The Fifth Day

Yesterday was brutal. I felt well enough to post last night, but my friend Ashley came over and I enjoyed talking (well, she talked, I typed) to her instead. After she left I was exhausted and got ready for bed. I had my first post-op appt. yesterday. My doc showed me how to take off and put on my rubber bands. He said he usually doesn't do that til the 8th day but since I was struggling with breathing, he wanted me to at least know how to put them back on after taking them off. My teeth were still perfectly in the splint though - with only 1 band on (I had thrown up that morning so violently that one band snapped right off) so he basically just said to "try" to keep them on. I've been pretty good keeping 3 of the 4 on, but when I get really congested or am eating, I stick with 2. Next Tuesday is my next post-op - and the beginning of eating soft foods. I can't believe what little appetite I've had. I consume only about 12 ounces of fluid (not including medicine) per day. I have no desire to eat. At all. I can't believe I'm only down to 128-ish. I thought I would have lost more then that by now.
(captions ABOVE pics)

Aren't I so pretty? Now I know what my face would look like if I weighed 300 lbs (and had a large nose and bad skin!)

Trying to get relief with the "rigged" humidifyer and listening to the scriptures on my ipod.

I can now alter between hot and cold compresses on my face. This is a rice sock that was warmed up. It's quite a bit of pressure - but oh, the bliss!

This morning at 4:45am I woke up to my right contact feeling funny. My face had swollen in a strange way as to pull on my eye, distorting my view. I had to take out my contacts and put these glasses on that are about 10 years old! Horrible!

I am also starting to bruise. I'm getting a black eye as well as some discoloration on my cheeks.

More swelling and discoloration. I can't believe how uncomfortable the swelling is...that it's actually causing pain from the tightness of my skin. Is it possible to get stretch marks on my face? My doc said that I will end up with "cute cheeks" because of this, and my face won't look as long as it normally does. I'm excited for that!

This is the first video taken out of surgery. I can't believe how good I looked then compared to now! Doc says I'll swell for a couple more days and then bruise like crazy. So much to look forward to! Bleck.

Here is a video I just took right now. I look terrible, but am feeling better then I have since Monday. Here is also a reminder of how I looked a few weeks ago! I know I look like death warmed over now...but that's just to prepare you all for my AFTER pics in a couple of months! :)