Day 18: Full up

Smiling and saying cheese: 65% (Wow... well past half way now)

Me and Chloe comparing side profiles

Pain: 20% (A few aches probably from having my jaw open but my pain level isn't going up)

Weight: 12 stone 5lb or 173 lb

Weight loss so far: 8lb (Same again today but with these soft food dinners I'm hoping the weight will start to return)


Food I would love today: A bar of Galaxy to accompany my hot chocolate which I am drinking with a straw.


Firstly, I didn't take tablets last night before bed because I wasn't in pain. This was a mistake as I awoke several time during the night with pain in my jaw. Tonight I will enjoy drinking those little soluble friends. After a breakfast of milkshake and porridge (yes two courses and I was full up)  I got ready and we headed to church for the first time since surgery. It was great to go and see all the people who had been praying for me, sending cards and visiting me, though I was conscious that I do look different. No one made to big a deal about that and I'm sure they will soon forget what I looked like before.

It was 'Childrens Day' today at church so it was nice seeing the kids singing (including my not so traumatised anymore niece, Miss Emily) After church there was a lunch provided for everyone, which I declined to stay at, for obvious reasons. I didn't fancy baby spoon feeding myself in front of a handheld mirror with the contents of my lunch caked around my face. Anyway I was pretty excited about my own culinary dining experience that was planned.  After helping Ashleigh make our lunch it was that time again were I could remove my elastics.

After pinging them off with great efficiency, I started shovelling with my baby spoon. On offer was mince, carrot and onion and gravy with potato and broccoli. For dessert was sticky toffee pudding with custard that Ashleigh had mashed up and heated. The problem is that the spoon is designed to fit into a 1 year old mouth which is considerably smaller than mine. The result is that the spoon doesn't hold so much and I end up continually scooping small amounts of food into my mouth. This is maybe not so bad as I cannot chew anything so have to swallow everything.

I find that it works like a conveyor belt. Once I push too much food in, the food at the back of my mouth automatically gets swallowed. Yummy. After cleaning my teeth as best I could it was time to get tied together again. I feel a sense of security when I put my bands back on but also look forward to the day when they are no longer required. I also noticed that I was full up very quickly after lunch. Maybe my stomach has shrank! All that was followed by a afternoon nap which I hope will become less frequent starting next week.

Interesting fact for today.. I haven't sneezed in 18 days. Isn't that amazing. I'm not sure if I'm too scared to or if I physically can't but I know it wouldn't be a happy experience if I did! Maybe more on this tomorrow...or maybe not!