My first real post-surgery picture!!!!

Well, 68 days can make a huge difference! Matty took these pictures last night before Anthony and I went out.

Yes, there are still lumps in both of my lower cheeks, which makes my face still swollen ( to me at least).

I can't believe it...it's really starting to look like me again!

Finally....others are seeing it!

So today I go to the dentist (my 2nd home since I had children) to have a filling repaired in hopes of avoiding a cap and possible root canal...I am so seriously wishing I could replace ALL my teeth with porcelain veneers and have ALL my teeth be twice their size, white and WITHOUT ISSUES! It would alleviate so many of the dental problems I've had, if only ALL of my teeth were fake!

So, I go in and sit and wait for my appointment. Half of my neighborhood works in this dentist's office, always a pleasure! ;-0

I see one of my neighbors (haven't seen her since surgery) who takes one look at my face and says "Oh my gosh...you look AMAZING!" I say, thanks, but you know...I'm still swollen, still healing...blah blah blah. She goes, "NO, seriously, you look AMAZING....completely different in your face!" WOW! That about made my day!

So, now...I start to think....Hmmmm, did I look that sad and pathetic before the surgery? Was the Bells Palsy as awful as I felt it to be? Makes me wonder. I feel too, like it looks great already, and yes, I'm still lumpy/swollen in the jaw, but the difference is starting to show. Who knows....maybe it's psychological? I feel better, so I look better?

Whatever it is, I wouldn't trade the feeling and the confidence it's given me for anything. I feel so incredibly blessed and grateful that I could even fathom having such surgery. I hope the angel looking over me never leaves my shoulder!

Onto a much less cosmetic issue...National Fragile X Awareness Day is coming up (July 22nd). Anthony and I are tinkering with some ideas as to how to raise significant funds and awareness. Any of you reading with with great fundraising ideas, please e-mail me some????? We did a letter writing campaign in 2005 and raised a little over $3K. I'd like to double that this year, or at least raise $5K. I have to get moving on that.

Matty and Ben are DONE (mentally) as is their Mommy with school! One more week to go! I cannot wait til it's over...not that the getting up early is going to stop, with both of them going to camp all summer, but at least the HOMEWORK stops! It's a more relaxed atmosphere here.

I feel like I missed last summer completely, with going back to work June 1 of 2006 and commuting 5 days a week in June and July, and 3 and 4 days a week in August. I plan to set up shop on my deck the days I telecommute and get out of this home office! No reason I can't work and enjoy my backyard simultaneously!

I want to take some pictures of the kids this weekend for Father's day and maybe a new one of my much less swollen face...and now that I recently had my hair cut..I can wear it down again!

P

My first public outing post surgery

What a difference 3 and a half weeks make! These are my first post-surgery pictures! I had my dad take them yesterday. I'm still really swollen in the jaw area, but from the nose up, I look like me again, and by that I mean before the Bells Palsy.

My left eye doesn't look like it's straining anymore! WOW! My smile is less crooked too, and considering how very swollen I still am there....I'm amazed! I can see teeth in the picture that I haven't been able to show before!

Just wanted to share!

Love,

P

Almost Ready To Go Back To Work....

Well, Dr. Elkwood seems to think it might be OK for me to go back to work and resume all "normal" activity.

Does that mean my mom will go home and no longer cook all our meals, do our grocery shopping, take the boys to after school activities, pick them up, do the laundry, take me out for lunch and to the mall?

If that's the case, NO WAY am I ready to go back to work! I'm thinking more and more that retirement is calling me to come hither.

I had the final suchers removed from my head today - HOORAY! They were really starting to itch and make me feel tight in the head (ha-ha, yes, we ALL know I'm already tightly wound!)...I gained even more movement in my mouth area since the last time I saw Dr. Elkwood last Friday.

He insists on drawing on my lip to see where I feel "electricity" with a PURPLE permanent magic marker and then he takes a picture to mark my progress....I told him NO MORE with the purple pen...make the move to washable marker please... I have a purple cast to my upper lip for days! He used ball point (blue) today...which came right off with alcohol! :-)

I am no longer green, but still swollen and now LUMPY (that's NEVER a good quality to describe yourself with) under my skin in the jaw area....which will all go away and be smooth over the next few weeks/months Dr. Elkwood promises. The incisions in my leg feel better, but still numb which is why I liken it to a c-section THREE TIMES in my leg! OY!

Basically, I feel good, still tired by dinner time, but ready to go back to work....both at Marsh and Mary Kay. Though I will miss my daily early afternoon pre-General Hospital nap..see, I'm already weaning myself of that by writing this blog at 1 pm!

My mom has been so priceless to me these last three weeks, frankly I'm afraid to not have her around. Anthony has been having commuting woes, so he's tired too at the end of the day, and getting home pretty late for him. Her company has been so great!

Matty and Ben will miss Grandma Dina more than me I fear, and will be angry with me for a few days thinking I banned her from their kingdom. I'm sure their behavior and attitudes will require adjustment after a few weeks with Grandma Dina, their heroine.

Alright, I lied, I'm still in need of a nap, off now.....GH starts in 2 HOURS!

Love,
P