Day 9: Baby steps

Several small things happened today that I would consider to be baby steps along the road to recovery. The first is that I went for a half hour walk outside and I didn't feel tired! It was rather windy though and I felt chillier than I think I would have been if I was eating and sleeping normally, but it was nice to feel properly active again.

Also, I can now reach all of my teeth with a baby toothbrush! The swelling and stitches make everything feel very tight so I have to be careful about getting the toothbrush under my cheeks, but brushing helps to get more gunk out than rinsing alone.

As I was rinsing last night I decided to have a proper look at the stitches now that the swelling is subsiding, and what I saw made me anxious! I noticed that there was a "hole" in the line of stitches inside my bottom lip, like one of the stitches had popped out and my lip wasn't attached to my gums at that spot! Of course this made me paranoid (what if it doesn't heal properly!) so this morning I had my mom call the surgeon's office and ask about it. She explained the situation to one of the nurses on the phone and he said that this was perfectly normal. The dissolvable stitches start coming out 5-7 days post-op and the suture line can separate, but this is supposed to happen! He said as long as the "hole" looks dark underneath then it has properly clotted and will heal together with time. He emphasized using salt water rinses for 6-8 weeks after surgery (this is much longer than I thought!) to prevent any infection and to encourage more stitches to dissolve. Phew, I thought I had injured myself somehow but apparently having small "holes" is normal.

I also reached a small eating milestone: I drank from a cup! I have enough lip mobility now for this to be possible, though it's not very comfortable. It still takes a little bit too much effort to make it worthwhile, and it's messy so I only attempted it with water; however, I discovered a great alternative for thin liquids: the sippy cup! The syringe is starting to irritate the insides of my cheeks so I tried using one of my niece's sippy cups and it worked surprisingly well! The spout is thicker than the rim of a regular cup which makes it easier to seal your lips around, and the liquid pours out slowly enough that dribbling is limited and the choking hazard is decreased. I ended up drinking my dinner (cheesy potato soup) via sippy cup and I felt almost normal. The only drawback is that I have to tip my head backwards to get the liquid in and this makes my face and neck feel very tight, but not painful.

My attempt at a smile