Day 21-Three Weeks and Peas

Hey guys,

This blog post was meant for yesterday, but so much happened yesterday that I couldn't get to it. So, yesterday, June 25, marked 3 weeks since my crash. This meant a return to the hospital to get checked on how my jaw was healing. Now, I was excited, but a little nervous on the way out there. Once we got to the clinic at UNC Chapel Hill, I waited around for about 20 minutes, then I was called back into the hospital to see the doctor who had originally gave the order for my surgery 3 weeks ago. So, we talked about doctor questions, you know, diet, how much weight I've lost, and other broken-jaw specific questions. Then, he inspected my wires. So, you guys know how I said my lip had grown around the bottom left screw? Well, apparently, that's not uncommon. But, what is uncommon is the feeling of a doctor ripping your skin out from being grown around a metal object screwed into your bone. That hurt. But, on the bright side, he said my jaw looked good enough to cut the wires! I was so happy, and he got a pair of pliers and cut out the wires. Then, for the first time in a very stressful 3 weeks, I opened my mouth about half a inch. It was magical, to say the least.

However, I am now in rubber bands. These are very small, taut rubber bands that stay around my screws and allow me much more movement than metal wires, but nothing large enough to chew any food. But, I thought of an alternative! See, on the drive home, I was experimenting on how to move my mouth again. As I remembered how to open and close my jaw, even a little bit, I figured I might be able to fit a spoon in between the rubber bands, due to the fact that I can now open my jaw a little bit. So, as soon as I got home, I ran to the kitchen to see if a spoon would fit. To my disappointment, it did not. But then, I had another idea! What about the little sample spoons ice cream places give to you? I knew for a fact they would fit! So, excited, I went to the store to search for tiny spoons. After visiting three grocery stores, I could not find any. Determined, I set out to find such spoons. Finally, after searching for around a hour, I pulled up to Pelican's Snoballs. I went up to the window and asked, "Hey, you guys have little sample spoons, right?" The guy at the window was like "Yeah...why?" Laughing, I said "Just bring my some, I promise I'll tell you the whole story." The employee was awesome, he brought me an entire styrofoam cup full of mini spoons. Ridiculously thankful, I started from the beginning. I told the employee about the Firecracker ride, the hospital visit and surgery, and the following weeks. Then, I ordered a Snoball-one of the Red Velvet Cake flavor. As I took my tiny spoon and scraped off some shaved ice, I was able to open my mouth and fit the spoon in. As I felt a solid object on my tongue, even for that second before it liquefied once again, my eyes filled with tears. I was absolutely so happy to eat the smallest thing again, and it was a special moment. Once home, the possibilities for my nutrition seemed endless! I had pudding, jello, and ice cream! And, as a special treat, I figured out I could eat peas by mashing them on the roof of my mouth. Guys, I ate an entire can of peas. A WHOLE can. That's like 500 peas. My stomach was a little sore afterwards, due to how small my stomach has become. Now, I've got to be careful with how much I eat, but yesterday I did not care. I was one of the happiest people you had ever seen.

So, that was yesterday, and it was amazing. Word of advice-guys, enjoy your food. Because you never know if that will get taken away from you. It took me about 20 minutes to eat that Snoball, because I was savoring how amazing it tasted. So, experience your food, it really is an amazing thing on this Earth.

Happy training everyone!