day 20 - monday

today I ate at a restaurant, for the first time since surgery! it was very exciting, yet slightly scary as well.

it is my sister's birthday, and she and my mom were going to red lobster for her birthday dinner. well red lobster, i can eat that! (i have heard from other post-opers that fish and chips are usually easy enough to eat). our waiter was great. i did get the fish and chips but i asked if the french fries were the big wedges (good) or little fries (bad). he said shoe string little guys. hmm... not good... I asked if i could get mashed potatoes instead, he said, "yup, no problem!". he then asked what kind of salad I wanted. um... i said, "um, well I can't chew anything, so... none?" he said, "hm, do you want applesauce?" what a guy! i was impressed anyway. i said, "oh... not really" (sorry, i want real food!) he said, "soup?" so i got the chicken fajita soup.

my meal was awesome. the soup was perfect, i was able to easily eat it, no big chunks of anything but still chunky enough to make me happy, and it was good! my fish and potatoes came and i was easily able to chop up my fish with my fork, add some tartar sauce and eat it with no chewing. the mashed potatoes were easy to eat, and i was even able to eat small pieces of the yummy cheddar biscuits!

good day overall.

i'm getting more feeling in my palate on the inside of my mouth. it's been swollen on the back left area, and i think today is the first day that it's almost entirely not swollen. it feels pretty similar to the right side of my mouth. this left area has been kinda tingly weird. not numb but not normal.

my cheeks and my nose area seem slightly more swollen today. i think it's because i'm weaning myself off my naproxen. i don't need it at all for pain, but do for the swelling still. blah. overall i'm still doing great swelling wise, not much at all.

i have been able to feel my screws a little more easily today as well. it's weird! luckily it doesn't really freak me out, which is good as they are staying here for good unless they decide to get infected or try to come out.