Wow… 3 months have flown by. I was hoping to get a bunch of personal projects done, as I had said but it just didn't happen. Now I am getting more "with it", more "normal" and my deadlines are starting to become something I will need to focus on. I am still not working as much as I was before (that's probably good) but as I start ramping up for conventions and 2016 shows I will need to keep the balance.
I still have a little ways to go, its a long recovery process…
My Orthodontist says everything looks great! Perhaps 2 more months of 24hr rubber bands and then one month after to check stability without rubber bands at all. It is possible I could spend the new year braces free!!!
So, whats new? Well to me, it feels like there has been little progress on a day to day basis…until I sit down to write and then I realize maybe a lot has changed.
Feeling:
The dreaded dead zone is still super annoying. Hot, cold, pins, needles, pinching, tightness, asleep and throbbing…annoying. Still getting spasms but none of my medical team seems concerned by this.
The good thing is, if I touch anything on my chin and lip, I can feel something. It is all fighting to come back. Light Green has the most feeling, a little delayed and a bit spiky but there. The darker green takes a min to register. No matter what I touch in the area…it basically feels awful, just overly sensitive. I am also getting feeling back in my gums, the lower front teeth are sharing all the same sensations as the lip and chin. Just lovely…insanity.
There is also this: This is the area that contains screws. This is the area when touched, I feel the screws. If I push on either side of my nose in the pink area, I feel the actual screws. If I touch anywhere else in the pink zone it feels like a bruise. If I push around my sinuses I feel it in my upper teeth. Yesterday I touched my lower jaw bone on the right side, It was sore so I was rubbing it….I could feel the gap in the bone. That kind of freaked me out a bit. Hopefully that's all sorting itself out proper. yikes.
Food / Eating:
This will probably be a continuous struggle for a while yet. My left side is much stronger, that side has the most feeling so I use it most. I am trying not to favor the left side but if I chew on the right I tend to bite my lips or cheeks.
I have been chowing down on a lot of pasta, roasted veggies, breakfast foods. I miss salad! I have been eating salad greens but wilted down. I had my first bagel a week or so ago! It took a long time and I had to tear it with my hands into tiny bits but I got it done! I bought some honeycrisp apples today, I'm going to give it a go, tiny slices…stay tuned.
Working out:
I am cleared to do everything as long as it doesn't cause me to clench my jaw. So time to ease back in to it all again.
Weight:
I really don't feel that different. My body has pretty well held on to everything… I hear that when you start working out again on a regular basis that it just sheds really fast. Like the weight I should have lost when I was on liquid finally decides it isn't needed. We will see if that's actually something that happens.
Movement:
I am totally regaining the ability to make silly faces! My smile looks more normal too!! I know this for a fact as I stood up at my oldest (23 yrs and counting) friend's wedding this past weekend…and Im a big dork! It was also my first long outing since surgery.
 |
| Groomsman-ing is hard work |
 |
| Groom's ladies assemble! |
Dancing around at a wedding does have it's challenges. There's no way I can go to a wedding and not dance! I just had to improvise with an "ice pack".
Travel:
Who knew this would be such a challenge? I have not flown anywhere yet but the drive was taxing. I had travelled with my contour pillow, magnification mirror and a portable water pick. I had also prepped for the drive by making a ton of pasta and hard boiled eggs. All in all it went pretty well!
I am also cleared to fly now! So, at the end of the month I will board a flight to Illuxcon!
What else is new?
Well, Ive been trying to have normal days. I make a decision on how the day will go that day, if I need to rest I just rest.
I also am proud to say that I have won another Designer Toy Award!!! This year for Best Non-Plastic for the Sylvan Plush I created with Gary Ham! It wasn't something I thought I could win…I wasn't able to fly out yet so I tried to not give it much thought… but then I got a text from the award ceremony from my friend Andrew (pictured accepting for me):
It has been a crazy eventful month! I'm hoping the upward swing continues!
