three week mark so hopefully it's even better by then! My top lip is huuuuuge compared to my bottom lip, though I was reading about this on another blog today (http://timetoembraceit.blogspot.co.nz/ Thanks Dani!), she also had the same problem but it went down eventually!

There isn't too much to report....

In terms of numbness nothing much else has come back. I think I'm getting a bit more feeling on my top lip, mainly on the left side. I think I can feel a surgical hook on the inside of my lip which I am happy about! I got the tiniest bit of sensation back on my bottom lip today!!! I was pretty happy about this too :-) my chin tingles and spasms are driving me crazy, but I'm glad about it. The right corner of my mouth was twitching hard core today, even mum could see it from a few metres away. This is the completely numb side so (touch wood) this is a good sign! I tested the inside of my mouth today, my gums are pretty much completely numb, though there is the tiniest patch on my bottom gum line that I can feel. When I am brushing there are some areas that feel very sensitive which I hope is a good sign. I started to 'feel' my teeth again today. It feels similar to the feeling after a braces adjustment. I can feel a lot of pressure too. It's not too painful at the moment, I'll see how I go without pain medication tonight but if it gets any worse I might start taking it again, especially for sleeping. As for numbness in my tongue, It's kind of hard to tell because it feels like I've got some feeling back but it's almost like it's muted. I have a feeling this is because of the chlorhexidine mouthwash, I remember this making my tongue feel quite numb for the day when I used it some time before surgery. So maybe after I stop using that I will get more feeling back in my tongue. I am onto my last bottle of it so shouldn't too long now.

I'm sleeping lying pretty much flat now, though I am careful to stay on my back. I'm not sure when I can roll onto my side again....

I'm having some pain in my hip but maybe this is because I'm a bit ambitious with my walking.... I really miss exercise.

Food is going pretty good, I don't miss normal food as much as I thought I would. I'm sure I will by the 6 week mark though haha. Today I started my food bucket list.

Meals are much easier now I can eat through a straw, this has opened up many more possibilities! Today I ate blended up curry :-)

I'm tempted to start taking photos of my food and play a game with my friends to get them to guess what the food is.... For example, what is this concoction?:

This is the blended up meatballs and sauce from the other night.

I am excited for a time when my food doesn't resemble baby diarrhoea.

Kelsie

Day 9: All the Appointments

Some update pictures:

No sign of anymore bruising, just the yellow patch on my left cheek.

My surgeons visit was very fast, he just changed my bands and re-dressed my hip. I now have a triangle formation on each side:

He answered some of my questions as well. I can drive! Yay! My ear problems are normal. This morning it popped open again while I yawned which is good and it has continued to pop a few times today while I yawned. This evening it has gone back to being sensitive -.- hopefully it sorts itself soon.

I then had my first ortho appointment since surgery. Dr. P. seems really happy with my bite too! I asked him for some bands in-case my ones come off (I accidentally lost one last night). He also answered all of my annoying questions! I've been worried about numbness but he assured me it's not abnormal to not have much feeling back by this point. He also said he was impressed at how clean I've been keeping my teeth which I was SO happy about because I've been so worried about this. I'll talk a bit later about what my cleaning process is at the moment.

I couple of days after surgery i noticed two weird wire things poking out of my gums, one in the bottom and one in the top right in the middle. The top one is the one that is irritating me right now, but here is a photo of the bottom one:

Excuse the drool. Dr. P. explained that these are connected directly to my jaw/skull (they have a special name, skeletal keys or something), and that they will be used during orthodontics of need be to pull my top jaw down again if it relapses. I have already noticed my top jaw has relapsed since surgery, my front teeth were touching the brackets on my bottom teeth but now they sit a few mm above the brackets. Anyway, this sounds painful and I hope they don't have to do this haha. Having the things there is painful enough!

Here is a photo of the fantastic Dr. P. and I:

He has been so great! He explains everything he does and answers all of my questions happily, even the annoying ones... I'm so lucky to have had such an awesome orthodontist for my jaw surgery journey!

Cleaning:
In hospital my cleaning method was rinsing with Chlorhexidine mouthwash after eating, also known as Savacol. Once I got home I got a baby toothbrush and now I use that too. I brush with this twice a day, morning and night after breakfast and dinner, and this is after washing with the mouthwash (of which I got more bottles as part of my prescription). I should probably brush more than this but I find it annoying and also it irritates my mouth. I rinse out my mouth with the mouthwash after every time I eat, generally within the hour. Up until today I have been syringing the mouthwash in, but I found this afternoon I could just pour it in. I am getting better at swilling it around too.

To be honest, cleaning my teeth has been the worst part of the process this far! I hate it soooooo much. I actually put off eating sometimes because I don't want to have to clean my mouth haha it's so annoying! But I know I have to do it. And obviously it's paying off. It should be easier now I don't have to use a syringe.

Food:
Much the same as usual.... Trying to get the essential nutrients. I'm still taking loads of vitamins and things. Mum made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and blended up the meatballs and sauce for me to drink (didn't wanna risk the pasta clogging the bottle). WOW it was soooooo good. It did end up clogging the bottle so I put it in a glass and sucked it through a straw! Success!

Med:
Still no pain meds. I asked my surgeon today if this was okay and he said it's fine, if you don't need them then you don't need them. I did find it hard to get to sleep last night because my face had so many weird sensations but hopefully this passes. It's not painful, just damn uncomfortable. I took my last antibiotics last night, yay!

Numbness:
I had some feeling come back in the tip of my tongue last night! I'm so happy! Everything else seems much the same.

Sleeping:
Dr. W. said I could start lying flat again if I wanted to, so I might take a pillow or two out. I just don't want to roll over on to my side I guess. I'm managing to sleep through the night which is good, just last night I couldn't get to sleep for a while.

I am now completely syringe free! Yay!

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

Day 5: No More Pain-Meds

I finally got a decent night's sleep! And by a decent night I mean I slept for about 8 hours and only woke up twice :-) Hopefully this continues to improve! I still felt quite groggy but I'm sure as time goes on this will disappear.

I noticed as I was trying to go to sleep my face muscles were quite tight and sore, I've been getting some pain/ache in my left temple. Hopefully this disappears by my surgeons visit on Wednesday otherwise I'll bring it up.

I tried drinking through a straw again today but it still feels weird and kind of hurts a little bit. However I have now upgraded from the 60mL syringe to the squeezy bottle for my food. This is making eating a hell of a lot easier. Today I had some vege juice:

Kale, celery, apple, cucumber, and lemon juice. It was actually pretty good!

I have noticed my hearing in my left ear has been a bit weird the last few days. It's not blocked or ringing but it feels very sensitive and like it needs a good pop.

I've managed to survive without pain medication today, apart from an initial dose of paracetamol this morning.

I have stayed at home most of the day watching movies, but I did go out for a walk this afternoon. My hip hurt quite a lot at the end of it, but it seems okay now. It seems to be more of a muscular pain rather than 'wound' pain if that makes sense...

Here are some photos:

Nothing much seems to have changed but I'll keep taking photos! I've lost quite a bit of weight, I managed to lose about 3-4kg before surgery and since surgery I have lost about 2-3kg. I don't really want to lose any more, my skin has already started to get a bit saggy haha. I'm just gonna have to eat more!

I have also developed some slight bruising on my lower cheeks, the small yellow patches in the following photos:

Hardly anything. I'm interested to see if more will develop over the next few weeks!

It felt soooo good to wash my hair and face in the shower today. The sticky stuff from the bandages on my neck didn't come off but ah well.

My nose has continued to bleed today, even with using the nasal spray. Did anyone else's do this? When does it stop?

Until tomorrow :-)

Kelsie

Day 4: And All The Days Before

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

I made it to day 4 :)

I can't really believe it, it's gone pretty fast. I'm hoping the rest of the time will zoom by too! My first pre-op appointment with my surgeon is this afternoon, so I'll let you know how that goes. It seems very soon for an appointment, nothing much has changed, but I'm looking forward to seeing him.

I guess I should start with a run-down of what has been happening over the last week!

Surgery Day - Day 0

I had to be at hospital at 7am so I went and stayed at my mum's place the night before and she brought me to hospital. I wasn't allowed to eat from 2am or drink from 5am. Everything went smoothly once I got there, I got dressed and sat around with mum in the waiting room for the various appointments. I had to see the anaesthetists, some nurses, get a pregnancy test done, check blood pressure etc. all the pre-surgery checks, and then I was waiting around again until it was time to go in. It gets kind of blurry at this point, I remember being in the little room beside the theatre with my anaesthetists and they were talking to me, and then walking into the theatre and possibly lying on the table... but after that I don't remember anything.

Here's the last pre-surgery photo taken in the waiting room:

Surgery took 11 hours. The theatre was booked for 8 hours so this was longer than anyone expected! I don't remember much of the first night but one of the vivid things was waking up briefly straight after surgery and seeing the time and being confused as to why it was so late! Now I know why! Mum had arrived back at hospital after about 7 hours and had to wait around for about 5 more until she could see me after I had come out of recovery. She says it was horrible having to wait around which is understandable! Again, I don't remember much from the first night but I do remember her being there until she had to go home about 5.30am because she was just so tired. I was very groggy and disorientated but I remember feeling relaxed, I think mum was more worried than I was haha. This was probably the drugs! I vomited about 4-5 times during the first night and the nurses and mum used the suction to get it all out of my mouth, I was pretty tightly banded shut.

Day 1

 Wow!! One thing I can't get over is how my top lip is in front of my bottom!!

The swelling has been pretty consistent over the last 4 days, though my lip swelling went down for a while and the rest of my face swelled up... Now I think my lip swelling has come back. Anyway...

The first day wasn't very fun, I didn't get any food until about 11am as they brought around my food and then just left it and nobody came to help me... I probably should have called the nurse but nevermind! I finally got some food and felt a whole lot better after that. I was using a 20mL syringe.

My surgeon came to see me briefly, he was extremely happy with how everything went which is a good sign! He snipped off a band at the very front which meant I could open my mouth a bit wider, this was good because I was having trouble breathing - my nose was blocked and I couldn't open my mouth very far. I was getting a bit panicky. It has also made eating much easier! My drains and one IV was removed soon after this so I felt a bit freer. One IV was left in and I was fed fluid through it overnight - this was very frustrating as I kept needing to get up and pee every hour or so and every time I had to do this I had to call a nurse to release me!

I was moved to another room which I was sharing with another lady, but it was very spacious and I had my own bathroom. My stay at hospital was great, my room was awesome and the nurses were just absolutely fantastic the whole time I was there. I feel very lucky!

I was pretty miserable and panicky for most of the day, though my mood improved after lunch and when my mum came to visit :) my bf also came to visit me after he finished work :)

I was pretty down again for most of the evening, I had a very disruptive sleep as well and woke up tired.

Day 2

 My mum brought me some flowers and my aunty in Australia got some sent to my room :)

Day 2 wasn't much better in terms of my mood, I was still pretty miserable. I really wasn't prepared for how much of a downer I would be! I was too excited for the surgery and seeing the results of the surgery that I didn't really think too much about how taxing the recovery would be. Luckily I have my mum, all of my amazing friends, and all you other jaw surgery bloggers out there to keep me going! I wasn't in the mood for any other visitors while I was in hospital, just my mum, but just being able to text my friends was an absolute saviour. I was up and walking at this point which killed some boredom, and they had taken my IV fluids off when I woke up as I could now drink enough water to sustain me (yay!). Everyone was impressed with how well I was doing and they said I could go home if I wanted to but we decided it would be best if I stayed in hospital another evening (which I was very glad about in the end). I got some x-rays done when I went down to see my dental assistants (they look AMAZING, I can't wait to get a copy and show you!) and they were happy to see me and said I was doing well.

I had a marginally better sleep this evening without the IV connected but I was still waking up every hour or 2 so I wasn't feeling very rested the next day either. I am finding sleeping upright quite uncomfortable and it hurts my back but I guess I'm just gonna have to deal with it!

Day 3

Not really much difference but I'm not too worried.

I was still miserable today but looking forward to going home!

I just had to wait around for my discharge papers to come through and I had to go and see one of my doctors to show me how to put my bands on, I ended up leaving about 2pm after picking up my enormous prescription.

I also had my last dose of IV antibiotics just before I left which was good, now I'm syringing them in.

I was exhausted by the time we got home, I think I actually fell asleep briefly in the car. I panicked a bit when we got home, I think I was just very overwhelmed and the house was messy because mum has been on her feet all week! But once I got settled in it was fine.

I have only been on antibiotics and paracetamol up until this evening, I was in a bit of pain before I went to bed so I decided to try and take some Ibuprofen and see if that made a difference. I don't think it did so if pain gets really bad then I'll try taking the codeine I've been supplied with instead.

My prescription was for Antibiotics, which I have to take 3 times a day until they are finished; Paracetamol, which I think I will also take until it's finished 4 times a day; Ibuprofen, which is the next step up from the paracetamol and I am supposed to take if pain is getting worse; Codeine, for even more intense pain relief; and some Chlorohexidine mouthwash which I am supposed to use 3-4 times a day after meals. I am reluctant to use the codeine because apparently it can make you constipated and I don't want to risk that at the moment!

Day 4 (Today)

I've got some shots that show my new bite!! I can't believe it! My top teeth are in front of my bottom, and the open bite is gone!

Also one that shows how far I can open my mouth at the moment. A bit gross, sorry!

I can smile! (Kind of):

Mum says that she already notices my resting face is naturally a smile now! I've always suffered from 'bitchy resting face' where I looked angry all the time, though it was just my natural expression. Hopefully this continues as my swelling goes down!

Here is a nice one of my hip where I got the bone graft from for the widening of my top jaw. My top jaw was widened 6mm! I can already feel the difference with my tongue, my mouth just feels so different already.

*Update

I had my first post-op appointment with my surgeon this afternoon and he was great, he's really happy with my results so far! He changed the bands I had on to thinner ones which means it's even easier for me to open my mouth at the moment. He did make me open as wide as I can, that was an interesting experience haha. He took off the bandages covering my drainage sites so you can now no longer tell I had surgery on Monday apart from my swollen face! Here is a photo of me with him, the magician:

And some more photos from this afternoon because I just can't stop taking photos!!

I can start washing my face under the shower, I was bit hesitant to do this until I got permission from him. Until now I have been washing my body in the shower and using a face cloth for my face. Nothing is getting rid of the dreaded hospital-sick-oily skin but I'm looking forward to washing my hair!

He also said I can use a saline nasal spray to help with my nose blockages. I have continued to bleed a bit from my nose, though it's a clear brown liquid now instead of blood, and it blocks making it hard to breathe. Hopefully the spray helps and I can sleep a bit easier.

I started using one of these today for water instead of the 60mL syringe. I'm still finding it quite hard without the control a syringe provides and I choke a bit sometimes but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I'm going to try using a straw again tomorrow.

This stuff has been amazing for my lips! I was also given some cream at the hospital but this stuff I use all day:

SUCH a life-saver!

For food I have been surviving on milk, sometimes with protein powder and banana added, soups, and yoghurt. Mum is concerned with my protein intake which is fair enough, and calcium will be important right now with bones healing! Milk is my favourite, it's easy and doesn't make a mess in my mouth. Soup and yoghurt tend to be gritty and make a mess in my mouth, and cleaning it is not fun. Mum has a juicer so she is going to start making me vege juices tomorrow :) tonight for dinner she made a seafood chowder and I just blended some up and syringed it in. variety is key! I don't miss normal food..... yet! Eating is still quite exhausting so it doesn't really bother me.

This afternoon is the first time I have felt myself properly all week and it feels good! I went out in public for the first time, to the supermarket and the chemist. I even talked to people! It was good getting out and walking around and feeling normal again. Hopefully I can get a good night's sleep tonight and feel okay in the morning, I am finding mornings the hardest at the moment. Probably because I haven't been getting much sleep.

I have been tingly in my face since surgery which is a great sign. My hip has started to get itchy today which is also a good sign I believe. I have been yawning a bit and I don't know how good this is... though I noticed my hearing being a bit weird this afternoon and a good yawn fixed that right up! It's a bit painful, I guess just because my muscles aren't used to the motion yet.

I have my next surgeon post-op appointment on Wednesday along with my first post-op ortho appointment. This will be day 9! Squee!

This has been quite a long post.... I wanted to make sure I got everything down. It has been a hell of a week!