day 15: christmas aftermath

my steamed egg + blended porridge vs.
X'MAS EVE POPIAH FEAST

And trust me, Christmas dinner was even better worse.

I was surrounded by an incredibly sumptuous looking spread of food that ran the gamut from roast beef to sliced ham to sushi to lobster salad to chocolate cupcakes... Thankfully, I ate at home before heading out but that certainly didn't stop the green lasers from shooting out of my eyes nor my greedy self from making a mess because I was stuffing smooshed morsels of chocolate cupcake into my mouth. Whoops.

The good news is my new mug has received plenty of positive reviews from my family and extended family! It's a bit unnerving because HEY WAS I THAT AWFUL BEFORE but compliments are always nice to hear. I know a big part of it is because they'd heard that I legit looked like a ginormous potato so when I arrived looking like nothing more than a chubby hamster they were pleasantly surprised.

On to the bullet points:

• Pain: Very little left! I'm done with my painkillers. Remember how I was only given 6 to tide me over? I asked for 3 more (wuss am I) and after I was done with the 3 extra I took an Aleve the next day because.. Well.. I don't know. I was scared I guess. But I've since stopped with the painkillers altogether!
  
  Most of what I feel now is tightness in the mouth/nose area and even then it's the strongest when I first wake up. Other than that, totally bearable schtuff.
  
  
• Swelling: I've been looking more and more like a human these days, but my cheeks are still 100% chipmunk. My philtrum (remember that) is still swollen and there are a range of emotions that I can't quite master. For one, I cannot pout. Nor can I smile naturally. And I most certainly cannot purse my lips. WORK IN PROGRESS!
  
  
• Food: Still chowing down on mush. Christmas dinner I had lotus root soup (just the soup, of course), steamed egg and blended porridge. See? Recovering jawsurg patients can have more than just liquids! *awkward fist pump?*
  
  Yesterday though, in a bid to eat and buy some normal food, I peeled some shreds of fried Shihlin chicken (with kimchi powder!) and morsels of a sugar bun from Breadtalk and stuffed em' in my mouth. Slowly, but surely. It may not have been a pretty sight, the roof of my mouth was throwing a fit by the time I "finished" (I had the grand total of 2 pieces of cut up fried chicken and half of the bun.) but the flavor explosion in my mouth was worth it. Most definitely worth it.
  

Replies

Mai: My syringes are just boring and made of clear plastic! And you're right, this is the best Christmas gift we can ask for. We just need to tough out the next 8 weeks!! Oh I'm not actually totally banded up anymore! Just 2 rubberbands on my upper and lower canines :) But I can only open my mouth a teensy bit...

Cindy: Hi Cindy! Don't worry about the extractions or braces! Extractions are totally bearable (painkillers, cotton wads and ice cream will be your bff) and braces only really hurt you a few days out of a month. Don't worry!! ^^