Day 15

Day 15 and I am feeling right fed up.  I shouldn't moan because according to the orthodontist all is going well and according to family and friends, I am looking better each day.  I just can't see it.  I'm still checking mirrors, reflections etc but can only see a very minor improvement.  I can't even blame the painkillers for my moods anymore because I stopped taking them... well besides the fact that they tasted disgusting, they stopped nature taking its course and that was more painful than my face!  Sorry, too much info again?  I'm still swollen, in fact I think I look like one of those old cartoon characters whose face has been blown up with a bicycle pump.

Here are a few of the things I am still unable to do:

1. Chew
2. Smile
3. Say more than a sentence or two without getting face ache
4. Go a whole day without falling asleep about 5 times (perhaps that's just my laziness gene).
5. Feel my cheeks, chin(s), bottom lip.
6. Play football (although I couldn't play before either)

On to things more positive, here are some of the amazing things I have achieved since my last blog post:

1. Brushed my teeth - well sort of.  Even though I could only reach about 25% of the surface area of my teeth it still felt like heaven.
2. Drank from a cup - well sort of.  I dribbled most of it.  It's hard when you can't feel your bottom lip!
3. Did some work up the allotment - well sort of.  I held the carrier bags whilst my brother filled them up with the fruits of our (my) labour.
4. Spent some quality time with my wife and kids up the park - well sort of.  I went to the park about 3 minutes walk away from my house, sat on a bench pretty much the whole time (20 mins) and then came home and fell asleep.

Now that is what I call progress.   At the moment, I can't say with any real conviction that I'm glad I had this done.  I think I will be pleased in the end but how can I be sure I did the right thing until I know what I'm going to look like for the rest of my life?  I just have to keep telling myself that in the end it will all be ok and the rational side of me knows that it is still very early days.

I promise to try and make the next post a bit more positive.