Ok so day 5 was by far the hardest day since day one. Lots of swelling night before last. Had a hard time breathing and getting comfortable and I was up most of that night. I slept much better last night getting about 5 hours in. I just parked it on the couch with my 13 year old daughter for the night. She is so sweet and is by far the best at figuring out my charades..LOL! I went to see the surgeon yesterday and everything looked good. My teeth looked good, my chin looked good, and my splint was in tip top shape. She took the tape off of my chin yesterday, I took that profile picture in her office yesterday right afterward which is why you can still see the adhesive in the picture. They took some xrays, I don't know how big the picture of the xray will show up but you can clearly see all my nuts and bolts. While I was at the surgeons office she gave me a liter of IV fluid, it made me feel so much better. I am really not getting enough fluid I am afraid. It is much harder than you think to be banded shut and be trying to get enough fluid back into this tiny pocket at the back of your throat next to very swollen cheeks and not being able to open your mouth and to try and swallow enough fluid and calories to keep going without choking. And yesterday I choked on some Propel, had a lot of "gunk" back there and coughed a lot...which isn't easy with your mouth banded shut. I'm actually in a bit of pain today after the whole coughing spell last night. Ugh. I need to call the surgeon this morning just to make sure that I haven't jarred anything. I really love the look of my new profile, my front view is really scary for day 5 though. That picture was taken after I choked yesterday....and that kind of took everything out of me. I cant wait for this numbness to subside some more. I feel like I have a numb muzzle on. And the tightness is a bummer too. My orthodontist called and checked on me this morning, I love my ortho and his staff, they are the best. My Mom called the surgeons office for me this morning. They think that everything is probably fine. I see her tomorrow. My poor little kids are about over me not being able to talk to them I think. 8 more days until splint removal...woohoo!!! After I take day 6 pictures today I'll just post those pictures from today later. Today I can start to see some of the more natural shape of my lips....that is encouraging....now if only I had feeling in them.

Jen