December

December 8th
I had an appointment with my chiropractor today and the relief from pain is so great:)  And I bought a pillow from him that fits my neck and will support it while I sleep.  The  neck pain is what is causing my headaches most of the time.

I continue to slowly improve on the elliptical at the health club.  As long as I keep improving, I'm happy.

The neck pain and headaches were back in full force 4 days later.

December 15
I wiped my forehead hard with a towel at the health club at noon, and it has been causing me pain all day. 

My nose still has that healing itch, this time on the left side, and the nostril is so small, it is impossible to itch.

My mouth continues to be swollen and now I can't smile again since the tissue has grown back on the inside of my mouth next to my tooth line on the left.

I can rarely smell things. The neck pain and headaches come and go, which is an improvement.

December 17
Wednesday
MOUTH  REPAIR SURGERY REPEATED
My  lip healed too well.  It reattached to my gum line. So Dr. Richard Lee repaired my lip and mouth again. It doesn't seem fair that I'm waiting forever for nerves in my face to rebuild, and my mouth heals where I didn't want it to.

  Here I am ready for church on Sunday, December 21, 2014.  I'm always afraid to smile for picture for fear of looking like Frankenstein.

 

December 23, 2014
Check up with my surgeon today.  I felt happy all day.  I had an appointment with my chiropractor yesterday afternoon, and my neck pain and headaches are gone (I wish for good).  My mouth started to reheal again despite all I did to prevent it. But I am happy, my lips and mouth can move better than it did last week. I can put lipstick on my lower lip and I feel my whole lip :) It still feels funny on part of it, but a smaller part than it used to be, so that is good. Very tiny improvements, but improving all the same.  It will be 16 weeks on this Friday. Not surprisingly, I have no desire to go horseback riding again.

Dr. Lee and I talked about the plans for my nose surgery on January 12th.  He will not be cutting any skin at this time, just working on the inside so I can breathe through both nostrils.  He told me that my nose may be 90% repaired at the end of the upcoming surgery, but that we need to wait longer to complete all the repairs. My expected recovery time will be 2 to 4 weeks. Things are looking up.
Merry Christmas to everyone!

 Christmas morning at Nancy's.  I this is why I try not to do a happy smile.  But, I have to say, my mouth and face is SO MUCH better than it was.  It is really beginning to heal now and beginning to move better.  It is such a slow process.

 

Steps backwards and tiny steps forward

12 weeks later
Well, people tell me I look great (ha ha), well in comparison.  The swelling continues to shrink a little bit.   The numbness still affects the left side of my mouth and nose.  I see itsy bitsy improvement so I have hope to be back to and feel normal again someday.  The bridge of my nose is still very tender - that is where the plate and screws are.
And my mouth still doesn't work properly.
My nose began to itch this week - I just love that healing itch.

Stepping back on Thanksgiving Day
Unfortunately I spent 7 hours today going to special Christmas sales.  By 9pm I was so miserable; my bad headache was back and my neck stiffness and pain which continued for days.

Saturday: Our Thanksgiving Day celebration
By the time everyone left at 9pm I was in so much pain.  I literally could not move the rest of the evening.  I have a horrible headache and neck pain.

December 3rd
I am confused quite often, and I can't remember a lot of things. I have trouble remembering things too.

13 long weeks later on December 5th
The bad headaches and neck pain have continued since Thanksgiving.  I have been battling depression.  The mouth repair that I was so excited for, was not totally a success.  Yes, it did help my mouth move more, but part of it has grown back in.  Probably because it is still numb there on my left upper left.  I am so disappointed, and I feel like I let my surgeon down.

The scar from my nose to my mouth is healing nicely.  My lower lip has more feeling.  So many times I just wish I could feel and look normal again, and so I have to remind myself of all the miracles I have been blessed with, to be grateful for the things on my body that do work correctly.  It's hard.  But I think I've finally accepted that when my doctor says "a year", that is what he means.  Now I can look forward to next September.