One-Week Post Dr Visit

I finally ventured out of the house today to go to my first post-op check-up. Dad picked me up this morning. I stopped by my school to let everyone know I'm still alive and well, then we cruised Wal-Mart to get some food ideas. Those two things alone left me feeling exhausted, and I already didn't feel fantastic today, anyway. I wish the weather would stay constant. That would probably do a lot to make me feel better. 

Dr. Bowman was pleased with the progress. I have minimal bruising on my neck, but they were expecting worse. He also expected me to be experiencing more numbness in and around my lips, which hasn't really been an issue at all. I am still numb in the left temple/eyebrow area, and he expects that feeling to return, but no time soon. He said nerves repair very slowly. If I still can't lift my eyebrow after three months, we'll look at some electrode therapy. Because of the placement of that nerve and my "more involved surgery," he felt it was lucky that the eyebrow is the only spot not moving on command. My outside stitches were removed, and he said the incision should be invisible by summer. 

I was less enthused to learn that I will be restricted to a liquid diet for at least two more weeks. Eating has been very difficult due to lots of factors: my pickiness, my gross-out factor, acid reflux, and getting tired of the same ol' thing. One can only whip up so many yogurt- or milk-based smoothies. I'm really tired of milk - never a favorite of mine to start with. Dr. Bowman reminded me that anything can be blended and he talked about some of the recipes in the book they gave me. Apparently, he's tried them himself. I'm not sure I'll be able to stomach all of them, but the blended chili dog tonight was decent. I am also supposed to drink a lot more water to avoid dehydration. My sinuses are still stuffy and puffy, and some remaining swelling is sticking around but should go down in time. All in all, it wasn't a horrible day.